City of Brigantine 9/16 Council Meeting

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e
vening everybody please stand for flag
salute pledge
allegiance United States of America the
stands
indiv justice for
all please remain s
Sarah says the
prayer Heavenly Father we have all
gathered here this evening to watch over
our city let us realize and understand
the value that each person has to offer
in the decisions we make
tonight do not let our differences
Harden or embitter us but let them make
us patient so that we may broaden our
ideas and deepen our understandings of
the issues at hand amen amen please
Marine standing uh councilwoman view as
something new i' like to have a moment
of silence for Mrs Margaret Daniels
another one of our longtime matriarchs
that we have lost in the recent recently
Mrs Daniels had lived on the island
raised her sons her grandchildren here
she was predeceased by her husband John
or Tommy and her sons John and Jules and
she is survived by her son retired US US
Navy Captain James her daughters-in-law
Amy and Bonnie and her sister Loretta
and her Brigantine granddaughters
Jennifer Julianne as well as many other
grandchildren and great grandchildren
would You' like to have a moment of
silence
please thank you
as you might notice uh our mayor is not
with us tonight he had an engagement at
his school which he is a superintendent
of and he couldn't get out of it but he
was in executive session as long as
possible so uh don't get scared he'll be
back um we're coming out of the
executive session I would
like our City attorney Mr CER to go over
what we talked about in an executive
session uh in executive session uh the
mayor and city council uh discussed
certain issues touching upon the golf
course uh specifically there were
contract discussions uh relating to uh
the possibility of a new management uh
contract uh additionally there were
discussions about potential land
transfers uh which would result if
Council chose to uh
have a nonprofit uh operate the golf
course additional information will be
made available in these matters uh
within the next 30 to 60 days Council
also discussed uh professional service
contracts uh specifically engineering
contracts in regard to ongoing projects
uh the manager reported uh in terms of
discussions that would facilitate the
services that are currently being
provided no decision was made in regard
to this discussion additional
information will be made available in
this within the next 30 days uh
additionally Council received a
litigation report uh from my office in
regard to uh brigantine's filing uh in
Superior Court in regard to certain COA
issues it was reported that uh a a
conference was took place in court on
September 10 uh that the court
anticipates signing certain orders uh
dealing with scheduling and the status
of the matter uh by September
18 uh additionally uh my office reported
the status of a previously authorized
vacant land inventory uh and the
updating of the housing element uh
additional information will be made
available specifically in regard to the
court matters uh following the issuance
of an order on September
18 thank you Mr
Cy now Council will approve exec
executive session minutes from July 1st
July 18th and September 2nd
2015 any a motion to approve
so two of them
are second any
questions um the
minutes one set of minutes are the
executive session minutes the
9215 the July minutes are regular
council meeting
minutes okay can we make that corre
correction
Lynn I
will Mr
Cy she says um that's how it no that's
okay was just oh I'm sorry way you read
you read it they were all executive
minutes I just wanted to make that
correction that two July or regular
council meeting minutes thank
you well Lynn Lynn wrote him down wrong
for me so I blame Lynn
okay make that correction and anybody
else has
comments okay roll call ly VI yes clay
yes bardi uh yes on the um Regular
Council meetings abstain on the
executive
minutes duri yes Sarah yes Simpson
yes
okay need to approve the bill list and
payroll
expenses we need a a motion so moved
second any questions on the bill
list see
none Lynn can we have a roll call
please yes Simpson yes
we have public comment on agenda items
only anybody wants to come up and speak
please it to if you can so if anybody
wants to come up and speak on agenda
items only yes
ma'am yes yeah
no no okay and we'll have public
comments at the end then we have public
comment at the end that that
no it's just on the agenda items only
there's only two agenda items there's
only a couple things so we won't be that
long no no absolutely there there's two
public comment times now
yes
okay I'm going to close the public
comment okay we have a resolution
201521 real estate tax refund over
payment uh 4101 West
britin Avenue LLC Mr and Mrs
Weaver
um tax refund will be for
41756 for the LLC Mr and Mrs Weaver was
26927 anybody have questions on the tax
payment
refund seeing none can we have a roll
call I'll make the motion motion okay
second you yes M clay yes Mardi yes
delre yes Sarah yes Simpson yes motion
Carri next we have on here is
25202 appointing Jim Rella as min IAL
planner for sand post Sandy planning
Grant phase two um Mr Stinson would you
um do we need need a
motion I'll make that motion
second
okay we have a motion and a second so Mr
Stinson would you please explain Mr
rell's status in this yes thank you sir
um we have Jim mtell as our grant cons
consultant and this resolution appoints
Jim as our planner for post Sandy
planning grants and and really what
Jim's role is he helps us prepare the
RFP and manage the grant the RFP this
time for the phase two is for a master
plan review and a review of our zoning
ordinances and uh what this resolution
will do is allow Jim's fees that costs
for his work to prepare this RFP and and
help us through this process will be
able to be reimbursed through the
grant okay thank
you Council have any questions uh just
to remind everybody he's done us a great
job and great service so far and there's
no reason to doubt that that will not
continue so we should move
forward and since I've been on Council
he's been outstanding and we hired him
from day one and he's been fantastic
especially with the Sandy Relief and
everything else
so he does a very good job for us he he
does guide us uh in this postand grant
program and again this this will allow
his fees to be reimbursed through the
grant so it would be zero cost to to the
city okay any other
questions Lynn can we have a roll call
please you yes mlay yes Mardi yes duri
yes Sarah yes Simpson yes motion
Carri
okay next we have manager Council
committee
discussions um list tonight is updating
on
2014 Paving
projects
Ed thank you so we have we have a couple
projects that are about to start the
2014 Paving project if you remember we
we awarded that right before the summer
uh and then in a meeting with the
contractor decided that it would be best
um to hold off the construction till
after the summer there was a
preconstruction meeting that occurred
last week and the contractors looking
mobilize on Monday weather permitting so
that that project you'll see U getting
started next week and it'll be about a
two-month project it's if you recall it
is bore
Avenue uh from 26th Street to 15th
Street uh then there
are many locations throughout the island
so these these locations include the
Sandy related damages so out on Harbor
Beach
Court um there's the the country club
there's repairs on Brigantine Boulevard
there's repairs on bashore Avenue at 38
Street that intersection that has the
the manhole that's sticking up that that
everybody bottoms out on now so right uh
I can give you a list if you'd like but
it's it's all over the island the main
the main portion the main location is is
the Bay Shore Avenue stretch from 26 to
15 it seems like we're going to having a
lot of road construction from now to
next uh Memorial Day that that that
except for the winter because we also
