7/12/21 Caucus & 7/14/21 Council Meeting

By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – Councilman Joel Pabon had a question involving Ordinance No. 2 (Public Hearing) which was a donor agreement with Kindermorgan to accept property located at Block 426 Lot 2 in the City of Perth Amboy. 

“What is the plan for this land?” asked Pabon.

Council President Bill Petrick responded, “Right now, the city is working on getting the railroad property which is adjacent to this donated land.” 

Pabon then wanted to know if the Special Police Officer Class I which is on Ordinance No. 3 (Public Hearing). “Do they carry weapons? And are they retired?”

  Deputy Police Chief Larry Cattano came up, “This class of officers can’t carry weapons and there are no requirements on the hours they have to work. They can’t do indictable crimes and they come up from the Auxiliary ranks.” 

Pabon was then concerned about all the paving on State Street that’s going on now. “This was just done the prior week. Why do they continuously keep digging up State Street? Now, there are markings on Gordon to Market Street.” 

Business Administrator Mike Green responded, “The mayor was upset about this as well. Any contractor who digs up a street within a 5-year timeframe has to put the street back to the original condition curb to curb.” 

Pabon continued, “We know that there is an ordinance in place stating that, but there needs to be a schedule when they are digging up streets and who will be doing the digging.” 

City Engineer Ernest Feist answered the question via Zoom, “There is an ordinance in place regarding repaving of streets. Anytime streets need to be dug up, we need to contact all the utility companies who will be affected by this to see if it will interfere with any of our utilities (gas, electric, etc.). Our water and sewer system are very old and sometimes when you use heavy equipment on the street, it may cause an emergency. Some streets are owned by the county, which we can’t control. Our ordinance is only for city owned streets.” 

Council President Petrick spoke up and stated that Elizabethtown Gas are laying down main lines. 

Feist then concluded, “We work around what Elizabethtown Gas has to do when they are working with other utility companies.”

  Councilman Joel Pabon then questioned why Ordinance No. 1 (First Reading – No Public Discussion) was about the zoning and land development to prohibit the operations of any class of cannabis business within the city. 

He argued, “This should be the second reading. 

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch responded, “It was not advertised. You have enough time for a public portion.” 

Law Director Northgrave then spoke up and told the council, “You can have a first reading, then it could be advertised for a public hearing.” 

Pabon then questioned R-336-7/21 – A refund of tax overpayments on Kirkland Place to Vintage Title Company in the amount of $2,398.80 for 100% totally disabled Veteran’s deduction allowance and allowing the collector to cancel future taxes for 2021/2022. 

“Shouldn’t the Veteran’s name be on this?”

  Kupsch explained, “It has to be paid to the entity that paid for it. That is why the Title Company will get the refund.”

  Council President Bill Petrick questioned R-340-7/21 – Opposing Senate Bill S-3810 and Assembly Bill A-5862 entitled “Responsible Collective Negotiations Act”.

  “Is this going to tie the hands of the local government?”

  Northgrave responded, “I think it’s moot at this point, and it has not been acted on.” 

Petrick then asked if R-342 dealing with the Duke Realty Company on Riverview Drive if the work was completed with the stabilization of Riverview Drive. “Because they are asking to receive some of the cash back on some of their bonds to ensure that this work was carried out.” 

Petrick was assured City Engineer Feist that the work was completed. 

Petrick also asked if any of the oil tanks were removed from that site. 

Feist answered, “If the developer abandons a site, certain bonding has to be put into place. I will get back to you.” 

Petrick then questioned why everyone who was being appointed to the Green Team all had their term expiring at the same time. “Shouldn’t those dates be staggered?” 

B.A. Green responded, “There is nothing in the ordinance stating that, but we can look at this.” 

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch said, “All the terms for the members of the Green Team expired at the same time in the past.” 

Petrick still wasn’t satisfied. “Other municipal boards have staggered expiration dates for their members.” He then asked if anybody from the Green Team was present to speak about what they do. 

Joel Rosa from the Mayor’s Office came up. “The Green Team was established in 2014. We identify areas in the city that can be strengthened for sustainability. We are able to get points that can enable us to give grant money. We work with the human services and other economic development. We have met informally over the past couple of months and are currently meeting via Zoom. The grant money we receive is used by the City of Perth Amboy. We also have money for advertising.” 

Bill Petrick then questioned whey R-357-7/21 – Qualifying public defenders who submitted responses to requests for qualifications for the calendar year 2021 should have been done earlier in the year. 

