2/7/22 Caucus

By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – There was a lengthy conversation regarding Ordinance No. 1 (First Reading) – To amend an ordinance entitled, “Public Entertainment” regarding public entertainment limited to certain locations.

Councilman Joel Pabon asked if the Department of Recreation Director Kenny Ortiz was online to answer questions regarding this ordinance. Pabon talked about the ordinance which would have large festivals taking place in Rudyk Park. “Part of the entrance could be accessed on High Street, but because Rudyk Park is near a lot of small streets, it will be a burden on the neighborhood. There already is a big festival that takes place there. Are we going to be dropping the work that is being done on the soccer field? The field is being destroyed because of festivals. Last year, during the baseball season we had issues, and there is no money to fix it. So, what are we doing here?”

Director of the Department of Recreation Kenny Ortiz appeared via Zoom. We are looking to expand Rudyk Park. We are getting property on the High Street side, and we are working with Green Acres to obtain property from multiple owners (Conrail, Duke Realty, and Kindermorgan). We’ll also need to do environmental testing. Originally, Rudyk Park was built to be an entertainment site. We have invested money for improvements for the baseball field which will include fencing and what would be the best option for a backstop. We also need improvements for the basketball courts for the summer.”

Pabon said, “That will be ideal (after these improvements are made).”

Ortiz continued, “Part of the Kindermorgan property was obtained and we are still working with Duke Realty to obtain some of their property. Conrail is our biggest holdout, and we are reaching out to Senator Cory Booker to help us out. Conrail said part of the property that we want is still an active rail line which we know is not true because tree branches and bushes are growing on the rail lines.”

Pabon spoke up, “If these plans come through, whoever will be on the council in the future, this will be set up for them because Rudyk Park will be a perfect location for festivals.”

Ortiz continued, “The Port Authority was surprised because they didn’t know about the parking spaces underneath the Outerbridge.”

Pabon suggested that they (the council) reach out to Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez to help out with the situation involving Conrail.”

Ortiz agreed. “This is not unique to our city what’s going on when dealing with Conrail.” He indicated that Conrail has done this to other cities that have tried to acquire their property.

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda spoke up. “This is a huge change that will affect a lot of residents in different communities. I am asking you to table this ordinance so everyone can be informed of the changes.”

Council President Bill Petrick spoke up, “I am the one who put this up on the agenda for discussion.” He also asked, “Who is on the Federal Transportation Committee and how is the drainage in Rudyk Park?”

Ortiz responded, “There is a drainage issue in Rudyk Park, especially pertaining to the lowest part of the baseball field. There is a lot of saturation during rainfalls. To put in Astroturf, you need a permit. We also have mesh to help with the baseball field.”

Councilwoman Rose Morales spoke up, “I agree with Councilwoman Tejeda to table this ordinance.”

Petrick had other comments to make regarding this ordinance, “The neighborhoods around Rudyk Park will not be greatly affected if you corner off certain streets during the festivals. Rudyk Park is accessible to get to from Rte. 440 and Rte. 287. The parking and traffic situation is better. Rudyk Park is near an industrial area and there will be less noise. You have many warehouses on High Street. Maybe they can provide parking for the festivals. There are only two festivals that have big crowds: The Dominican Festival and the Puerto Rican Festival.”

Morales spoke up, “What about the Fourth of July Fireworks?”

Petrick replied, “It’s one night. It’s contained and funded by two cities. At one time, it was funded by three different cities.”

Tejeda spoke up, “The Puerto Rican Festival is chaotic. And why was Caledonia Park eliminated (as part of the ordinance)? They had a Peruvian Festival at Caledonia Park that had 200 people in it and it was chaotic.”

Petrick responded, “You can reach out to the people who planned that festival to see the number of people that attended.”

Councilwoman Morales then mentioned, “National Night Out at Washington Park had over 200 people.”

 Petrick answered, “It was one night.”

Tejeda spoke up again, “In the ordinance, you are only mentioning two festivals to be located at Rudyk Park: the Puerto Rican and Dominican – and they are two big ones. It is not fair to put them both in Rudyk Park which is not ready to hold two big festivals.”

Petrick responded,” “There is more residential and other problems in the neighborhood when the festivals are held at the Waterfront. Pabon and I talked about the condition of the parks. The event organizers would be responsible for any wear and tear of the parks after the festivals. You have to look at the impact of the community, especially when you have multi-day festivals. People complain about the noise, garbage, traffic, and people urinating in their driveways.”

