By: Carolyn Maxwell
Council President William Petrick
PERTH AMBOY – Council President Bill Petrick and Councilman Joel Pabon again butted heads when it came to appointing people to municipal boards. Councilman Joel Pabon was adamant when he stated that people whose terms were up should not automatically be reappointed and also, if they wanted to be reappointed, they should come before the council to be interviewed as to why they should remain on the board. Council President Petrick’s reasoning is that the people who have been on boards for many years have had the advantage of going through all the required classes needed and that should be considered when people are being reappointed. Pabon reasoned that even if that is true, there are people that may be appointed and have a fresh perspective on what should be done. Petrick also said there are vacancies on a board, any member of a board who is an alternate whose term has not expired should have the opportunity to be moved up. There were also concerns about the attendance records of board members and suggested there should be a sign-up sheet. There was also a discussion that some members of boards whose terms were about to expire sent emails or letters explaining why they wanted to remain on the boards. There is four members of the Zoning Board whose term were about to expire. Of four members, three members sent emails or letters detailing why they wanted to remain on the board. The fourth member just sent a brief email stating she wanted to remain on the board.
Both Petrick and Pabon decided it would be in the best interest if anybody whose terms were about to expire should come before the council to explain why they would like to be reappointed.
Councilwoman Milady Tejeda stated that she could see both sides of the argument. “You have people on these boards who have experience, but we should give others the opportunity to serve.”
City Attorney Opel spoke up and said that the ordinance does not show the process of reappointment. “The only person on the Zoning Board who hasn’t submitted anything yet is Wilma Matey.”
Councilwoman Rose Morales agreed that all applicants should be interviewed: the new ones and the ones whose terms were up.
Councilman B.J. Torres who participated in the meeting via Zoom said he wanted to make a motion to appoint Council President William Petrick to the Perth Amboy Planning Board as a Class III Member for a one-year term to expire December 31, 2022.
Councilman Joel Pabon spoke up and stated that he is also interested to be put on that position instead of Petrick.
Petrick asked if he could be appointed.
Councilwoman Tejeda requested that the council discuss this matter later.
Councilman
Joel Pabon
Pabon and Petrick also had a lengthy discussion regarding R-35-1/22- (Duke Realty and the reimbursement of cash bonds in the amount not to exceed $375,449.13 regarding the amphitheater portion for 215-230 Riverview Drive).
Petrick said, “I requested since last year the rendering of the original drawings. They have let us down on a lot of items that we requested. Some buildings, such as the administration building was knocked down and a parking lot was put in its place which is mostly empty anyway. Their first project before this is where they put up warehouses and after they did that, they asked for PILOTS. They did not keep their promises and they don’t deserve this money back.”
Pabon then spoke up, “I looked at emails that were sent out to us from February 14, 2020, where there were approvals that was done by the city engineer. Those emails said that building (administration building) was not included in the original artist’s rendering. I would have loved to have saved that building. The guy that was here from Duke Realty said there was no money for what the council asked for. Now, they are doing other projects for the city.”
Petrick spoke up again, “I thought the administration building was not to be knocked down, and I need to see the original artist’s rendering for the amphitheater. Now, they wish to build larger warehouses. We didn’t agree to what they showed us, and they didn’t have a conversion as to what we wanted.”
At this point City Engineer Ernest Feist came up to the podium, “I did a lot of research. Council President Petrick is correct. What they (Duke Realty) promised was not done. At the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, Duke Realty approached the then Business Administrator Frederick Carr about the changing the artist rendering’s plans. Carr then indicated to Duke Realty that he accepted the changes. The only thing is that he didn’t go through all the different boards that were needed to approve these changes. Even I was left off the email threads of the changes that were going on.”
Petrick said, “It looks like Duke Realty bypassed the Planning Board and the Council and was going behind our backs.”
Pabon then spoke up, “We didn’t know the Planning Board was passed over (regarding any changes that Duke Realty made from the original artist rendering).”
Feist continued, “They knew that I had to look at any changes that I was not made aware of. Duke Realty asked if they had to give their change of plans to any other groups and Frederick Carr indicated, “No”. Only Carr gave approvals.”
Petrick then stated, “Just as they did with E-Port I, Duke Realty has not honored their agreement.”
Feist concluded, “They (Duke Realty) have only received preliminary approvals.”
There was a brief discussion regarding Ordinances (First Reading): Ordinance No. 1 Re: Personnel Policies – to prohibit payment to elected officials for accumulated and unused sick, vacation, and personnel days.
Petrick said, “That is changing the title to “elected officials” and not “part-time officials”.”
Regarding Ordinance No. 2 – A lease agreement between the city of Perth Amboy and Omni Point Communications fort the lease of space for the installation, operation, and maintenance of a wireless communications facility.
Petrick said, “This is to add additional cell power.”
Joel Pabon had a question regarding Ordinance No. 3. – A new Chapter entitled, Newsracks, to regulate the purpose and placement of existing and future newsracks in, near, and upon public streets, sidewalks, and outdoor spaces.
Pabon questioned, “What are we going to do. Who is going to keep an eye on this?”
Business Administrator Michael Green responded, “We need to make sure these newsracks have insurance on them and stop the proliferation of these newsracks all over. They will have to come and pay fees, maintain them, and also have insurance on them.”
Pabon asked, “How many of them are registered now?”
Green concluded, “We will contact the owners and they will have to comply with the law that we are putting in place. If not, we can remove those newsracks.”
