(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Oct. 27, 2010) PERTH AMBOY — The most-far-reaching changes to the city’s Garbage Ordinance since it was adopted in 1975 will be considered for adoption by the City Council after a public hearing today at 7 p.m. at City Hall, High Street.
The Amendments, which were proposed in reaction to a system which has been costly and inefficient, were moved by Councilman William Petrick, seconded by Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez and adopted 5-0 on first reading at the Council’s Oct. 13 meeting.
At a Special Meeting of the Council which was held at the Training Room at Fire Department Headquarters, New Brunswick Avenue, in late July, Public Works Director Paul Wnek joked about Perth Amboy’s garbage-trucks arriving at the Edgeboro Landfill, East Brunswick, and their drivers being asked, “How-many cities are you collecting?”
Among the Amendments are changes in definitions and placement, a new requirement to containerize sweepings, a mandatory 10-day deadline for removal of rubbish and refuse, and return of garbage-cans to storage-areas by 8 p.m.
of
the pickup day.
Also, the collection of bulk-items through a fee system that imposes a flat fee for four items in any one pickup, using color-coded stickers to identify different types of items, with charges depending-upon collection-costs involved.
Also, limits of the number of “special collections” per year per address, with one yearly citywide amnesty or FREE day, to be called “Citizens Cleanup Day.”
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
$268 TAX HIKE COMING
DCA Rejects $800,000 Anticipated Revenue
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Oct. 20, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — Apparently with much reluctance, the City Council voted at a
Special Meeting held last week to adopt an Amendment to the Calendar Year
2010 Budget and the Budget itself without including $800,000 as anticipated
revenue, thereby leading to a massive tax-increase this year.
The Resolution was moved by Councilman Joseph Connors, seconded by
Councilman Mark Noble and adopted 4-0. Councilman Donald Applegate abstained from
voting.
The Amendment to the CY 2010 Budget will increase local taxes by another
$722,576, on top of the $39 hike previously-announced by the Administration
and the Council on a home assessed at $266,000, the average in South Amboy,
from the unamended spending plan. Using the numbers provided with the CY 2010
Budget as introduced, the amended Budget will increase the municipal portion
of taxes on the average home by $268.
Council President Fred Henry, who is running for Mayor in the Nov. 2
election, called a letter the city received from the state Department of Community
Affairs (DCA) “flawed” because its officials “would not allow us to put
that money in our Budget for this year as anticipated revenue,” so “our hands
are tied with this” because “DCA says we have to adopt a Budget.
“We’re in a bind here,” Henry declared. “This is something the people of
South Amboy are going to have to deal-with.”
Despite a state requirement that the final CY 2010 Budget be approved by
the Mayor and Council no later than Friday, Sept. 24, no action was taken by
the Council at its regular meeting the previous week.
At another Special Meeting held on Sept. 27, the three Council members
in-attendance — the barest number for a quorum — refused to take any action on
the spending plan.
After adjourning into a closed-door executive session because “the Council
has to be brought up-to-speed about some problems with negotiations,” as
explained by Henry, Councilmen Mark Noble and William Schwarick refused to take
any action on the spending plan following their return.
Councilmen Donald Applegate and Joseph Connors — both of whom are running
in November — were absent from that meeting.
“I feel personally that I cannot vote to adopt this Budget because it’s
not fair to the taxpayers of South Amboy,” Noble declared at that time.
“I concur,” Schwarick added. “There’s a decision on additional revenue
coming from the state. We had a deal with a developer who agreed to purchase
Amboy Aggregates for $800,000, but at 4 p.m., the rug was pulled-out from
under us.”
O’Leary interjected to correct Schwarick’s statement.
“O’Neill Properties, the contract-purchaser for Amboy Aggregates, also had
signed a contract to purchase one acre next to it known as ‘the restaurant
site,’” he said.
“At 1 p.m., we had an agreement from DCA (state Department of Community
Affairs) Commissioner Thomas Neff, but at 4 p.m., this anticipated revenue
source was not accepted,” the Mayor stated.
“Obviously, we have no vote for the Budget tonight,” Henry said. “”We
had a deal already-made, everything was set, and then apparently an anonymous
call was made that this was not a real LLC (Limited Liability Company).
“We’re fighting a tax-increase, and for whatever reason, it’s not
coming-about,” he said. “We’re talking only about one acre of land where the (South
Amboy) Boat Club was. A deal was made, but at 4 p.m., we received a call
that the deal was off.”
O’Leary castigated DCA officials for allegedly bowing to pressures from
“an anonymous caller” who challenged the deal’s legitimacy.
The Council’s inaction subjected the three members in-attendance to the
possible assessment of individual $25-a-day fines against them by DCA.
Henry announced at the last regular Council meeting that a Special Meeting
would be held last week in an effort to adopt an amendment to the CY 2010
Budget that would be acceptable to DCA, as well as the Budget itself.
The day after the Council’s regular meeting last week, the Redevelopment
Agency held its regular monthly meeting, at which representatives of The
O’Neill Properties Group appeared for a slideshow presentation introducing
themselves to the community.
O’Neill is a highly-capitalized Pennsylvania-based firm that specializes
in redeveloping contaminated properties known as “brownfields,” such as the
400-plus-acre former NL Industries site in neighboring Sayreville, where an
elaborate multi-million-dollar Redevelopment Plan is being implemented.
