BOT meeting recap 2-27-12

The following is a brief unofficial recap of many items that occurred or were discussed at the February 27, 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

• We had a proclamation recognizing Deputy Clerk, Sherri Golden for being a Living Organ Donor.  In mid-December 2011,  Sherri went out on a temporary medical leave. Her husband, Derek, was to be receiving a kidney transplant and Sherri, in turn, graciously and unselfishly volunteered to become a kidney donor for another individual. I am happy to share that both surgeries and recoveries were successful and Sherri is now back at work.
• Villager of the Month recognition was presented to Bradley Takahashi
• Adam Loehner from Seton Hall provided an update on upcoming activities in March
• Main Street provided an update on their activities from June-December 2011 and shared that Celebrate South Orange will be June 16 this year.  

Ordinances on First Reading

Ordinance 2012-21, Requiring Bicycle Storage for new construction, was initially stricken and then re-introduced and passed as Ordinance 2012-02 by a 5-0 vote  (Trustee Davis Ford was absent)

Ordinance 2012-01, Establishing a Special Improvement District, passed by a vote of 5-0  (Trustee Davis Ford was absent)

Public Comments

• Amy Dahn- expressed opposition to the changing  of BOT titles to "Mayor and Council" (from "Village President and Trustees"
• Naoma Welk - expressed support for the creation of a Historic Preservation Commission 

Discussion

Changes to the Village Charter - we discussed many of the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee and the outcome was as follows:

• Name Change to Village of South Orange (removing Township) - agreed to change (6-0)
• Changing  BOT titles to "Mayor and Council" (from "Village President and Trustees") - agreed to leave as is (5-1, with Torpey opposing)
• Provide a stipend to the BOT -  agreed to leave as is (4-3, with Torpey, Rosner and Davis Ford opposing)
• Require a majority of quorum to adopt resolution - agreed to change (unanimous)
• Provide Village President a vote on the Budget - agreed to leave as is
• Move election from May to November - agreed to change (4-3, with Torpey, Rosner and Levison opposing).   We also agreed to remove specifying the timing of the election from the charter so it would be handled as a separate ordinance. 

The Charter will now be revised to reflect the changes noted above (along with some other "housekeeping" issues to make the Charter compliant with State Law).  The revised Charter  will be circulated to the BOT and an Ordinance codifying these changes will be forthcoming at an upcoming meeting.  The changes will then be sent to Trenton for approval by the State Legislature.

Moving Bd of Ed elections to November, starting in 2013 -  a resolution will be created for the next BOT meeting to request that the BOE approve the moving of elections to November, before the school year is out.

Village Hall renovations - The Village received 12 responses to the RFP for a Construction Manager.  Recommendation will be forthcoming from Village Engineer, Sal Renda.  Meeting to finalize floor plans for building will be held in next few days.   Plans and specs are expected to be completed by late Summer, followed by the bid process. The award of a contract for the renovation is expected by the end of Summer, with a start date shortly thereafter.

Redevelopment Counsel - Legal Committee will share a recommendation in Executive Session.

Resolutions requiring legal approval and certification of funds - number of resolutions have sat without certification of funds.  Certification should come prior to passing of resolution.

Consent Agenda

4 resolutions were passed 6-0

New Business

A request was made to escalate the migration off of C3 (reverse 911 provider), since the Board had agreed to do so last year and there are more cost effective options, such as paying a vendor on a per-use basis, when neeed.