Northgrave responded, “We are having trouble attracting people to work here, so we have to offer more money.” 

Luis Perez Jimenez, Director of Operations at the USA-PA (Utility Service Associates Perth Amboy) Middlesex Water Company) came up to speak about R-360-7/21 – A change order No. 2 – A shared services agreement between the Passaic Valley Sewage Commission and the City of Perth Amboy for certain services related to regulatory requirements imposed by the NJ Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Combined Sewer Overflow Permit. 

He said, “The engineers did not have approval from the NJDEP. There were changes in the CSO’s. We also have to upgrade the webpage.” 

Petrick then said, “We need to table Resolution R-362 – Moving the date of the annual School Board Election to the third Tuesday in April. 

“The Board of Education does not want to have this done. I thought it would have been best because the citizens could have voted on the school budget separately. The Board of Education would have been more prominent instead of being buried with other elections. Other council members were on board to change it back to April.” 

Councilman Joel Pabon spoke up, “Maybe the residents should decide if the Board of Education elections should be moved back to April. No one expected to have a runoff election in December 2020 which was very chaotic. The turnout for the runoff election in December 2020 was very poor. We have four more years to decide about this.” 

Councilman B.J. Torres said, “We will have a possibility of four elections in one year.” 

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch said, “The county will pick up the tab for special elections.” 

Torres then suggested, “Maybe we should have partisan elections.” 

Councilwoman Rose Morales joined the conversation via Zoom. “I agree with the statements that Councilman Pabon (having the citizens decide) and Torres (having partisan elections) both made. We have a limited timeframe when you have a runoff election which would be very close to the general election. This should have been discussed with all the council members before putting this on as a resolution.” 

Victoria Kupsch then spoke up, “If there is a change of government, there has to be a referendum by the citizens. You would need to have a charter and a discussion committee.” 

Law Director Northgrave said, “This would require an ordinance before you had a general election if you choose or want to change the form of government we have. We are under the Faulkner Act. If you want to change the form of government, I will have to do more research, especially if we choose to go as a commissioner form of government. This could be a change of the charter which would be more involved.” 

Council President Bill Petrick decided that R-362 should not be voted on so it was removed from the agenda.

  Pabon then discussed the dedication of Second Street Park (The Borniqueneer Park). “It was dedicated a few weeks ago. I don’t see any trucks parked there or any activity going on. I remember one of the Borniqueneers who was there and hoping that this park would be completed for him to see. We have been waiting a long time for this park.” 

Department of Human Resources and Recreation Chair Ken Ortiz came up to speak about this, “We are at the mercy of the State and the DEP. We have to get one last permit from the DEP to start the work. I will email to you all the information that is holding us up.” 

Pabon finished the conversation, “I remember on the day of the dedication that it was said that all the permits were already in place.” 

Ortiz then spoke about the earlier conversation that went on regarding the donation of property from Kindermorgan, “The land donated is part of an expansion project.  The released portion was part of Conrail’s property. Conrail does not want to give up any property. We have been in discussions with New York and New Jersey Port Authorities and our State and County Officials. We are trying to acquire the property around the Conrail train tracks. We are also in conversation about the school property we are trying to acquire and the Washington Street property that Conrail owns. We are also talking to City Engineer Jeffery Rauch.” 

Law Director Northgrave spoke up, “They need to remove R-376-7/21 – A settlement in the matter of Idania Vazquez vs. the City of Perth Amboy in the amount of $45,000. 

“We need to have additional discussion about this matter.” 

Councilwoman Rose Morales spoke up regarding the appointees of several members to the Perth Amboy Board of Adjustment. R-377 thru R-379. “This should have been discussed prior to putting this on the agenda.” 

Council President William Petrick (who put these three resolutions on the agenda) spoke up. “There are only two changes. An alternate is going to be moved up to a regular member. People who made applications didn’t want to have hearings with only a few Board members present.  Some of these people on the resolution are already on the Board.” 

Councilman Joel Pabon voiced his opinion stating, “These should be council appointments. I don’t remember alternates automatically moving up to permanent positions. I don’t know if other people applied for this Board, and this should be voted on by all the council members.” 

Councilman B.J. Torres spoke up and agreed with Pabon stating, “We need to all be included who should be on Boards.” 

Petrick then reminded Pabon, “I think that you approved of some of these people before who are on this Board.”