After the presentation, the Agency voted 4-0 to adopt a Resolution
rescinding its previously-declared emergency and a Resolution adopted at its Sept.
23 Special Emergency Meeting authorizing a Redevelopment Agreement with a
newly-formed Limited Partnership, and to instead authorize a new Agreement
designating “O’Neill Properties” as redeveloper.
The first Resolution was moved by Henry and the second Resolution was moved
by Business Administrator Camille Tooker, both Agency members, and both
were seconded by Agency Chairman Kevin Meszaros. Members Benjamin Block and
Melvin Rosado were absent. Mayor John O’Leary, an Agency member, recused
himself from voting but was in the audience and participated in discussions during
O’Neill’s presentation.
The Agency’s vote to change the contract apparently was intended to
convince state officials to allow South Amboy to include the $800,000 in the
Agreement as anticipated revenue in the CY 2010 Budget, thereby heading-off a
large tax-hike this year.
The Beacon has obtained a copy of a two-page Agreement signed by
Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Eric Chubenko and Richard Heany, President of
Amboy Waterfront Acquisition Associates LP, providing for the payment of
$800,000 to the City of South Amboy by Dec. 15 for the one-acre parcel as part
of a $3.8 million property purchase.
However, an “escape-clause” in the contract allows the entity to withdraw
from the Agreement “at it’s (sic) discretion,” and to “compel” the Agency
to sell the property and return “the deposit.”
According to a Business Entity Status Report provided by the N.J. State
Business Gateway Service, Amboy Waterfront Acquisition Associates LP is a
“foreign (Delaware) Limited Partnership” (not an LLC), which filed on Sept. 27,
the date of the second Special Meeting.
At the Redevelopment Agency meeting, O’Neill attorney Edward Campbell
acknowledged that Amboy Waterfront Acquisition Associates LP is an O’Neill
“affiliate,” but noted that he did not draw-up the Agreement.
At last week’s Special Council Meeting, the entire Council adjourning into
another closed-door executive session “to discuss the Budget,” Henry
informed the audience.
Realizing that this is not one of the enumerated exceptions provided in the
state Open Public Meetings Act, commonly known as the “Sunshine Law,” he
quickly stated, “Excuse me; it is for contract negotiations.”
City Law Director John Lanza and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Terance
O’Neill, who did not attend two previous Council Special Meetings dealing with
the CY 2010 Budget, also were absent last week.
At 6:26 p.m., the Council members emerged with O’Leary and Tooker and took
their seats. Schwarick moved and Noble seconded to reconvene the public
meeting.
“This is a sad day for the citizens of South Amboy when politics hits our
good citizens’ pockets,” Connors declared.
“The Business Administrator and the Mayor have been trying for three
months,” Applegate said. “It hurts. It hurts real-bad.”
“We’re trying our hardest to do what’s best,” Noble said. “We can’t
fight the state anymore. If we continued, it could be detrimental to the
citizens of South Amboy. With reluctance, we had to adopt this Budget tonight.”
“I find it offensive in this society that anonymous bullying can affect the
city,” Schwarick declared. “It’s a shame that we must allow this
anonymous, scurrilous activity to continue, but to fight this in court would only add
to our legal bills.”
O’Leary cited changes in state funding going-back to former Gov. Christine
Whitman’s Administration.
The amendments adopted by the Council increase the total amount of the CY
2010 Budget by $1,553,543, from $13,993,033 to $15,546,576, and the amount to
be raised by local taxes by $722,576, from $7,129,425 to $7,852,001.
A source familiar with municipal budgeting had indicated to the Amboy
Beacon that DCA will allow municipalities to anticipate revenue from developers
“only if there’s signed contracts.”
In anticipating revenues, a municipal government runs the risk of not
collecting that revenue — part of the reason for neighboring Perth Amboy’s
fiscal problems.
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Oct. 20, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — Apparently with much reluctance, the City Council voted at a
Special Meeting held last week to adopt an Amendment to the Calendar Year
2010 Budget and the Budget itself without including $800,000 as anticipated
revenue, thereby leading to a massive tax-increase this year.
The Resolution was moved by Councilman Joseph Connors, seconded by
Councilman Mark Noble and adopted 4-0. Councilman Donald Applegate abstained from
voting.
The Amendment to the CY 2010 Budget will increase local taxes by another
$722,576, on top of the $39 hike previously-announced by the Administration
and the Council on a home assessed at $266,000, the average in South Amboy,
from the unamended spending plan. Using the numbers provided with the CY 2010
Budget as introduced, the amended Budget will increase the municipal portion
of taxes on the average home by $268.
Council President Fred Henry, who is running for Mayor in the Nov. 2
election, called a letter the city received from the state Department of Community
Affairs (DCA) “flawed” because its officials “would not allow us to put
that money in our Budget for this year as anticipated revenue,” so “our hands
are tied with this” because “DCA says we have to adopt a Budget.
“We’re in a bind here,” Henry declared. “This is something the people of
South Amboy are going to have to deal-with.”
Despite a state requirement that the final CY 2010 Budget be approved by
the Mayor and Council no later than Friday, Sept. 24, no action was taken by
the Council at its regular meeting the previous week.
At another Special Meeting held on Sept. 27, the three Council members
in-attendance — the barest number for a quorum — refused to take any action on
the spending plan.
