BOT Meeting re-cap 3-28-13

The following is a brief unofficial recap of many items that occurred or were discussed at the March 28, 2013 BOT Meeting.  Official minutes will be posted online at www.southorange.org when they are available or the video can be viewed on-demand at southorange.org/videoViewer.asp

Note: Trustee Bauer was absent

Presentations

• Adam Loehner shared an update on upcoming activites at Seton Hall

Public Comments

• Richard Bell from Walton Ave - inquired about number of sites being considered for the relocation of the Rescue Squad; how many of those sites are public and how many are private? Is each Trustee for or against the site he is concerned about?  All 5 Trustees in attendance expressed clear opposition to the site he raised concern about for the relocation of the Rescue Squad.

Ordinance on First Reading

Ordinance 2013-06 - Authorizing 1,830,000  for the Capital Budget to fund road improvements (Kingsland, Rynda, S. Ridgewood), wireless communication, and Police CAD/RMS system, passed 5-0

Consent Agenda

8 items on Consent Agenda, passed 5-0, including a Redeveloper's Agreement for the former Beifus site.  The agreement stipulates there be a pre-construction meeting within 75 days, construction must begin within 6 months and completion must occur within 30 months (with all normal legal caveats included).

Resolutions for Special Action 

Resolution 2013-068 - Appointing Adam Loehner as Deputy Administrator, passed 4-0-1 (I abstained)

Village Counsel Updates

Occidental Litigation - Village adopted resolution to participate in settlement; next step is a fairness hearing which is not expected until the Fall

NextG - matter is in Discovery

Lauryn Hill matter - Counsel for Ms. Hill requested additional time to file a response to motion; Village has filed an objection

EOWC - Meeting held with DEP and residents last week; beginning to address a consent order to settle the matter; DEP met with EOWC yesterday and Village is awaiting information on how they are planning to resolve water quality issues.

New Business

• Budget Tool - I inquired about the announcement on the Village website about "a budget tool launching this week", when the BOT never discussed the need or cost for such a tool, no bids were solicited and no contract was awarded.  I was told this tool will cost approximately $2000.

• New Village Website  - I reiterated my request from December to receive a copy of the project plan for this website design.  I was told that a plan is being created this week.

• Sandy Survey - I reiterated my request for the raw results of the post-Sandy survey that was posted on the Village website back in January.

• Recycling - Trustee Gould inquired about reports that the Single Stream recycling contractor is manually lifting the toters, resulting in the toters not being fully emptied.  We were informed this is related to greater volumes of recyclables and not having enough trucks that had the lifting device.

For any questions or comments, please post below or email me at mgoldberg@southorange.org