BOT Meeting re-cap 5-14-12

The following is a brief unofficial recap of many items that occurred or were discussed at the May 14, 2012 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 

Presentations

• Adam Loehner gave a monthly update on activities at Seton Hall 

Budget

The 2012 Introduced Municipal Budget was sent to Trenton and the Village received comments back late on Friday.  As a result, the Village does not yet have sufficient documentation to adopt the budget as expected tonight.  The budget hearing scheduled for May 14 will be held, but will be continued on a future date.

Budget Hearing

• John Purkert - expressed opposition to funding for CCR
• Ben Salmon - requested funding for a business recruiter in the budget
• Robyn Fields - requested funding for business recruiter in the budget
• Miriam Sumner - requested full funding for Youthnet
• Camilla Teitelman - requested full funding for Youthnet
• Fred Profeta - requested funding for Youthnet and the CCR
• ? - requested full funding for Youthnet
• Diane Malloy - requested full funding for Youthnet
• Ross Fields -  requested funding for a business recruiter in the budget
• John Sammaro - requested funding for business recruiter in the budget 

Public Comments

• Nancy Gagnier - thanked BOT for consideration of CCR service agreement
• Naoma Welk - shared history of Montrose Park and requested creation of a Historic Preservation Commission
• Karen Marlowe - requested creation of a Historic Preservation Commission and opposed demolition of Marylawn mansion
• Sabine Hack - requested creation of a Historic Preservation Commission
• Sharon Pigeon - opposed demolition of Marylawn mansion
• Ed Moore - opposed demolition of Marylawn mansion
• Sam Multhrop - requested creation of a Historic Preservation Commission
• Tricia Gorman - requested creation of a Historic Preservation Commission
• John Sammaro - requested creation of a Historic Preservation Commission 

Ordinances on Second Reading

Ordinance 2012-06 - Vacant Storefront Ordinance, which provides options to utilize more attractive materials  for vacant storefronts as a stop-gap measure, until the newly formed SID can address in greater detail, passed 6-0

Ordinance 2012-07 - Satellite Antenna Ordinance, which brings the regulation into compliance with law, passed 6-0 

Ordinances on First Reading

Ordinance 2012-08 - Approving Revised Charter and submitting it to the state legislature, passed 5 - 1 with Janine Bauer opposed.

Ordinance 2012-09 - Establishing a Historic Preservation Commission, passed 6-0

With respect to the proposed demolition of the MaryLawn mansion, an Application for a demolition permit was returned to Marylawn pending additional information.  Also, a soil disturbance permit is required and will be referred to the Planning Board for review.

Consent Agenda

7 items passed on Consent agenda

Resolutions for Separate Action

2012-101 - authorizing a service agreement for CCR for $18,000, passed 4-3  (Gould, Goldberg and Levison opposing)

2012-102 - authorizing a service agreement for Youthnet for $15,000, passed 4-2  (Bauer and Davis Ford opposing)

2012-105 - authorizing the establishment of a municipal election date advisory committee, failed 2-4 (Bauer, Goldberg, Gould and Rosner opposing)

An Ordinance to move the non-partisan Municipal Election to November was requested to be on the agenda for First Reading, but it was not.After some discussion, it was agreed that the BOT will take up the idea of moving the Municipal Election to November immediately after the 2012 November election once there is data available from other towns that have made the move.

2012-106 - authorizing execution of letter to State Senators pertaining to Passaic River Litigation, passed 5-0 (Bauer recused herself) 

Public Comments

• John Purkert - critiqued funding of CCR
• Tricia Gorman - thanked the BOT for passing the Historic Preservation Commission and offered her time to help
• Sharon Pigeon - shared information about Marylawn property
• John Sammaro - inquired about the fine if the property owner went ahead and demolished the building without permission
• Mark Bass - inquired about current zoning and process for changing the zoningAlyssa Aronson - inquired about taxes
• Ben Salmon - reminded the BOT of the previous commitment to fund the business recruiter 

Committee Reports

Legal

• Reviewed Email policy and email disclaimer policy

Planning and Zoning

• Next meeting on Wednesday May 16

Public Safety

• National Night Out is scheduled for August 7
• South Mountain Annex has requested that the area in front of the school be designated for pick-up/drop-off only.
• Citizens Public Safety Committee has created first edition of new newsletter called S.O. Safe:  http://issuu.com/sosafe/docs/s.o.safe_spring2012

Public Works

• Next Meeting on May 23 

Recreation

• Next Meeting on May 24 

Discussion

EOWC - Special Master has requested full copy of legal record

Completion of Salary Survey - BOT agreed that if we are not obligated, we should not proceed with this salary survey offered by Mr. Burkholder

Village Hall Renovation - meeting scheduled with all parties (Construction Mgr, Engineer, Architect etc) on 5/15 ; construction plans are being finalized. 

South Orange Rescue Squad -  Finance Committee recommendation is that Rescue Squad does not require a Village subsidy, based on their P&L and Balance Sheet  

New Business

Business Recruiter - BOT agreed to find $10k in the budget and hire someone for 4 months as a contractor that will report to the SID

Impervious Surface Ordinance  - BOT agreed to direct Village Counsel to draft the ordinance for consideration

Agenda Process  - to be discussed at next BOT Meeting