After adjourning into a closed-door executive session because “the Council
has to be brought up-to-speed about some problems with negotiations,” as
explained by Henry, Councilmen Mark Noble and William Schwarick refused to take
any action on the spending plan following their return.
Councilmen Donald Applegate and Joseph Connors — both of whom are running
in November — were absent from that meeting.
“I feel personally that I cannot vote to adopt this Budget because it’s
not fair to the taxpayers of South Amboy,” Noble declared at that time.
“I concur,” Schwarick added. “There’s a decision on additional revenue
coming from the state. We had a deal with a developer who agreed to purchase
Amboy Aggregates for $800,000, but at 4 p.m., the rug was pulled-out from
under us.”
O’Leary interjected to correct Schwarick’s statement.
“O’Neill Properties, the contract-purchaser for Amboy Aggregates, also had
signed a contract to purchase one acre next to it known as ‘the restaurant
site,’” he said.
“At 1 p.m., we had an agreement from DCA (state Department of Community
Affairs) Commissioner Thomas Neff, but at 4 p.m., this anticipated revenue
source was not accepted,” the Mayor stated.
“Obviously, we have no vote for the Budget tonight,” Henry said. “”We
had a deal already-made, everything was set, and then apparently an anonymous
call was made that this was not a real LLC (Limited Liability Company).
“We’re fighting a tax-increase, and for whatever reason, it’s not
coming-about,” he said. “We’re talking only about one acre of land where the (South
Amboy) Boat Club was. A deal was made, but at 4 p.m., we received a call
that the deal was off.”
O’Leary castigated DCA officials for allegedly bowing to pressures from
“an anonymous caller” who challenged the deal’s legitimacy.
The Council’s inaction subjected the three members in-attendance to the
possible assessment of individual $25-a-day fines against them by DCA.
Henry announced at the last regular Council meeting that a Special Meeting
would be held last week in an effort to adopt an amendment to the CY 2010
Budget that would be acceptable to DCA, as well as the Budget itself.
The day after the Council’s regular meeting last week, the Redevelopment
Agency held its regular monthly meeting, at which representatives of The
O’Neill Properties Group appeared for a slideshow presentation introducing
themselves to the community.
O’Neill is a highly-capitalized Pennsylvania-based firm that specializes
in redeveloping contaminated properties known as “brownfields,” such as the
400-plus-acre former NL Industries site in neighboring Sayreville, where an
elaborate multi-million-dollar Redevelopment Plan is being implemented.
After the presentation, the Agency voted 4-0 to adopt a Resolution
rescinding its previously-declared emergency and a Resolution adopted at its Sept.
23 Special Emergency Meeting authorizing a Redevelopment Agreement with a
newly-formed Limited Partnership, and to instead authorize a new Agreement
designating “O’Neill Properties” as redeveloper.
The first Resolution was moved by Henry and the second Resolution was moved
by Business Administrator Camille Tooker, both Agency members, and both
were seconded by Agency Chairman Kevin Meszaros. Members Benjamin Block and
Melvin Rosado were absent. Mayor John O’Leary, an Agency member, recused
himself from voting but was in the audience and participated in discussions during
O’Neill’s presentation.
The Agency’s vote to change the contract apparently was intended to
convince state officials to allow South Amboy to include the $800,000 in the
Agreement as anticipated revenue in the CY 2010 Budget, thereby heading-off a
large tax-hike this year.
The Beacon has obtained a copy of a two-page Agreement signed by
Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Eric Chubenko and Richard Heany, President of
Amboy Waterfront Acquisition Associates LP, providing for the payment of
$800,000 to the City of South Amboy by Dec. 15 for the one-acre parcel as part
of a $3.8 million property purchase.
However, an “escape-clause” in the contract allows the entity to withdraw
from the Agreement “at it’s (sic) discretion,” and to “compel” the Agency
to sell the property and return “the deposit.”
According to a Business Entity Status Report provided by the N.J. State
Business Gateway Service, Amboy Waterfront Acquisition Associates LP is a
“foreign (Delaware) Limited Partnership” (not an LLC), which filed on Sept. 27,
the date of the second Special Meeting.
At the Redevelopment Agency meeting, O’Neill attorney Edward Campbell
acknowledged that Amboy Waterfront Acquisition Associates LP is an O’Neill
“affiliate,” but noted that he did not draw-up the Agreement.
At last week’s Special Council Meeting, the entire Council adjourning into
another closed-door executive session “to discuss the Budget,” Henry
informed the audience.
Realizing that this is not one of the enumerated exceptions provided in the
state Open Public Meetings Act, commonly known as the “Sunshine Law,” he
quickly stated, “Excuse me; it is for contract negotiations.”
City Law Director John Lanza and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Terance
O’Neill, who did not attend two previous Council Special Meetings dealing with
the CY 2010 Budget, also were absent last week.
At 6:26 p.m., the Council members emerged with O’Leary and Tooker and took
their seats. Schwarick moved and Noble seconded to reconvene the public
meeting.
“This is a sad day for the citizens of South Amboy when politics hits our
good citizens’ pockets,” Connors declared.
“The Business Administrator and the Mayor have been trying for three
months,” Applegate said. “It hurts. It hurts real-bad.”
“We’re trying our hardest to do what’s best,” Noble said. “We can’t
fight the state anymore. If we continued, it could be detrimental to the
citizens of South Amboy. With reluctance, we had to adopt this Budget tonight.”