  City Engineer Ernest Feist returned on Zoom to let Petrick know that the concerns he had about the clean up at the sites he talked about earlier regarding Resolution R-342 involving Duke Realty. “Everything that was supposed to be removed was done.”

Public Portion for people in the council chambers: 

Just before the public portion began, Mayor Helmin Caba came up to the mic. “I want to make presentations to two city employees: one current and one retiree who were separately involved in saving the lives of city residents.” 

After Mayor Caba made the presentations, the City Council was invited to join Mayor Caba with those who were honored to take a photo. 

The Meeting was then opened up to the public. 

Resident Ken Balut came up first. He was not happy at the way those presentations were made. “First of all, it should have been on the agenda so that family members could have present and they also should have been recognized at the beginning of the meeting.” He then continued, “You don’t hold people’s feet to the fire.” He then asked if the taxes are going up. He also wanted to know what the qualifications of Mr. Nieves are who is the acting DPW Director. “Someone who rented one of Kushner’s apartments in the Landings was cited for not having a firestop. I’m sure our Code Enforcement Director doesn’t know what a firestop is. Two cops were suspended without any charges filed against them and now they are suing the city. You keep talking about the problems we have with Elizabethtown Gas (who keep digging up our streets), but you don’t talk about Kushner.”

  Resident Vince Mackiel came up next. He first wanted to compliment the city for doing the curb improvements. “Especially on Market and Smith Streets.” He was then displeased that it is taking so long for them to complete or get any work done on the Market and Elm Street Bridge. “This was supposed to have been completed in an 18-month timeframe. The prior administration said the work should have been completed in 2018. Why don’t you ask NJ Transit if the engineering work has been completed? There are children and many people who have to use that bridge and it is very important. I’m again asking if the engineering work has been done because the people in Trenton need to know about this.” 

Resident Lisa Nanton came up next. She said she agreed with everything that Mackiel said. She then pleaded that all people who speak, to please speak into the mic. She asked the council, “Please vote for R-373 – Concerts by the Bay. All music venues are open all around the state. This will bring people to the city. After the concert, people need a place to go to eat and the BID should have a list of all the restaurants available in town. Some of the showers are working at the waterfront, but some of them are not placed at convenient spots and should be moved. There is a bathroom trailer near the corner of Madison Avenue and Sadowski Parkway which is blocking a resident’s view and it is violating the zoning laws. Put that trailer in the Duarte Park which is by our community center.” 

East Brunswick Resident Reinaldo Aviles came up next. He asked if the new public defender speaks Spanish. 

Law Director Northgrave said he would find out. 

Aviles continued, “All people appointed to Municipal Boards need to be here to be interviewed and appointed by the council. No one trusts the process and it is secretive. The Board of Education should not be part of any partisan election. The recent runoff election held in December 2020 was not the problem. The problem is not the voters – it’s the politicians.” 

The meeting was open to Zoom participants. 

Several people spoke about the cannabis law and why they approved of cannabis sales. The first person who spoke was Hugh Giradaldo. He is a member of USW Cannabis Workers. We oppose banning good union jobs. As far as having a cannabis business, it will provide for good healthcare and benefits. The people involved in this have degrees in environmental sciences. The city of Bayonne has a great ordinance regarding cannabis. I can offer you a tour of a facility. The New Jersey Building trades are building facilities for cannabis operations.” 

Petrick spoke up, “If we do nothing, we will surrender our rights to the State of New Jersey. This will be controversial. Our discussions will be lengthy, and then we will be running out of time.” 

The next person to speak was Eatontown Resident Jeff King. “In your master plan, you can look at your zoning to see where can operate marijuana businesses. Cannabis businesses can open up good union jobs. We need to have homegrown rights. It is good for people who need it for medical needs. I’m disappointed you are not more proactive on this issue.” 

The next speaker was a woman from Parlin. She said, “Between the ages of 1-4 years old, I suffered from a birth defect. In 2017, I was diagnosed with cancer and my weight went down a lot. Medical marijuana helped me.” 

Law Director William Northgrave said, “The ordinance on the agenda deals with recreational use only.” 

Petrick then spoke up, “We don’t have the right to open up medical dispensaries.” 

A woman named Jamie spoke next. “I am a medical marijuana advocate for chronic illnesses and pain. You can build up a tolerance for it. Medical marijuana could be used to treat depression, which a lot of veterans suffer from. A lot of veterans also commit suicide. You have a lot of bars in town and marijuana is being stigmatized. Narcan use is also up in your city.” 

