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Bidding Wars, Danger Zones & Fill in the Blanks

Intersection of Fayette and Maple Streets. Flashing stop signs and an additional stop sign on Maple Street were discussed to make this intersection a 3-way stop. *Photo by Paul W. Wang

8/9/17 Council Meeting

PERTH AMBOY – The Council was still uncomfortable with the disparity of the amounts that contractors use when it comes to awarding bids for City Contracts. The one particular bid that jumped out was for the Jankowski Community Center roof replacement. The lowest bid was $129,630 by Journey Contracting Company (that won the bid and was the recommended contractor) and the highest bid of $253,620 was by Paneko Construction, Inc.

In the past, the Council was concerned when the no-bid contract was awarded or when very few bidders were listed. On this item, there were twelve bidders.

Business Administrator Adam Cruz said, “The City went by the letter of the law.” When people questioned why this particular contractor won the contract, Cruz answered, “Case law prevents us from getting information about lawsuits from other cities against a contractor unless their contract license is currently suspended.” Cruz went on to explain that our Purchasing Agent has over 25 years of experience and that all the bidders had the qualifications that were required by the contract.

Law Director Peter King added further comments, “If a contractor has its license suspended, and his record has been clean for five years, and the company has satisfied all necessary requirements, you cannot hold those violations against them. If the bidder has a clean  record, it is cleared. After violations are committed, and they pass all the requirements by the State, they get their license back.”

Council President Bill Petrick said, “I would rather pick someone based on their past performance. The City hired a contractor that did work on the Library and some of the work that was done by them had to be taken down.”

During the hearing of the citizens, Resident David Caba came up to speak. He referenced a comment that he made about building a wall around the City of Lakewood. “I was not referencing that all Jewish people were wrong. I’m a Christian, and I know there’s a problem, but that doesn’t mean all Christians are bad. I know that we (the City) had eight (Police) Chaplains from Lakewood. I can’t believe that a Councilman compared my remarks to the holocaust. These people were accused of fraud. I’m not saying they are guilty. If this Councilman felt this strongly, why did he wait for three meetings to make his feelings known. We have no background checks on our Police Chaplains. When people steal from the taxpayers, there is no defense. Millionaires were using public assistance. This Councilman (who complained) has all these degrees, but no common sense and only did it for political points and gains. I also met with a person from a bank who said that Rector Street is a shame. We also have meetings that are missing on the internet. All I know, is that the Landings People have been robbed and mugged by the Developer (Kushner). The Administration is keeping everything a secret. It’s time you (the Council) holds this Administration accountable.”

On the Ordinances First Reading: Councilman Joel Pabon voted, “No,” on Ordinance No. 1 – To Amend an Ordinance entitled Court – Appointment of Municipal Prosecutor. He also voted,”No,” On Ordinance No. 2 – To Amend an Ordinance entitled Administration of Government regarding Prosecutor-Director of Law.  His explained: “We’ve had one Prosecutor for the longest time. Now we have two. It’s just to pad the payroll. The one Prosecutor is always out of town. I’m against this.”

Law Director King explained, “The first Ordinance was just to correct an old Ordinance and the second Ordinance was just to give the Council a say in the appointment. During the week, there are 5 court sessions. The work not only involves the time the Prosecutors spend in court, but also the time they spend outside of court. This can involve discovery, calling attorneys, and responding to motions. Each Prosecutor has their own cases. Both Prosecutors are working.”

Council President William Petrick questioned this, “How can both Prosecutors be working when we haven’t even voted on their appointment?”

King explained, “I have the authority to make a temporary appointment as needed.”

When it came time to vote on the Resolutions: R-283 through R-313 and R-315 and R-316 and R-318 and R-319, the Resolutions were moved by Councilman Joel Pabon and seconded by Councilman Fernando Irizarry. They were passed unanimously.

The following Resolutions were removed: R-314 which was authorizing a master service agreement with Remedy Analytics, Inc. for pharmacy benefits management.

R-317 was removed. Authorizing designation of area in need of rehabilitation pursuant to the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law commonly known as 41-47 Wisteria Place. R-320 was removed. This Resolution was authorizing the professional services contract with Robert L. Tarver, Jr. in the defense of the matter of Diaz vs. the City Council of Perth Amboy in the amount not to exceed $16,306.50.