“I find it offensive in this society that anonymous bullying can affect the
city,” Schwarick declared. “It’s a shame that we must allow this
anonymous, scurrilous activity to continue, but to fight this in court would only add
to our legal bills.”
O’Leary cited changes in state funding going-back to former Gov. Christine
Whitman’s Administration.
The amendments adopted by the Council increase the total amount of the CY
2010 Budget by $1,553,543, from $13,993,033 to $15,546,576, and the amount to
be raised by local taxes by $722,576, from $7,129,425 to $7,852,001.
A source familiar with municipal budgeting had indicated to the Amboy
Beacon that DCA will allow municipalities to anticipate revenue from developers
“only if there’s signed contracts.”
In anticipating revenues, a municipal government runs the risk of not
collecting that revenue — part of the reason for neighboring Perth Amboy’s
fiscal problems.
Women’s Club Debate Night
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Oct, 20, 2008)
SOUTH AMBOY — A Candidates’ Debate Night for candidates for Mayor and City
Council in the Nov. 2 election still will be held on Friday, Oct. 22, from
7 to 9 p.m. at Memorial Hall across from Sacred Heart Church, Washington
Avenue, as-planned.
The Debate, hosted by the South Amboy Women’s Club, a new organization
headed by former Councilwoman Beverly Samuelson, will be moderated by the N.J.
League of Women Voters. Sponsors include Amboy Bank and the Amboy Beacon.
In a letter on city stationery dated Oct. 18 to the League, with copies to
Amboy Bank and the Amboy Beacon, Mayor John O’Leary cites “numerous
complaints” received from senior citizens about the facility being
“non-barrier-free” and “not handicap (sic) accessible due to the wide winding staircase
too wide for the use of both handrail (sic) simultaneously,” and “no elevator
to enable a wheelchair to enter the debate,” thereby presenting “a
dangerous scenario for the handicap (sic), and does not afford them the ability to
attend this debate.”
O’Leary goes-on to offer as an alternative “the South Amboy Community
Theater” at the Community School, Hoffman Plaza.
However, Samuelson said that Memorial Hall is being used for Debate Night
because the theater at the Community School was unavailable.
According to Samuelson, the Women’s Club was told by school officials that,
as an alternative, the gymnasium could be used for a $500 fee plus $100 for
insurance. The money was secured from Amboy Bank, but then the Club was
informed that the $500 fee was incorrect, and the fee was actually $1,000.
“We then contacted Sacred Heart because they have a hall to rent,”
Samuelson said. “They gave us the rate of $500 for the hall and $100 for the
insurance.”
As for the issue of handicapped-accessibility, the Sacred Heart facility
has been used for many years to hold monthly meetings of the Sacred Heart
Seniors.
Doors will open at 6 p.m., followed by an introduction of the candidates by
Alicia Vitarelli of News12 New Jersey at 6:30 p.m., and the moderator will
read the League’s rules that will be in-effect for the evening
SOUTH AMBOY — A Candidates’ Debate Night for candidates for Mayor and City
Council in the Nov. 2 election still will be held on Friday, Oct. 22, from
7 to 9 p.m. at Memorial Hall across from Sacred Heart Church, Washington
Avenue, as-planned.
The Debate, hosted by the South Amboy Women’s Club, a new organization
headed by former Councilwoman Beverly Samuelson, will be moderated by the N.J.
League of Women Voters. Sponsors include Amboy Bank and the Amboy Beacon.
In a letter on city stationery dated Oct. 18 to the League, with copies to
Amboy Bank and the Amboy Beacon, Mayor John O’Leary cites “numerous
complaints” received from senior citizens about the facility being
“non-barrier-free” and “not handicap (sic) accessible due to the wide winding staircase
too wide for the use of both handrail (sic) simultaneously,” and “no elevator
to enable a wheelchair to enter the debate,” thereby presenting “a
dangerous scenario for the handicap (sic), and does not afford them the ability to
attend this debate.”
O’Leary goes-on to offer as an alternative “the South Amboy Community
Theater” at the Community School, Hoffman Plaza.
However, Samuelson said that Memorial Hall is being used for Debate Night
because the theater at the Community School was unavailable.
According to Samuelson, the Women’s Club was told by school officials that,
as an alternative, the gymnasium could be used for a $500 fee plus $100 for
insurance. The money was secured from Amboy Bank, but then the Club was
informed that the $500 fee was incorrect, and the fee was actually $1,000.
“We then contacted Sacred Heart because they have a hall to rent,”
Samuelson said. “They gave us the rate of $500 for the hall and $100 for the
insurance.”
As for the issue of handicapped-accessibility, the Sacred Heart facility
has been used for many years to hold monthly meetings of the Sacred Heart
Seniors.
Doors will open at 6 p.m., followed by an introduction of the candidates by
Alicia Vitarelli of News12 New Jersey at 6:30 p.m., and the moderator will
read the League’s rules that will be in-effect for the evening
Still No Action On Pet Shelter
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Oct. 20, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Despite repeated requests by local businesswoman Wilma Matey
for the City Council to vote to accept her proposal to provide
animal-control services to the city, the Council again took no action last week.
Council President Kenneth Balut, who has raised many questions about the
Shelter’s future for the past seven months, was absent from the previous
meeting, at which Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez asked Interim Business
Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach to “review this personally” before putting it on last
week’s meeting-agenda.
