11/22/21 Caucus & Council Meetings

By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – Councilman Joel Pabon had a question regarding some of the patching of potholes in the city streets. He wanted to know if the contractor that was mentioned on the bid for patching the potholes will be using the same materials as they used to patch the potholes in the Budapest section of town.

Acting DPW Director Matthew Nieves was on Zoom and answered, “Yes.”

Pabon continued, “Whatever you are using, it is working tremendously and is doing a good job. You can’t even tell that there were ever any holes there after they are done.”

Council President William Petrick spoke up, “I know that this method that they have been using for patching up holes has been used in other section of the town and is holding up very well.”

Matthew Nieves spoke up again, “They also use hot tar to patch up holes.”

Petrick then asked, “Are we leasing the machine or are we using a contractor to do the work?”

Matthew Nieves responded, “We use a contractor. We give them a map of the streets where work has to be done. The contractors will then give us a sheet of how much work was done and the number of materials that has to be done to do the work.”

Petrick then questioned, “After the contract finishes the work in the streets on their schedule, are they allowed to use any leftover materials on other streets not on the schedule?”

Matthew Nieves replied, “No, they can’t.”

The last question Petrick asked, “Has the contractor ever demonstrated how the machine works?”

Matthew Nieves responded, “No, but I can ask them for a demonstration.”

Council President Bill Petrick questioned R-579-11/21 – Authorizing the proper city officials to enter into an installment payment agreement with Carlos Jimenez for Water Line Repair Service at 553 Gerard Street. 

“Why are they paying for a water line for a brand-new street?”

City Engineer Ernest Feist answered via Zoom, “The water line may have been damaged when a new drain line was put in.”

Petrick then asked, “Who pays for the water line? Would it be the contractors who built the street or the homeowner who would owe the city?”

Pabon spoke up, “This is a brand new street and I noticed all the lights are out.”

Petrick then said, “I saw there was a problem with water that wasn’t being drained on that street which is located at the end of the cul ‘de sac. I think City Engineer Jeff Rauch was going to take care o this. I saw there was water being accumulated between the two houses on that street.”

Feist reported, “I will get back to the council regarding the situation on Gerard Street.”

Petrick then suggested that the council table R-579 until they got more answers.

Petrick then turned his attention to R-583-11/21 – Supporting the suspension of parking meter fees on Smith Street from November 26, 2021, thru January 1, 2022.

Petrick said, “This should be for the entire business district – not just for Smith Street.”

Lawyer William Opel said, “We will make that correction.”

Petrick then turned his attention to R-585-11/21 – Rescinding R-480-9/21 and authorizing the tax collector to conduct 2021 accelerated tax sale for 2021 taxes and special charges.

Petrick questioned, “What are the special charges?”

Business Administrator Michael Green answered, “It was supposed to be sewer charges and $25 for mailing which we were taking off of the agenda.”

Petrick continued, “I hear that when people come to the tax sale, they can only pay in cash.”

Green clarified, “Cash or certified bankers check.”

Petrick then commented, “I hear that people whose property are listed on the tax sale can come in on the day of the sale and before the sale starts pay off their taxes so their property can be taken off the tax sale list.”

Fire Chief Ed Mullen came up to answer questions regarding R-594-11/21 – Authorizing the City of Perth Amboy to submit an application to FEMA for the Assistant to Firefighters grant for the purchase of an air/light unit for the mobile filling of firefighter air bottle on fire scenes.

Mullen explained, “This is going to run off a PTO Truck. We can fill our bottles to the maximum and this can be used at the scene of a fire. The unit will be a freight liner style. It is a smaller truck and right now we are replacing a lot of older trucks that we have. This truck will also have a compressor on it, and we are hoping we are able to get this truck. There are a lot of other municipalities that are requesting a truck like this and there are very few available. This truck will also have a light tower on it.” Mullen then gave an update on the proposed new firehouse near the corner of Amboy Avenue and Inslee Street. “Some of the buildings were demolished and I haven’t had any updates after that.”

Opel spoke up, “The city is negotiating for the property.”

B.A. Mike Green said, “The tax sale will take place at city hall council chambers on December 14th at 10 a.m. The type of payment that will be accepted will be a certified cashiers check, a bank check, or cash.”

Green then answered a question regarding R-595-11/21 – Authorizing payment of a yearly stipend to the Perth Amboy Auxiliary Police in an amount not to exceed $33,504.50.

“This will be for 13 volunteer officers and 26 auxiliary police officers.”

Green then talked about R-596-11/21 – Authoring an extension of the lease agreement with the county of Middlesex for a maximum of 45 monthly parking permits for the King Plaza Deck thru December 31, 2025.