The next speaker was Edward “Lefty” Grimes who is an advocate for disabled rights. “We can’t afford delivery services (for marijuana). The industry is built on the backs of the sick and dying. You can have mom and pop dispensaries. Some veterans have to drive an hour to get medical marijuana. Some towns are banning it all together. Perth Amboy has very little wheelchair access. Consider the sick and the dying first. Veterans want to have their own homegrown dispensaries.” 

Resident Sharon Hubberman was next. She talked about the Board of Education elections going back to April. “It will give us a chance to vote on the School Board Budget. It became politicized when it was moved to November with all the other elections. The council is the one who made the changes. If you want a commission (as elected officials), a petition by citizens is the way to go if you want to change elections from nonpartisan to partisan. Do your own research about changing the form of government.” 

The next speaker was Maria Vera. She talked about an incident near her street where there were over 20 different types of bikes – motorized and others. “They were disrupting traffic. What kinds of equipment are they required to have?” 

Deputy Police Chief Larry Cattano came up to answer Vera, “Motorized vehicles have to have headlights, a license, and helmets which is required by state and municipal laws.” 

Vera finished, “We need to have bicycle trails in town.” 

Cattano continued, “There is some instances where it is unsafe to pursue some of the bicyclists.” 

Councilman Torres spoke up, “I saw a video of that particular incident and those were adults on motorbikes, and they were burning rubber. You can hear them from blocks away.” 

Cattano responded, “They purposely bait the police to chase them.” 

Torres said, “Some of these people had no helmets on.” 

Councilman Pabon spoke up, “A lot of these people have dirt bikes, and they take over the entire street.” 

Cattano responded, “Depending on the types of bikes, they may not be under our municipal laws.”

  Caroline Pozycki-Torres spoke next. She said, “According to an article in the Home News Tribune, it said Perth Amboy is getting ready to say “no” to cannabis. It is not your jurisdiction to do anything with medical marijuana.” 

Law Director Northgrave responded, “Wednesday (July 14,2021) will be the first reading of the ordinance.” 

Pozycki-Torres continued, “It is harming our community by not having any type of marijuana. Can we read what the full ordinance says?” 

Northgrave replied, “The ordinance is very lengthy, and you (Pozycki-Torres) are reading from a newspaper article.” 

Pozycki-Torres said, “You can follow what other cities are doing. I agree with previous callers who talked about how cannabis opens up good paying jobs. You make it seem complicated to put in a plan.”

  Council President Petrick replied, “We are reviewing the ordinance which will be given to us by the lawyer.” 

Northgrave ended the evening, “It is not an introduced ordinance, and it has substantial changes.”

  The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. All council members were present in person except for Rose Morales who joined the meeting at 5:45 p.m. via Zoom. 

The regular council meeting began at 7 p.m. on 7/14/21. The public had a chance to speak on the ordinances that had a public hearing. 

Ordinance No. 1 – Bicycles regarding licensing. 

Resident Ken Balut came up first and talked about the incident that was on YouTube showing bicyclists ride recklessly in different locations in different towns. “There was an incident that happened in my area (Budapest section). “People in my area believe a bicyclist killed a cat. Everyone talks about that they were just children doing this. What about the poor lady in my neighborhood who was almost run over by them in front of her house? They are not innocent kids. Let’s bring the whole video here in the chambers for people to see. We used to have a very quiet neighborhood, but not anymore. They are zipping in and out of traffic. They are not innocent little kids. They are causing havoc in our town. If they had competent people in city hall, when the first incident happened and was put on YouTube, they could have addressed this.” 

Resident Stanley Sierakowski came up next, “One of these children came very close to hitting my car. He could have injured himself or me. They know they can get away with it because of their age.” 

Councilman B.J. Torres spoke up, “This ordinance pertains to if the licensing should be mandatory or voluntary. You can’t confiscate their bikes or take them to jail. This ordinance pertains to bicycles only. Children under the age of 16 has to wear helmets.” 

Resident Alan Silber came up next, “We are talking about bicycles. A lot of them are electric bikes. They are dangerous and people are driving them without using their hands. Take a walk yourselves. It is not a pleasant experience to see them racing.”

  Resident Vince Mackiel came up to speak next, “Enforcement was too strong in the old ordinance. We need to respect the rights of the kids.”

  The comments were opened up to Zoom:

  Resident Caroline Pozycki spoke first, “In 2016, there was a plan for bicycles which we haven’t implemented. Read the recommendations about bike rights, bike routes, and bike lanes which are not set up. This is in the ordinance.” 