Licensed Animal Control Officers (ACOs) Richard and Michal Cielesz, a
husband-and-wife team who are now running the Perth Amboy Animal Shelter, foot of
Fayette Street, under Police Department supervision, have agreed to partner
with the volunteers headed by Matey, who has formed Perth Amboy Happy Home
Animal Shelter LLC.
After meeting at City Hall, High Street, with Matey, Mayor Wilda Diaz and
Councilmen Gonzalez and William Petrick to see if an arrangement could be
worked-out incorporating both proposals submitted to city officials, Richard
Cielesz posed with the group for photographs in the Council Chamber, where an
announcement was made that a tentative agreement had been reached.
The agreement was expected to be finalized at a Council meeting with a vote
by the full governing body.
Interviewed separately after the private meeting, Matey and Richard Cielesz
agreed that it was time to bring the matter to a close and to move-forward
on behalf of both the taxpayers and the animals.
“We’re coming to an agreement for the betterment of Perth Amboy and the
betterment of the animals,” Matey said. “At the next City Council meeting,
we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to get-started.”
“We’re trying to get this finalized real-quickly,” Cielesz said. “City
ACOs and rescue workers can team-up, get this done, and move-forward
very-quickly.”
A three-year lease with Matey’s group has been withdrawn from the
Council’s meeting-agenda at-least three times after Council members had earlier
voted to table a proposed agreement with neighboring Woodbridge Township.
PERTH AMBOY — Despite repeated requests by local businesswoman Wilma Matey
for the City Council to vote to accept her proposal to provide
animal-control services to the city, the Council again took no action last week.
Council President Kenneth Balut, who has raised many questions about the
Shelter’s future for the past seven months, was absent from the previous
meeting, at which Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez asked Interim Business
Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach to “review this personally” before putting it on last
week’s meeting-agenda.
Licensed Animal Control Officers (ACOs) Richard and Michal Cielesz, a
husband-and-wife team who are now running the Perth Amboy Animal Shelter, foot of
Fayette Street, under Police Department supervision, have agreed to partner
with the volunteers headed by Matey, who has formed Perth Amboy Happy Home
Animal Shelter LLC.
After meeting at City Hall, High Street, with Matey, Mayor Wilda Diaz and
Councilmen Gonzalez and William Petrick to see if an arrangement could be
worked-out incorporating both proposals submitted to city officials, Richard
Cielesz posed with the group for photographs in the Council Chamber, where an
announcement was made that a tentative agreement had been reached.
The agreement was expected to be finalized at a Council meeting with a vote
by the full governing body.
Interviewed separately after the private meeting, Matey and Richard Cielesz
agreed that it was time to bring the matter to a close and to move-forward
on behalf of both the taxpayers and the animals.
“We’re coming to an agreement for the betterment of Perth Amboy and the
betterment of the animals,” Matey said. “At the next City Council meeting,
we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to get-started.”
“We’re trying to get this finalized real-quickly,” Cielesz said. “City
ACOs and rescue workers can team-up, get this done, and move-forward
very-quickly.”
A three-year lease with Matey’s group has been withdrawn from the
Council’s meeting-agenda at-least three times after Council members had earlier
voted to table a proposed agreement with neighboring Woodbridge Township.
No-Tax-Increase Perth Tab OKd
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Oct. 20, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — The municipal portion of the local property-tax bill will
remain the same until the end of 2010 as a result of the unanimous City Council
action taken last week.
Following a public hearing during which nobody in the audience chose to
speak, Councilman William Petrick moved and seconded a Resolution to adopt the
Transition Year 2010 Budget, which was adopted 5-0.
The state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) required that all municipal
spending plans be approved by governing bodies no later than Friday, Sept.
24, without an extension being granted by DCA.
The Resolution to adopt the Amendments and schedule the hearing for last
week with DCA’s approval was moved by Petrick, seconded by Gonzalez and
adopted 4-0 at the Council’s last meeting, from which Council President Kenneth
Balut was absent.
Interim Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach explained at that time
that the Amendments would result in “no changes to revenues except to include
numbers for grants, which are figures unavailable to us earlier.”
The overall size of the six-month TY 2010 Budget, which covers the period
from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2010, totals $39,518,509, which is $262,517
larger than half of the FY 2009-10 Budget ($39,017,575).
The amended TY 2010 Budget is $1,238,417 higher than the previously-adopted
TY 2010 Budget of $38,280,092, but the Amount To Be Raised By Taxes is
$27,607,153 over six months, exactly one-half of the Amount To Be Raised By
Taxes over one year for FY 2009-10 ($55,214,306).
Fehrenbach took slightly-longer than an hour to go-over the spending plan
in some detail at the Council’s last meeting.
“We made corrections to our estimates, adding grants that we’ve received
since our previous numbers, but the tax-levy is fixed,” he said.
Rather than simply halving line-item accounts, the TY 2010 Budget as it was
developed includes substantial increases for such things as the Reserve For
Uncollected Taxes — from $998,726 for FY 2009-10 to $2,321,906 for TY 2010
— and the Reserve For Tax Appeals — from $185,000 for FY 2009-10 to
$1,000,000 for TY 2010.
Apparently, the city is anticipating future difficulty in tax-collections
because of the sputtering national economy, even-though the Tax-Collection
Rate for FY 2009-10 was a healthy 94.8-percent.