Pabon said, “This could happen at Rudyk Park. There are no big festivals this year, so we still have time for discussions. The warehouses (located on High Street) are huge and we can talk to them about parking for the festivals (held at Rudyk Park). We just need to have everyone involved in talks, including the administration.”

Petrick suggested that the festival organizers can talk to the warehouse owners about using their properties and we don’t have to get involved – only Code Enforcement, Public Works, and the Police Department.

Pabon agreed, “If it is private property, let’s do it. Will we need more police? I live near the waterfront. I see the impact (of the big festivals).”

Petrick continued, “There are no festivals this year. So, let’s start to implement this plan so the organizers know where they stand. We can modify and alleviate all issues.”

When it came time to see who wanted the table the ordinance, the only ones who voted no were Petrick and B.J. Torres.

Petrick said, “We need to revisit this issue in a month.”

Pabon then suggested that the council sit down with the administration and police to talk about this ordinance. “Let’s put the ordinance back on the agenda for the first meeting in April.”

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch said she would do so.

CFO Jill Goldy spoke briefly in regards to Ordinance No. 1 – A Bond Ordinance providing for the refunding of several general improvement bonds and appropriating $27,200,000 and authorizing the issuance by the city of General Improvement Refunding Bond in the principal amount not exceeding $27,200,000.

She stated, “This is a Refund Debt from 2020 and $20,000,000 to be used for the Public Safety Complex.”

 Goldy then explained R-93-2/22 – Accepting the proposal of and awarding a contract to Millennium Strategies LLC for grant writing services in an amount not to exceed $48,000. “This is just an extension of their contract.”

 OEM Coordinator and Acting Police Chief came up to explain R-95-2/22- A memorandum of understanding with the County of Middlesex for the use of specialized equipment. “This is technology that will help us with our investigations.”

There was a brief discussion regarding R-96-2/22 – A contract with Graybar Electric Company for the Public Safety Building Emergency Wiring Repair in an amount not to exceed $50,584.12.

Goldy explained, “This was due to the damage from the Storm Ida. Part of the cost will be covered by our insurance and FEMA.”

Councilman Pabon said, “We are always getting updated wiring, but nothing ever for the Council Chambers.”

 The IT Technician on duty said, “There seems to be a supply chain problem.”

There was a brief discussion regarding R-97-2/22- A change order to the contract with Maser Consulting now doing business as Colliers Engineering & Design for the Raritan Riverfront Park-Green Acres Project in an amount not to exceed $8,100.

 Kenny Ortiz explained that a portion of the property is owned by the DEP and a line of demarcation will be drawn up by the engineer who will be presenting plans to the state for approval. “We want to make this more of a recreational area.”

Pabon said, “The cost is almost doubled.”

Ortiz continued, “It is not doubled. The cost to the city will be $2.5 million with a $2.5 million matching grant. There have been delays from the DOT due to environmental issues.”

There was a brief discussion on R-102-2/22 – Appointing additional Green Team Members.

 Acting Law Director William Opel said, “This is to appoint six additional members.”

City Director Joel Rosa spoke up via Zoom, “We will be conducting educational and community events focusing on our environmental needs. For people interested in becoming a Green Team Member, they need to attend three Green Team Events and at least attend one Green Team Meeting before they become a member. We have advertised some of our events through word of mouth and through the schools. On March 22nd is World Water Day and we will have thirty students from the Charter School who are interested in the environment invited to attend one of the water/wastewater facilities. They will also have a light lunch. We are hoping we can have sponsors donate food.”

Councilwoman Tejeda thought this was a good opportunity for our students. “I myself have toured a water/wastewater facility.”

Ken Ortiz then explained R-104-2/22 – A contract with Vanasse Hangen Brustlin for professional services for an environmental remedial investigation on property located at the Second Street Park in an amount of $195,218.43. Ortiz stated, “This goes back to 2019. The council approved the grant for this, and PARA also contributed. The DEP and the city provided funding.”

Ortiz then explained R-105-2/22 – A contract with Vanesse Hangen Brustlin for professional services for an environment remedial investigation on property located at Second Street Park for an amount of $201,294.60. Ortiz said, “It is 100% covered by grants and we’ll be having a drone scan done on the property.”

Councilman B.J. Torres questioned, “Are there going to be any additional cleanups?”