Resident Dave Szilagyi spoke next. “You must do volunteer registration of bikes. The city police will have a list of licenses in case a bike was stolen. The bikes that were featured in the YouTube video interfered with traffic. The police officer who appeared in that video was having a bad day.” 

A High Street Resident spoke next. This ordinance will make it easier for people to commute. That includes children and adults. The people who spoke earlier about the different incidents are making solid complaints, but it has no impact on this ordinance.” 

Ordinance No. 2 – Donation of property from Kindermorgan. 

Resident Stanley Sierakowski spoke first. He asked, “Who is responsible for the cleanup of this property?” 

Director of Human Services Ken Ortiz came up to respond to Sierakowski, “If it is our property, we will have to pay for the cleanup.” 

Council President Petrick disagreed with Ortiz, “The people who donated the property will have to clean it up.” 

Sierakowski, “You are correct (to Petrick). Those who donated the land are responsible to clean up the property. Table this until you get the proper answer.” 

Ordinance No. 3 – Police Department regarding Special Police Officer Class I. 

Resident Ken Balut spoke. He asked Councilman Torres why he voted “No” on this ordinance. “These officers will be guarding your neighborhood 90% of the time. They will mostly be by the waterfront area and not the Budapest area of town.” 

Councilman Torres responded, “I was against hiring out-of-towners for these positions.” 

Balut continued, “I know a lot of out-of-towners who are very good. These officers are just getting stipends.” 

Torres corrected Balut’s last statement. “These officers are paid and not volunteers.” 

Ordinance No. 4 – Zoning and Land Development – to prohibit the operation of any class of cannabis business within the city.

  Resident Vince Mackiel spoke first, “Imprisonment is not the solution. We need to have nontraditional treatments. You need to have people who can meet up and maybe you can use some of the churches. The present system is not working.” 

A resident, Mr. Rodriguez from Sheridan Street spoke next. “Marijuana was approved statewide and by the county. The marijuana businesses will eventually open up.” 

Council President Petrick responded, “We don’t need to relinquish local control.” 

Rodriguez concluded, “I just wanted to state that there is a large number of people who approved marijuana.”

  Resident Sharon Hubberman spoke next, “Has this ordinance changed from the time it was on the June 23, 2021, agenda?” 

Petrick responded, “Yes.” 

Resident Dave Szilagyi spoke next. “Drug transactions have been happening in the past even if you vote to restrict all marijuana businesses. The police even used my house to set up surveillance cameras to watch people make drug transactions. You are passing up a good opportunity (to bring in outsiders who may at first be hesitant to come into town). But they will get used to it. You could open up retail sales with laws in place such as you do with liquor stores and bars.” 

Petrick reminded people that we are still under a time restraint.

  Another resident from High Street spoke next. He said, “We have some ordinances in place to keep local control. We need the funds. It can bring in a huge amount of revenue that can be taxed. If other towns say “no”, we should say “yes” to bring in revenue. I don’t smoke marijuana myself. We have plenty of bars and cigarette sales in town.” 

The next order of business was “The Hearing of Citizens”. Resident David Caba came up and gave a 10-minute presentation on the Kushner Landings Project. When he came up to speak, he had some materials to hand out to the council. “I have been a licensed realtor since 1997 and have lived in Perth Amboy for over 40 years. Look at what was promised at the beginning for the Landings Project. Kushner has abandoned a lot of the property he acquired. He has done this for over 15 years. I’m giving the current administration the benefit of the doubt because they are new.” He then went on to give some of the prices of Kushner’s property that sold in Perth Amboy and comparable properties sold in other towns. “The current stats I have are in Perth Amboy, the highest unit went for $380,000 and the lowest went for $195,000. In Long Branch, the highest listing was for $4.9 million. In Asbury Park, the highest unit went for $3.2 million. Now, Kushner wants to build 600 more units in Perth Amboy which is a plan he presented a few years ago. If those units are to be built, it would generate $15 million a year to him. Kushner has made things worse. The former Mayor (Wilda Diaz) sued you (the council) more than she did anything she did about Kushner. I wish the new administration the best. This guy (Kushner) is a multi-billionaire.” 

Caba then asked the new Business Administrator Mike Green if he ever saw a police building boarded up in Newark. 

Green replied, “No.” 