Councilman Fernando Gonzalez had asked that R-317 to be tabled before it was eventually pulled off and removed. His explanation for this is because: “People wanted to know what was the plan for this area.”

Councilman Joel Pabon made additional comments regarding this resolution. “I believe people thought that this would be redeveloped for recreational purposes – not residential. So, did I.”

Councilman Helmin Caba also spoke, “I agree with Councilmen Pabon and Gonzalez.”

Councilman Fernando Irizarry commented, “The Planning Board report (about this property) was very vague.”

During the last public portion, Resident Jeremy Baratta commented, “The Administration does anything it wants. The Council didn’t know there was a temporary appointment of a Prosecutor. There was no documentation listed backing this up. People come to meetings because they care, without having anything to gain. I have gone to many public meetings and have even been paid to attend some. I am speechless to see what’s being done here. Money moves, appointments made. I’ve been to many levels of forms of government and I have never seen what’s done in this town.”

Resident Alan Silber came up to speak to talk about the company (Journey Contracting) who won the bid to replace the roof at the Jankowski Center. He made a comment that the B.A. said that Journey Contracting Company had been in business for 25 years. “This business has only been operating since 2012. There was an interruption in their business. You (the Council) received the Agenda late and you get little time to research. You have to check their (Journey’s) night contracting work. The president of the company didn’t put pension money into the business like he was supposed to. He had to pay a $500,000 fine.”

Law Director Peter King responded, “Our Purchasing Officer said we have to put guarantees in Journey’s contract.”

Silber asked, “Did you notify the Council.”

King responded, “No.”

Silber said, “You (the Council) were not part of the decision-making process.”

Cruz wanted to respond referring to an incorrect statement by Resident Alan Silber. “I said that our Purchasing Agent has 25 years of experience – not the contracting company (Journey).”

Law Director King additionally said, “The contractor met all the necessary requirements.”

Council President Bill Petrick asked, “Can the Council choose another vendor?”

B.A. Cruz responded, “This company (Journey) also submitted a bond.”

Law Director King cautioned the Council, “If you try to get another vendor, you may get into litigation. I also had communications with our finance people.”

Councilman Fernando Gonzalez stated, “I hate to be embarrassed by someone in the audience giving us facts about a contractor that we should have known about. Maybe we need an assistant to do research. Our experts should be giving us all information about contractors, even if it’s negative past behavior.”

B.A. Cruz responded, “We can only go into the compliance of the law.”

Resident David Caba came up to speak regarding the City’s Police Chaplains, “Why did the number go down from 92 to 18?”

B.A. Cruz interrupted Caba to inform the Council that going forth they will give the Council all the information about bidders (including if they had any negative work experience).”

Law Director cautioned, “This is not part of the bid process.”

Caba continued, “Some Chaplains are not here for religious purposes, but political gain. The Mayor is a dictator. The meetings are not being shown. There was a Planning Board Meeting the day of the Presidential election.” Caba then proceeded  to distribute handouts to the Council. He stated, “These handouts say by stature that City Employees can’t talk to the Council Members unless it’s through the Administration. Does the Mayor go through emails?”

B.A. Cruz responded, “Every single Council Member speaks to City Employees.”

Caba asked, “Does the Mayor read the City Council’s emails? The City Council is left in the dark. People tell me they will not vote for Diaz again.”

Councilman Fernando Irizarry commented, “I don’t see anything on this email (which was the handout that Caba gave to the Council) indicating that the Mayor is looking at Employee’s emails.”

Law Director King responded, “Every request goes through the Administration (as required by the City’s form of government).”

Councilman Irizarry responded, “People tell us that we don’t know what’s happening. We get conflicting advice.”

Businessman Pedro Esteves from High Street came up next. He said, “I’m disappointed by Councilman Joel Pabon’s statement when I came here to address the problems regarding the dangerous intersection of Goodwin and Smith Streets. Instead, Councilman Pabon started to talk about the intersection of Fayette and Maple Streets. There are many more accidents at Goodwin and Smith Streets. There were two more accidents since the last time I was here (7/12/17 Council Meeting).” Esteves also had a question regarding the Parking Utility Director, “She operates 3 daycare centers in the City and has no experience in parking. I saw people giving tickets in the rain. On Madison Avenue, some of the numbers for the parking spaces are erased. Please look into this.”

