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TOWNSHIP OF HAMILTON

MEETING MINUTES TOWNSHIP COUNCIL

President David Kenny

Vice President Dennis Pone Council Members: Edward Pattik, Kelly Yaede, Thomas Goodwin

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 Municipal Building

6:00 PM - Council Agenda Meeting

The agenda as it appears was discussed by members of Council along with members of the Administration. STATEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT “THIS MEETING IS BEING HELD WITH THE BENEFIT OF PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY THE OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT” ROLL CALL Council Members Present: Edward Pattik, Thomas Goodwin, Kelly Yaede, Dennis Pone and

David Kenny Administration Present: John Mason, Business Administrator Paul Adezio, Director, Department of Law COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC (Conference Meeting Only) None EXECUTIVE SESSION 07-183 RESOLUTION ENABLING THE HAMILTON TOWNSHIP COUNCIL TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO

DISCUSS MATTERS Ms. Yaede moved to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pone; unanimously approved by Council. MINUTES April 3, 2007 Conference and Public Meetings COMMUNICATIONS 1a. Check Control Register Confirmation for the month of April, 2007 as submitted by the Department of

Finance APPLICATIONS 2a. RA 07-040 Sunshine Foundation – off premise merchandise raffle to be held on

August 4, 2007 RESOLUTIONS 3a. Resolution Observing May 2007 as National Military Appreciation Month in Hamilton Township 3b. Resolution Rescinding Resolution No. 07-176 Concerning The Appointment of Gene Leporiere as Chief

Financial Officer 3c. Resolution Authorizing Execution of Affidavit of Lost Instrument In Support Of Claim For Return Of

Unclaimed Property 3d. Resolution Authorizing Execution of Application and Agreement For A Bulletproof Vest

Partnership Grant With the United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs ($8,450.00) 3e. Resolution Providing For The Insertion Of A Special Item Of Revenue In The Budget(s) Of The

Township Of Hamilton Pursuant To N.J.S.A. 40a:4-87 (Chapter 159, P.L. 1948) (Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program; Total Agreement Obligations - $20,925.00)

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 3f. Resolution Providing For The Insertion Of Any Special Item Of Revenue In The Budget Of The

Township Of Hamilton Pursuant To N.J.S.A. 40a:4-87 (Chapter 159 P.L. 1948) For The Public Health Priority Funding Program Provided By The State Of New Jersey Department Of Health ($29,117.00)

3g. Resolution Consenting To The Appointment Of Charles Whalen To The Hamilton Township

Zoning Board Of Adjustment 3h. Resolution Consenting To The Appointment Of Vincent Savelli To The Hamilton Township

Zoning Board of Adjustment 3i. Resolution Consenting To The Re-Appointment Of Anthony Inverso To The Hamilton

Township Zoning Board Of Adjustment And Amending Resolution 06-040 3j. Resolution Rejecting Bids Received To Establish A Contract For The Purchase Of Wood Fibre

Material 3k. Resolution Establishing A Contract With Cretan Concrete For The Installation Of Sidewalk And

Handicap Ramps In The Neighborhood Areas Of Deutzville And Cedar Lawn, And Nottingham Way ($125,985.00 Maximum)

3l. Resolution Authorizing The Proper Officials Of The Township Of Hamilton To Execute A

Grant Application And Authorizing Execution Of Associated Agreement With The United States Department Of Housing And Urban Development To Apply And Program The 33rd Program Year Statement Of Activities Under The Community Development Block Grant Program (Grant Funds - $587,651.00 / Reprogrammed Grant Funds - $74,530.00)

3m. Resolution Authorizing Transfers in the FY2007 Municipal Budget ($75,000.00) CONSENT AGENDA All resolutions listed under the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the Council and will be approved by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items. 4a. Resolution Authorizing The Refund Of Taxes Representing 2007 Real Estate Refund ($125.00) 4b. Resolution Authorizing The Refund Of Fee Paid By Susan Goldschmidt For An Animal Adoption

($20.00) ORDINANCES 5a. 07-012 An Ordinance Amending and Supplementing the Land Development Code, 1994,

Hamilton Township, New Jersey, Article IV, General Regulations and Design Standards, Section 160-124, Signs (Permitting Billboard Structures In Certain Limited Locations and Zones)

CONTINUATION OF

SECOND READING AND PUBLIC HEARING (Information from Planning Board To Be Provided)

5b, 07-014 Ordinance Establishing a Traffic Control Signal at the Intersection Of Klockner Road and

Horizon Drive

SECOND READING AND PUBLIC HEARING REMOVED 5c. 07-015 An Ordinance Authorizing The Township of Hamilton Acquisitions of Certain Property

Located on Cypress lane and Designated As A Portion of Block 1913, Lot 15, Hamilton, New Jersey (Purchase Price - $400,000.00)

FIRST READING AND INTRODUCTION

COMMENTS FROM THE COUNCIL ADJOURNMENT: 8:50 PM _____________________________________ Jean Chianese Municipal Clerk

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TOWNSHIP OF HAMILTON MEETING MINUTES

TOWNSHIP COUNCIL

President David Kenny Vice President Dennis Pone

Council Members: Edward Pattik, Kelly Yaede, Thomas Goodwin

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 Municipal Building

7:30 PM - Council Agenda Meeting

STATEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT “THIS MEETING IS BEING HELD WITH THE BENEFIT OF PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY THE OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT” ROLL CALL Council Members Present: Edward Pattik, Thomas Goodwin, Kelly Yaede, Dennis Pone

David Kenny Administration Present: John Mason, Business Administrator Paul Adezio, Director, Department of Law SALUTE TO THE FLAG INVOCATION VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Heavenly father, we ask that you bless this meeting this evening, and we ask that you give this Council the guidance, the wisdom and the courage to do what is right and proper for all of Hamilton Township. We ask you to bless our troops both at home and abroad fighting for our freedoms. We ask this in your name. Amen. MINUTES Mr. Pattik made a motion to accept the minutes of April 3, 2007, Conference and Public Meetings, seconded by Mr. Goodwin; unanimously approved by Council. COMMUNICATIONS 1a. Check Control Register Confirmation for the month of April, 2007 as submitted by the Department of

Finance Mr. Goodwin made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pattik; unanimously approved after the following discussion: COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: I have a couple questions on… And there was a phone cost in here for a thousand dollars, and it said for one phone. It was… I marked it, how does one phone cost…? It’s on page eighteen, how does one cell phone, it says phones, cost one thousand thirty-one dollars? MR. MASON: Its multiple cell phones. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Did the other multiples leave at the same time? Why so much money for one multiple cell phone? MR. MASON: It’s a number of cell phones. I’ll pull the purchase order for you. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: All right could you do that? Could you also find out who has the cell phones? Give us a listing of which municipal employees have cell phones? MR. MASON: On this particular bill, we can give you that. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: On the overall though, I’d like to have a list of all municipal employees that have cell phones. Another question I have… There was an eight hundred and twenty-five dollar bill for bagels. How could bagels cost $825.00? That’s a lot of bagels. That’s on page twenty-nine. If you could find that out. MR. MASON: I’ll check that and I’m sure it wasn’t just bagels.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: And then on page four of the trust, there’s it looks like a Lance Retention Basin probably a grass cutting, and I would like to know why an outside contractor did that verses township employees. Why are we paying an outside contractor? That’s under the trust, on page four. And then, I have another question on housing voucher on page one, and also on page eight. There’s checks written to a company called Community Grant and Planning for professional services, and it said HUD Housing Vouchers and every other check in this register says HUD vouching rentals, but these two checks to the same company don’t say rentals. And it says vouchers and section eight professional services. So could you look into and for next meeting find out who are these people, and do we have a contract? MR. MASON: I’ll get you a copy of the purchase order. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Because those two checks alone are fourteen thousand dollars. So I’d like to know more about this, because it is different than every other check in this part. So they’re the questions I have Mr. Kenny for the check register. I’ll make the motion but I would like those answers PRESIDENT KENNY: Okay thank you. You will make a motion to approve. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: But I want those answers. PRESIDENT KENNY: Subject to those answers coming to us in two weeks. APPLICATIONS 2a. RA 07-040 Sunshine Foundation – off premise merchandise raffle to be held on August 4, 2007 Ms. Yaede made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pone; unanimously approved. RESOLUTIONS 07-184 RESOLUTION OBSERVING MAY 2007 AS NATIONAL MILITARY APPRECIATION MONTH IN HAMILTON

TOWNSHIP Mr. Pone made a motion to adopt, seconded by Ms. Yaede; unanimously approved by Council. 07-185 RESOLUTION RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. 07-176 CONCERNING THE APPOINTMENT OF GENE LEPORIERE

AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Mr. Pattik made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Goodwin; unanimously approved after the following discussion; ANTONIO C. GAMBINO: I’d like to know what happened here. PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, what happened is pretty much; I guess you saw some of it from the press. At our last meeting, we were given two resumes that evening, and we interviewed two individuals including this individual. There had been… There was appended to his resume a newspaper article that Mr. Mason had come across, whereby one of the subordinates of Mr. Leporiere was accused of stealing some money. MR. GAMBINO: It’s just what we need. PRESIDENT KENNY: We raised questions about that. We questioned him about that, but it was one of his subordinates. There wasn’t any responsibility that apparently attached to him. We discussed whether we should take action that night. It was agreed by everyone that we should, because there were no other candidates other than one other candidate we interviewed, that we did not believe would be appropriate. He had no experience as a CFO, so we decided to go forward because Mr. Mason had indicated he’d been advertising. We had not received other candidates, so we went forward and appointed him that evening. We subsequently learned the following Monday, I guess, or Tuesday that there were some other issues concerning this individual. The Mayor called me; we spoke, and agreed at that time that he should be asked to resign. The Mayor asked him to resign, and he resigned. MR. GAMBINO: Can I ask you a couple questions here. PRESIDENT KENNY: Sure. MR. GAMBINO: Did you look at the resume of this gentleman? Did you look it over closely? Did this Council look it all over closely before you decided to appoint him?