awarded the 200 block of 18 of 8th
Street South yeah that's terrible and
and that I spoke with the contractor two
days ago and and he's looking to have a
preconstruction meeting next week so
that's going to be gearing up as well
I'll report more on that at the next
council meeting the other item that I'd
like to to bring Council up to date is
the demolition project you may recall
Council awarded a contract for the
demolition of seven unsafe structures uh
all the structures have been demolished
uh the contract has not been closed out
yet but um the structures are down the
lots for the most part are graded um
there may be one lot left that still has
some uh minor work to be done but that
project uh is also nearing
completion what I am told from our tax
collector the uh the cost of each site
the cost of the demolition of each site
will be placed as a lean on the property
and um that that sale will go in March
so we will will reimburse this cost
through the tax sale tax lean sale uh by
next March so we would look
at more than likely preparing another
list and bringing back another bid to
council to remove any remaining unsafe
structures so that that is coming as
well um the uh the last item that I put
on the list is an update on the
streetcap project and um
we we held a
meeting last week with the many of the
central business district Property
Owners about 12 to 14 came out to the
meeting uh first I'd like to apologize
to Vince and Lisa who were on this
steering committee because we
rescheduled the meeting uh I had a mix
up with Jim Rella and who was going to
be notifying everyone uh Jim notified
the business owner ERS uh but not the
the the members of council that were on
that initial meeting so um it was it was
my mistake and I apologize but the
meeting went very well we had a meeting
with many of the businesses and it was
an opportunity for the business owners
to meet the Consultants the engineer and
the architect who will be doing the work
and likewise it was an opportunity for
the architect and the engineer to meet
the business owners and and hear their
ideas and and as importantly hear their
concerns uh for the project and and the
meeting went very well after the meeting
after lunch the architect the engineer
and myself walked the project in its
entirety from one side all the way up
and then back on the other side many of
the business owners came out to speak
with us while we were walking by and it
was a good opportunity for all of us to
U really
visualize the the comments the concerns
that came up during the meeting but also
to see the project so uh I thought the
meeting was was very very productive uh
what's next is the the architect and
engineer will produce um better base
maps and conceptual plans and we will
meet again in about a month and I
promise you that that I will make sure
that you are aware of when that meeting
is scheduled it has not been scheduled
yet uh we're letting the architect and
engineer get their work together and
give us a date when they'll have um a
product to present but it was it was a
very productive meeting and um certainly
by the architect and the engineers
account uh it was it was a very
successful meeting and um and we're
excited about moving forward so I'll
keep you up to date on that as the next
meeting is scheduled and Ed I have a
question about the demolition of the
unsafe structures uh on 12th Street
North in the bay
uh was that that home was part of that
that's correct um right now the
bulkheads actually open is the city
going to repair that or is that could to
be the next property owner so right now
the homeowner or the the property owner
is being notify that they have an unsafe
bulkhead a non-compliant bulkhead and
they need to take action on that
um if the city were to do something it
would be across the right of way which
would render that portion of the
property I I would assume unusable right
um so we're not at that point we're
going to take the the first step but if
if we went ahead and and the person let
allowed us to tear down their house and
put a lean against their property once
the likelihood of them coming back and
putting a bulkhead in unlikely but I
think they they were trying
to I don't know how much I want to get
into I know there was some issues with
the D okay that they were trying to work
their way through we actually
extended the demolition hearings to give
them time I think 60 days so that they
could get through the de
um then I believe they um changed
attorneys and then that was the end of
the U dialogue between us and them yeah
we want to make sure that that unsafe
bulkhead area especially if we get some
storms that's right I don't care how
good bulkhead all the way up you have a
hole in the bulkhead good so what what I
know what Public Works has done and what
what we will continue to do is is
provide a burm in the right of way
adjacent to that property that that
gives us some protection but obviously
it's not it's a good idea it's not the
best thank you what's happening with the
library steps the fence is up it's down
it's open it's closed they look to be
complete but so that today we're going
to have a celebration right today I
thank you for reminding me I I meant to
actually have that up as well uh today
they were installing the
railings uh so they will have final
inspection they they called to the
Construction office for final inspection
uh I'm sure we can facilitate that to
happen very quickly once once that's
passed then the fence will be removed I
think the rail's up the the rail was was
up today yes it's just not inspected yet
right okay thank you you're welcome I
have one committee report if had done
okay the beach committee met last night
we had a typically good turnout uh met
for a couple hours there were four items
that the committee is
supporting uh or recommending to council
for further action I'll circulate an
email tomorrow or Friday with more
details the the real short version of
the four items that the beach commit is
recommending the first is uh the
committee is supporting the creation or
at least exploring the creation of a new
guarded Beach at approximately uh pepper
Cove Lane along Ocean Drive West which
would be adjacent to the jetty it would
be the first and at least initially only
guarded Beach on that stretch of what we
call the Cove Beach um the rationale for
that very briefly is that um people do
swim there despite the signage against
it and despite the inherent risks and
the complications from the many
different types of uses that happen on
that stretch uh it's felt among other
things that establishes a guarded Beach
there would dramatically improve
response time to the calls that happen
and there were we were told a number of
calls this past season in the Cove area
plus probably other items that didn't
result in calls but you know which the
lifeguards on the uh on the scene if
this goes forward we'll be able to
respond to much more
quickly uh so the recommendation on that
will be for Council to uh discuss it I
don't think it's something that would
require any formal action in terms of
resolutions or ordinances
but would probably require us directing
uh various professionals to you know
undertake investigations and a report
back to us on the feasibility cost and
proposals how to do it the second thing
the committee supports switching the two
call them kiosks that are presently at
the entry points to the four-wheel drive
beaches you have the one at the end of
Harbor Beach Boulevard actually lagon
Boulevard and the other one on the
seaside and um it's felt that they're
probably past their useful life they're
not particularly attractive and that we
could at a reasonable cost and it could
come right from the public works budget
wouldn't be a
problem uh for a reasonable cost we
could probably come up with a a much
more attractive alternative there more
welcoming to people coming on the beach
and in conjunction with that to um
perhaps improve the signage