He also referenced R-597-11/21 – Authorizing an extension of the lease terms between the county of Middlesex and the city of Perth Amboy Parking Utility for parking permits for the Jefferson Street Parking Deck.

Green said, “These are for county employees who are paying to park in those locations. It’s revenue for the city.”

Green also talked about R-598-11/21 – Authorizing a memorandum of an agreement between the Parking Utility of the city of Perth Amboy formally known as the Parking Authority, city of Perth Amboy and King Plaza for parking spaces for city employees.

Green said, “This will be 10 additional spaces.”

Bill Petrick then had a statement regarding R-603-11/21 – Awarding a contract to Johnson Controls Fire Protection, District 518 for a fire alarm/sprinkler system preventive maintenance, testing, inspections, and repairs at the Public Safety Complex Community Center for the period from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, in an amount of $27,500.

Petrick said, “A couple years ago, there was a problem with  the pool filtration and a hot tube filtration that was corroded. That could have caused a premature failure. This was years ago. This should be checked to make sure this problem was fixed.”

Petrick then turned his attention to R-604-11/21 – Awarding a contract with Thyssenkrupp Elevator corporation for preventive maintenance and service of the elevators at the Public Safety Complex for the period from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, in the amount of $24,000.

Petrick remembered, “At one time, there was an accumulation of water because of a sump pump failure. I think it was corrected.”

Petrick then turned his attention to R-602, R-605, R-607, and R-608. They all involved different contractors to do HVAC at the Public Safety Complex. “Why do we have so many different vendors to work on the HVAC systems? They are all different contractors and why are we breaking this up to so many different entities?”

B.A. Mike Green responded, “Some of these vendors are state contractors. Even though they have different amounts of their services, remember the amount shown are amounts they cannot exceed for their individual work.”

Councilman Joel Pabon made some comments regarding these resolutions, “I’m glad to see these items are on the agenda right now (in the month of November) since these services will be starting in January. Sometimes we get these resolutions when the year is almost up, and they are to start these services in a short period of time. I want to thank Council woman Rose Morales. She is the one who first brought up about so many different contractors that seem to be working on the same type of system (HVAC).”

B.A. Green also acknowledged Morales’s contributions to bringing this up earlier in the year. “And the purchasing agent should also be mentioned for doing a good job.”

Fire Chief Ed Mullen came up to respond to R-602 thru R-608. “Some of these contractors will be maintaining the air filters, some will respond to the mechanics of the HVAC. Some respond to computer systems. Each of these vendors have their own specialties.”

DPW Matthew _____ spoke again on Zoom to respond to Resolution R-609-11/12 – Accepting the bid and awarding a contract for Spray Injection Patching for potholes repairs to Patch Management in an amount not to exceed $30,000. 

“These contractors have a location in California and Pennsylvania.”

Luis Perez-Jimenez from Middlesex Water Company came up to explain R-612-11/21 – Authorizing an annual contract with Rapid Pump and Meter Services Company for the repairs of the pumps at the Second Street Pump Station in an amount not to exceed $100,000.

He explained, “There are two pumps out of service, and we are fighting about the cost of repairs. We should get the parts for one of the pumps in about two weeks. We have only one pump working and also an auxiliary pump. All the pumps are made of steel.”

Public Portion (in-house first):

Resident Ken Balut came up first, “I noticed that Northgrave is again a no-show because he is too busy working for other cities.”

Council President Petrick responded, “I kinda like Opel.”

Balut said, “But we don’t give Opel the same rate of pay.”

Petrick then suggested, “Maybe we should discuss hiring Opel as our full-time Law Director.”

Balut continued, “There is nothing about the YMCA on the agenda. People who use our parking decks are paying. I don’t use the Y, but I help pay for it. The Y provides recreation and other services which is good, but they still owe us money.” Balut then turned his attention to the meeting where they discussed the furniture that the city wanted to get that will cost $36,000. “I went to the League of Municipalities, and I picked up a catalog from one of the vendors where you can buy new furniture at a much cheaper price. Also, maybe you need to cut some of the people in the mayor’s office. You are talking about a combined salary (of people working in the mayor’s office) of $250,000.”

After Balut spoke, the meeting was opened up to Zoom participants. No one spoke on Zoom.

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch gave information regarding R-599-11/21 – Authorizing an agreement with the Middlesex County Office of Human Services to provide funds in the amount of $10,000 to provide diversion and delinquency programming for the city youth. 

“This will be for the Perth Amboy Youth Alliance Group.”

The council went into closed session at 6:35 p.m. They returned at 7:09 p.m. They resumed the Caucus Meeting at 7:09 p.m. and adjourned it at 7:09 p.m. Councilwoman Milady Tejeda was absent at the Caucus due to work issues. 

The regular meeting then began at 7:11 p.m. All council members were present. 