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 PRESIDENT KENNY: Yes, he had a resume where he had worked in other towns as a CFO. He’d also been employed by a Board of Education as their CFO. I don’t know what the exact title is at a Board of Education. He also had extensive experience in the private sector. MR. GAMBINO: How did he slip through the cracks, then? That’s what I don’t understand. I mean, if… PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, typically, people don’t put these types of things on their resumes… MR. GAMBINO: Because if this was a terrorist we’d be dead. PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, I doubt that terrorists put it on their resume either. MR. GAMBINO: You understand my point? PRESIDENT KENNY: Well… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Well, here’s the thing, I mean… MR. GAMBINO: The thing about it is here, you know back in… I remember, when was it last year, when I asked this Council… And I spoke to Mr. Goodwin about this, but I’m not gonna go into what we spoke about, but I spoke to him about this. With the sidewalks, and I asked the Council then, did you look over the resolutions before you passed them? And evidently, that resolution was not looked over. PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, this resolution was not on the agenda until late that day or when we got here at the meeting, and the individuals were here for interviews. MR. GAMBINO: I mean you should understand what you’re dealing with here in this administration. So what you have to do is you have to put your little spy glass on. It’s a little round thing, you hold it like this. You have to… like real down. PRESIDENT KENNY: You get one of those from Pone? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I can make that. MR. GAMBINO: You understand what I’m saying, Dennis? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I do. MR. GAMBINO: I mean… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: The thing with that is I agree with you because the Administration… It’s their duty as we’ve learned… MR. GAMBINO: They’ve tried to slip so many things by this Council. Don’t give me that look Mr. Adezio, please. I mean grrrrr. You know what I’m saying? MR. ADEZIO: You’re mistaking my look of admiration for you. MR. GAMBINO: You got to understand, this isn’t the first time that they’ve tried to pull the wool over your eyes, right or wrong? MR. ADEZIO: I don’t think anyone tried to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, other than the applicant. MR. GAMBINO: How did this gentleman get to the point where he got to the point? MR. ADEZIO: There was no break in his resume to show that he was not employed during a particular period of time. MR. GAMBINO: Well, let me ask you this, was he arrested? MR. ADEZIO: He had a CFO certification from the State of New Jersey saying he was in good standing with them. So the material that was provided to the Administration and the Council… MR. GAMBINO: Was there any type of arrest done on this gentleman? Was he arrested at any time for having any type of connection to this? PRESIDENT KENNY: Not that we’re aware of, no.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 MR. GAMBINO: No? PRESIDENT KENNY: And the action that was taken against him was by the Board of Accountants, it was not a criminal action. MR. GAMBINO: And how did you find out from the Board of Accountants, that’s what I’d like to know. PRESIDENT KENNY: To my knowledge, the Administration did some more checking afterwards, and this information came to light, and that’s when the Mayor called me about it. MR. GAMBINO: Well, why didn’t they do the checking before? That’s what I don’t understand. Why didn’t they do it before instead of after? After is like taking down the World Trade Center. You know what I mean? You did the checking after the buildings came down, you know what I mean? PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, obviously that would have been preferable if we had found it out before hand. Fortunately, it was found out before the man started to work for the township. The Mayor and I were in total agreement, I think all the council members would have been in agreement that it was best to have him resign, and that’s what occurred. MR. GAMBINO: See, it just seems like it’s always after the fact, after the fact, after the fact. And I’m gonna keep repeating myself, after the fact. That’s all I have to say, after the fact. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank your, anybody else on this resolution? PAUL KRAMER, 106 Hummingbird Drive: Is it now resolved, I’m a little confused about where you stand. The appointment is the Mayor’s, and your responsibility is advice and consent. One of the things that I heard earlier was that you were planning to go into executive session, because the administration had an interim CFO that might be available, but the Mayor hadn’t gotten the opportunity to interview this person. I thought part of the criticism in today’s paper was it or whatever it was, was that you did go into executive session for the CFO and there should be transparencies, so why is now, the individuals that represent the Mayor saying that you were going to go into executive session to interview the CFO? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: It’s a good question. COUNCILWOMAN YAEDE: It’s a good question. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Mr. Mason? MR. ADEZIO: I don’t believe Mr. Mason had anyone here to be interviewed, it was simply… You could email John that he wanted to review the situation with Council at this point. I don’t think he had anyone here to talk to at all. So that’s the best answer I can give to you about executive session today. MR. KRAMER: So will he, when you finally bring him to this board, the… In executive session or there would be transparency as the Mayor wishes? MR. ADEZIO: Presumably, it will be that the Mayor would present a resolution appointing this individual, subject to the advice and consent of Council. MR. KRAMER: Okay, with an interview if they choose. PRESIDENT KENNY: And Paul, do you agree that the CFO is the Mayor’s appointment? MR. ADEZIO: I tried to give you folks more powers, and DCA has a different view of the statute than I do. I was going to the specific statute which clearly says the governing body. DCA says the way they look at this law; it’s a broader optional charter law that controls, and therefore, it’s an advice and consent matter. PRESIDENT KENNY: I know our ordinance says that the Finance Director actually can be appointed with the advice and consent of the Mayor. MR. ADEZIO: …advice and consent of the Mayor. It doesn’t make a lot of sense but… MR. KRAMER: Well, I can explain that. The old Faulkner Act or the Faulkner act frankly had that in there and when they passed the new CFO tenure laws, they made some changes. MR. ADEZIO: And that was a long time ago.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 MR. KRAMER: I think the appointing portion of the CFO Law as I recall, is for tenure purposes. It’s still the Chief Executive Officer’s call in terms who gets the appointment. That’s another story. I just wanted to be sure that Mr. Mason and the Mayor are on the same page when it comes to transparency because I frankly had a problem a while back when a potential Council person was interviewed in executive session. If there’s anybody that needs transparency it’s someone that’s going to be filling a role as an elected official. Because as you all know, when you run for office you can’t hide behind any closed doors you got to be way up front. But I think the real problem with this whole issue is how it got out of hand. I mean, you got a phone call Mr. Kenny, it should have been over with and it would have been a nice gesture on the Council’s, or I’m sorry, the Mayor’s part to say hey, we messed up; and we took care of it and that’s the end of it. But it got into this protracted battle which frankly doesn’t help anybody. It certainly doesn’t help the Administration or the Council. But the most aggrieved part of this is the people of Hamilton who are sitting there saying what is this all about? Why has this happened? If you want to take credit for everything in the world, then you ought to take responsibility sometimes if something goes awry. It’s a very simple thing. It’s a big character flaw in my mind when somebody can’t’ take responsibility. Corzine, for example, stood up and said it’s my fault. He could easily have said it’s the state trooper’s fault because he did not make me put my seatbelt on. But Corzine is a man of character and he was willing to take the heat for something he did wrong. And I think that’s a problem with this administration, and I hope as you go forward, you can see some way to work together in the future. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you Paul. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: I have a question. Mr. Adezio, in the future, could we do future interviews like this in public, rather than behind in executive? So everybody hears the same thing and nothing gets distorted? MR. ADEZIO: For an appointment to the, as an employee? I remember Andy Salerno had a wide open interview process, cameras and everything going on for his. It was a cause celebree for many days. So I’ve seen that happen before, and quite frankly, if the employee doesn’t object to it, I would assume they would be welcome to have the interview public. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: I think that we should do that and also going forward, that all executive sessions be taped and dually recorded. Everybody agree? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I agree with that because if you were in that… COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: You were in that room, you heard what we heard. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: …room that night, you would see we did our due diligence. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: We did our due diligence, what we were told. So I would like to see the meetings taped. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Yeah, and if I could add to that, Tom? My opinion on this… I agree with Tom a hundred percent, we need to tape meetings in that room, because we do a great job back there. And sometimes if people really want to know what went on, you don’t always know all the facts. When we ran, that was one of our criticisms to prior Council is and the Administration which many things were done behind closed doors and it was hard to get any real information if you were part of the public. Anything that can be public, I think should be public. Nobody should have anything to hide. If something has to go into executive session… Certain legal matters definitely have to. This particular issue… My opinion is this. You won’t hear me do this very often, but I’m not blaming Mr. Mason on this one, because we asked him if he Googled this guy and he did. That was a specific question in Executive Session. We asked… Everything you could possibly imagine about this guy, we asked. We asked to the man, we asked to Mr. Mason. I believe he did Google him and I believe he just didn’t catch that particular issue because when I Googled him, it was hard to find. I went back and did it to see if I could find it. And it wasn’t that easy. So I don’t think… I think Mr. Mason truly missed it, I don’t think he did it on purpose. However, having said that, my opinion is the Mayor is the one Mr. Kramer’s point, who made this a political issue. He either got some really bad advice, or he decided to make it purely political. There was nothing political about this issue, zero; including our meeting with Mr. Mason in private session. I think he did his job, I think we did our job. The Mayor for some reason, somebody put a bug in his ear that this was a political issue. It blew up in his face, which those things should. But as Mr. Kramer said, none of that helps anybody. We still need a CFO, and if that kind of behavior is what’s going on in that office, and the culture as I’ve said before creates a situation where no one wants the job, to go through five CFOs in seven years is absurd. We’ve got a problem in Hamilton Township. Politics have to be put aside. This Mayor has to learn to communicate with us in earnest. And we need to create a culture of good business management in that Mayor’s office, so that we can attract a good CFO and other good people. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: And not only did the Mayor talk to Dave, but he also talked to Dennis and I, correct? Last Tuesday, he told us about it. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: That’s right.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: He told us about it, and we agreed and the next day, in the paper, it was totally something different. And so Mr. President, so as long as we’re perfectly clear, that all future interviews will be done in public and that the Executive Sessions will be taped. PRESIDENT KENNY: I have no problem with Executive Sessions being taped. I’ve worked in towns where they were taped, and they can be very helpful to the township on occasion. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: And one last thing, Mr. Leporiere is not being paid? MR. MASON: For one day. PRESIDENT KENNY: One day. Tony, real quick so we can move on from this issue. You’re getting your second time, but a quick second time. MR. GAMBINO: The way this thing was let out, was… The way I look at this thing, the way it appeared to me was that the Mayor made it look like that you guys were hiring a criminal, in the newspaper. That’s the way it looked like to me. Now, my question is this. You found this on what Google, is this how you found it, about this guy? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I didn’t find it initially, no. MR. GAMBINO: How was this leaked out or how was this found out? See, because you know what? I smell… you know what, I smell a rat like with a big head and a big body here. That’s what… You know what I’m saying, like a political rat. No, seriously. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Well, Tony. MR. GAMBINO: But that’s the way it was perceived to the public. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Can we ask Mr. Mason how it was ultimately discovered? MR. GAMBINO: No, I mean, that this whole thing was like a setup. That’s the way it looked like. Like somebody had come down from North Jersey and they stuck this guy in here. You know the Administration did it and would like to make you guys look bad. PRESIDENT KENNY: I would tell you… MR. GAMBINO: You guys looked like you hired a criminal. PRESIDENT KENNY: I’ll tell you what the Mayor… MR. GAMBINO: And then they let the rat out and the rat was like you know… PRESIDENT KENNY: Tony, I will tell you what the Mayor told me. The Mayor told me he received a phone call from a reporter with the Hamilton Post, who advised him of this information. And then it was into and then he called me that Tuesday, around five o’clock. MR. GAMBINO: It’s always funny how they go to the press, ain’t it. They run right to the press before they…. PRESIDENT KENNY: No, he said that it came… Be clear, he said that the press called him and told him that they found this information. That’s what was told. MR. GAMBINO: What, you have something you want to say, say it. No, I see you two over there not… MR. ADEZIO: Could you do that rat imitation again. (Laughter) MR. GAMBINO: Did you want to say something, seriously. You want to say something? PRESIDENT KENNY: So that’s what Mayor Gilmore told me when he made the phone call, we discussed and I said I’m very concerned by it. He was concerned by it. MR. GAMBINO: Cause that’s the way it looked like. PRESIDENT KENNY: We discussed what course of action should be taken. We agreed that we didn’t want this individual working for the township because I felt the Council had been misled. I think he felt that he had

