Councilwoman Grace Cangemi says residents should have warnings before nearby hydrants are flushed, resulting in discolored water flowing through taps.
Some highlights from last night’s bimonthly meeting of the Red Bank council:
TEACHERS OF THE YEAR: In addition to primary school teacher Pat Moss, who was spotlighted here yesterday, this year’s honorees were middle school third-grade teacher Stacy Curcio; third-grade teacher Matt Strippoli of the Red Bank Charter School, and social studies teacher (and Red Bank native) Steve Johnson of Red Bank Regional.
AUDIT: Independent auditor Dave Kaplan gave his annual assessment of the borough’s finances and record-keeping, both of which he finds in good shape, though with four “relatively minor” cautions, one of which centers on the timely approval of council minutes. (Until last night, the borough clerk’s office was more than a year behind in getting the minutes of meetings together; now, the most recent minutes approved are from the July 9, 2007 session.)
Kaplan noted also that tax collections last year slipped a tad, to 97.09 percent from 97.99 percent, which he attributed to economic conditions. “People are just a little slower in paying their taxes,” he said.
BOATS AND CARS: There was a discussion of a request regarding parking on Union Street from the Monmouth Boat Club. As is somewhat common at council meetings, the agenda gave no hint of what the boat club had asked for, and nobody on the council bothered to fill the audience in, but it seemed to involve the removal of or deactivation of parking meters.
Mayor Pasquale Menna said he had a fix in mind and was talking to boat club officials. “Just give me two weeks,” he said. “Maybe we can arrive at a solution that is fair without resorting to drastic measures.”
Separately, Councilman John Curley wanted to know why boats belonging to Irwin Marine are allowed to sit in the Marine Park parking lot for days at a time when motorists who use the lot are ticketed for overtime parking. Administrator Stanley Sickels said he was investigating a claim by Chan Irwin of a long-ago easement permitting the storage of boats, but so far, said Sickels, he couldn’t find any evidence of it.
“Well, if there’s no easement, let’s enforce the parking regulations,” said Menna.
HYDRANT FLUSHING: Councilwoman Grace Cangemi asked for better notification of residents when they’re to be affected by mandatory flushing of the hydrant system, which often results in discolored water flowing through home taps for some time afterward. “Certainly given our water rates, I think we need to address it,” she said. “It’s gone beyond being just a nuisance.”
Councilwoman Sharon Lee, liaison to the public works department, said she and department head Gary Watson were talking to the webmaster of the borough site about a system under which residents could sign up for email alerts about such events.
RECYCLING PLASTIC BAGS: A campaign by borough schoolkids to encourage trade-ins of plastic bags for reusable shopping bags kicks off today with a canvassing of Chestnut and Oakland streets by students from the charter school. The kids will be hanging doorknob tags with info about the program, under which RiverCenter is paying for the reusable bags. Trades can be made at Jazz in the Park events at Riverside Gardens Park on Thursday evenings in July.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING DESIGN: An ordinance creating a committee to advise the mayor and council on what borough-sponsored housing should look like was introduced, with a vote scheduled for June 9. The committee will consider design, exterior finishes, parking and traffic flow and recreation space concerns. Cangemi suggested that a member of the borough Environmental Commission be appointed to the body. Here’s the ordinance: Download 2008-11.pdf
AWNINGS: The council granted an easement for use of space above borough sidewalks on Broad and Mechanic streets to the owners of 25 Broad, home of Chelsea Home, where awnings and a fire escape have long been fixtures.
But a request by Buona Sera restaurant to install awnings on the Monmouth Street side of its building ran into some resistance. Resident Carl Colmorgen said the restaurant’s existing awning on Maple Avenue, with two support poles, makes the sidewalk there impassable. Allowing the same on Monmouth, with the crowds for the Count Basie Theatre coming and going, “It’s just not going to work,” he said
Councilman John Curley, who has previously expressed frustration over what he considers excessive accommodations made by the borough to Buona Sera, said he would oppose the measure, which is up for a vote June 9.
Here’s the Buona Sera ordinance: Download 2008-12.pdf. Here’s the one for 25 Broad: Download 2008-13.pdf
PROBIE: The council approved the hiring of Matthew Ehrenreich as a probationary police officer effective June 16. According to Councilman Art Murphy, Ehrenreich paid his own way through the police academy (most candidates are sponsored by particular towns) at a cost of about $30,000, and apparently made the most of it: he’s graduating second in his class, Murphy said.
TAX APPEALS: Some 31 homeowners in the Navesink Pointe development off Prospect Avenue, all using the same attorney, have filed tax appeals. So the borough authorized the hiring of appraiser Peter Sockler to provide his expertise.
The council also approved a tax appeal settlement with the owners of Les Gertrude apartments on Broad Street that will reduce collections by about $1,500 a year for 2007 and 2008, Menna said.
TRAFFIC LIGHT: A traffic signal that’s “been talked about for at least 10 years” may finally be installed at the intersection of Maple Avenue (Route 35) where it meets Water and White streets, says Sickels. The site has seen a lot of accidents, officials say, and is particularly dangerous as northbound motorists, racing to catch the green light at West Front Street, sometimes disregard crossing traffic or pedestrians.
The plan calls for the installation of a “pedestrian pushbutton and areas of presence detection.”