to four-wheel drive users who are
entering the beach at those points and
we we have signs there now but they're
they're kind of wordy and not that
legible and probably largely ignored and
similarly the handouts that we give to
the four-wheel drive uh users are nice
they have a very nice map on them but
they're also wory and probably don't
accomplish the the target goal of
educating people very quickly about what
is expected of them as a user four-wheel
drive user of the beach uh so Beach
committee is also recommending that we
look at something it's a little more uh
maybe basic and user friendly to
communicate to people uh kind of the
rules of the road that we expect them to
follow when they're on the four-wheel
drive Beach the third item is support
for this one would if Council wants to
go forward with it at some point this
would require a change to the code uh to
change the city code with respect to the
ability which you currently can do uh to
bring jet skis down onto the beach along
the Cove Beach right now if you have a
permit and perhaps if you're bold and
don't have a permit but if you have a
permit you um can bring your jet ski
down to the beach and some number of
people do take advantage of that trailer
them down or bring them down in trucks
or in some other fashion uh it was SP on
balance that the
benefit to the public at large is
probably pretty minimal from allowing
that and it does add an element of
complication
and you know
additional activity uh that is not
really compatible with the other uses on
the beach particularly when it's such a
popular Beach and is already so crowded
uh so the recommendation that on that is
to um have Council consider changing our
code to prohibit that what that would
mean uh I believe and Ed you can fill me
in on this but I think uh the consensus
was that would mean that jet ski users
could of course still launch from any
private or private place and the public
launching would be available through the
OR at the boat ramp down at 6th
Street uh finally the committee supports
a program that John doring may be able
to describe in a little more detail to
improve and extend the beach paths uh
the Improvement part would come
in well in sequence and in a couple
different forms we would be be adding
gravel to a certain portion probably the
street most Street word portion of our
beach paths and then extending the the
path area using our existing mats and a
new type of matting um and again this
would take a little time to phase in but
the net result would be that you would
have much easier should have much easier
access at each of our beach paths that
would take you further onto the beach
whereas now you know
the unexpected um result or side result
of the beach Improvement projects we've
done in the fact our beaches are growing
is that our beaches are growing and it's
becoming kind of a long walk at a lot of
the beaches through some very thick soft
sand for people to get down there this
won't completely alleviate that but it
will extend the easily traveled portion
of the path further onto that section of
each um John if you want to add anything
to that that was thank you
CH and that was it before we move on
just a couple things I'd like to bring
up
um I think um John doring Ed sson and
the mayor received a copy of this letter
that I received from a resident on Beach
Avenue regarding dogs on the North End
Beach I
mean in the seaw wall area where owner
owners are not cleaning up after their
dogs and I wanted to know did you get a
chance to read this letter or respond to
the concerned property owner so we did
read it and I forward it to the police
department asked them to to
reconcentrate um Patrols in that area
and focus on on dogs that shouldn't be
on the beach okay um so yes whether
whether we responded to be honest with
you I I I I try to respond to every
email okay well I will I will try to out
to this um property owner and let them
know that you forwarded a letter over to
the police department and they're going
to keep an eye out for that because no
dogs are permitted on regular Beach up
until September 30th is that the okay
okay so that was one thing I wanted to
bring up the other thing was another
letter I received from a resident and I
believe you also got a copy of it or I
got a copy of your letter um about
parking on 12th Street
South
um it says that police sha fre
Lieutenant Bennett super Public Works um
would talk about different concerns
about parking on 12 Street South did you
get a copy of that letter so we we did
this goes back a little bit and this is
September 10th we've had conversation
it's a business that's asking for I
believe 2hour limit parking correct um
so we we have talked about it yes
there's there's been some work that
we've done but what we have talked about
in terms of a overall goal uh is that we
we'll be coming to council with u some
idea on General
parking I'm going to try to lump all
these
parking questions and ideas into one
meeting one presentation to council uh
so we can get some Direction so okay so
we did we did address to some extent we
did address that letter okay I just want
to be sure since I got a copy of the
letter I want to be sure that last email
that was sent from the resident of
Galloway I was not on that email so I
just want to make sure that the ones I
do get that I follow through with what's
the and you can always
you want park in front of the doctor's
office I think 12 Street
s 2our parking sign limit signs there
now right I'm pretty
sure oh um one other thing um the
demolition of unsafe structures now
there are a lot of abandoned properties
too and it's starting to increase I
think throughout the county um could I
know for a fact that 1101 Jenkins
Parkway has been abandoned for over four
years and no one has been in it since
Sandy and you know the property I'm
talking about there and the homes around
that area the property owners really
take very good care of their property
you know they invest money in their
properties and we have this one
structure there that has been completely
abandoned for four years what can we do
about it I mean I think the bank or
whoever owns At Last I looked it was a
bank or a financial financial
institution but they're not maintaining
the property and if you look look inside
the property I I look through the
windows just to see you have ceilings
falling down you have insulation there's
mold um what could we do about that
unsafe structure because that's also
unsafe so so let's try to
separate uh abandoned properties from
unsafe structures so there are certain
criteria that need to be met for an
unsafe structure which takes us down
that demolition route uh the
construction official is is the
authority to make that determination I
will share that I believe that property
that you're discussing is on his what he
calls the be list for you know the next
round of demolition uh but initially so
go back four years or however many years
you said it has been abandoned uh it was
not his deter it was his determination
that it was not an unsafe structure at
that moment so again there's criteria
that he must find that takes it
into the category of unsafe structures
and that's per the UCC code and and he
does that and he has he has a list that
he is um following up on many properties
and when I say many properties it's it's
in better than 50 properties that are on
his watch list uh so he is keeping an
eye on it but again it doesn't go to
unsafe structure simply because it's
abandoned okay so here we get get a
chance to go inside or can he access the
inside of the building he um he he does
what he needs to do to make sure that
that he gives it a fair
evaluation and and makes the
determination you know when he can so
he's watching it and but again I believe
that property is on the list okay on his
b list is there any way that we should
consider or that maybe other
municipalities have of folding in these
Z properties into unsafe structures