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 been misled. And it came down to him making another phone call after we discussed it; he called me back and said the individual had resigned. I said, that’s great it’s behind us, let’s move forward. MR. GAMBINO: But you know what, between now and the election, I would just like to see what other kind of dirty moves… and you know what? I got to laugh here. You know why, because somebody went in the paper stating that we’re gonna run some clean campaigns here, we’re not gonna like try to cut each other’s throats. You know what I mean; I’m sticking in someone’s back. Well, the first shiv already went in. PRESIDENT KENNY: All right, we need to move forward. MR. GAMBINO: You know what I mean, didn’t it? You don’t think it didn’t? PRESIDENT KENNY: I have no comment on that, okay? MR. GAMBINO: Stick them back. PRESIDENT KENNY: All right roll call on this resolution. 07-187 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AFFIDAVIT OF LOST INSTRUMENT IN SUPPORT OF CLAIM FOR

RETURN OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY Mr. Goodwin made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pattik; unanimously approved by Council. 07-188 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF APPLICATION AND AGREEMENT FOR A BULLETPROOF VEST

PARTNERSHIP GRANT WITH THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS ($8,450.00)

Ms. Yaede made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pone; unanimously approved by Council. 07-189 RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE INSERTION OF A SPECIAL ITEM OF REVENUE IN THE BUDGET(S) OF

THE TOWNSHIP OF HAMILTON PURSUANT TO N.J.S.A. 40A:4-87 (CHAPTER 159, P.L. 1948) (WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVES PROGRAM; TOTAL AGREEMENT OBLIGATIONS - $20,925.00)

Mr. Pone made a motion to adopt, seconded by Ms. Yaede; unanimously approved after the following discussion: VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Mr. President, before I move resolution 3E, I just wanted to point out for those that weren’t here in the agenda session, I will move the resolution because as it stands it’s all funded by grants; but I’ve asked for an opinion from Mr. Balgowan on what, if there are maintenance issues with this, that the township might incur via Public Works. I know there are all kinds of plantings, there’s a pond, there’s wild grasses, and I think I read in there that at least once a year, it has to be addressed. So while again, to setup, it doesn’t cost us anything as municipal taxpayers. The maintenance cost may be there. And I definitely want a clarification on that. With that being said, I will move resolution 3E. WILLIAM J. OPFERMAN, 810 Atlantic Avenue: Are we talking Braghelli Track, in the back where the butterfly manmade habitat? PRESIDENT KENNY: It’s basically some wildflowers, and grasses that would… Warm season grasses and wildflowers that would attract butterflies and some other wildlife. MR. OPFERMAN: And there are federal grants that came in for this? PRESIDENT KENNY: Yes. MR. OPFERMAN: I had a resident, it’s probably going back maybe March, had a resident bring up this situation. I went out to look at it. It was too muddy to go out there. Those are a manmade wetland out there, so… Here’s where it was at. So thank you. AUGUST SCOTTO, Mark Twain Drive: This is the issue that at my last meeting with the senior group, they were asking questions on. They said what’s going on there? What are they building over there? And I explained a little bit of it not knowing the whole thing, and they thought that was rotten. They said what’s going on here. They keep going into all these things here that mean nothing. They should be just concentrating on what’s good for the people, and leave out all that other nonsense. They didn’t want any part of this, the seniors. Thank you. AMES HOYT, 29 Country Lane: I know a little bit about the project and I guess I wanted to mention that it’s gonna be wetlands and natural habitat. So with any park situation, there has to be maintenance and compared to