Resident Herschel Chomsky came up to speak. He wanted to respond to the comments made by Resident David Caba about the fraud cases going on in Lakewood. “What happened at the previous Meeting was when he (Caba) mentioned about building a wall around Lakewood. That’s what was done during the Holocaust. He’s the one who brought the wall up. Councilman Irizarry has nothing to apologize for. For him (Caba), to bring this up again made it worse.”

A Resident from Lewis Street came up to speak next. She commented that the work being done on Wisteria Avenue was causing a problem. “The vibrations are terrible and will the City have our back if we need help?”

Council President William Petrick told her, “The cleanup is separate from what’s going on. The LSRP (Licensed Site Remediation Professionals) are monitoring the project. I don’t know what the City can do besides moral persuasion.”

Law Director King told the Resident, “The contractors can take pictures of your property for damage caused by work being done.”

Former Resident Steven Nascimento came up to explain that the Property Manager and Site Manager should be listed on the public notifications. “The residents that are being affected (by the work being done in their neighborhood) should get updates. Signs should be posted with all this information.”

During the Council Comments, Helmin Caba spoke first. He thanked people for attending the Meeting and emphasized that the Council should get minutes from all the Board Meetings. “It’s embarrassing when residents have information that we should know about.”

Councilman Fernando Gonzalez wanted to know if any research was done about the traffic on the intersection of Goodwin and Smith Streets since this was brought up at a previous meeting. “We should also look at arrows for the intersection of Convery Boulevard and Fayette Street, especially when exiting ShopRite. I would like to see a report where the top five accident prone areas are in the City.”

B.A. Adam Cruz stated that it all depends on how much traffic there is in a particular area.”

At this point, Deputy Police Chief Cattano came up to speak  about problem areas:

1.) “Fayette Street and Convery Boulevard. After the bridge which is being remodeled, that issue will be addressed.

2.) For Convery and Sayre Avenue, we’re talking with the DOT – that’s another accident-prone corner.

3.) Smith and Goodwin – in a 3-year timeframe, there’s been around 15 – 18 accidents.”

Councilman Irizarry commented next, “A speaker made a comment that Police Chaplains did not have background checks or anyone overseeing them.”

Deputy Police Chief Cattano addressed this issue, “When the Police Chaplains first came on board, I wasn’t involved with them, but I know that on the application that they fill out requires a background check. Police Officer Zaleski is the one who oversees their operation.”

Councilman Joel Pabon cleared up previous comments that he made about Fayette and Convery Boulevard, “When I spoke at that meeting about dangerous streets, I did not characterize which streets require lights. Not all streets need traffic lights. When I mentioned the intersection of Maple and Fayette Streets, I was talking about flashing stop signs. I try to avoid the corner of Goodwin and Smith Streets.”

Mr. Esteves apologized to Pabon for the misunderstanding.

Pabon said, “No need.”

Cattano then addressed the intersection of Maple and Fayette, “We’re looking into the possibility of making this a 3-way stop sign. This is so vehicles entering Maple Street from New Brunswick Avenue have to stop as well. All traffic will have to stop and this intersection (Fayette and Maple). We are looking at adding reflectors to these stop signs.”

Council President Bill Petrick informed the Residents about the many activities still taking place. “There are art festivals, music, bonfires, movies, activities at the Ferry Slip, and the Concerts by the Bay. I urge everyone to take advantage of this.”

B.A. Cruz said, “I thank those who participated in Family Day, especially Kenny Ortiz and his staff from the Department of Recreation. They did an outstanding job. There were a lot of people and family entertainment. Close to 1000 people were at the beach for the movie. I want to thank the DPW, the Police, Fire, and the Department of Recreation and the Administration.”

Cattano mentioned the success of the National Night Out. “The crowds were great and a lot of Officers were there on their own time.”

B.A. Cruz responded to the person who spoke about the Director of the Parking Utility, “I think it’s great thing that a person can operate a business on their own. As long as City Employees carry out their responsibility while their working on City time, they can do what they want on their own time. ”

Kenny Ortiz was then asked to come forward to make remarks, “Recreation has partnered with PRAHD, and the USA Eastern Organization which has provided $60,000 to help promote tennis in the City. There are 70 participants plus 40 more in training. The tennis court improvements are coming along and the permits were approved. Tennis is making a big come back in the City. Our Staff found that the code had changed which  our engineers didn’t know about regarding the water fountains. We had to do a change order.”

After Ortiz’s statements, Council Petrick closed the Meeting.

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