there was a work somewhere we can move
quicker or make it a little more zombie
properties as you probably aware of
people just banded them and left yeah
there was a workshop out at the Canali
center today I saw in the press this
morning okay on how to deal with with
these zombie properties all over the
county right so I did see that headline
I I I'll get with the construction
official um and I'll talk with Fred
we'll make sure that
as quickly as is permissible that we
move on properties or at least put them
to the list of of unsafe structures okay
and one other thing I I know I talked to
you about it about recording and posting
Council meetings um on our website or at
least having a link to the archives of
our Council meetings and I I wanted to
find out who records the meetings and
who posts them and how can we get them
up to
date so um Lieutenant Bennett has been
the body the person responsible for
recording and posting the council
meetings onto the web uh he told me
after you asked I asked Jim to or I
actually looked into it because to be
honest with you I didn't know it was
being done and therefore I didn't know
who was the person doing it uh but we
found out it is Lieutenant Bennett he's
been doing it for a little over a year
uh Jennifer Blumenthal had asked him to
do it last year at some point uh he told
me that he had some uh mechanical and
internet issues with the system um and
that he's working it out I think there
is actually some problem even today some
remnant problem but uh in his letter he
tells me that um it it is he thought it
was worked out and that today's uh
council meeting would be recorded and
posted to the web uh but the last month
or months that were not posted they were
not recorded and will not be posted to
the web okay and when he does post it
just says like two months ago three
months ago four months ago could he
please put the date of the council
meeting so I asked him to look into that
because that that's how as as I showed
you in my office many of the meetings
last year were posted same way so he
said he would look into how he can label
them with a date so okay Jim's a very
creative and an intelligent person I'm
sure if there's a way he'll figure that
out all right but we do have recordings
of the meetings audio record correct we
we have lind's recordings
okay okay anybody else I do yeah I have
a request okay um and I talked about
this before but I guess at the seaw wall
there's three handicapped parking spots
and I had a request that if we could
repaint the curbs blue that would go a
long way John and I are going to take a
look at that either tomorrow or Friday
and whatever needs to be done will be
done all right perfect thank you I have
one other quick question um and this
might be for John John it in the public
parks like at the ball fields and
everything are there signs posted for no
no
smoking
okay
signs all city property all right out
front of City Hall allall Parks um
football field I was down football field
and there was several quite a few people
smoking in the area Okay um that was
council's right that we just passed that
right um if they see
it okay it's against ordinance all right
thank
you okay anybody else from
Council see none we're going to close
the manager Council discussion
and we're going to move into public
comment anybody from the public like to
speak on anything that uh I guess is
good for Brigantine or good for theel
please uh come up to the microphone
state your name and address and try to
keep it to five
minutes start the time now ly um I'm
Janice s you need the address yes 4 63
West Shore
Drive I'm Grace ker 125 45th Street
South
okay grace is going to read a letter we
have ation in circulation two weeks
Janice Janice just come closer to the
microphone I'm sorry so everybody at
home and we have copies for all of you
uh we'd like to read this so it's in the
public record and then I will I'll give
you all copies and Mr ston be like okay
great okay this is just the background
of the dog park the dog park on the 42nd
Street complex has been enjoyed daily by
residents and visitors both of Vis
Brigantine their shade some benches a
water hose for water it's very
basic am I going too fast yes usage
increases during the summer months every
year there's someone who uses every year
every day during the year there's
someone at the park it could be early in
the the morning it be in the afternoon
there are regulars
and many are senior citizens who
appreciate a place to bring their dogs
for exercise and
socialization the dog park was
constructed and full of funds donated by
a private citizen the city did not
contribute funds for this Park Memorial
bricks at $100 were advertised as
fundraisers initially and installed at
the entrance the city of Brigantine
collects an annual fee from people who
wish to use the Park's electronic
entrances to enter the park proof of
rabies is required dogs are not admitted
that are aggressive and owners must
supervise their dogs at all time the
only cost to the city of Brigantine is
the cost of
mowing the grass once a week by the
public works department connecting and
disconnecting the water supply and
emptying and refilling two waste
disposals in the park the current
situation normal wear and tear of a dog
poket to be expected this is normally
used by dogs and people much of the
grass is worn the ground is uneven and
it floods quickly there are some raised
tree stumps that were never removed
although it's discouraged dogs sometimes
dig holes but there are no tools
available to correct the
situation the action and support
requested the city was able to allocate
funds to build help build shark park the
dog park request funds to be allocated
to make some permanent improvements to
the dog park we have suggested two
possible solutions to this one is
temporary the other is
permanent uh on a permanent
basis which may be a long-term plan
request professional competitive quotes
to install permanent dog park astro turf
or other acceptable dog park surfacing
this is sanitary and cannot be destroyed
by the dogs it comes with a warranty of
10 years it is used for many cities it
looks great we have attachments and
photographs to show you we want the cost
to be presented at the annual budget
hearing uncovered by the city using any
grants or loans available if there are
any sanding funds available this would
not be a very high expense and would
help the public works department save
man hours the alternative allocate an
expense to regrade the do Park to
improve the drainage during storms
remove the old stumps and recede the
grass annually which would just be
maintenance okay and that's
it
please it includes the second part is
the uh petition signatures we have 44
signatures in two kind of Rush this of
planning
season thank you J you're
welcome thank
you John how difficult it would be
to I guess you know the problems down
there with the grading and everything
yes we um plan on doing some we did some
grading down there
um last week um in October we plan on
closing the park and putting some soil
in and reeding it um with that I spoke
to Janice earlier tonight um it should
be closed
for quite a few months um till the new
Seas is have established right so it is
we're waiting till the end of September
so at least they'll be able to walk the
do on the beach so it's a lot of place
to go when I heard about the problem I
went down there uh just to see and I
guess it is just when it rains certain
areas because it's not completely level
certain areas puddle which makes it very
muddy and the grass gets torn out and it
just turns into a Mucky mess I don't
know that all
the the reason for it being on level I
don't know if it's all because of the
dog dogs I don't know but um it is very
unsafe to walk walk on and I could see
how anybody can twist their ankle and
fall it's that bumpy the terrain I had
to go see it for myself there is one
stump that I did recognize I don't know
how that could come out but that's