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 the rest of the park, it’s very low maintenance because it doesn’t involve cutting the grass on a weekly basis. If anything, it’s basically twice a year, where there would be as I understand it, the cutting of the grass. So compared to other operations in the park, this is probably the lowest maintenance you can get, other than letting it revert back to a natural state that makes it a bit inaccessible to perhaps even senior citizens, so I think it’s a good project. Anything to kind of pull more greenery into Hamilton Township is a pretty good idea, especially when it’s low maintenance, thank you. WILLIAM J. OPFERMAN, 810 Atlantic Avenue: I disagree with Mr. Hoyt I’m opposed on this. Once again, it does take maintenance. This is grant money once again, taxpayer money. Braghelli Track came in over a price that was supposed to be somewhere around eight million, it came up $11.2. Braghelli, I thought was going to just lay natural or something like that. I know it’s a natural type of thing. But it’s wetlands that are created by man. It does take more maintenance, and there’s more manpower, whether it’s twice a year or whatever it by or something like that. But I disagree with it. Thank you. PRESIDENT KENNY: I don’t think this is the wetlands that are being created here. I think this is just a wild flowers and things that will grow naturally year to year. And so it should be very low maintenance it would seem. And I guess it’s an area that was farmed at one time, so you just have scrub growing in there in any event, so this allows a different type of habitat. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: There is a one acre pond in there though. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, which apparently has already been constructed? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Well, that was one of my questions. The work on this is already started, but yet, we’re approving it tonight. That part of it bothers me. We should have been approving this or looking at it first and then the work should have been started. That part of it, I object to. I don’t like that part of it. But the project itself, I would like to get the figure… In fact, Mr. President… COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: That’s not good. You’re right. The work has started, money has been committed, and we’re getting it now? COUNCILMAN PATTIK: The County is actually the one doing it. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, it indicates the County did the work of the pond. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I’ll tell you Mr. President, I would be interested in tabling this tonight pending a report from Mr. Balgowan on the cost to the township to maintain it. Mr. Opferman’s point, I understand about it is tax… That always bothers me too, its taxpayer money no matter how you look at it. It may not be municipal taxpayer money, but its county and state and federal tax payer money. I don’t know if we didn’t do it. I guess those grants would just go somewhere else, so the question always is do we take a piece of it, and have this thing or do we let somebody else do it and we don’t have this thing. But it bothers me A that it started without us looking at it till tonight. And B, we don’t have a cost estimate which I always ask for. I’m still waiting for a couple of them from Mr. Balgowan. One on dedicated lands to us and one on… There was something else I had asked for, oh the paddle boat thing, I believe, the estimates on that. PRESIDENT KENNY: Mr. Pone, if I look at this, it looks like some of the things were signed in May and June of 2006. It’s the same amount of money, the $20,925.00. So it’s your motion right now. If you want to make a motion to table, we’d have to act on that. AMES HOYT, 29 Country Lane: I recollect that when Braghelli was purchased, and we started cutting the area or that back area, that somebody had made a comment. It may have been Mr. Opferman or perhaps Mr. Kramer. Somebody who was sitting in this area, pointed out and I think rightfully so, be cutting that back lawn on a weekly basis or once every ten days, was a real burden to the taxpayer, so I would agree with that. Certainly, that if that area was to revert back, would be the lowest maintenance that is an option. But to say this is a bad project, and to say that it’s not low maintenance, is a mischaracterization. It is very low maintenance, and it should be considered. I think it’s a good project, but is it lowest maintenance, no it’s not. But it is a greater step in the right direction. Probably, it could be a reduction as much as eighteen to twenty cuts less per year. But the other thing too, interesting enough, is that I did pass along to Town Council a Green Acres regulation. It’s a new regulation of anytime you put something into the park, but there are exemptions. But a project this size, should because it’s Green Acres, should go to the Green Acres Group first. They should be notified the public should be notified ninety days in advance. Perhaps that should be said of the jet and the paddlewheel boats, and all that. So look through the regulation that I think I gave to Town Council. Also, the township should have contacted the Environmental Infrastructure Trust Program, as well as the DEP wetlands group. But this is a good project though, but Mr. Opferman has a point. Letting it go to its natural state would be the lowest maintenance, I would not criticize this project. I think it has some thought behind it. There was some mistakes made, perhaps, yes. Thank you.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Thanks Ames. MR. MASON: Just a point of information Mr. Council President. This is a resolution to insert a special item of revenue in the budget. This is just inserting the funds in the budget, we’re not applying for the funds or obtain the funds, we’re inserting them into the budget. PRESIDENT KENNY: It looks like the grant application was made in 2005 and approved in September 2006. So I would assume there had to have been a resolution to Council in 2005 to make the grant application? MR. MASON: If that was required. PRESIDENT KENNY: If it’s required, so this is simply the… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Let’s put the money into the budget… PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: … for the project which is already been approved by a former Council or just the Mayor’s decision, or… PRESIDENT KENNY: Fortunately, this money is really just for planting flowers and wild grasses. You’re not changing a lot out there. As I said, it’s probably just reclaimed farmland. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I am concerned that the pond itself might need maintenance, at some point. PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, that’s already been constructed. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: If the construction is there, it was passed by a former Council and perhaps just by the Mayor, and this is just putting the money in the budget, then I will move resolution 3E. 07-189 RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE INSERTION OF ANY SPECIAL ITEM OF REVENUE IN THE BUDGET OF THE

TOWNSHIP OF HAMILTON PURSUANT TO N.J.S.A. 40A:4-87 (CHAPTER 159 P.L. 1948) FOR THE PUBLIC HEALTH PRIORITY FUNDING PROGRAM PROVIDED BY THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ($29,117.00)

Mr. Pattik made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Goodwin; unanimously approved after the following discussion: AUGUST SCOTTO, Mark Twain Drive: Could you explain what this is for, this money? MR. MASON: Basically, it funds the myriad of public health activities that are conducted by our Health Department. MR. SCOTTO: What kind of health problems are they investigating? MR. MASON: It runs a gamut. Money is worth public health activities. It’s not earmarked specifically for certain activities. MR. SCOTTO: It sounds so general. MR. MASON: It is it is general. MR. SCOTTO: I’m trying to find out exactly what it’s for, so we know if it’s good or not. PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, effectively, this money just goes into our budget. It’s state money. We have a rather large public health budget with the number of employees that we have. And they provide a gamut of services such as inoculations…, MR. MASON: Clinics. PRESIDENT KENNY: Clinics, checking on people that may be home bound. I guess they do a fair amount of that. MR. MASON: Yes, nursing services. MR. SCOTTO: Many of the things are too general. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: There are no matching fund requirements by the township on this either.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 PRESIDENT KENNY: Anybody else? We’re inserting it in the budget, that’s what this resolution is for. PAUL KRAMER, 106 Hummingbird Drive: Basically been around for forty years, it’s a reimbursement for almost anything you do in the public health area, it’s no big deal. It’s been around, it’s been the same amount for about four years, right Mr. Mason, I think? It hasn’t gone up or it hasn’t gone down. It just takes care of offsetting some of the cost. 07-190 RESOLUTION CONSENTING TO THE APPOINTMENT OF CHARLES WHALEN TO THE HAMILTON TOWNSHIP

ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Mr. Goodwin made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pattik; unanimously approved after the following discussion: ANTONIO C. GAMBINO: I have a question. Is this the first appointment for this gentleman to the…? PRESIDENT KENNY: To the Zoning Board? MR. GAMBINO: Yes. PRESIDENT KENNY: I believe so. MR. GAMBINO: It is? PRESIDENT KENNY: No, am I wrong on that? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: No, I believe it’s the first time. PRESIDENT KENNY: No, it is the first time. Its Mr. Savelli would be a reappointment. No, this is filling a vacancy, so he fills an unexpired term. MR. GAMBINO: Okay, let me ask you another question. So in other words, tonight you’re gonna vote to appoint this gentleman for… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: The Mayor appoints him. MR. GAMBINO: So what does that mean? PRESIDENT KENNY: We consent to the appointment. The Mayor has to make the appointment. MR. GAMBINO: Well, let me ask you this, do you have to consent to this appointment? PRESIDENT KENNY: No. MR. GAMBINO: No. Okay, the reason why I ask this is because I don’t know if anybody knows up there, is this the same Charles Whalen that they call Chuddy? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Yes. MR. GAMBINO: They call him Chuddy? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I believe so. MR. GAMBINO: Okay, my other question is this. Now, I believe that this gentleman, he ran for School Board the same time I ran for the School Board. And I remember his comment was, I don’t know too much about the School Board, but I know about laying pipe. Which I believe that he works for the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters? PRESIDENT KENNY: That’s correct. MR. GAMBINO: Now, my second question is this. He doesn’t know too much about the School Board. What does he know about the Zoning Board, and why is this man being appointed to it? PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, the Zoning Bard… There is no prerequisite that you have some sort of background in land use. The zoning board is a quasi-judicial body that hears variance applications and is to rule on the facts as in court. MR. GAMBINO: I mean, is this like pay as you go, know as you go type of deal? When you just sit on the board and say hey, I’ll…