General Liability Insurance for TY 2010 is $745,000 for six months,
compared to $735,000 for a full year in FY 2009-10, and Workers Compensation
Insurance for TY 2010 is $1,749,895 for six months, compared to $2,365,000 for a
full year in FY 2009-10.
On the other hand, Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) — $484,624 in FY 2009-10 —
was lowered to $15,000 in the unamended TY 2010 Budget, but now is
increased to $517,099.
Emergency Management — $102,300 for Salaries & Wages and $6,500 for Other
Expenses, or a total of $108,800, in FY 2009-10 — is zeroed-out in TY 2010.
Fehrenbach has explained that the TY 2010 Budget “is not simply a one-year
budget cut-in-half” because it reflects expenses as they are incurred during
certain times of the year.
“For example, there are no contributions to the pension system because
those payments are made in April, but most of the general liability insurance
payments are included because these are made during the last half,” he noted
at the Council’s last meeting.
A transition budget “has no policy-initiatives” and “a capital budget
that’s really of-no-consequence,” Fehrenbach said.
In these ways, he likened a transition budget to “two temporary
(three-month) budgets rolled-together.”
The big policy debates will come later, after what Fehrenbach called “a
little relief for a short time.
“We want to get this (TY 2010) Budget behind us so that we can start
working-on the Calendar Year 2011 Budget,” he said. “There will be challenges,
and it’s not going to be easy. A two-percent cap is extremely-limiting.”
In an attempt to head-off a projected financial crisis down-the-road, the
previous Council voted unanimously on May 26 to enact an Ordinance
authorizing reversion from a Fiscal Year (July 1-June 30) Budget to a Calendar Year
(Jan. 1-Dec. 31) Budget.
In reverting to Calendar Year budgeting from Fiscal Year budgeting, Perth
Amboy followed the lead of neighboring South Amboy, which was the first
municipality in the state to revert from Fiscal Year budgeting to Calendar Year
budgeting in 2009 under a new state law giving municipalities which were
mandated to change from Calendar Year budgeting to Fiscal Year budgeting — like
Perth Amboy and South Amboy — the option of going-back to Fiscal Year
budgeting.
Fehrenbach pointed out that one of the good things about reverting from
Fiscal Year budgeting to Calendar Year budgeting will mean “a single tax-bill,
instead of two, three or four.”
Also, “had the city not done-so, we would be facing an immediate shortfall
of $5.2 million, due primarily to cutbacks in state aid, including Energy
Receipts and Extraordinary Aid,” he said. “This way, the city can collect 24
months of state aid in 18 months.”
PERTH AMBOY — The municipal portion of the local property-tax bill will
remain the same until the end of 2010 as a result of the unanimous City Council
action taken last week.
Following a public hearing during which nobody in the audience chose to
speak, Councilman William Petrick moved and seconded a Resolution to adopt the
Transition Year 2010 Budget, which was adopted 5-0.
The state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) required that all municipal
spending plans be approved by governing bodies no later than Friday, Sept.
24, without an extension being granted by DCA.
The Resolution to adopt the Amendments and schedule the hearing for last
week with DCA’s approval was moved by Petrick, seconded by Gonzalez and
adopted 4-0 at the Council’s last meeting, from which Council President Kenneth
Balut was absent.
Interim Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach explained at that time
that the Amendments would result in “no changes to revenues except to include
numbers for grants, which are figures unavailable to us earlier.”
The overall size of the six-month TY 2010 Budget, which covers the period
from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2010, totals $39,518,509, which is $262,517
larger than half of the FY 2009-10 Budget ($39,017,575).
The amended TY 2010 Budget is $1,238,417 higher than the previously-adopted
TY 2010 Budget of $38,280,092, but the Amount To Be Raised By Taxes is
$27,607,153 over six months, exactly one-half of the Amount To Be Raised By
Taxes over one year for FY 2009-10 ($55,214,306).
Fehrenbach took slightly-longer than an hour to go-over the spending plan
in some detail at the Council’s last meeting.
“We made corrections to our estimates, adding grants that we’ve received
since our previous numbers, but the tax-levy is fixed,” he said.
Rather than simply halving line-item accounts, the TY 2010 Budget as it was
developed includes substantial increases for such things as the Reserve For
Uncollected Taxes — from $998,726 for FY 2009-10 to $2,321,906 for TY 2010
— and the Reserve For Tax Appeals — from $185,000 for FY 2009-10 to
$1,000,000 for TY 2010.
Apparently, the city is anticipating future difficulty in tax-collections
because of the sputtering national economy, even-though the Tax-Collection
Rate for FY 2009-10 was a healthy 94.8-percent.
General Liability Insurance for TY 2010 is $745,000 for six months,
compared to $735,000 for a full year in FY 2009-10, and Workers Compensation
Insurance for TY 2010 is $1,749,895 for six months, compared to $2,365,000 for a
full year in FY 2009-10.
On the other hand, Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) — $484,624 in FY 2009-10 —
was lowered to $15,000 in the unamended TY 2010 Budget, but now is
increased to $517,099.
Emergency Management — $102,300 for Salaries & Wages and $6,500 for Other
Expenses, or a total of $108,800, in FY 2009-10 — is zeroed-out in TY 2010.
