Friday, October 9, 2015

September 9, 2015 Minutes

Regular Meeting of the Roxbury Mount Arlington Consolidation Study Commission
Roxbury Recreation Office
72 Eyland Avenue, Succasunna, NJ 07876
September 9, 2015     7pm – 10pm

MINUTES

1.      Call to Order
a.       Chairman Heard called the meeting to order at 7:04pm

2.      Pledge of Allegiance
a.       Chairman Heard led the commission in the pledge of allegiance

3.      NJ Open Public Meetings Law
a.       Secretary Rogers stated, “This meeting has been advertised and is being conducted in accordance with the provisions of the “Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act,” P.L. 1975, c. 231

4.      Roll Call
a.       The following were in attendance:  Maureen Castriotta, Jerry Frisco, Chris Raths, Vincent Reilly, Chris Rogers, Stephen Sadow, Laurel Whitney, Gene Paradiso, Craig Heard, Larry Millus, Fred Hall, George Haeuber, Roger Jinks
b.      The following were absent:  Paula Danchuk (arrived after the meeting for subcommittee meetings), Nancy Absalon and Anthony Fernandez

5.      Introduction of Elected Officials and/or Recognition of Their Representatives
a.       none

6.      Election and Installation of Officers, If Applicable
a.       none

7.      Introduction of Guest Speaker or Presentation, If Applicable
a.       none

8.      Public Comments on Agenda Items Only (Limited To 3 Minutes Per Person)
a.       none

9.      Secretary’s Report
a.       Correspondence
                                                  i.      Secretary Chris Rogers stated there was no correspondence
                                                ii.      2015-501     RESOLVED, that the Roxbury Mount Arlington Consolidation Study approves the minutes for August 12, 2015.  See attached
1.      Gene Paradiso made a motion to approve the minutes from August 12, 2015.  Jerry Frisco made the second.
2.      Chris Raths asked why Steve Sadow’s comments on spending 300K on the study were relevant. 
3.      Chris Rogers stated he was quoting Steve Sadow from a public meeting over a year ago.
4.      Maureen Castriotta - Abstain, Jerry Frisco - Y, Chris Raths - Y, Vincent Reilly - Y, Chris Rogers - Y, Stephen Sadow - Abstain, Laurel Whitney - Y, Gene Paradiso - Y, Craig Heard – Abstain     Motion passes

10.  Treasurer’s Report
a.       Bank Account Balance
                                                  i.      Gofundme page still hasn't had any activity since last meeting. Waiting for a Facebook or twitter page to promote and share it. In the meantime, please view and share: http://www.gofundme.com/municipal-study
                                                ii.      I will create a new income accounting category to include the funds raised from Courage to Connect NJ Video so we can track it separately.
                                              iii.      Bank balance = $5108.84 (unchanged from last two months)
                                              iv.      The following contribution(s) were received n/a
                                                v.      Expenditures:
1.      $11.44 from the Daily Record for 8/12 meeting notices
2.      Haven't received invoice for Roxbury Register meeting notice yet but it should be under $1 judging from past notices
                                              vi.      Reports available at any time
                                            vii.      Gofundme: 5% + 2.9% = 7.9% plus .30 per donation
b.      2015-502      RESOLVED, that the Roxbury Mount Arlington Consolidation Study approves the donations from August 13, 2015 to September 9, 2015.  See attached
c.       2015-503     RESOLVED, that the Roxbury Mount Arlington Consolidation Study approves the expenditures from August 13, 2015 to September 9, 2015.  See attached
                                                  i.      Chris Raths made a motion to approve the donations and expenditures from August 13th, 2015 to September 9th, 2015.  Jerry Frisco made the second.
                                                ii.      Maureen Castriotta stated that we should create a press release for the Go Fund Me Account
                                              iii.      Maureen Castriotta - Y, Jerry Frisco - Y, Chris Raths - Y, Vincent Reilly - Y, Chris Rogers - Y, Stephen Sadow – Y, Laurel Whitney - Y, Gene Paradiso - Y, Craig Heard – Y     Motion passes

11.  Chairman’s Report
a.       Chairman Heard stated that he sent the Courage to Connect Video to everyone to look at.  Please send him input so we can take action on it at the next meeting
b.      Chairman Heard stated that he would like to table taking action on approving Walter Luers as our attorney and work with the town representatives to secure the information that the commission requires.

12.  Committee Reports
a.       Bylaws Committee (ADHOC)
                                                  i.      Chairman Heard stated that he would like to disband the Bylaws committee
b.      Technology Committee (ADHOC)
                                                  i.      Chairman Heard stated that he would like to absorb the Technology committee in to the Data Collection committee
c.       Fundraising Committee (ADHOC)
                                                  i.      Chairman Heard stated that he would like to change the Fundraising committee to the Grants committee. 