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 PRESIDENT KENNY: There is a requirement of education now, for all Zoning and Planning Board members that they have to participate in during their first year, I guess on the board. I know that that exists. But this is… You don’t typically go out and just appoint planners and land use attorneys and realtors. MR. GAMBINO: I don’t know I’m just kind of like… I mean, what’s his background? I mean… PRESIDENT KENNY: As you indicated, he’s… MR. GAMBINO: …that he can do this type of position? PRESIDENT KENNY: The Mayor’s made the recommendation and so now, it’s up to us to give it our consent or withhold our consent. The Zoning Board is in need of members, I’m well aware of that. We had an individual last meeting who addressed us on that, that they haven’t had a whole membership since January I guess, of this year. MR. GAMBINO: See, I mean, we’re like back to square one. So in other words, I mean, like it appears to me that you’re not looking over these resolutions again. PRESIDENT KENNY: Oh, we are. MR. GAMBINO: You are? PRESIDENT KENNY: But our power is limited here. The Mayor makes these appointments. That’s a power specifically vested, within. MR. GAMBINO: Let me ask you a question then. Why is the resolution even coming to you then, if that’s the case? PRESIDENT KENNY: Under the law, we have advice and consent. Similar to when the president nominates a federal judge, it goes to the Senate for advice and consent. They vote on whether to approve or disapprove. MR. GAMBINO: All right, so did you look over the application then? PRESIDENT KENNY: Yes. MR. GAMBINO: And what do you come to here, then? PRESIDENT KENNY: I don’t know Mr. Whalen; I think that a few of the members do know Mr. Whalen. I’ve only met him a couple times to know him. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Yeah, I’ll say this. First of all, some of your concerns I think are valid. Cause I think I know where you’re going with that. I had them too. When I first… Honestly, when I first came here. Now, I’ve known… MR. GAMBINO: I mean it’s just like… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Well, let me finish. I’ll preface by saying I’ve known Mr. Whalen since… I played Babe Ruth Baseball with him on the same team. I’m known him at least that long. I’ve known him longer than that actually. We kind of grew up in the same neighborhood. I’ve known him and his brother for many years. There are two sides to the issue. A, he’s a Hamilton guy, life long, he cares about the town. I’ll say that about him, but I had… The concern I had was I think the one you’re getting at and that is our two boards, our Zoning Board and our Planning Board tend to be laden with special interests. MR. GAMBINO: That’s it. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: And I know that’s where you’re going with it. And frankly, when I read this over and I had known Mr. Whalen a long time, I know what he does for a living. I know his political affiliation. We talk, and I like the guy I think he’s a good guy. I think he’s a Hamilton guy, he’s clearly… MR. GAMBINO: I don’t have nothing, but I just want to know what his qualifications are. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Well. MR. GAMBINO: Because the bottom line is you know that there are a lot of people that go up in front of the Zoning Board and they try to get things done. And people get shot down because it’s political.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Well, one advantage at this point is we have put an ordinance in place that people can appeal granted use variances to us, and so with that in place, if there’s a huge issue of a use variance, somebody changing the permitted use of the piece of land, they can appeal it to us, and that’s helpful because you’re right. There’s some special interest on the boards that look at those things. MR. GAMBINO: Well, you just admitted right there there’s a conflict of interest too, so what good is that… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: What’s the conflict there? MR. GAMBINO: But what good is that ordinance? I mean, what good is it? The conflict of interest is that you know him and you said you grew up with him, and you played baseball with him since you were kids. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I’m just saying he’s a good guy. I actually prefer he’s not on the Zoning Board, but I just said he’s a good guy. MR. GAMBINO: So then you should abstain then, right? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: He’s a Hamilton guy. MR. GAMBINO: So then, you should abstain your vote, right? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Perhaps I will. MR. GAMBINO: Yeah, well I mean, it’s only… PRESIDENT KENNY: I don’t think there’s any obligation to abstain on a vote. You don’t have a conflict of interest because you know someone, that’s not a conflict of interest. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Yeah, we would be conflicting everyday, at every meeting. But, if you look at it that way, I should be voting no, on Mr. Whalen. His political affiliation is different than mine; his opinions are often different than mine. So I wasn’t making a comment on whether or not he should be on the Zoning Board. I was just giving you my honest feeling. I think he’s a good guy, I don’t think he’s gonna do anything to jeopardize the town. I’d just like to know what the qualifications are. Because I mean… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Mr. Kenny explained them to you. MR. GAMBINO: I mean, I could see one very good person that’s on here that’s been on the board for a long time, and that’s Mr. Savelli, Mr. Savelli’s been there for years. COUNCILMAN PATTIK: Mr. President, can I make a point here? With regards to qualifications for any boards or any commissions, you have to be a Hamilton resident, okay? MR. GAMBINO: I understand that, but you know, I mean… COUNCILMAN PATTIK: If we looked at every board and commission, and established criteria to approve or disapprove folks who want to serve the community who want to be on boards and commissions. MR. GAMBINO: That’s why they should be elected. COUNCILMAN PATTIK: That’s a smart thing. MR. GAMBINO: Why isn’t it smart? COUNCILMAN PATTIK: To elect all board and… MR. GAMBINO: Pick who they want, the people of the township chooses who they want and they’re not just slapped up there by some hack downstairs. COUNCILMAN PATTIK: Mr. President, can we move on? PRESIDENT KENNY: All right Mr. Gambino, we’ve got your point, okay? We need to move on. We understand. MR. GAMBINO: I don’t think you have my point. PRESIDEN KENNY: Well, we may not agree with you, but I understand your point.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 MR. GAMBINO: Well, you know what, you do what you want. You know what… COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Mr. President, I had a question. On 3G and on 3H, it says appointment to the Zoning Board and then on 3I, on Mr. Inverso, just clarification, Mr. Inverso was an alternate? And is he being reappointed as an alternate and the first two resolutions are appointments? PRESIDENT KENNY: Correct, that’s my understanding. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: So why wouldn’t Mr. Inverso, who’s been an alternate go to an appointment? PRESIDENT KENNY: That’s the Mayor’s call. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Well, suppose we don’t want to do the Mayor’s call. PRESIDENT KENNY: Well then, we don’t need to approve, we don’t need to give our consent to everyone. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: He’s the alternate, so he’s the one that should move up to an appointment. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Good point. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: My point of view, and then one of the new people becomes the first alternate. I mean, it makes sense. MR. ADEZIO: There’s more than one new person being appointed. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Well, then why wouldn’t Mr. Inverso move up and then the new person can take Mr. Whalen’s? And then, Mr. Whalen takes Mr. Inverso’s spot? MR. ADEZIO: He’s alternate number two according to this resolution… COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Right. MR. ADEZIO: …provided by the clerk’s Office. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: So I would just change that. MR. ADEZIO: I don’t think you have that power. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Well then, why do this, then? MR. ADEZIO: Then you don’t have the Zoning Board; you have the attorney coming in front of you saying why we don’t have a Zoning Board. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: But wait a minute, if you have a person that’s an alternate that’s been there, that has experience, why wouldn’t he move up so that one of the appointments and then, when the new person, changes him as an alternate. I mean, how hard is that? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Well, that’s logical, but we don’t have the power is what you’re saying, right? MR. ADEZIO: Right, you can’t change the appointment that has been presented to you. PRESIDENT KENNY: And part of what we’re up against, these appointments should have come to us in January, because I guess now the Zoning Board’s been down two members since January and it’s causing issues. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: But we’re voting on something we don’t have any control over, so why are you even voting? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Just to fill the slots. PRESIDENT KENNY: Technically, we have to give advice and consent, or the person does not become a member. And now you have these vacancies, and so it’s grinding to a halt. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: I agree with that, but I’m just saying…. PRESIDENT KENNY: We have very limited power in this.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Do we have to do this? PRESIDENT KENNY: No, you can vote however you want on it. We have three different resolutions. We have the one concerning Mr. Whalen before us right now. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Mr. President, if I might ask Mr. Adezio, what happens if we don’t give consent to these appointments? MR. ADEZIO: People aren’t appointed to the board, then. COUNCILMAN PATTIK: We’re not gonna have another meeting. MR. ADEZIO: The Zoning Board continues to have an insufficient membership. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Can’t you come up with a new resolution, making Mr. Inverso an appointment and then Mr. Whalen the first alternate? MR. ADEZIO: It’s the Mayor’s… PRESIDENT KENNY: It’s the Mayor’s decision. MR. ADEZIO: …not mine. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: This is backwards. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Logic in government doesn’t always go together. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: We’re voting on something we don’t have control over. PRESIDENT KENNY: This is what the statute tells us has to be done, in order to and this is statutory. In order to appoint members to a Zoning Board, but the appointments belong to the Mayor. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: I’ll vote yes, reluctantly, I don’t like the way this is set up. 07-19 RESOLUTION CONSENTING TO THE APPOINTMENT OF VINCENT SAVELLI TO THE HAMILTON TOWNSHIP

ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Ms. Yaede made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pone; unanimously approved after the following discussion: VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I will second that motion, but I did ask in the agenda session to have a copy of Mr. Savelli’s resume which we don’t have; but he has been on the Zoning Board for some time, so I’ll second. 07-192 RESOLUTION CONSENTING TO THE RE-APPOINTMENT OF ANTHONY INVERSO TO THE HAMILTON

TOWNSHIP ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AND AMENDING RESOLUTION 06-040 Mr. Pone made a motion to adopt, seconded by Ms. Yaede; unanimously approved by Council. 07-193 RESOLUTION REJECTING BIDS RECEIVED TO ESTABLISH A CONTRACT FOR THE PURCHASE OF WOOD

FIBRE MATERIAL Mr. Pattik made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Goodwin; unanimously approved by Council. 07-194 RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A CONTRACT WITH CRETAN CONCRETE FOR THE INSTALLATION OF SIDEWALK

AND HANDICAP RAMPS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD AREAS OF DEUTZVILLE AND CEDAR LAWN, AND NOTTINGHAM WAY ($125,985.00 MAXIMUM)

Mr. Goodwin made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pattik; unanimously approved after the following discussion: COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Mr. President, before I make the motion, I have a question of the administration. Has the work started on this project? No? Is this new sidewalk, or is this replacing existing sidewalk? PRESIDENT KENNY: Mr. Jacobs was here, he indicated to us its handicapped ramps. And then, new sidewalks in areas where there are gaps in sidewalks, in the Bromley Area of the township, Cedar Lawn and Deutzville areas.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 07-195 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PROPER OFFICIALS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF HAMILTON TO EXECUTE A

GRANT APPLICATION AND AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF ASSOCIATED AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT TO APPLY AND PROGRAM THE 33RD PROGRAM YEAR STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES UNDER THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM (GRANT FUNDS - $587,651.00 / REPROGRAMMED GRANT FUNDS - $74,530.00)

Ms. Yaede made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pone; unanimously approved after the following discussion: ANTONIO C. GAMBINO: I’m trying to remember here now, is this the one… I can’t remember was it the thirty year or something where we have to start paying the funds now. I know there was… COUNCILMAN PATTIK: It’s a grant program, it’s a grant program. PRESIDENT KENNY: It’s a grant from the federal government. COUNCILMAN PATTIK: For thirty-some years. MR. GAMBINO: What was that? COUNCILMAN PATTIK: We’ve been getting the same grant for thirty-some years now. MR. GAMBINO: No, wasn’t there a new grant that where you had to… Is this part of this grant where you were gonna build the low income housing. Is this the… this one? PRESIDENT KENNY: No. MR. GAMBINO: No? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: This is more for rehab and Bromley, John O. Wilson, and rehabbing… You know, people that have code violations, but can’t afford to fix them. MR. GAMBINO: Yeah, and they get the five year forgivable lien or something like that? COUNCILMAN PATTIK: Ten years. MR. GAMBINO: No, I thought it was the other one. What ever happened to that one? What was it with DOCC or something like that? I can’t remember, we were gonna build the housing, the low income housing or something? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: COAH. MR. GAMBINO: COAH, that’s right. PRESIDENT KENNY: Oh okay. MR. GAMBINO: What happened with this, with the COAH? PRESIDENT KENNY: COAH is in a real state of flux right now because its new regulations were invalidated by the Appellate Division. So it’s on appeal with the Supreme Court. There is no plan right now to build any affordable housing. What’s COAH regulations required which now have been set aside was that whenever a builder builds eight units they have to build at least one affordable unit. MR. GAMBINO: Right. PRESIDENT KENNY: So, that’s a cloud on the Horizon. MR. GAMBINO: So in other words then, it’s on the back burner for now. I see what you’re saying. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yes, yes. MR. GAMBINO: I thought this was something, had something to do with… PRESIDENT KENNY: No. Anything else?