Fehrenbach has explained that the TY 2010 Budget “is not simply a one-year
budget cut-in-half” because it reflects expenses as they are incurred during
certain times of the year.
“For example, there are no contributions to the pension system because
those payments are made in April, but most of the general liability insurance
payments are included because these are made during the last half,” he noted
at the Council’s last meeting.
A transition budget “has no policy-initiatives” and “a capital budget
that’s really of-no-consequence,” Fehrenbach said.
In these ways, he likened a transition budget to “two temporary
(three-month) budgets rolled-together.”
The big policy debates will come later, after what Fehrenbach called “a
little relief for a short time.
“We want to get this (TY 2010) Budget behind us so that we can start
working-on the Calendar Year 2011 Budget,” he said. “There will be challenges,
and it’s not going to be easy. A two-percent cap is extremely-limiting.”
In an attempt to head-off a projected financial crisis down-the-road, the
previous Council voted unanimously on May 26 to enact an Ordinance
authorizing reversion from a Fiscal Year (July 1-June 30) Budget to a Calendar Year
(Jan. 1-Dec. 31) Budget.
In reverting to Calendar Year budgeting from Fiscal Year budgeting, Perth
Amboy followed the lead of neighboring South Amboy, which was the first
municipality in the state to revert from Fiscal Year budgeting to Calendar Year
budgeting in 2009 under a new state law giving municipalities which were
mandated to change from Calendar Year budgeting to Fiscal Year budgeting — like
Perth Amboy and South Amboy — the option of going-back to Fiscal Year
budgeting.
Fehrenbach pointed out that one of the good things about reverting from
Fiscal Year budgeting to Calendar Year budgeting will mean “a single tax-bill,
instead of two, three or four.”
Also, “had the city not done-so, we would be facing an immediate shortfall
of $5.2 million, due primarily to cutbacks in state aid, including Energy
Receipts and Extraordinary Aid,” he said. “This way, the city can collect 24
months of state aid in 18 months.”
Board OKs Dems’ Rally — Barely
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Oct. 20, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — The Board of Education last week voted 3-0 to approve the
request by the Perth Amboy Democratic Organization (PADO) to use the small
parking-lot in front of the McGinnis School, State Street, and next to PADO
Headquarters for a political rally on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Superintendent of Schools John Rodecker explained that the parking-lot,
which he said “has room for about four cars,” was requested by PADO to be used
“after-hours, to serve hotdogs, sodas and snacks.”
The request also covered its use for parking after school-hours prior to
the Nov. 2 General Election.
The Resolution granting those requests was moved by Israel Varela and
seconded by Eric Rodgers, persuant to a determination that the Doctrine of
Necessity be invoked, after six of the nine Board members — Mark Carvajal, Obdulia
“Obi” Gonzalez, Board Vice President Kenneth Puccio, Kurt Rebovich Jr.,
Armando Tamargo and Milady Tejeda — previously abstained from voting on the
same measure.
Members were advised by Board Attorney Victor Medina that the Board’s
policy on facility-use is “user-neutral,” and that they cannot “make
distinctions about whom you let-in, so-long as it’s within the Board’s policy for use
and not an endorsement of anything.”
The Resolution that the Doctrine of Necessity be invoked was moved by
Varela, seconded by Rodgers and adopted by a 5-0 vote, with four abstentions.
Toward the end of the Board meeting, almost as an afterthought, Medina
brought-up the vote again and informally-polled those members who abstained as
to whether “a real or perceived conflict-of-interest was your reason for
abstaining.”
All five abstainers agreed with that reason.
“At the next Board meeting, a formal Resolution must be adopted that a
Doctrine of Necessity was invoked, and a copy must be sent to the (state) Ethics
Committee,” Medina said.
PERTH AMBOY — The Board of Education last week voted 3-0 to approve the
request by the Perth Amboy Democratic Organization (PADO) to use the small
parking-lot in front of the McGinnis School, State Street, and next to PADO
Headquarters for a political rally on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Superintendent of Schools John Rodecker explained that the parking-lot,
which he said “has room for about four cars,” was requested by PADO to be used
“after-hours, to serve hotdogs, sodas and snacks.”
The request also covered its use for parking after school-hours prior to
the Nov. 2 General Election.
The Resolution granting those requests was moved by Israel Varela and
seconded by Eric Rodgers, persuant to a determination that the Doctrine of
Necessity be invoked, after six of the nine Board members — Mark Carvajal, Obdulia
“Obi” Gonzalez, Board Vice President Kenneth Puccio, Kurt Rebovich Jr.,
Armando Tamargo and Milady Tejeda — previously abstained from voting on the
same measure.
Members were advised by Board Attorney Victor Medina that the Board’s
policy on facility-use is “user-neutral,” and that they cannot “make
distinctions about whom you let-in, so-long as it’s within the Board’s policy for use
and not an endorsement of anything.”
The Resolution that the Doctrine of Necessity be invoked was moved by
Varela, seconded by Rodgers and adopted by a 5-0 vote, with four abstentions.
Toward the end of the Board meeting, almost as an afterthought, Medina
brought-up the vote again and informally-polled those members who abstained as
to whether “a real or perceived conflict-of-interest was your reason for
abstaining.”
All five abstainers agreed with that reason.
“At the next Board meeting, a formal Resolution must be adopted that a
Doctrine of Necessity was invoked, and a copy must be sent to the (state) Ethics
Committee,” Medina said.