rather High that's a definitely a
Tripper and dangerous to any senior or
anybody in the park as far as the pool
where they dump that's not causing a lot
of the mud and puddles because I saw
where that is that's further down yeah
but definitely if that could be graded
somehow um just to make it safe fill it
in grow some Gra grass is seed the only
option as far as getting grass to grow
quicker whatever what is that type of
grass that work does really well you
mean I have I have experience with it
because I had my backyard this Jim Crane
do my backyard I put a foot I raised my
backyard a foot because it had sunk from
Sandy damage and um my uh lawn person
got this like f grass came up
beautifully and the dogs love it they
they graze on this stuff um but on
whatever grass you use on the ballparks
I think would be the same but I I
brought Jim over there to take a look at
this to get an idea of how much grading
and dirt we would need top soil I'm
talking and he said two dump trucks
worth in order to make because it's the
center of the dog park from the traffic
from of the dogs you know you're talking
eight to 10 dogs
summer uh running and people going back
towards the pools and or to pick up poop
or whatever has caused the park actually
had is like a Valley now and so it's
like a sliping slide after a rain a lot
of us won't go there for two days after
a r it's just really it's unusable dogs
are filthy muddy and it's dangerous to
walk on so uh I think with the with
public works good work they and a couple
of dump trucks of dirt uh whatever seed
you normally
use what I see is just raising up the um
and checking the um sprinkler heads uh
they could do the large dog park is the
park that's damaged the small dog park
nobody uses so it's pristine at this
moment so we could move into that
because there are a lot less dogs in the
winter right a lot of us will go to the
beach and there's just fewer people and
I think that rather than close the whole
par because there are some people who
really can't walk on the beach right
they need that the benches and and all
to let their dogs run around so we could
move over to the dog small dog area just
lock down you know the swipe card that
can however he wants to do it put a big
chain or something on it and let that
grass have time to come in okay and
fertilize thank you very much I also oh
let me give you these estim
from someone who does art of dog is
called Dog Turf because it doesn't have
any of that that's Turf right um right
and I'll give you the photographs of
this stuff it's
beautiful this is the research we did
and this is what it can look like oh
okay I mean this could look really
beautiful and be a real asset to the
city as it is now it it looks terrible I
we have a lot of wealthy summer people
does John have that I mean why don't you
give that to John he would be the he's
the expert on dog Turf the dog park does
generate Revenue it brings in revenue
from its membership fees so um I think
the yearly maintenance shouldn't be any
expense at all to the city or minimal at
that um we all feel so desperate about
this that we're will to have the fees
raised that's how strongly I mean in
let right 44 signatures it was easy
right and I can't I can't reach
everybody you know because I only go in
the morning so uh we really need
something done I I appreciate your
consideration thank you thank you thank
you so John if you if you need anything
if you need some truckloads of dirt you
know I can get you to some truckloads of
dirt I'm I'm willing to do that for the
dog park and everything you want to
grade it out and have them move into the
other one if you know the little one if
that's possible you know you if you can
if you can supply the labor I'll Supply
materials how's that take you that thank
you
okay thank
you okay anybody else from the
public okay thank you thank you very
much thank you Mrs Phillips
an H Phillips 308 27th Street speaking
for the bringing taxpayers Association
on two topics and I ask that you as
respond to the comments after I finish
my five minutes thank you number
one it's important that all Brigantine
taxpayers know what their government is
doing and one means of doing this is to
watch their government in action at
Council meetings other than at the time
of the meeting this was possible at no
cost to the taxpayers now this access to
Internet coverage of the meetings is no
longer available this needs to be and
must be resumed why was it
discontinued two our second topic is the
council approved 3 to2 vote of the new
Police contract approved with a
deplorable and planned lack of
information and discussion for and with
the public please take notes of these
references to the contract I'm going to
give page numbers as well as uh the
information on that page page 25 it says
quote beginning January 1st 2015 the
annual base salaries are to be paid for
the following employees covered by this
agreement unquote steps and salaries are
listed immediately above on the page are
the steps and salaries for 2013 and 14
which are higher than those in 2015 and
16 question are there paybacks of the
salaries paid since January the 1st 2015
that are more than those effective in
2015 page
26d base salary in the new contract now
includes holiday pay education stiens
and long longevity these amounts will
increase the amount eligible for
pensions a system already in Dire
Straits thus affecting and increasing
the tax money me must pay the city must
pay the taxpayers must pay to the state
also what defines a base salary by state
law how much can you put in it page
28 longevity is not Frozen as so often
is so often
proclaimed yes it's good news hires
won't new hires won't receive it but it
continues to accumulate what has been
earned remains and grow by a fixed
amount instead of a percentage which for
those with at least 11 years of
employment amounts to a nice extra
paycheck up to
$9,300 as of last September's employee
salary list taxpayers paid for that year
almost
$400,000 or $1 million of with
three-year period just for longevity
it's a bad outdated expensive practice
for just being in the job and I might
add it was a golden opportunity during
these contract negotiations to just um
remove it as much as legally possible
that wasn't done page 35 sick leave
continues to accumulate it should not
the private sector doesn't allow it page
38 this connects to page 35 which is an
unnecessary burden on the taxpayers
quote existing employees hired prior to
May 2nd 2010 which is the date of the
state statute governing this will have
terminal leave capped at the grader of
$50,000 or the dollar value of each
employees ACR SI time as of the 1st of
January 2015 so that means an employee
will get at least $50,000 for unused
sick time and why is the effective date
January 1st 2015 when this agreement is
effective as is January 1st 2013 since
the previous contract expired at the end
of
2012 page 38 terminal leave shall be
paid at the employees annual rate of pay
at the beginning of the terminal leave
period which is his or her highest pay
that's something to be
considered page 60 under the health plan
I I'm assuming this is a state law but
it isn't clear what is chapter
78 G please give evidence please give
evidence for the statement that this
contract will save
$245,000 per new employee plus $122,000
per new employee over the 15-year
period H what is the cost to the city of
health benefits and pension
contributions for the years of this
contract and I what is being planned to
deal with what's coming down the road
which is called the Cadillac tax
regarding health
benefits I realize I think I got that in
with my five my five minutes very
good it's a long list but I think these
are crucial
issues yes the contract was passed
however you all are accountable for and
it reminds me of Obamacare you have to
know what's in it to read it after it
was approved well it's how the public
learned about it and these are questions
questions which have come to our