The meeting was opened for anyone who wanted to speak on ordinances that had a public hearing. Resident Ken Balut came up to speak regarding Ordinance No. 2 – An ordinance to amend an ordinance entitled, “Personnel Policies”. To prohibit payment to elected officials for accumulated and unused sick, vacation, and personal days. 

“I’m glad this is on here. Our last mayor should not have gotten paid for those days. Elected officials should be on call 24/7. If you had a business, you would not have hired her.  Nobody watches our tax dollars. She didn’t deserve one dime. She wasn’t punching a timeclock. Now, there is a person working at night who is not punching a timeclock. We are the only town who did this (pay a mayor for sick, vacation, and personal days). We could have used that $14,000 to help the homeless. There are people who can’t pay their rent or their mortgage.”

Councilwoman Tejeda said, “Looking at this ordinance I am confused where it says: “part-time employee”.”

Petrick said, “I think this should be amended.”

Lawyer Opel said, “I don’t see where the confusion is.”

Petrick said, “It is based on the amount of money.”

Opel said, “You can pass the ordinance and it can be amended later.”

No one spoke on Zoom for any of the ordinances. 

Public Comments on agenda items only:

Balut came up and he talked about all the resolutions regarding the HVAC. “This totals almost $140,000. Most of the work is for the YMCA. We are losing serious money and the Y’s contract is still open. The Y is not listed in the audit and there are no legal documents against the Y. We are subsidizing a private company. Schools are paying for the Y and for the pool usage. At one time the Charter School was paying the Y for the use of their facilities. The Y didn’t cooperate with the forensic order. If our former Law Director Mark Blunda was here, this issue would have been resolved. That is what happens when you use politically connected lawyers.”

No one from Zoom spoke. 

The council then voted on the ordinances. For Ordinance No. 1 – Vehicles and Traffic regarding stop signs – additions was moved by Pabon, seconded by Tejeda. For Ordinance No. 2 was moved by Pabon, seconded by Morales. Ordinance No. 1 (first reading – no public discussion) Appropriating $1,800,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds for the acquisition of meters for the Water/Wastewater Utility in and by the city of Perth Amboy in the county of Middlesex, New Jersey. It was moved by Pabon, seconded by Tejeda. 

When it came time to vote on the consent agenda resolutions, R-578, R-580 thru R-618 was moved by Pabon, seconded by Tejeda. R-579 was tabled at the Caucus Meeting. 

After the vote was taken, Lawyer William Opel spoke up regarding R-583 to let the council know that the supporting the suspension of parking meter fees from November 26, 2021, thru January 1, 2022, has been amended to include the entire Business District.

Public Portion (in-person first)

Resident Ken Balut came up first. He told the council, “While you (the council) were in closed session, a city employee came out and asked me if I had something to say to them. I was harassed in the past by code enforcement. I’ve lived in this town for years and was a police officer and I care about this town. People just want to see what they can get for themselves and their relatives. People knock at my door late at night to give me information of wrongdoing going on around the town. I’ve stayed in this town, not like others who served and left to go live someplace else. Also, when you do all this bonding, the first expense that goes into doing bonding would be the lawyers fees. You need to lower taxes and clean up the budget.”

No one spoke via Zoom. 

Council Comments:

Councilwoman Rose Morales welcomed all who attended in person and for their suggestions and solutions. She wished all a Happy Thanksgiving and reminded everyone we still have a pandemic going on. 

Councilman Joel Pabon wished all a peaceful and joyful Thanksgiving with their families. “Be safe.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda, “I want to remind everyone there is a plastic bag ban coming in May. This is coming from the state and not the council. Maybe the BID should let the businesses know about this.” She then talked about going to the League of Municipalities and how at one of the seminars they discussed what items are permissible for the municipalities to purchase using the upcoming federal money. She wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and thanked all for attending.

Councilman BJ Torres wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and encouraged all to get the vaccination for themselves and their children. “Have a safe holiday.”

Council President Bill Petrick said, “Maybe in order to save our trees, instead of printing out all the backup material, we can just get it in a digital form.”

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch said, “We can number each page in the digital format.”

Petrick then asked the council if they were comfortable with not getting a large packet of information.

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda suggested that the council start the new format in January.

Petrick then said that people are asking about the Citizen’s Advisory Board and when are their meetings and are there any dates open for their meetings.

City Clerk Kupsch said, “They can come in to have regular meetings set up.”

Petrick then suggested that maybe Acting Police Chief Cattano or B.A. Green can be in charge of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee. Petrick then wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, “Don’t eat too much. Covid is still around, and we just recently lost a city employee to Covid. It is dangerous not to get vaccinated. Stay safe and be cautious for yourselves and your loved ones.”

The meeting adjourned at 7:49 p.m.