BEST LIQUORS: Leighton Avenue homeowner John Ross was the embodiment of exasperation as he criticized the pace of legal proceedings in the borough’s attempt to revoke the alcohol distribution license of Sunny Sharma’s establishment. At one point, there was a sharp exchange between Ross and borough attorney Tom Hall, who defended the borough’s performance in meeting court filing dates.
MAPLE AVE. LOT: A planned citizen cleanup of a riverfront lot owned by the borough, scheduled for Sunday, appears uncertain while Sickels looks into whether futzing around on the property, which has been used as an illegal dumping ground, might trigger concerns by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
I went to school with a Matt Ehrenreich. He was a great guy, and he's the new officer (and I assume it is), the borough has made an excellent choice. Thanks to him and to all Red Bank police officers for their service.
"Resident Carl Colmorgen said the restaurant's existing awning on Maple Avenue, with two support poles, makes the sidewalk there impassable"
i completely agree with mr. colmorgen. when my son was in a stroller i could not walk past buona seras on maple without having to navigate the tables and poles. and forget about walking by with my dog. when i walk in that direction i cross maple opposite oakland street, which doesn't have a crosswalk, to avoid buona sera's takeover of a PUBLIC sidewalk. one day, while walking past a table full of people with the waiter blocking our path, the people at the table were looking at us like we were intruding. my husband said "why don't you try putting the restaurant INSIDE the building", which just left them looking confused.
with their newly expanded restaurant, do they really need to have tables outside?? that should have been one of the requirements for their approvals, that they do away with the sidewalk tables.
on a positive note, i am very happy to see the nice workmanship that is going into buona seras. they did a great job with the lower level by putting up brick, which matches the main building, instead of the all too popular boring stucco.
About a week and a half ago we had two nights of beige water running out of our faucets, courtesy of Red Bank Water Company. I really do not appreciate that at all, especially because of the recent price increase. I do not know if the dirty water was the result of hydrant flushing, but if it was, it would have been excellent (and a bit reassuring) to know.
thats funny I dont even live in your town and I was made aware of the hydrant flushing on the FH mayors website.
I dont know why you guys had no idea it was going on, Us FH boys knew.
That's because Red Skank has a policy of non disclosure. Patricia Menna promised to improve the web site and to be more open when he was elected (by about 100 votes). Between Fitzgerald, Sickles and EnneMma nothing has changed. Thanks Grace you have my vote next time!
Just wanted to say thanks for the council rundown. For those of us who can't regularly attend the meetings, this kind of coverage is invaluable.
Red Bank residents can trade in plastic bags for a reusable shopping bag at the Jazz & Blues Fest on Saturday between 4:00 and 9:30 PM. Look for the Red Bank Environmental Commission table near the shuffle board courts.
The Borough Clerks Ofc is a year behind in getting the minutes of Boro Council meetings together - what are these people getting paid for? What does this mean for someone wanting to see what the Boro Council has been up to over the past year?
Is there a place to find out how much of our tax dollars go to these people i.e. salaries?
God forbid we implement some sort of –swoon– pay for performance!!
The water issue was just inexcusable. Also, this policy of "non-disclosure" (whether official or not) is downright criminal.
Try
http://php.app.com/NJpublicemployees/results.php?lastn=&firstn=&location=RED+BANK+BOROUGH&fullname=%25&Submit=Search
If that link doesn't work, go to
http://php.app.com/NJpublicemployees/search.php
And pick "Red Bank Borough" from the "Agency" drop-down list.
In the past, some of the info I've gotten from that site has been over a year old, but it will give you an idea of the salaries, anyway.
Wow…thanks Dan.
A little more research yields information about how unbelievable our state is. How can someone hold eight jobs and pull in $301,000 of taxpayer money? That's more than the Vice President of the US!! (Note this person isn't from Red Bank).
Is there any control as to how many positions someone can hold?
Why the hell should the Borough administrator get over $150,000? The minutes that are a year behind are the clerks responsibility, she gets 71K and cant get it done on time…….Holy cow! four in public works doing the same job $300,000 Are we sure that Corzine isn't managing Red Bank also
That site may overstate the individual income of some people. Municipal attorneys, for example, seem to be listed as receiving the total amount of their contracts as individuals, when in fact some of the work is done by others in their law firm (who then have to be paid out of the lawyer's fee). And they may sub out some of the work (I remember the Asbury Park Press criticizing John Bennett for subbing out some work at a rate lower than he was being paid by the town he was working for.)
That $301,000 is for a judge, so I don't imagine he can actually subcontract. I wouldn't be surprised if some of that money goes to people from his law firm to research case law for his decisions, but I don't really know how that works.
But let's assume that the $301,000 is all going into one person's pockets. If you work 40 hours/week, 50 weeks/year, that's 2,000 hours. So divide $301,000 by 2,000, and you've got $150/hour. Not out of line for a lawyer. Of course, we don't know if he works 2,000 hours per year, or 1,000 or 3,000. He says he's on call 24 hours/day, but I don't know how much effort that is, really.
It seems the judge is getting a pension contribution in addition to the $301,000, while most lawyers are just getting a straight hourly payment from their clients. But I don't know if the municipalities are covering Social Security, Workers Comp, health insurance and other fees. If not, the judge has to take those out of his $301k.
So it seems like it's not impossible for a judge to hold 8 jobs and really work hard and actually earn that $301,000. It sure looks like a sweet deal, but it may not be as outrageous as it looks at first glance.
As for multiple jobs, I think most municipalities can't keep a judge busy full-time, so it's not surprising that judges have multiple jobs. Eight seems like a lot, though.