Ortiz answered, “There are white phosphorus, and the DEP has been notified and the EPA will be doing evaluations at no cost to the city.”

Torres then said, “Maybe the Green Team can educate the residents about white phosphorus.”

 Council President Petrick said, “It is very dangerous.” He also remembered a couple of years ago, there was a couple of people came who were interested in building a train museum in Perth Amboy. Maybe we could reach out to them for possible funding.

Bill Petrick asked to go back and discuss some of the resolutions on the agenda.

While Ortiz was on Zoom, he talked about getting signage for a portion of the property by the Victory Bridge. Council President Petrick said that he would like to be involved in those discussions.

Other resolutions discussed:

Petrick spoke about R-98-2/22- A contract with CME Associates for basketball court improvements at Patten Center Park and Stanley Rudyk Park in an amount not to exceed $16,546. “We should talk to the Port Authority about getting more basketball courts.”

Pabon then questioned, “What is going on?”

Ortiz explained, “We need to fill in cracks, get a total reconstruction of the basketball courts with a 25-year warranty and to add an additional court at the Truxton Street Court. I asked CFO Jill Goldy to see if we can do this.”

Luis Perez Jimenez – Director of Operations at the USA-PA (Utility Service Associates Perth Amboy) Middlesex Water Company) explained R-99-2/22- A contract with Pumping Service Inc. for the rental of a bypass pump for the Second Street Pump Station in an amount not to exceed $30,635.60. “We have three pumps. Two are out of service to be repaired. We expect to get the needed parts my mid-February. We get ten hours of service out of one tank.”

R-100-2/22- A contract with CDM Smith for professional services for completion of a water & sewer rate study to determine an appropriate and adequate rate structure in an amount not to exceed $89,200.

Petrick responded, “This is to legitimatize the rate increase.”

 Perez Jimenez explained, “There is a lot of work and projects that will take place. We have one aging pipeline.”

B.J. Torres spoke up, “Will it take into account our CSO’s (combined sewer overflow).”

 Perez Jimenez said, “Yes, it will. We are running our lines to Middlesex Sewage and this is going to be a 5-year project.”

 Petrick said, “There are trees at the top of the reservoir, and I have concerns about this.”

Perez Jimenez explained, “We have rocks and joints to take care of that problem so there is no root intrusion.”

Petrick said that he still feels the trees should come down.

 Perez Jimenez responded, “I’ll look into it.”

R-101-2/22- Change Order No. 1 to the contract with AC Schultes for the repairs and maintenance of pumps, motors, shafts, and columns for the water and wastewater utilities in an amount not to exceed $7,876.97.

Perez Jimenez explained, “Pump#3 at Runyon needs to be repaired. We are short on funds, and this is what we need. We pump water from the sand, and it is treated before it comes over to us. We have four wells that we use.”

Petrick spoke up and updated everyone as to what was going on regarding the Patio Bar on Fayette Street. “The State ABC did an intervention and are still investigating. Former Law Director Peter King suggested we wait until to see what the ABC does. We can schedule a public hearing for April.”

Councilman Joel Pabon was not happy, “They already gave this bar too much time.” He added that Acting Police Chief Cattano stated that last night there was a disturbance at the place and one police officer was jumped on and they had to close the bar early that night. “Reports will be sent out to the clerk.”

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch said, “There has to be a timeframe to give the bar a notice from when there will be a public hearing.”

Public Portion (in-person first):

Resident Maria Garcia spoke first, “I have a problem with the Public Entertainment Ordinance. When I was on the Board of Education, there was a conflict of interest I had to recuse myself. Councilwoman Milady Tejeda should have recused herself from voting on this ordinance. There is more of a problem than having an event at the waterfront because it is mostly residential. The music decibels are over the limit for that area and the streets are blocked which is hard when it comes to emergencies. I can hear the music from my address on Kearny Avenue. We love festivals, but we have to be considerate.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda responded, “The ordinance is not about the Dominican Festival which is a nonprofit and our city attorney said there is no conflict of interest for me.”

The next person to speak was Maria Vera who lives on Madison Avenue. “Milady does have a conflict. We have 10,000 people at that festival (Dominican). I have pictures of the festival. I’m speaking for the community. We have bike and gun problems. My answer is “No!”

 No one from Zoom spoke. The council went into closed session at 7:20 p.m. All council members were present in person except for B.J. Torres who attended via Zoom.