Trio Proposes Insurance Bidding
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Oct. 20, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — An alleged scheme to bilk the Perth Amboy Board of Education
out of $2,593,400 over nearly six years for healthcare-related programs that
never existed, which has led a State Grand Jury to hand-up an indictment
charging two brokers and their companies with participating in that alleged
scheme, might have been prevented had there been public bidding on insurance
contracts.
Three Perth Amboy residents and community activists — Maria Garcia, Luis
Vargas and Harry Pozycki — appeared before the Board last week to urge its
members to seriously-consider going-out-to-bid on all future insurance
contracts.
Garcia, who chairs the Planning Board, pointed out that another school
district decided to bid its insurance contracts and saved about $6 million in
the process.
She asked the Board to “open its contracts to the competition process and
have full-disclosure of broker and consultant fees.”
Pozycki, an attorney and longtime reform advocate, offered to meet with the
Board’s professional staff and present a way to have “open insurance
competition” as developed by “school administrators, former superintendents and
government lawyers.”
“I do intend to reach-out,” Board President Samuel Lebreault declared.
Insurance brokers Francis Gartland, 69, of Baltimore, MD, and Brian Foley,
36, of Summit and two of Gartland’s companies, Gartland & Co. Inc. and
E-Administrative Systems Inc., are charged with Conspiracy, Forgery, Money
Laundering and Theft by Deception.
That indictment followed the previous arraignment of Gartland, his
son-in-law Derek Johnson, 39, of Luthersville, MD, and their business partner,
Thomas Kelleher, 52, of Parksville, MD, in connection with charges that they
bilked the City of Perth Amboy out of $216,495 for another healthcare-related
program that never existed. Two other Gartland-related companies, Federal Hill
Risk Management LLC and East Coast Administrative Services Inc., also were
indicted with those three defendants.
Another broker, Frank Cotroneo, made a surprise appearance before Superior
Court Judge Bradley Ferencz, sitting in New Brunswick, to enter a guilty
plea to accusations of False Representation for a Government Contract and Theft
by Deception before a Grand Jury review.
The maximum sentence for each charge could be a prison term of up-to 10
years and fines of up-to $5 million.
However, under a plea-agreement struck by Deputy Attorneys General Dianne
DiGiamber Deal and Pearl Minato, Cotroneo’s exposure would be limited to a
prison term of eight years, with four years of parole ineligibility. That
sentence could be reduced further to a prison term of six years, with three
years of parole ineligibility, if Cotroneo cooperates with an “ongoing
investigation,” which is not described in court documents.
Cotroneo also agreed to pay restitution of $2.6 million to the Board, along
with a Public Corruption Profiteering Penalty (PCPP) of $2.9 million.
PERTH AMBOY — An alleged scheme to bilk the Perth Amboy Board of Education
out of $2,593,400 over nearly six years for healthcare-related programs that
never existed, which has led a State Grand Jury to hand-up an indictment
charging two brokers and their companies with participating in that alleged
scheme, might have been prevented had there been public bidding on insurance
contracts.
Three Perth Amboy residents and community activists — Maria Garcia, Luis
Vargas and Harry Pozycki — appeared before the Board last week to urge its
members to seriously-consider going-out-to-bid on all future insurance
contracts.
Garcia, who chairs the Planning Board, pointed out that another school
district decided to bid its insurance contracts and saved about $6 million in
the process.
She asked the Board to “open its contracts to the competition process and
have full-disclosure of broker and consultant fees.”
Pozycki, an attorney and longtime reform advocate, offered to meet with the
Board’s professional staff and present a way to have “open insurance
competition” as developed by “school administrators, former superintendents and
government lawyers.”
“I do intend to reach-out,” Board President Samuel Lebreault declared.
Insurance brokers Francis Gartland, 69, of Baltimore, MD, and Brian Foley,
36, of Summit and two of Gartland’s companies, Gartland & Co. Inc. and
E-Administrative Systems Inc., are charged with Conspiracy, Forgery, Money
Laundering and Theft by Deception.
That indictment followed the previous arraignment of Gartland, his
son-in-law Derek Johnson, 39, of Luthersville, MD, and their business partner,
Thomas Kelleher, 52, of Parksville, MD, in connection with charges that they
bilked the City of Perth Amboy out of $216,495 for another healthcare-related
program that never existed. Two other Gartland-related companies, Federal Hill
Risk Management LLC and East Coast Administrative Services Inc., also were
indicted with those three defendants.
Another broker, Frank Cotroneo, made a surprise appearance before Superior
Court Judge Bradley Ferencz, sitting in New Brunswick, to enter a guilty
plea to accusations of False Representation for a Government Contract and Theft
by Deception before a Grand Jury review.
The maximum sentence for each charge could be a prison term of up-to 10
years and fines of up-to $5 million.
However, under a plea-agreement struck by Deputy Attorneys General Dianne
DiGiamber Deal and Pearl Minato, Cotroneo’s exposure would be limited to a
prison term of eight years, with four years of parole ineligibility. That
sentence could be reduced further to a prison term of six years, with three
years of parole ineligibility, if Cotroneo cooperates with an “ongoing
investigation,” which is not described in court documents.
Cotroneo also agreed to pay restitution of $2.6 million to the Board, along
with a Public Corruption Profiteering Penalty (PCPP) of $2.9 million.
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