Caba then continued quoting more statistics on how the real estate market differs between similar units in Perth Amboy versus other towns. “A 4-bedroom home in Carteret was listed for $975,000. A similar home in Perth Amboy listed for $705,000. In Asbury Park, a house sold for $5 million on the waterfront. These towns are moving forward, and we are moving backward. Kushner will make money on 600 units every month. You should cancel Kushner’s contract if he doesn’t abide by his promise.” 

Caba was applauded for his presentation. 

 Tashi Vazquez from the Office of Community Development came up to speak about the Green Acres Application under the State of New Jersey Department of the Environmental Protection Department for the Veteran’s Memorial Youth League Complex Development Project. “Recently, we had a girls’ softball team participate in a tournament on this field. It was 90 degrees, and some of the parents of these girls purchased a tarp to be put on the field. We have a shortage of playing fields and a lot of them are in poor condition. Sometimes we have to cancel games because of rain. We need to put in artificial turf. Some of the concept plans include redesigning some of the fields for multi-purpose sports. We need a complete overhaul which will include the dugout, trails, etc. We can have rain gardens to capture storm water. It is a $5 million project with a match that was already approved by the council. The expected completion date is August 2023.” 

Councilman Joel Pabon spoke up, “I am glad to see trees implemented in the plan.” 

Vazquez continued, “The parking lot will be upgraded and expanded.” 

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda was pleased, “We are investing in our youth.” 

Councilman B.J. Torres said, “I hope that this isn’t a trend with presentations being made at the last minute.” 

Vazquez responded, “I started working on the application a month ago.” 

Ken Ortiz came forward to make comments, “There was an extension for this application to be handed in.” 

Councilman Joel Pabon spoke next and told Vazquez that she did an outstanding job in a short period of time to get this done. “Let’s continue to get money that’s out there.” 

Resident Ken Balut came up to speak about this project. “I’m worried about the turf. I heard it is not good for young kids, especially on their knees. Hopefully, there will be better facilities at the Band Shelter, and you need to get food vendors there. You have $8.4 million in new money that you can partially use for the children.” 

Pabon spoke up again, “This is a major park renovation. Drainage is always the biggest problem when it comes to parks. We have great fields, but they can be better.” 

Maria Vera spoke via Zoom, “This is great for the kids, and they need the activities. Do they power wash the artificial turf?” 

Ortiz responded, “We have the same turf at the Willow Pond facility and there are no health problems.    There had been no injuries. There is less maintenance needed and it is more cost effective.” 

Vera concluded, “My main concern is that the turf is not real grass.” 

A resident from State Street spoke next (in person). He thought that Vazquez did a great job presenting this project. “I teach at the high school and my main concern is about any additional traffic.”

Public Comments on Agenda Items Only: 

Resident Ken Balut spoke first. He questioned R-339 – 7/21 – Certifying to the Middlesex Board of Taxation a local tax levy in the amount of $26,129,743 for the 2021-2022 school budget. 

“Will there be a tax increase? We are getting no relief on our mortgages and water bills. I also want to object to Joel Rosa being appointed to the Green Team. I read his resume, and he has no clue about our town. You (the council) are voting on his character. It doesn’t mean anything.” 

Balut then said, “If you vote for R-340 (Responsible Negotiations Act), you will be voting against the union.” He then asked about R-374 – 7/21 – E-Ticketing billing services for the Police Department in an amount not to exceed $35,000 with a contract with the company G.T.B.M. Inc. 

Balut questioned why the city was still paying for E-Ticketing billing services. “We were supposed to get rid of the info-cap.” 

Stanley Sierakowski came up next. He noticed that there were 3 Late-Starter resolutions on the agenda. “Will there be any more added? I heard that there were supposed to be $1 million property being sold to PARA for a dollar. Did former Mayor Diaz or any of her family members receive any compensation from Kushner? Is that why he ran roughshod over us?”

  Resident Lisa Nanton came up next. She asked the council to approve R-373-7/21 – The special permit for Concerts by the Bay in Bayview Park. 

Reinaldo Aviles came up next. He wanted to defend Joel Rosa who was asked not to be approved for the Green Team by a former speaker. “Rosa is being attacked. He is very qualified, highly educated, and always works his best for the public interest. He had worked in one of Eddie Trujillo’s Restaurants. When he left Trujillo’s restaurant, business fell off slightly and Trujillo tried to get him back. We should honor our older citizens and show interest in our younger people. When you interview people, you always ask them what they have done in their past work to attract people to come to where they used to work. That is what Rosa has done in the past.”

  The meeting was opened up to Zoom participants. 

