5/10/21 Caucus

By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – Director of Recreation and Human Services Ken Ortiz was the first speaker from the departments he oversees. He preceded to ask the council if they wanted a report on the Recreation Department, Human Services or both departments.

They requested both.

Ortiz started out, “The Vital Statistics staffing level is the same. The only increases in salary are the ones who are entitled to them (via steps in the union contracts). At the beginning of Covid, people could download forms on the internet, fill them out, and then put them in the mailboxes located outside of the building on Olive Street. Now, some people can come in person by appointment only. The office space in Vital Statistics is very small for four people. We need to get fireproof and waterproof cabinets as some the documents go back to 1858. With the Office of Aging, some of the staff were reassigned because Olive Street was closed (and still is to the seniors). We are still delivering meals to senior citizens.”

Council President Bill Petrick asked, “Are the drivers who are delivering the meals to senior’s homes tested for Covid? And how often?”

Ortiz explained, “The drivers have no contact with the seniors. The meals are put in a bag or some kind of carrier and put on their doorsteps if they live in a house. If they live a building, someone receives the packages for them. We had to borrow one driver from the Department of Public Works because one of our regular drivers retired in 2019. DPW said they need that driver back, so we are going to need a driver to replace the one that we borrowed. NJ Transit will be giving us a small bus. In late June or early July, we will be letting the seniors back at Olive Street with several safety guidelines in place. We have a fitness workout system which was donated by AARP and will be located in Dalton Field which is close to a lot of the senior population. We’ve had a Covid Outreach Program for our seniors and between 800-1000 seniors have been contacted. For our Housing and Social Services Department, we have an additional offset for salaries of the amount of $42,000. We have programs and funds for first time home buyers and home improvements. We have operating expenses and relocation funds, because sometimes we have to put people in temporary lodgings for loss of their apartments. Sometimes we can’t find the owners of some of these apartments, or we can’t reach the owners right away. The city has to find lodging for people who can no longer occupy their apartments.  We also have rental assistance programs. So far, we’ve had 75 Code Blue Shelter calls. It costs $1,000 a night when we have to put people into buildings. $89,000 of funds came in from the county. There is a lot involved with running Code Blue  Shelters. We have to have linens, purchasing of food, and cleaning materials.”

Councilman B.J. Torres said, “All municipalities should have Code Blue facilities, so everything doesn’t fall on us and New Brunswick.”

Ortiz explained, “The criteria is that a town must have 10 homeless people registered in order to have a Code Blue Shelter. We’ve had 90 people sign up and register as homeless who said they were Perth Amboy residents. (He insinuated that he knew that other towns are sending their homeless here and they claim they are from Perth Amboy). In the past, before Covid hit, the homeless that were here (due to Code Blue or Code Red) had to leave our facilities by 7 a.m. the next morning. We would have to clean up our facilities because of our regular seniors would come in at 8 a.m. When the homeless were here at night, we need to provide security. The security we use is from a private company and charges $40/hour in comparison to $80/hour if we use local officers. We have some people who are part-time staffers, but they are limited to work only 30 hours/week. The YMCA Staff has been very helpful. There is a lot of food insecurity in our urban municipalities. We need to have an outreach program. We need a fulltime staff to do this. Currently in our city, there is 16,852 people receiving SNAP benefits. Of that number, 9,000 are children and this is why food pantries are so important.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda asked Ortiz if he reached out to the churches (to get the word out). “Our Lady of Fatima Church is having an event coming up and a speaker from an outreach program to come to this event would be good.”

Ortiz continued, “Tashi Vazquez from the Office of Economic and Community Development has found money for funding (for outreach programs). Our city is the third lowest in Middlesex County for vaccinations. We are looking at obtaining grant dollars (also to contribute to the outreach program).”

Councilman Torres asked, “Are all the departments (that you are in charge of) full? And if they are, maybe you can put some of those people in places where they are needed, especially if they were in a department with programs not in operation.”

Ortiz answered, “We have a lot of rental assistance money out there that people don’t know about or may not be qualified for. We are adamant about our county to get vaccines. We are working with the food pantries to see how we can assist each other. I’ve talked to our police chaplains and people in our sports leagues who can help us and just to go out and concentrate on going out to talk to people about getting vaccinations, especially to the younger people.” Ortiz then talked about the Recreation Department. “The staff has been totally reassigned to help out with food distribution and we have been using our youth alliance team who has been working with the police and we have been using a Mental Health and Wellness Program. We need more funding (With Covid, many people are isolated, lonely, and stressed out). Our parks are open, and we are on our way to get our athletic programs started again. With the County Park, there should be a soft opening in July. We are hoping for a grand opening in September. With the Raritan River Park, they are applying for state funds and we would like to make a picnic area there. We also need to upgrade the lighting. It was decided not to make it a dog park.”

Petrick then stated, “They may need cameras placed there for security.”