attention and which we think raise some
questions that need to be asked after
all this contract I believe will be
renewed or reviewed again beginning in
2016 and you're going to go through it
you also have a fire contract so these
questions I think need to have some
discussion among council members and
information to the public thank you
thank you Mrs
Phillips anybody else from the
public interest you have to say the next
council meeting you don't have time well
you you we don't have the contract in
front of us you said page this page that
I mean Mr Stinson if you want to comment
on any of these uh um
allegations so I I'll ask Miss Phillips
if she would uh to email me that list so
that I can read it and have the proper
time to uh give her an answer I will say
with respect to her first comment about
the televising of the meetings I did
address with I think Council woman mlay
brought it up we had uh some equipment
problem we just talked about that right
so uh it is it was not an
intentional um stoppage of of posting
the the meetings uh we had equipment
problems and internet problems and uh
they are being worked on and and will be
corrected and the meetings will be
posted as soon as they're corrected
hopefully even tonight with respect to
the contract excuse me on that there's
two different things one is the posting
and the other is the direct real- time
access are they wrapped up together so
they are there as I understand it so I'm
sketchy on this Lieutenant Bennett did
explain it to me but there's a a piece
of equipment that is added on to in this
live stream that does the recording and
does the uploading to the the web or to
the YouTu YouTube channel so there was a
problem with the internet connection and
there was also a problem with that piece
of equipment
with respect to the PBA contract um as I
said if Miss Phillips sends me the an
email with the questions I'll I'll be
able to provide a more thorough answer
but I will
remind uh Miss Phillips Council and the
public that that this is a
negotiation process that uh we did
discuss the longevity and and
eliminating the
longevity and that was was not
successful in the negotiation
um so as much as we all agree that that
we would like to have longevity out uh
it was my recommendation based on our
auditor and our bond Council that the
items that we were successful in
obtaining in this negotiation far
outweighed the I'll call it a detriment
of allowing longevity to continue so the
success of EX tripling the salary guide
the success of eliminating longevity for
new hires even the capping of the
terminal
payouts they are improvements and and uh
they they were at least based on the
recommendations of our professionals
significant improvements that we are
unlikely to realize in the arbitration
process so we took the negotiations as
far as we could uh with the primary goal
of extending the salary guide which we
were successful doing with another
primary goal of eliminating longevity
for new hires which we were successful
in doing and there were several other
successes that we had we were
unsuccessful in eliminating longevity I
will admit that uh
however the option was at this
point take that contract with those
successes that our professionals are
saying you will it's unlikely you will
see in
arbitration or take our chance roll the
dice and go to arbitration and pay an
attorney you know the money to take it
to arbitration and stand the risk that
the arbitrator may not give you the
tripling of the salary guide which we
all know I mean all the all the
contracts all the arbitration rulings
are on the perk website we see them the
PBA sees them the fire department
everybody sees those so you see what the
general um awards are and I can tell you
that there were no awards that tripled
the salary guyses there were awards that
extended to salary guides but nothing
near tripling so given that the
recommendation that that's the primary
goal we were successful in doing it
that's that's where that's where it went
um but like I said if I I don't want to
address the questions because I was
writing Mrs Phillips was reading quickly
I don't have the contract in front of me
but if she emails it to to me I will do
my best to provide the answers you get
that Mrs Phillips okay thank you I'd
like to just take a few minutes and
respond to Mrs Phillips I know you
mentioned chapter 78 that you didn't
know what that was it is a state statute
that was passed in 2010 and there's a
lot of things in chapter 78 one is that
all acred time cannot exceed
$155,000 that and the premium sharing in
health insurance that's also included in
the chapter 78 so uh does that answer
your question on that um you you know
how I voted you know what my position
was on longevity and I know it's hard to
uh to end longevity but um I was hoping
that we could do a little better job and
maybe freeze it um I know that in the
newspaper in several articles it says
that for current employees longevity has
been frozen but yes it was frozen at a
fixed dollar amount but it still has
those incremental increases so um that
was one thing that that um that I had
hoped we could have done better on but
unfortunately you know it is what it is
and it is better this contract but
hopefully in the next contract uh we can
work on actually freezing longe
longevity for current employees because
I believe that's what the trend is out
there uh I'd also like to just make a
comment about the Cadillac tax
um a lot of people are just crossing
their fingers and seeing how the general
election goes next year and if there's
going to be a promise to do away with it
okay there are only two things can
happen with the Cadillac tax either the
the health benefits that we offer will
be
trimmed substantially so that they are
not Cadillac plans or the city will end
up paying the tax
that's the only two choices are so far I
don't think it's particularly wise that
we would wait to see how the general
election goes because anybody can
promise anything during a campaign
whether congress with all its
maneuvering
and things that Congress does would come
up to that score or even then go to the
Supreme Court as happened before uh
remains to be seen but there were only
two things that can happen with it and
it
to it only comes back to the tax
taxpayer if we're not successful or if
if we continue to offer the the degree
of coverage that we do now if it if it
uh if we change the health plans to be
more standard with the general
population then we will not be subject
to the Cadillac
tax and I touch on the two points that
Mrs fils made um first with respect to
the the meetings and their availability
online
uh I you know I accept what I'm hearing
about mechanical and other issues but
it's a little disturbing that it took so
long for this issue to be identified to
you as the manager and that apparently
it took an inquiry from councilwoman
clay to even bring this to light when it
sounds like for many months these
meetings have not been available through
YouTube or through the mechanism that
they had been in the past uh so I trust
uh Ed that you'll stay on top of that
and related to that do we have or I
think we do have a consultant that does
some website related Workforce don't
we yeah we do we have the sjta that
manages our website correct does does
any part of that contract and if you
don't know it's okay we can revisit at
the next meeting but if you know does
any part of that contract involve
responsibility for posting items such as
uh it would be I guess a link to the
YouTube coverage of our
meetings so my understanding is we send
them what we want posted and what uh we
want removed and they take that action
with respect to the video as I
understand it and again it's just it's
from Lieutenant Bennett and and I will
yield to Tim if you have more
information but uh we through through
Lieutenant Bennett WE Post
the videos to the YouTube channel that
was created the Brigantine YouTube