Resident Sharon Hubberman spoke first. She commented on R-360-7/21 – A change order to the shared services agreement between the Passaic Valley Sewage Commission and the City of Perth Amboy for the provision of certain services related to requirements imposed by the NJ pollutant discharge elimination system and combine sewer overflow permit. 

“I am not against improving our water/wastewater system, but there is not enough oversight. There should have been a presentation on this. This involves many towns.” 

Petrick responded, “This is an ongoing contract, and it is a mandate for our CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow).” 

After the public comments on agenda items only were closed, the council voted on the ordinances and the consent agenda. 

For Ordinance No. 1 (bicycles) – moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. Ordinance No. 2 (Kindermorgan property donation) – moved by Pabon, seconded by Tejeda. Ordinance No. 3 (Special Police Officer Class I) – moved by Pabon, seconded by Tejeda. Ordinance No. 4 (zoning and land development prohibiting cannabis businesses) moved by Pabon, seconded by Tejeda. Everyone voted “Yes” but Torres who voted “No”. 

For the consent agenda, R-334 thru R-339, R-341 thru R-349, R-351 thru R-375, R-380 thru R381 was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. For R-340 (Responsible Collective Negotiations Act) was voted on to be tabled (moved by Tejeda; seconded by Morales). For R-350 (Appointing Caroline Pozycki-Torres as a member of the Green Team for a 3-year term expiring 12/31/24) was moved by Pabon; seconded by Tejeda. B.J. Torres abstained. R-376 was voided. 

R-377 thru R-379 (Appointments to the Board of Adjustments) needed to be removed because cases could not be heard without a full board. Councilwoman Tejeda stated that she needed more time to review this ordinance. 

Councilman Pabon then commented, “We need to be uniform when it comes to appointments to municipal boards.” 

For late-starter Resolutions R-382 thru R-384.

  R-382-7/21- A contract for the Francis, Eagle, and Harnad Roadway improvements to Z Brothers Concrete contractors in an amount not to exceed $500,869.26. – was moved by Pabon, seconded by Tejeda. Petrick abstained.

  R-383-7/21 – Settlement of the Workers Compensation Litigation via an order approving settlement with dismissal in the matter entitled Reymond Lorenzo-Nolasco vs. the City of Perth Amboy in the amount of $18,450.00 – moved by Pabon; seconded by Tejeda. 

R-384-7/21 – Authorizing the purchase of electricity supply services for public use on an online auction website. – was moved by Pabon; seconded by Tejeda. 

Council President Bill Petrick then commented, “We need to have a Policy Advisory Panel appointments to be put on the next agenda. We should look at getting something in place so that medical marijuana can be sold at all the pharmacies in town.”

Public Portion: 

Stanley Sierakowski came up first. He asked Law Director Northgrave if he had a conflict of interest representing the city in certain cases. 

Northgrave responded, “I’ve tried my best to ignore some of the comments lobbed at me the last couple of months.” 

Sierakowski continued, “I want to read a communication dated July 14, 2021, that is from you dealing with Kushner’s property. You wanted this put on today’s agenda, but the clerk said no because it was too late. I just want to make sure when there are appraisals on property that they are proper. Go to the attorney general’s office to investigate Kushner’s deals on properties he controls.” 

Resident Alan Silber came up next “I thought I heard construction going on at Kushner’s land. We will not have local control. Kushner was fined $500,000 in the past and made large contributions to Democratic candidates in the past. We have rules when it comes to boarding up properties. At 395 Rector Street, it is worse now than when Wilda was mayor. I have a feeling that Kushner is coming back into town.” Silber concluded, “Maybe we can find places for marijuana sales like we do with liquor stores.” 

Ken Balut came up next. “You make things easier for Kushner and nobody has the guts to take him on. From day one, the new administration should have been dealing with Kushner. We keep losing money on Kushner and his associations. When I was on the council, I could not get enough people who served with me to get on board with me to go after Kushner and the Y. The Band Shelter is bad. Get Pallone to wake up. The public is the only one who are concerned. Forget about special elections.” 

Reinaldo Aviles came up next. “In the early days of the Diaz administration, I worked with Harry Pozycki from the Citizen’s Campaign. You need to have in-person interviews for people who are applying for municipal boards. Those who do not get on any boards should try again. The ordinance has to have requirements to be on a board and have to be properly advertised. Sometimes we lose control of meetings. There are slanderous remarks, and nothing is done. You read the rules (of behavior) in the beginning of the meeting. We should not allow some of these outbursts.” 