There was also a discussion regarding R-43-1/22 Supporting the Redevelopment at Second Street Park. Business Administrator Michael Green said that there will be $201,000 which will help in the mitigation of that spot.
Deputy Chief Cattano also came up to make remarks regarding the same resolution. “There was something located on the NJ Transit Side of that park regarding the discovery of ammunition (dead).”
Director of Human Resources and Recreation Ken Ortiz came up to speak. “There is also a formality that the City of Perth Amboy supports this project.”
Petrick asked about Resolution 5-1 – Appointment of Dianne Roman as the Acting Director of Human Services for a period of 90 days. “Will she be appointed fulltime?”
Green responded, “Yes.”
Pabon mentioned R-6-1 – A demolition bond for an amount not to exceed $5,000 for 240-244 Smith Street. “Someone needs to level that street.”
Green said, “I will look into it.”
Pabon then commented about R-10 – Public Safety Gate improvement for 365-385 New Brunswick Avenue in an amount not to exceed $6,652.
“They knew that the original asking price for this job was too much money.”
Council President Petrick and B.A. Green had a brief discussion regarding R-15 – Authorizing initiation of competitive contracts for professional consulting services for the creation of a master plan and the master plan reexamination report. Green said, “This master document is for the Planning Board to act upon. The master plan has 13 parts.”
Petrick thought that this might be premature. “They were already sent in a working document.”
Green responded, “You need to see how the vendors will respond to the RFP’s for all parts of the master plan.”
Fire Chief Ed Mullen came up to speak about R-16 – A 3-Year contract with Cummins Sales & Service for maintenance and repair on engines and equipment on Marine 5 and Marine 3 in an amount not to exceed $90,000.
“There are grants already in place and part of those grants are from 2020 Port Security Grants which authorizes the spending of the money that was already approved.”
Council President Petrick questioned R-19 – Authorizing the Perth Amboy Police Department to request and acquire access department of defense equipment. “Will there be a limit on the spending?”
Green responded, “We will make sure that all the equipment that they were requesting can be utilized.”
Councilman B.J. Torres commented about R-21 – A contract with Atlantic Salt for the purchase of rock salt at $47.90 per ton in an amount not to exceed $100,000.
He questioned, “Can we suspend street sweeping when we are salting the streets?”
Petrick said that he agreed with that.
Green also explained R-31 – A contract with Edmunds Gov Tech for 2022 software maintenance in amount not to exceed $56,000.
“The Council and the mayor asked us to see what we could do to be put online. This required another charge for an additional modular.”
Public Portion:
Resident Ken Balut talked about incompetency of the lawyers and business administrators when it came to dealing with Duke Realty and Kushner. “There are so many change orders on every project. We’ve had three studies on illegal housing. We have someone who is the head of Code Enforcement who is not qualified. Friends and relatives get jobs. Does the Acting Director of the DPW have all the qualifications? When I sat on the council, we always got reports on illegal housing. Are there civil liberty suits against the library?”
Green responded, “Yes.”
Balut continued, “What happened to awards that were given to the police in the past? We need to know where the $6 million was part of funding that the city received was spent.”
Petrick responded to Balut’s last comment. “$1.8 million was for the water meters, but I can’t account for the remaining money.”
Petrick also said that the last contractor that was working at installing the handicapped lift at the library regarding has stopped the work.
Green stated he would get information on a time frame needed to complete that particular project.
Resident Vince Mackiel came up next. He mentioned the press conference they had at Bayview Park about the city water. “Various groups were there. They talked about the lead that was in the city’s pipes. What are the future expenditures in the Build Back Better program? Toms River spent $300 million to clean up their water. Specify our needs to get the best water for Perth Amboy now and in the future. We can start with the watershed in Old Bridge.”
Green responded, “Money has been allocated on how that money will be distributed to the city. We need to update our antiquated equipment.”
Petrick then spoke up, “We need to go to the older parts of town to see where the lead bins are.”
Councilman Pabon then suggested, “We need to put together as list on how to make the water better.”
Green responded, “That list is already done, and we will forward it to our state agencies. The new meters don’t improve the water but will improve our revenue. The list will give our needs and if it warrants a rate increase.”
Fire Chief Ed Mullen came up to the mike. “I want to extend the Fire Department’s sympathies to those who lost their lives in the New York and Philadelphia fires. Last year, there were 4,500 fire inspections done in the city and I want to thank all who did those inspections. We also received grant money to install carbon monoxide alarms throughout many city homes. A lot of firefighters worked on their days off to do so.”
The meeting was then opened to Zoom:
Resident Lisa Nanton spoke first. She stated, “Have PARA go through their procedures and all the changes on all of their projects. Duke Realty told me that the amphitheater could not be done as shown in the first rendition. I don’t want the council to pay for the sins of the past and blame the last administration.”
The council then went into closed session at 7:35 p.m. They returned at 8:28 p.m. to resume the meeting.
They discussed the reappointment of Bill Petrick to the Perth Amboy Planning Board as a Class 3 Member. When it came time to discuss that reappointment, Pabon’s name was also mentioned, since he requested to be put in that position also.
Councilwoman Morales moved for Pabon to be appointed. It was seconded by Tejeda. Pabon ended the meeting by saying, “We have until Wednesday to decide what to do about that appointment.”
The meeting was adjourned at 8:34 p.m.
1/10/22 Caucus
