5/7/20 Special Council Meeting via Phone Conference
By: Carolyn Maxwell
PERTH AMBOY – R-157-5/20 – Authorizing extending the grace period for second quarter 2020 taxes.
Just before the meeting started Tax Accessor Nancy Martin said, “Over 6,000 accounts were paid of the 9,017 on the tax records.”
The public was allowed to speak first. The only person to speak was Resident Jeremy Baratta. He was concerned because this special meeting was not publicized. “If it was posted on the bulletin board in city hall, there is no access to the building. These meetings need to be posted on the city website with a link.”
City Clerk Victoria Kupsch responded, “The meeting was posted on the city website with a link to the zoom App.”
Councilman Fernando Irizarry also reminded the public, “This resolution is according to what the Governor requested that the municipalities do.”
Business Administrator Frederick Carr then read the entire resolution presented to the municipalities from the Governor’s Office.
Councilman Fernando Irizarry moved the resolution. Councilman Helmin Caba seconded it. Everyone voted “yes”. Resolution passes.
Public Portion:
Resident Jeremy Baratta spoke again. “The Governor gave the extension for the second quarter of paying 2020 to June 16th.”
Carr responded, “For the (property) taxes, the grace period is 20 days. The 30-day grace period was for wearing masks.”
The public portion was closed.
Council Comments:
Councilman Helmin Caba sent his condolences to all who lost a loved one to COVID-19. He then had a question about the location of the COVID-19 testing centers.
Council President Petrick responded, “They originally were supposed to be located on outer State Street and near the Buckeye properties.”
B.A. Carr responded, “These two areas were supposed to be the original sites, but they are private property. The marina property which the test location was moved to, is owned by the city, and we have insurance there.”
Caba continued, “We need to start sanitizing all the testing areas since other cities and counties do that. Our numbers are out of control. I know we do more testing, but we need to do a lot more sanitizing of our test sites. Could it be maybe we have a money issue? We should look into having hazardous pay for some of our city employees such as the police, EMTs, firefighters.”
Petrick wanted to know, “How much do you suggest?”
Caba said, “They are putting their lives at risk.”
Petrick responded, “They do that all the time as part of their jobs.”
Law Director Peter King who was listening to the meeting said, “This can be put as a part of the next agenda.”
Petrick responded, “This meeting taking place now is not a regular meeting.”
Councilman Irizarry also expressed his condolences to all who lost a loved one, “We are praying for you. I want to thank everyone who does any type of service to the city.”
Councilman Joel Pabon wanted to thank the police department who installed an essential camera at the waterfront to make sure people were doing social distancing. He thanked the Department of Public Works for keeping the city clean and the garden club who is still out there working on the city gardens. “It is important to use social media to spread the word of the importance of social distancing. Keep praying and stay safe.”
Councilwoman Milady Tejeda thanked all who prayed for her family (on the recent passing of her father). “It was a difficult for me, but I know it was worse for others, and I pray for them. I want to thank the nurses for their compassion for my father and my family. (It was National Nurses Week). I want to thank all the city employees for a job well done.”
Council President William Petrick commented, “People have called me with concerns about the bodegas and how to keep our citizens safe. We need to use the health department to reach out to the bodega owners in a better timeframe.”
B.A. Carr responded, “The police have reached out to the bodegas. Two beauty salons were open and not paying attention to the laws about essential services. The waterfront is open, but not the playgrounds. The fishing pier is open with signage stating: “Stay 6 feet apart.”
Petrick spoke again, “The Health Department has more contact with the stores. We (the council) want to be put on the front page of the website. Also on that page, put up the meeting information, the agenda with the backup material and all the content, instead of people having to navigate to the third page. We should defund the website if we can’t be identified quicker. I am not in favor of another public relations company being hired. Everyone: stay safe.”
The meeting was over at 5:28 p.m. All council members were present.
See Governor Phil Murphy Executive Order#130 on page 5.