channel and we have a link on our
website that takes um takes people to
that YouTube channel so uh the the sjta
has as I understand it nothing to do
with the uploading of that video so
there there's a a component that was
added in line to the live stream that
does the recording and does the
facilitates the uploading how much
involvement Lieutenant Bennett has I'm
not exactly sure but I do have the
letter as I said that you know we had
some problems with that piece of
equipment and with the internet
connection there so but he was working
on it and it'll be
fixed if you have something you want to
add to that two different uh two
different things you have the website
and you have the videos two they're
totally different um okay so like
tonight tonight there's a problem the
problem is if if Lieutenant Bennett has
to go in there manually and and record
it tonight and like tonight there was a
glitch it's gonna it's going to knock it
off so if he's not watching it or not
buy it um because what we have is it's a
what we have is a uh it's a free version
on
Ustream so once the uh it's recorded on
there Lieutenant Bennett has to go back
on and manually upload it to YouTube If
like tonight when it got bumped earlier
tonight it wasn't recording we got a lot
of calls that um it wasn't recording
tonight it's going to shut it off on on
Ustream at the time when we set it up um
it was free and the manager uh didn't
want to spend any money to have it
automated which would cost substantial
amount of money what what substantial do
you remember probably be a couple couple
thousand to to for the company to to set
up for them to do it the service fee um
so myself and Lieutenant Bennett at the
time if he didn't do it I would do it
we' go back and forth but
um it sounds like going forward we have
a system that is prone to glitches and
that requires a lot of Hands-On
attention to properly post these things
and even then no guarantee that it's
going to be successfully posted exactly
so in might in the long run it may be
less expensive it may be less expensive
for us to pay for
it I mean because that's less manh hours
for you and Lieutenant Bennett to do it
on that so it may pan out that in the
long run it would be cost effective I
mean it's certainly effective as um
costeffective as far as
transparency and you know good citizen
relationships with the government you
know to do that so maybe we should take
a second look at
that um and then the other point that
Mrs Phillips made I wanted to touch on
about the the vote at the last meeting
on the contract
I had to leave the meeting as you may
know so I was not here for the
discussion so I won't comment on what
was or wasn't said by anybody U with
respect to the contract before I left
though I did say and and I'll say it
again now I don't understand how we
could have any type of public discussion
if the public didn't have in hand the
actual contract that we were going to be
voting on that night you you simply
can't do that it's I mean there's the
agreement about 60 Pages or
so the public can't possibly ask
informed questions if you don't have the
contract there so that when there's
discussion happening you can refer to
the parts of the contract that people
are talking about uh and that that still
matters because we have at some point in
the not too distant future I would
imagine we'll be uh having the the
firefighters contracts coming before us
and other contracts are are now probably
coming to a close that were negotiated
over the past couple couple years I
think we need to rethink as a
council what it is that we make
available to people and I I understand
that we don't and we can't provide
copies of these things while they're
being negotiated but when it comes to us
in this form the negotiating is done at
that point you know we're voting yes or
no we're discussing it in whatever level
of detail we do for the public to be
involved in any kind a meaningful way
they absolutely have to have the ability
to look at that very same contract that
we're about to vote on so when I left
those contracts weren't available I
assume the night proceeded without
copies of the contract being available
to the public that to me kind of makes
the public participation piece of a
joke uh beyond that I'm not going to
comment on the substance of the contract
except to note that and this is
important the contract only runs through
2016
yes having additional steps is a
positive no question about it but
remember after 2016 in this contract
everything's back on the table so the
only way projected savings that are
projected over a long period of time
ever come to pass is if once you move in
that direction you continue moving that
direction and in my view you accelerate
the
process um and finally the the Cadillac
tax is not an insignificant thing
because obviously health benefits are
very important to the employees and the
level of coverage that you have and the
cost even though there's now
contributions these are important things
an important part of the compensation
package for the
employees this contract as I mentioned
ends in 2016 will be
negotiating probably not very far down
the line uh in the course of 2016 for
the contract that will run 2017 through
2020 that during the the next assuming
it's another four-year contract during
that period of time unless there's some
change and as councilman marcardi said
it's unwise to count on change coming
out of Washington you should assume that
what exists now will continue to exist
it is the city not the employees but the
city that bears the brunt of this
Cadillac tax so as councilman Mardi
correctly points out you know you're
facing
a situation in the next contract cycle
for the police where you're going to
either be faced with a substantial
change a diminishment in the level of
health benefits coverage or a
substantial increase in the cost to the
city over and above what you already pay
for the health insurance because this is
in fact a tax on top of all
that I think that's an issue that we
needed to be addressing and to come to
grips with not just for the police in
this contract but for a while now in all
the contracts we're kicking that can
down the road I don't get it I don't see
where there's any payoff in that because
again you're either going to be you're G
to have two lousy choices it's going to
be the choice of telling the employees
your benefits are being dramatically
changed for the worse or you're telling
the
taxpayers we're taking a big hit here
because we waited too long and didn't
attempt we before it was 11th hour to
negotiate this thing so not specific to
the Police contract common to all our
contracts I think that's an issue that
we are way late in addressing I think
it's pretty safe to say though that um
if the Cadillac tax if if we were forced
to pay that it would uh it wouldn't be
sustainable as far as a city's budget is
concerned without severe cuts across the
board in
Services either that or there there
would be a big jump in the city budget
meaning taxes big because it's a 40% tax
which is just outrageous to begin with
but are you
voted okay thank you for your
comments Sarah yeah in um regards to
contract negotiations I know when you
come from different
perspectives everybody goes into a
negotiations with different goals and
different ideas I know longevity is
important to a lot of people and I would
never want to take away from that you
know but you also have to look at
contract negotiations is as being fluid
sometimes there's opportunities
to capitalize on other things and you
have to look start to look at the long
term
um when somebody has something when they
have a benefit that they already have in
the contract it's it's very hard to get
them to give that up you know you need a
high level of understanding or there's
got to be some something even greater
that they want so I know that issue was
explored I know that it was talked about
and we Tred to do our best with that but