Ortiz thought that was a great idea. “It’s something to look into, but it is also Green Acres Encumbered. We hope to break ground this year. We are trying to identify what pieces of that property that the Department of Transportation owns.”

Petrick then remarked, “It’s at the foot of the (Victory) bridge on Smith and Convery. The owner said they might sell it for a dollar. Can we get that property?”

Ortiz explained, “They (the owners) want the exact measurements of what piece of the property the city wants and then they can give us a price. It can be a dollar or less.” Ortiz then went on to talk about the Second Street Park. “The designs were changed. In a few months, we hope to break ground for the remediation. We are hoping the completion of that park will be done no later than 18 months after the remediation. With Washington Park, we are going to name it after Brian Taylor and the 1968 Championship Basketball Team this coming September. We already contacted Brian Taylor and he is very excited and honored. We are looking to expand Rudyk Park. We are trying to obtain some of the land from KinderMorgan, Duke Realty, and Conrail. With Waters Stadium, we are getting a grant from Kaboom to replace the park. There are many issues to be addressed at the youth complex, especially with the new high school being built there. The school can’t have the only access because it is part of state property. A lot of traffic and accidents have happened near there. We need to find a happy medium with the Board of Education. We also would like to have a mural in Washington Park to  honor the 1968 Perth Amboy Championship Basketball Team.”

Councilman Joel Pabon praised the unsung heroes of the Recreation Department, “They never complain about any assignment or hours they have to work. They are calm and always polite. During Code Blue, they will take care of any problems and they are some of the lowest paid employees.”

Ortiz then stated, “40% of our city’s population is under the age of 24. I thank the administration and you (the council) for your support.”

Councilwoman Tejeda also thanked Kenny Ortiz and his staff for all they do. 

Council President Petrick closed the discussion by thanking Ortiz for his thorough presentation, “And for answering all of our questions.” He also stated that Kindermorgan has always been a good partner with the city.

CFO/Comptroller Jill Goldy and Acela David (Chief Accountant in the Finance Department) came up to speak on this topic.

Goldy stated that this was part of the introductory budget that was given to the council originally which asked for a 6.5% increase in water rates. “And you voted “No”. We revisited the budget to make the water and sewer systems to be self-supporting and we tried to get the rate increase down.”

Arcela David came up to speak next. “I’ve been in the Water Department for 33 years and keep mind, no one wants a rate increase. I have to pay for an increase, too. I have done 8 draft budgets before coming here tonight. I’m presenting you $613,000 less than last year. With short term loans $318,000 more was cut. The increase now is just over 3.5%. There was a position in our department that was cut and hasn’t been filled. Due to Covid, we are only at 73% of what we should have collected. We can pray that they lift the moratorium so people can start paying their water bills. In some instances (after the moratorium), we may have to shut off some people’s water. Some people can ask for a payment plan, but you can’t expect to do a $50/month payment plan for a $5,000 accumulated water bill.”

Councilwoman Tejeda then asked, “Can we do a 3.4% increase instead and hope the money we get after the moratorium is lifted can reduce or even eliminate having a water rate increase.” 

Ms. David then explained, “It supposed to be for lost revenue. They (the federal government) do not consider this a loss. There are a lot of repercussions when it comes to having debt. It is doing good for minor capital funds.”

Councilman Torres suggested, “We should look at our reserve money.”

Goldy came back up and explained, “You can’t go into reserve funds without hurting any future funds. The water utility budget stands alone and have their own fund balance (surplus fund). We’ve used a good portion of those funds. We have to keep a certain amount of surplus to compensate for any spikes. When it comes to the water/wastewater funds, we have statutory or contractual obligations. This includes testing and notifications of contaminants which is costly. The federal government issued guidelines. With the water, it is not lost revenue, it is deferred. We could not collect all the money. After the moratorium, we will be able to collect fees and interest on the water bills. The people still had use of their water. We are only at 70% of collected revenue based on what would normally be over 90%.”

Council President Petrick then asked, “Can we remove fluoride to save money? After our supply of fluoride that we have on hand, just don’t buy anymore.”

Councilwoman Rose Morales then spoke up. “This would be a disservice to the residents. I am in the dental field. I know how important fluoride is.”

Petrick continued, “I just heard it is only helpful for children in their developmental stages for their teeth.”

Morales said, “I can get an expert in here (to talk about fluoride).”

Business Administrator Edward Remsen joined the conversation via Zoom, “For getting the water rate increase down to 3.4% (originally 6.5% increase) I would take the fluoride out of the water myself. We are trying to get this down to zero. Right now, we have to work with the 3.4% increase to make you whole on the operating side.”

Goldy then explained, “The amended budget is based on 3.4% increase for the water.”

Councilman Pabon said, “Ms. David said she would try to get it down to a 3.0% increase if she could.”

Goldy ended the presentation, “I will try to do my best to get it down to 3.0%, but other parts of the budget may have to be adjusted. I will get you the amended budget later on tonight.”