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: I have one question. There’s eighty-one thousand dollars for cameras? And it just says requisition installation of community safe and security camera network systems for the CDBG areas. Where exactly… where the cameras would go? PRESIDENT KENNY: They would go within these neighborhoods around parks primarily; I guess was part of it. I can also tell you that the planning board required a recent purchaser of the part of the old DeLaval to install some security cameras on the streets there that will feed into the Police Department. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Okay. ANTONIO C. GAMBINO: You know what, how come this wasn’t put here then about the cameras? Cause I would like to know about this? PRESIDENT KENNY: There’s a number of different things in which funds have been approved by the federal government for…, and that’s one of them, is community safety program. MR. GAMBINO: Do they state in the applications where they’re gonna go up in Hamilton Township? PRESIDENT KENNY: They don’t state specifically, I think that the police get involved in that, but they would be within these areas that qualify for these types of monies and that would be the Bromley Neighborhood, Cedar Lawn, and what was the other one? VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Deutzville. PRESIDENT KENNY: And Deutzville. MR. GAMBINO: Well, don’t you think that you should ask the public before you go hanging cameras up anywhere? COUNCILMAN PATTIK: They did have two public hearings on this. MR. GAMBINO: Where did they have the public hearings? I never heard of them, how come I missed them? Where did they have public hearings at? They must have been underground hearings. COUNCILMAN PATTIK: This grant requires two public hearings. MR. GAMBINO: What, Hamilton Township? COUNCILMAN PATTIK: Do you read the newspaper? MR. GAMBINO: Do I read the newspaper? No, I don’t think I read it. COUNCILMAN PATTIK: All right. MR. GAMBINO: What? COUNCILMAN PATTIK: I don’t know, I’m just answering your question, okay. It was advertised. MR. GAMBINO: Oh it was advertised? COUNCILMAN PATTIK: It has to be advertised, public hearings for this grant have to be advertised. MR. GAMBINO: How big was it? COUNCILMAN PATTIK: You’re here. MR. GAMBINO: How big was it? I mean… COUNCILMAN PATTIK: I’m just answering your question, okay. MR. GAMBINO: It seems like a lot of stuff, I mean, I just don’t understand this. Why things are being put on for people to vote on. Put on a referendum and have the people vote on this. It seems like everything is just being shoved down their throats. I mean, you shoved the smoking law on us, you shoved the seatbelt law. I mean how many laws? Now it’s gonna be Jessica’s Law, if somebody cuts you off. If somebody cuts you off, you’re not allowed to… PRESIDENT KENNY: Mr. Gambino…

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 MR. GAMBINO: Give them a gesture anymore, you’re gonna be charged with… PRESIDENT KENNY: Mr. Gambino we’re dealing with the resolution, here. MR. GAMBINO: But… I know. I’m trying to bring a point here. PRESIDENT KENNY: You can’t address this kind of issues. MR. GAMBINO: I’m trying to bring a point here. I mean, it’s not even on here about cameras. PRESIDENT KENNY: What are you looking at, on the agenda? MR. GAMBINO: Yeah, it’s not even on here. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, the agenda does not have all of the description of the program. That’s been provided to us, there are a number of things in here, some general curb and sidewalk improvements. MR. GAMBINO: See, this is how government sneaks things in on the people. They do it unscrupulously; this is how they do it. They sneak it in, and they don’t let the people know about it. PRESIDENT KENNY: Anybody else? Roll call. 07-196 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING TRANSFERS IN THE FY2007 MUNICIPAL BUDGET ($75,000.00) Mr. Pone made a motion to adopt, seconded by Ms. Yaede; unanimously approved after the following discussion: VICE PRESIDENT PONE: Mr. President, I will unhappily move Resolution 3m. AUGUST SCOTTO, Mark Twain Drive: What is this for? PRESIDENT KENNY: This is… In the last two months of the fiscal year, the township has authorized to move funds from one account to another, if necessary. And Mr. Mason has proposed that we move $75,000.000 from Public Health Services Salary and Wages, Environmental Health Salary and Wages, and Office of Senior Citizen Program Salary and Wages to Human Resources Operating Expenses, Division Assessments Operating Expenses, Public Health Service Operating Expenses, Environmental Health Services Operating Expenses, and Division of Recreation Salary and Wages. MR. SCOTTO: Wasn’t this part of that other thing, too? PRESIDENT KENNY: What other thing? MR. SCOTTO: The public health? PRESIDENT KENNY: No, no, that was including money in the public health, a grant that we received to include in budget for… MR. SCOTTO: I hate when I see money being shifted like that, they should put it item by item. This one is for this. This one is for this. Instead, what they’re doing is playing games and just throwing out behind the scenes he’s selling the stuff and then come up there and pay for it later. PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, No Mr. Scotto, this is money that was within the budget. I don’t disagree with you entirely. We’re not happy when transfers have to be made but sometimes they do have to be made. And I’ve asked Mr. Mason for the next meeting, I want to see an analysis of all the budget line items. How much has been spent on each line item, how much has been encumbered, how much do we have left, to see if we’ve overspent any budget line items, and where we are. So we can get through these final two months of the fiscal year. MR. SCOTTO: You see, that’s why I’d like to see you guys vote down a lot of these issues that are thrown at you like from out of the blue sky like that, without anything behind it. It’s just that well; we had to put it through earlier. We didn’t know the whole story then, but we have to pay for it now. That’s wrong. It should be voted down every time they play that game because it’s his method of getting money spent according to the way he wants to spend it, rather than how you guys want to spend it. He’s violating the Constitution, separation of powers. You guys have that power, not him. PRESIDENT KENNY: Anybody else?

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 PAUL KRAMER, 106 Hummingbird Drive: During the agenda session, I heard an explanation from the Administration for the shortfall in the Assessor’s office. It had something to do with an appraiser’s contract. And an unforeseen or a bill that was not known at the time you did the 2007 budget, and maybe I misunderstood or wasn’t clear on what that was about. I think I heard the figure of seventeen, five? PRESIDENT KENNY: No, it’s $7,350.00. MR. KRAMER: Oh. PRESIDENT KENNY: …but it was a July 2006 invoice, so you’re right, we hadn’t adopted the budget as of July 2006. MR. KRAMER: So, the appraiser was hired, I guess the end of 2005? Am I correct on that? PRESIDENT KENNY: Yes. MR. KRAMER: I remember the contract was somewhere in the area of fifty sixty thousand to do supplemental work or supplement the assessor’s work? Can I get a further explanation so I understand? MR. MASON: Well, how this came about being charged to the Fiscal Year 07 budget was that, although it was a July invoice, work took place in June. So I had thought it had gone to ‘06, and come to find out, it didn’t. So this is the bulk of the problem of why the Assessment Division is looking for a $6,000.00 transfer into their budget. MR. KRAMER: I mean there wasn’t sufficient money left over from 2006 to pay for this. The first two months of the fiscal year, you can transfer from various accounts… MR. MASON: Right. MR. KRAMER: …for 2006. 2007, you can transfer to 2006 right, but you were not aware of that? MR. MASON: no, I wasn’t aware of this bill being charged to FY ‘07. I thought it going to FY ‘06. MR. KRAMER: What took him so long to get to it? I think you need to kind of get a more detailed explanation of how that happens. There’s a contract which was let sometime in… I don’t think you… PRESIDENT KENNY: That was in 2005, we didn’t… MR. KRAMER: 2005, and now we’re into… MR. PONE: Yeah. MR. KRAMER: I guess it would be almost seventeen months later or somewhere… Well, no, seven or eight months later, and there’s work being done that nobody knew about. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. MR. MASON: No, no, the work was known. In fact, the contract it was a year contract and it was ended within its term. And I mean everything was above board and known. It’s just a matter of where was the charge for invoice made which fiscal year. I had thought it was ‘06 and come to find out, it was charged in ‘07. MR. KRAMER: But the contract was for a specific amount and the funds were supposed to be available when you put a resolution in for a specific amount at the time you do the resolution. As a matter of fact and my recollection isn’t always that great, I even said to you, do you have, I don’t see that kind of money in the budget because you only had a total of $35,000.00, somewhere around thirty-five in the ‘08 for the Assessor. And you had a contract for sixty and I remember the explanation was well, we don’t know how much he’s gonna spend. We’re only gonna charge the $35,000.00 and so on, so here we are today now, saying oh, we don’t have enough money for a resolution that was awarded to a contractor. MR. MASON: No, no, it had nothing to do with the resolution, itself, just where was this bill charged, which fiscal year? The company stayed within the limitation of the resolution, the amount of money that was approved. MR. KRAMER: I think there’s a line item in the 2007 budget, isn’t there that you can put in for bills, unforeseen bills? Or I forgot how they list it, but… MR. MASON: That wouldn’t be applicable in this case. MR. KRAMER: All right, it’s just a little confusing the way it came, was explained, and now it’s…