I think in other areas of the contracts
we made substantial gains that the city
of Brigantine will forever profit from I
mean and that's something that we got to
focus on so although we may not achieve
all of our goals we still achieved a lot
of goals with this contract that had a
significant savings for the city and I
don't want to focus on one issue and
take away from the others I think you
need to look at it in the whole picture
um so I think you got to you got to take
it in context and and and this is my
belief with contracts every contract
negotiate you negotiate no matter what
side you want you're on positions you
for the next contract you're going to
negotiate you look at the trend you look
what's coming out of perk you look at
arbitration rulings you can see the
pendulum starting to swing the other way
you know and what we need to do is start
to strategize about how we kind of move
in that direction in a way that matters
I know when it comes to healthare cost I
know a lot of times the demand is is
that the city just just cut it change it
come to compliance whatever it is we
need to do but my understanding with
most contracts there's usually Clauses
in there and I don't know specifically
not looking at every contract that says
that that the city or the provider has
to offer equal to or greater benefits so
it's something that needs to be
negotiated so you know and I don't know
where that was on the table with this
negotiations but there are things that
we were able to do and move forward on
and I'm sure as things develop with the
next contract coming up we'll be in a
position to do that so I want people to
think about this as not a single
contract but a series of contracts from
where we were and where we're trying to
get to Thank You
Vince um I would just like to say Mr
Stinson and to the police department
like I said before you guys did one heck
of a job bringing in a contract that
saves the taxpayers not tomorrow not the
next day but for years to come a lot of
money um and you know you're going to
start negotiating again within a year
and you know the Cadillac tax I I you
know I don't think you should negotiate
a Cadillac tax whether you know it's
coming or you don't know it's coming in
2015 because you know you have to start
negotiating again so that that's
probably going to be a big subject with
you um Point Frank you know I'm not
going to get into negotiations because
again next year we'll start Hing but it
sounds like we already started
negotiations for 2016 with the council
and with the public tonight and I
appreciate uh you know transparency and
everything but we had to take advice
from our attorney that night that we
could not hand out that contract until
we voted on it um if I'm wrong Mr cery
tell me I'm wrong um but that was my
understanding so as a body no matter if
we're all attorneys up here or all
business people what whatever we are we
have to take the advice of the attorney
for the city of Brigantine because he
has the best interest of the city of
britin in this Council uh we were not
trying to hide anything there's no
conspiracy theories people watch too
much Law and Order I guess but there's
there's nothing to um be scared sced of
I we we we
negotiated um Mr Stinson and the PBA
negotiated a great contract um I hope
you do the same with the fire department
and I know you're in negotiations with
that but when it comes down to 2016 I
think you already have your marging
orders about the Cadillac tax you know
and hopefully he's not here and that
particular time you know hopefully
there's a change in Washington but uh
with that I would like to uh see if any
more comments from the from the council
if not uh we need a motion to to adjourn
so move do you want to close the public
comment
portion
oh didn't close I think
someone oh Joan I'm sorry we're up here
so long I thought we're still in the
council
meeting I apologize
Jan ree Sans 1419 bayaw Avenue I just
want to ask one question and that is
what when are we going going to hear the
options for the golf
course well we talked about it in the
executive session tonight and there's
there's different options that we're
talking about um when are you going to
make them public um as soon as we sit
down Mr cson has to get a all
information more information and we're
going to make it soon because we have to
do it before the end of the year yeah so
right now we we don't have a date I
don't know if it's going to be next
meeting week or the meeting afterwards
are are we going to have a general
meeting for the public yeah sure I mean
we're going to have a meeting a council
meeting and we're going to talk about
the golf course is going to be on our
agenda and uh is is there going to be a
public meeting well the public meeting
our Council meeting you know aside from
aside from a council meeting I I don't
think council meeting I don't think any
you know unless somebody wants to come
up with idea that we have to go to the
city Hall I'm Excuse me U the school or
something like that but I don't you know
if everybody wants to come if it's too
big we'll we'll U Move it to another
venue so but right now it sounds like
we'll just have a council meeting we'll
have it on the agenda you'll be able to
speak about it and uh just like any any
other ordinance we put out there are you
going to give us some documentation
before the meeting well we'll be in the
the package like we usually do I mean um
I don't know if that's under
negotiations or anything like that Fred
it it would be out there for the public
you know and we'll we'll give you the
list of what we're going to do what the
Council of has agreed to um and give you
the facts and figures well the Council
has agreed to but we're not going to be
able to put input yes you will be able
to do input no we won't we won't come to
an agreement I mean you'll you know
we'll be able to explain what the
options are options are and what the
options you have it in your package
under the agenda you know what what the
what the implications of all those are
and then under you know public comment
um we can have some facts and figures at
that time yes absolutely to know how how
much we're going to have to put in the
budget for next year right to cover you
know any shortfalls
yes okay okay that's thank you thanks
John anybody else from the
public see none I want to close the
public session uh any other comments
from uh Council just a quick
announcement this Saturday September
19th there is a beach cleanup clean
communities has a beach clean up um
registration starts around
8:30 and you got to get there nice and
early there's free gifts giveaways uh
Refreshments will be served uh when you
come out for the beach cleanup and
that's at 16th in Ocean and that's
Saturday morning also 17th in Ocean in
the parking lot on Ocean Avenue is a
free shredding the shredding truck will
be there you can bring any documents you
want to get rid of shred secure
documents from 9: to noon
thank you thank you Lisa anybody else
from
Council yeah Cultural Arts commission
just recently held a uh painting event
and we had an artist come in and work
with us and I can tell you myself and
some other people who were there never
painted before and I can tell it was an
absolutely great event I was really
impressed with the quality of work that
we were all able to put out and I know
if we do this event again I would
definitely want the public to come out
we had probably about 25 people I know
uh Lynn was there and uh the art work
that came out was really great so the
culture arts is really doing some fun
things here in
Brigantine okay thank you Vince anybody
else oh I would like to thank Council
for not picking on the new guy tonight
running the meeting you know and I
appreciate everybody um we need a motion
to adjourn so move all in favor I I okay
thank you for everybody for watching us
at your council at work and have a a
good night watch the
debate
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