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Township Council » Meetings » Minutes: March 2, 2013

All meeting minutes posted on the township website are unofficial minutes. Official copies of minutes may be obtained from the township clerk.

Minutes: March 2, 2013

A. OPENING OF BUDGET MEETING

1. Call to Order

A special meeting of the Randolph Township Council was called to order at 8:30 a.m. by Mayor MacArthur. This meeting is held pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act. Adequate notice of the meeting has been provided by posting written notice of the time, date, location, and to the extent known, the agenda of the meeting in Randolph Township. This notice was posted on the bulletin board within Town Hall, it was filed with the Township Clerk, and it was provided to those persons or entities requesting notification. Notice was also provided to the Randolph Reporter on January 18, 2013 by emailing them a special meetings notice. A special meeting notice which included this meeting date was advertised in the Randolph Reporter, the official newspaper of the Township of Randolph on January 24, 2013.

2. Roll Call

PRESENT:
Councilwoman Carey
Councilman Guadagno
Councilman Hirniak
Councilman Napoliello
Councilwoman Veech
Deputy Mayor Loveys
Mayor MacArthur

Also Present: Township Manager John Lovell, Finance Director Michael Soccio, and Department Heads Tom Spring, Ralph Carchia, and Mark Caputo.

3. Mayor MacArthur led the Pledge of Allegiance

B. MANAGER’S REPORT

1. 2013 Municipal Budget Presentation

Manager Lovell reported on the road overlay program and some of the work that was done after the previous budget discussions. There was much discussion about the road overlay program, specific roads in the Township, and the issue of bonding vs. cash.

Health Officer Mark Caputo gave a report on the Health Department budget which included the following:

  • Mine Hill and Rockaway Borough have each signed shared services agreements for 3 years.
  • He presented a broad overview of the Health Department and further explained the six Divisions: Administration, Inspections, Nursing, Animal Control, Solid Waste & Recycling, and Construction Codes.
  • Manager Lovell clarified that Mark is the Health Officer for Mine Hill, Roxbury, Rockaway Borough, and Randolph. Mark provides full service to Rockaway Borough; however, in Roxbury Mark only supervises their department, and in Mine Hill he supervises Roxbury doing the work in Mine Hill.

Director of Water & Sewer, Ralph Carchia gave a report on the Water & Sewer budget which included the following:

  • A very aggressive leak detection program was instituted last year and continues to be managed in 2013.
  • 98% to 99% of our water is accounted for.
  • An upgrade of the Water Master Plan is needed since the last one was completed approximately 12 years ago. This will provide the necessary guidance for future water and sewer projects. The first aspect of this, providing GIS mapping, has been awarded.
  • Older residential water meters will continue to be replaced throughout the year. The Department will begin replacing compound meters in all of the big buildings.
  • The Knightsbridge Pump station needs a significant upgrade in order to handle the additional flow from the improvement projects to Mt. Freedom; the capacity of the pump station needs to be increased.

Director of Public Works, Tom Spring, gave a report on the Department of Public Works budget which included the following:

  • His department takes care of the infrastructure of the Township with the exception of Water & Sewer.
  • Additional funds were included to clean the sediment chambers around the Shongum section as a piece of equipment will need to be rented since the County’s equipment which was borrowed in the past has become too old and deteriorated.
  • Much time last year was spent on the site work at the new Maintenance Facility as well as cleanup from super storm Sandy. The anticipated budget being much larger than expenditures from last year is due to trying to get back to a “regular” budget after the storms, purchase tools, and outfitting the new facility.

There was discussion about a company, Covanta, which buys branches, leaves, household garbage, and recyclables and creates energy by burning it. Since the Township pays for leaves to be removed, Tom Spring will follow up and contact Covanta for more information.

There was some discussion about the Library and the portion of the budget that supports the Library. Manager Lovell and Michael Soccio explained the relationship between the Township and the Library as well as the proposed budget.

At the Mayor’s request, Manager Lovell recapped what had been discussed at the previous budget meeting:

There are 3 documents to refer to:

  • Start with the Municipal Budget Book
  • The Municipal Budget Book is amended with Manager Lovell’s memorandum of February 19, 2013 which was discussed in the first budget session and the changes agreed upon to bring the budget into balance.
  • A second Memorandum from Manager Lovell, “Potential Budget Alternatives,” dated February 27, 2013, was discussed at the meeting on February 28th. The following was tentatively embraced: reduce the appropriations by $100,000 and place those funds in the Capital Improvement Program, increasing the Road Overlays program from $725,000 to $825,000; and make Quaker Church Road a stand-alone project within the Capital Improvement Road Program and if needed, fund it as a bond ordinance and if the $200,000 grant from NJDOT is received, it will offset the bond.

Manager Lovell stated that based upon the general consensus from the Council, he and Michael Soccio will prepare a revised Budget Book as soon as possible.

C. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Lee Whilden, 82 Radtke Road stated that Claire Knapp wrote a very nice article in the Randolph Reporter about John Lovell resigning. She also heard that Mike Soccio will be resigning as well and wanted the Council to know how John and Mike have benefitted Randolph as well as surrounding towns; Mrs. Whilden shared a couple of stories. She also stated that the League of Women Voters of Randolph has merged with the League of Women Voters of the Morristown Area and will be presenting a program against human trafficking.

Judith Stewart, 114 Everdale Road stated that it might be easier for the Council if there was a “program budget.” Mrs. Stewart explained a program budget and how it differs from the Municipal Budget. She also asked that at a future time the Manager explain how the Township derives income for the municipal roads, how the Township qualifies for grant money for the road program, and if more grant money can be accessed. Mrs. Stewart feels Randolph is fortunate to have the Council/Manager form of government and expressed that the right person needs to be hired as the next Township Manager.

D. COUNCIL COMMENTS

There were no Council comments.

E. EXECUTIVE SESSION

There was no Executive Session.

F. ADJOURNMENT

Councilman Guadagno made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 12:10 p.m. Councilwoman Veech seconded the motion, and the following roll call vote was taken:

AYES:
Councilwoman Carey
Councilman Guadagno
Councilman Hirniak
Councilman Napoliello
Councilwoman Veech
Deputy Mayor Loveys
Mayor MacArthur

NAYS: None

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