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: But that is confusing, the money… MR. KRAMER: It’s not clear to me, still. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: This was done the end of 2005 before we came on board, and if money… If there was a maximum in the resolution and the contract, then that money had to exist already. So how does this get charged two years later or a year and a half later? MR. MASON: I don’t think it was charged a year and a half later, it may have been charged after we, after the Council adopted the budget, in January. And now it’s just coming to my attention that it was charged in FY07. Whereas I had believed all along that it was going to FY 06. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: But why wasn’t the money available even in the Fiscal 2006 budget, wouldn’t it have been available…? MR. MASON: It probably was, and that’s where it should have gone, but it didn’t go there. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Okay, does that mean…? MR. MASON: It’s a clerical error, basically. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Okay. PRESIDENT KENNY: I mean, my only concern that’s raised now is why wasn’t this provided for in the budget that we didn’t adopt until January 2007. MR. MASON: Mr. Pone just said a resolution was approved and the funds were available in the prior years, in the prior fiscal year’s budget and that’s where this bill should have gone. But some clerk somewhere charged it to this year’s budget. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: But does that mean there’s $73,000.00 floating around in last year’s budget? MR. MASON: There should be. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: You’re going to get a listing; you’re going to get a listing of everything? PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, I’d want to see… COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: All accounts. PRESIDENT KENNY: The accounts, at least all the budget line item accounts in the state budget. See where we stand in terms of what’s been spent, what’s been encumbered, what’s outstanding? CONSENT AGENDA All resolutions listed under the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the Council and will be approved by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items. 07-197 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE REFUND OF TAXES REPRESENTING 2007 REAL ESTATE REFUND ($125.00) 07-198 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE REFUND OF FEE PAID BY SUSAN GOLDSCHMIDT FOR AN ANIMAL

ADOPTION ($20.00) Mr. Pattik made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Goodwin; unanimously approved by Council. ORDINANCES - CONTINUATION OF SECOND READING AND PUBLIC HEARING 5a. 07-012 An Ordinance Amending and Supplementing the Land Development Code, 1994, Hamilton

Township, New Jersey, Article IV, General Regulations and Design Standards, Section 160-124, Signs (Permitting Billboard Structures In Certain Limited Locations and Zones)

(Information from Planning Board To Be Provided)

After the above ordinance had been read by title, the President declared the public hearing open and asked if anyone wished to be heard concerning same.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007

PRESIDENT KENNY: All right, this is a public hearing on this ordinance, but I will ask that the Council entertain a motion to continue the public hearing to our next meeting, as the Planning Board has not yet reviewed it or provided us with a report. Mr. Goodwin made a motion to continue the public hearing on Ordinance 07-012 to our May 15th meeting, second by Mr. Pattik; unanimously approved by Council. ORDINANCE - SECOND READING AND PUBLIC HEARING 5b, 07-014 Ordinance Establishing a Traffic Control Signal at the Intersection Of Klockner Road and

Horizon Drive After the above ordinance had been read by title, the President declared the public hearing open and asked if anyone wished to be heard concerning same. Ms. Yaede made a motion to adopt, seconded by Mr. Pone; unanimously approved after the following discussion: AUGUST SCOTTO, Mark Twain Drive: You’re gonna vote on whether to put up this traffic signal and I hate to tell you this, but it’s in full use. PRESIDENT KENNY: It’s there. MR. SCOTTO: Its working and everything, it changes. PRESIDENT KENNY: This is bureaucracy at it’s finest. (Laughter) PRESIDENT KENNY: The state requires us to do this. MR. SCOTTO: In other words… PRESIDENT KENNY: I guess it doesn’t exist until we say it exists. MR. SCOTTO: I don’t understand these things, I mean… They need your vote. Who’s spending this money, the Mayor! That’s outrageous. He should keep his hands in his own pocket and take it out of my pocket, and not put it into my pocket. I don’t want him taking money out of my pocket. ROCKY SWINGLE, 102 Armour Avenue: How much did this cost, and who paid for it? PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, I think traffic signal was done… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Mack-Cali designed and installed it. PRESIDENT KENNY: Before our time, and did Mack-Caliy pay for everything on this signal, or was there TID money? MR. ADEZIO: I know that no contract was awarded by the township for the installation of it, so I follow your assumption that it was the developer who put it in. PRESIDENT KENNY: And as I said, all we have to do for some reason is establish it as a traffic control signal for purposes of DOT. MR. SWINGLE: Okay, thanks. JOE MASTROMARINO, 133 6th Avenue, Hamilton: I just have one comment. Why do they do all these roads and build all these roads and put all these lights up and then after they’re all done, they do a road study? That blows me away. And they bring people in here from out of state to do the road studies. Don’t we have competent people in this state, or in this township? PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, the contract… I think… MR. MASTROMARINO: They block the road off so many times, I don’t know whether I’m coming or going on that road.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 PRESIDENT KENNY: We had pushed for some time to have a traffic study performed. And we finally got results, but, you’re right they’re long overdue. MR. MASTROMARINO: But they put the roads first and then they do the traffic study. Does that make any sense? PRESIDENT KENNY: I can’t argue with you. MR. MASTROMARINO: Thank you. PRESIDENT KENNY: Any one else? If not, I’d entertain a motion to close the public hearing and to adopt ordinance 07-014. REMOVED FIRST READING AND INTRODUCTION 5c. 07-015 An Ordinance Authorizing The Township of Hamilton Acquisitions of Certain Property

Located on Cypress lane and Designated As A Portion of Block 1913, Lot 15, Hamilton, New Jersey (Purchase Price $400,000.00)