Vince Mackiel came up next. He talked about the train bridge on Market Street which still has not been repaired. “The Business Administrator contacted NJ Transit, but nothing has been moved on. There will be a coordinator regarding bridge improvements. The roadways belong to the town. Covid has left NJ Transit short staffed. We need access to this bridge. Things are not moving properly, and nothing has changed in six years.”

The floor was opened to Zoom participants. 

Sharon Hubberman asked that the Board of Education elections be moved back to April. “In November, it is politicized and confusing. 16 candidates ran for the Board of Education in the last election. Employees and teachers need to have a voice. The council is the one who moved the Board of Education elections from April to November. Voters were disenfranchised with this vote-by-mail. Streamlining voting is not always the best.”

Council Comments: 

Rose Morales thanked all who voiced their concerns. She thanked David Caba for his presentation about the Kushner properties and his concerns. “Maybe this will light a fire.” She then congratulated the Perth Amboy Soccer Club U15 Wildcats for winning the US Youth Soccer Eastern Presidential Cup Championship. “We should honor them.” 

Director of Recreation Ken Ortiz came up, “The Wildcats were in the national finals, but lost, but they were the winners of their Eastern Regional and New Jersey State Cup. We are looking to celebrate them sometime in early August.” Ortiz also mentioned that they now have movie nights and National Night Out is coming up soon. 

Joel Pabon asked, “What is the status of the bridge by ShopRite on Rte. 35?” He also commented about the Fayette Street Bridge. “This bridge is owned by the city. NJ Transit is probably thinking if the city can’t even care about its own bridge, maybe that’s why they are slow on acting on the Market Street Bridge. Hopefully we can get money to fix up the Fayette Street Bridge.” He then asked for the BID to hire a landscaper to get the flowerpots on Smith Street taken care of. He then mentioned all the people who are retiring on the agenda. He singled out one retiree specifically: Officer Henry Rodgers. “He is a class act and an inspiration to so many. I worked with him in Safe Haven (a former youth facility in Perth Amboy). You cannot say one negative word about him. If you had a troubled kid, you could send them to Officer Rodgers, and he would straighten them out.” 

Milady Tejeda thanked all who came to the meeting in person and on Zoom. She mentioned that a lot of times Officer Rodgers would be one of the Three Kings at PRAHD. She asked that anyone that comes to the mic to speak to please respect others. “We need to work together. Thank you and have a good weekend.” 

Councilman B.J. Torres urged all to please get vaccinated. “I’m glad we are moving forward with medical marijuana. I went with the League of Municipalities to take a tour of a cannabis facility in Maplewood. They hire within the community, and it has been a boost to their businesses. We should move forward with licensing marijuana. I told the BID that we need adult use facilities. In Maplewood, facilities are currently only for medical use. They work with their police department. They just sell the products.” 

Business Administrator Mike Green wanted to make a couple of comments. “The city received $8.4 million that was received in May, but there are restraints. You can use it for lost revenue in some instances.  You can use it in some cases for sewer and water infrastructure. You can use it to advert layoffs and grants for businesses and residents and some Covid related issues. Because of more Covid cases arising, you may want to extend having Zoom meetings for one more month.” 

Bill Petrick said, “We had a contractor for the Fayette Street Bridge, but there were some problems with the utility and high-tension lines. I hear there was a pump failure by the marina in the Second Street Station. We only have a 40% vaccination rate here in town. I hear the Moderna and Pfizer give the most protection.” Petrick then asked, “Have we heard about any payment from Kushner on the repaving that we did on Rector Street that is part of his property?” 

Northgrave replied, “We should have an answer within two weeks.” 

Petrick responded, “We deserve to get paid for the work that we did repaving his road.” 

Northgrave continued, “Some of the utilities needed to be disconnected first, but we should be getting the payment soon.” 

Petrick said, “We need an evaluation on our old city buildings on Fayette and Rector Streets so we can market it to others. Kushner was given extra time by former Mayor Diaz. Some of these old buildings include the Fire Department, First Aid, and Police Department. We need to move on this. We need to have the Redevelopment Agency here to see what is going on.” 

Northgrave questioned, “Do you need the developer and PARA here?” 

Petrick responded, “Yes”. 

Northgrave said, “I can do that. It is the city’s property. The city can give it to PARA for $1. This property can be developed to benefit the city.” 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:58 p.m. All council members were present in person.