13.  Resolutions
a.       none

14.  Old/Unfinished Business
a.       Insurance
                                                  i.      Larry Millus requested insurance information from his carrier.  He should have more information in the next two weeks

15.  New Business
a.       Sub Committee Meetings
1.      Chris Raths noted that he was not on the Police and Fire committee.
2.      Chairman Heard added Chris Raths to the Grant committee
3.      Chairman Heard stated that committees need to review their task and target timelines
4.      Chairman Heard stated that we as a commission need to have accurate and precise requests for information
5.      Laurel Whitney asked how long it would take to put a question out to referendum after the commission has made a recommendation?
6.      Steve Sadow stated the commission should check with the board of elections
7.      Fred Hall stated to check with the county clerk
8.      Chris Rogers asked George Haeuber if this was a DCA question?
9.      Gene Paradiso asked if the DCA had a review process?
10.  George Haeuber stated there was no review process.  The decision only had to be filed with the DCA
11.  Steve Sadow noted that Chairman Heard avoided using the word OPRA.  He stated that Mount Arlington will only fill requests of the commission to the letter of the law.  OPRA requests will be required.
12.  Steve Sadow asked if there would be go/no go points during the process
13.  Chairman Heard stated that he would like to see a June 2017 target date for a recommendation to be made
14.  Gene Paradiso stated that once a baseline and comparative data has been reviewed, the commission would be in a better position to find out if we should go further
15.  Chris Rogers stated that partial consolidation is a possibility.  Therefore, go / no go points may not be practical as this does not have to be an all or nothing recommendation
16.  Fred Hall asked if partial consolidation was in question
17.  George Haeuber stated that it was possible to recommend
18.  Gene Paradiso asked if everyone had a copy of the bylaws?
19.  Chris Rogers stated he would put them on the website prior to the next meeting
20.  Craig Heard stated he would like to get a monthly update from each chair going forward.  After the meeting, finance, education, data collection and shared services should meet.
21.  Maureen Castriotta asked if chairs could call meetings going forward?
22.  Craig Heard stated he would like chairs to do so.
                                                ii.      Data Collection – Craig Heard
1.      Craig Heard stated that the Data Collection committee would discuss the need for an attorney in committee
2.      Steve Sadow stated that OPRA is clear.  The clerk has a responsibility to acknowledge if documents exist.  He also cautioned committee members to be careful of what is written in emails.  He stated that a fleet inventory document does not exist.  A large town like Paterson may have one, but Mount Arlington does not.  OPRA does not require the town to create documents that do not exist
3.      Vincent Reilly stated that each committee should put together a list of what they need and give it to the data collection committee
4.      Larry Millus stated that there is a fixed list of assets
5.      Steve Sadow stated that the requestor should be on point as much as possible
6.      Chris Raths stated that each department would have a fixed asset list with their insurance submission
7.      Fred Hall stated that the requestor should be as direct and concise as possible.  Go to the clerks and ask best practices to make this as efficient as possible
8.      Gene Paradiso stated that he suggested a couple of meetings ago that the commission should meet with the clerks.  He is not looking to add to anyone’s workload
9.      Steve Sadow stated that the commission should meet with the clerks
10.  Craig Heard stated that all requests should be coming from the data collection committee.  He should be the contact person to make requests.
11.  Gene Paradiso stated that he would be the person if Craig Heard is not around
12.  Steve Sadow agreed that the requests should only come from one person
13.  Chris Raths stated that a system should be in place going forward
14.  Chris Rogers stated that he would be putting all old documents from previous meetings on the website so the public would not have to OPRA any documents from the commission
15.  Chairman Heard asked the agenda committee to meet every 4th Wednesday at 7pm
                                              iii.      Municipal Government – Laurel Whitney
                                              iv.      Education – Gene Paradiso
1.      Roger Jinks stated that there was no money at the DOE to fund the study.  He stated that preliminary documents could be reviewed by his office
2.      Craig Heard asked who we should lobby to get funding from the DOE?
3.      Roger Jinks stated that was not his role.
4.      George Haeuber stated that we should ask our state legislative leaders.
                                                v.      Finance/Administration – Jerry Frisco
                                              vi.      DPW / Utilities – Paula Danchuk
                                            vii.      Police/Fire/EMS – Larry Millus
                                          viii.      Personnel – Vincent Reilly
                                              ix.      Shared / Social Services – Fred Hall

16.  Public Comment
a.       none

17.  Adjournment

a.       Chairman Heard adjourned the meeting at 7:48pm

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