BOT Meeting recap 1-23-12

The following is a brief unofficial recap of many items that occurred or were discussed at the January 23, 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

• A presentation was given to the South Orange Rescue Squad  recognizing Kurt Gibson and Don Boyle for their service with the Rescue Squad
• SOPAC presented a recap of events and activities from July 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011; They also confirmed that their IRS Form 990 will be filed this week. The expected subsidy request from the Village for 2012 will be $400,000
• Seton Hall update - Adam Loehner shared updates on upcoming activities at Seton Hall

Ordinances on First Reading

Ordinance 2011 - 21: An ordinance to require bicycle storage in construction of new residential buildings passed 5-1

Public Comments

• Elaine Harris - provided a memo claiming that the method for the creation of the Special Improvement District Advisory Committee was flawed and therefore invalid.    Village Counsel stated that he disagrees with this position.
• Jerry Andrews - expressed concerns about Tau, SOPAC and the SID
• Leslie Pogany - expressed concerns about the SID
• Gil - expressed concerns about the SID
• Fernando Cabrera - expressed concerns about the SID
• Nancy Heinz-Glaser - recognized the passing of Don Thomas
• Dan Saboti - expressed concerns about the SID
• Alyssa Aronson - expressed concerns about taxes
• Bill Calabrese - expressed concerns about the SID

Discussion

Automated Red Light Traffic cameras - The BOT recently issued an RFP for the installation of automated Red Light traffic cameras and a decision now needs  to be made about whether or not to award a contract.   Ultimately, the BOT agreed to send this back to the Public Safety  Committee for further discussion about which intersections would potentially be included.

Village Hall Relocation - The Village Engineer is recommending integrating the bid for "mobile offices" together with the bid for the building to ensure the timing is in sync.  A Construction Mgr is expected to be on board by the end of February, after which time the architect will finish the plans and the project will go out to bid around June, with a potential contract award in July and the start of work in August. Village Hall plans will be modified to include a centralized Customer Service Center.

IT staffing - Village is currently utilizing a single person, but there is a need for more.  Interim Administrator Burkholder proposed recruiting a part-time media technician, plus another part-time person to work 25-30 hours/week person to troubleshoot IT issues.

Interim Administrator's Hours - There is resolution on the evening's meeting to provide for the completion of a salary study and time to help transition to the new Administrator.

Special Improvement District - A number of questions were posed and clarifications issued about the proposed Special Improvement District.  For example,

• Several people have stated that 74% of businesses don't want a SID, however the actual question posed by the SID Advisory Committee was: "Would you be willing to pay additional money to get better quality service for any of the items listed above in Number 3?" The response to that question has been taken out of context has been greatly distorted. The full survey was included in the report and is online at http://www.southorange.org/downtown/Files/SIDAdvCommFINALAppendix10.12.11.pdf
• Several people have suggested that properties with PILOT arrangements would be exempt from the SID.  The reality is that all properties within the proposed district would be assessed at the same rate as a percentage of their property assessment (not based on their taxes)
• Several people have suggested that the business community would be willing to voluntarily contribute.  The reality is that in 2011, the largest contributors to Main Street were:  The Village ($50k), Residents ($14,300) and Seton Hall ($9,800).  Business Owners contributed $2525 and Property owners contributed $2000

Consent Agenda

Consent Agenda consisting of 16 resolutions passed 6-0

A separate resolution authorizing the appointment of Barry Lewis as Village Administrator  passed 6-0.  Mr. Lewis comes to us most recently where he was the Administrator in Mountain Lakes.  Mr. Lewis has a BA in Political Science from the University of South Florida and a Law degree from Florida State. In Mountain Lakes he created a budget in 2010 which had a 2% increase (but would have been 0% without the loss of state aid) and in 2011 had a 0% increase. He also successfully obtained more than $20M in grants and funding partnerships and negotiated many interlocal agreements during his tenure in Mountain Lakes, Spring Lake and Mine Hill.  We congratulate and welcome Barry to South Orange!

A separate resolution authorizing the appointment of Stan Wilkinson as IT Manager passed 6-0.  We congratulate Stan on his well-deserved promotion.