PRESIDENT KENNY: All right, we have a signup list for people who would like to talk, and at the end of the signup list, anyone who hasn’t spoken, will have the opportunity to speak. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: I have a couple questions. PRESIDENT KENNY: Okay, Mr. Goodwin first. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: What’s the update…? We were going to get a list of the individuals who have keys to this building first, including former elected officials that have keys. Is there a status on that? MR. MASON: I’m still waiting for an answer from Public Works. I’ll follow up. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: I asked for keys to the building at last Council meeting. And this Council meeting, we still do not have the list of keys to the building. That would include, to me, it’s not very hard to get a list of who has keys to the building. We shouldn’t have to wait two weeks. I would like to get from the Administration the full payment history on the Berger Group, all jobs and description of all work that the Berger Group has done for the township, full check register. And Mr. Kenny, can we have that, when can we anticipate having that cause that’s not hard to get either. PRESIDENT KENNY: We’d like to have that for the next meeting, the 15th. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Also, Mr. Kenny, did you ever receive an answer on your email of March 7th regarding Appendix D2, the classified service titles? Cause I don’t remember that being resolved? PRESIDENT KENNY: No, that has not been resolved. MR. ADEZIO: I did provide a note to the clerk’s Office either yesterday or today about that, it’s to be distributed. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Mr. Pone, you still don’t have your answer on the easement? What we’re paying for and … VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: No inventory and yet and no answer yet on the four items in one month’s ago check register, on expenses incurred for services. And no, I talked to Mr. Jacobs at the agenda session this evening about an update. I asked for a manifest from the Columbia Group Property. There was at least two truckloads of dirt taken off in October. I’m still waiting for that manifest. I asked for it in October. So no, I haven’t gotten answers to any of those things. MR. ADEZIO: Likewise, I provided to council again late yesterday or today or today, a note with regards to the township’s conservation easements. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: So that wasn’t in our packet? MR. ADEZIO: Apparently no. I got the two of them late. I think your packet’s delivered on Friday, so this… As I said, it was either yesterday or early this morning.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Last thing I have Mr. President is asking the Administration when can the public expect the Berger traffic study to be on the web site, at the Library, at the Municipal Building so the public can review it and we get the final report. Can we put a timeline on that? MR. ADEZIO: Mr. Jacobs was here earlier and answered that question. He said he is still finalizing his comments to the report. I was going to check on the capacity of the web page. I believe they would handle the entire matter, but suggest an executive summary in the township comments. So I would anticipate that would be done before the next Council meeting. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: That’s all I have to say. COUNCILWOMAN YAEDE: Mr. President, one note Mr. Goodwin. I did raise that question, earlier and what I do know is that you can zip your files on any web site. Whereas if someone has Winzip, they can open these documents, so it condenses your document. So the entire traffic study can be published on the township web site. So if we can do that, I think that would help the residents that do want to see it. And I believe that we can put it on in its entirety. Also, we approved the April 3rd meeting minutes. And in that meeting, I requested the list of priority streets, that’s on page eleven in the minutes, we asked the Berger Group when did they provide the Mr. Jacobs, when he was provided that information. I believe that was given to him late December, early January. And throughout that meeting, I asked when will we be able to receive them and can we have them? And we were guaranteed that we will receive them. To date, I have not received that. And also, I need to ask, is Miry Brook Road on the list of priorities? And also, I haven’t received a response to my request to have Allen Schectel be listed as the liaison with Council regarding the Transit Village. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Yeah, I think… Kelly, if I can follow up on that, we need that answer ASAP because we’d like to put together a meeting for the public on for the transit development. So we really need an answer on that. We have to know that we have Alan because I think he will understand planning if we do an open mike type of thing. We need a planner there and we think Alan being the head of that particular area, he would be the guy to have. So please, ASAP that answer, if you would. And Mr. President, I have one other thing, if you’re done Kelly. Are we on target for June 1 spending plan, Mr. Mason, for Fiscal 2008? MR. MASON: That’s a loaded question. Do you want me to go through my answer? It’s a long answer. It’s the same answer I’ve given in the past. Do you want to hear it again? COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Let’s hear it again Dennis, ‘cause it will be on the record. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Knock yourself out. MR. MASON: As you know, the Mayor has an opportunity to prepare a budget for Council’s consideration. There are a number of time lines, and I looked at the law that was mentioned before. Where and it says the budget is due to the governing body by July 15th. And there’s an exception in there for fiscal year municipalities. So that particular law doesn’t apply to this town because we are on a fiscal year budget. And there are other deadlines in the law for the annual financial statement of August 10th and so forth. The extraordinary aid application is due to the State the middle of September. Budgets are coming in from department heads this week. And the budget is very complex and work intensive document that we’re changing and it has to be looked after continuously. Not only the current budget, but the budget going forward, and we have to make some…. We have to be in a position to make important decisions, and that requires information. And the Mayor… I could not in good conscience recommend to the Mayor that he make decisions on levels of expenditures to submit to the Council without knowing what revenues we have to support those expenditures. It’s even more difficult this year because there’s a new law that puts a cap on the municipal tax rate. We have to look at that law see how that impacts us in terms of what that would do in terms of any possible tax increase. There’s a new more restricted budget cap law and we have to look and see how that affects our expenditure outlook. So we have some new wrinkles this year to consider. We have all of the old difficulties to deal with than what we’ve had in the past. We need information both on revenues and proposed expenditures. More as to provide a budget to the DOT and to the Council of that has the Mayor’s support that you can support in good conscience and recommend to the Council. That takes a lot of time; it’s a complex document as you know. Once the Council receives this fiscal year’s budget the Council spent from September to January reviewing it. So it’s not a… We shouldn’t minimize the amount of work that goes into preparing a budget summation to the Council nor should the Council rush their work that they have before them in scrutinizing the budget and make sure it’s the best budget it can be for the citizens of Hamilton. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Wow that was like the ballet, the way you danced around my question. PRESIDENT KENNY: That was a long no. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I wasn’t asking for the budget ‘cause I understand the expense side, you won’t know for a bit, but I did ask about a spending plan. You said the department heads will have their answers to you by next week, correct, their budgets to you.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 MR. MASON: They’re supposed to submit their budgets. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Okay this week, so what I’m asking you is that this Council gets a copy of their budgets as soon as possible so that we can start to understand the spending plan which is obviously a culmination of the department’s budgets. MR. MASON: I understand your request, I’m not sure that we can comply with it because the submissions are made to me and I work in concert with the Mayor to craft the budget that you can support and give to the Council. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I’m not asking for the budget. You keep going back to that. MR. MASON: Well, you are in a way because you want to begin your budget deliberations and… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: On the spending side. MR. MASON: Let’s put the cart before the horse when you run into a problem. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I don’t want to run into what we ran into last year. It was too difficult and complex. We need to start… I think we need to start right away with the department heads. Get their spending plan when you get it. Start getting them in here for budget workshops, and that way, when the revenues do get more clear then the budget will be that much easier. We’ll be at the point where wee basically have a pretty quick study of it at that point. I mean, last June, sometime in June last year, the press release by the Mayor said something to the effect I’m presenting the Council with a budget with no tax increase. Remember that press release. It was false, it was political and it was a lie. But that happened in June, so he knew an awful lot in June, last year, apparently. He was wrong, but he apparently knew an awful lot in June. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for what you’re going to get this week for us to get it as well. And then we can set up with Mr. Kenny and the Clerk’s Office budget workshops and start getting a handle on the budget. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: There’s no reason why the budget workshops can not begin in June, first Council meeting in June to do the budget workshops. And also, Mr. Mason, we’d also like the budget projections for the following year to see how next year’s budget impacts the year after. So we’re not operating in crisis management modes all the time. Now Mr. Kenny, how can we enforce this issue, use our power to enforce this, so we don’t’ have a repeat of last year, this year. PRESIDENT KENNY: We will simply schedule budget hearings, see who shows up. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: So I would send a memo out as soon as you can Mr. President. What departments you want, put on a time schedule. PRESIDENT KENNY: Anyone else from the public? MITCH KIRKUFF, 6 Middleton Drive and President of CWA 1042: I’d like to ask Council… I’ve been advised by several people that in the past, there was a resolution either proposed or passed regarding a liaison between the Unions and the Administration from Council. I’ve done a little investigation on the matter myself, and I don’t think it was actually a resolution passed for that. But I do believe there was a liaison either volunteered or appointed by Council, before in the past to help resolve problems between unions and the administration. And if there is no resolution, and there is no liaison appointed, I’d like to request that one be appointed or volunteer. PRESIDENT KENNY: Okay, that’s something… MR. KIRKUFF: Cause there’s a myriad of problems that have arisen, ongoing and are going to arise. PRESIDENT KENNY: That’s certainly something we should consider and we’ll see if that was done in the past, cause I understand it was. And we could determine who would be most suitable to be the liaison. MR. KIRKUFF: Sure, fine with me, thank you. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you, Mitch. ANTONIO C. GAMBINO: Question here for Council. You said that you wanted to tape the sessions, the executive sessions? PRESIDENT KENNY: Yes.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 MR. GAMBINO: Well, I remember last year, I think the Mayor said that there were gonna be cameras in here he wanted to tape the Council meetings. Now, I think it would be a good idea that you start taping the Council meetings, so the public knows what’s going on. What do you think? PRESIDENT KENNY: I’d have no objection to these meetings being taped and telecast. They were at one time, I remember there was a private individual who taped them and gave them to a local access channel that showed the meetings. MR. GAMBINO: But from what I understand that I’d like to know what happened to it? He said that he was going to start taping the meetings. I mean, put cameras in here and start taping the meetings on the internet, through the cable channel… I mean, I want to know what happened with that. PRESIDENT KENNY: We were never consulted about it, so I have no idea when it was proposed or whatever happened to it. MR. GAMBINO: Yeah, you were here when it was discussed. You were on the Council. PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, I don’t think it was discussed here. I think it was may have been a press release or something, but it was never discussed with us. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: The Y-FY, the internet was discussed here. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, the internet. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: But the others’ were not. MR. GAMBINO: Yeah, well… Councilman Goodwin: That one was. MR. GAMBINO: So what happened with the internet? COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Cause there was a press release. MR. GAMBINO: What happened to the internet? PRESIDENT KENNY: I have no idea. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: I don’t remember what happened with it. It was… PRESIDENT KENNY: I know some of the tapes were turned over cause they had to be formatted differently, and that was done. But I don’t know whatever happened, so I guess there wasn’t a great demand on the internet to listen to us. MR. GAMBINO: No? Laughter. MR. GAMBINO: Okay, good night. PRESIDENT KENNY: Good night. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Good night. WILLIAM J. OPFERMAN, 810 Atlantic Avenue: Away from microphone, indiscernible. PRESIDENT KENNY: Oh okay. MR. OPFERMAN: Indiscernible. PRESIDENT KENNY: Certainly. JOE MASTROMARINO: Gentlemen and Ladies, my name is Joe Mastromarino, I live in the forgotten part of the township, Whitehead Manor. I appreciate all of you coming over to see how we did with the flood. My third time I’ve been flooded out in thirty-four years. I’ve had it up to here. I’ve had it, okay. I have letters here from Mayor Jack Rafferty and I have letters here from Thomas Dunn. I was on the phone today with FEMA. Mr. Ata Bonna could have taken care of this problem last year, okay. I found out today that if he would have

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 taken the time to write a cover letter, okay, with the Township letterhead, and sent it to Baker Engineers, okay, requesting a linear map revisions… This was started last year, Chris Smith was involved. But if Ata Bonna sat on this, he never did it. He never sent a cover letter. PRESIDENT KENNY: Who is Ata Bonna? Indiscernible, away from microphone. PRESIDENT KENNY: Oh, he’s an Engineer here at the township, okay. MR. MASTROMARINO: If this was done, the flood could have been avoided, and also would have cut down on mandatory flood insurance. I talked to Mr. Paul Weberg, Tom Dunn apologized to FEMA for his lack of effort on Mr. Ata Bonna’s part. I bought my house back in 1973, all right? I love Hamilton Township I’ve lived in Hamilton Township all my life. I played ball here, I got drafted, I got shafted. I fought in Vietnam; I got wounded on Hamburger Hill on May 11, 1969. That’s gonna be thirty-eight years ago, and I’m still around. Three times in my life time is too much. Eight feet in ‘75, six feet in ’99; Jack Rafferty told me in ‘75, it was a hundred year flood. He said, Joe, you’ll be dead by the next time the flood comes. 1999, I got boated out again. And then I had a private meeting with Mr. Gilmore in ‘99 with my wife and me in his office, and Glen told me he’d take care of the situation. And I even talked to you guys at one meeting. And I talked to you; I wanted to know who owned that property. They put a retaining wall up in seventy-five on Johnston Avenue, on East State Street Extension. Haven’t done nothing over at the Assunpink, nothing. I mean, what am I supposed to do? My house is probably worth $350,000.00, so I can’t sell the house. Nobody is going to buy my house. I want the Township to buy my house. Get me the hell out of there I’ll move anywhere in the township. PRESIDENT KENNY: Now, has it been cleared up with Mr. Dunn? Is the appropriate application being made to FEMA? MR. MASTROMARINO: I don’t know. PRESIDENT KENNY: You don’t know? MR. MASTROMARINO: I have to talk to him again, tomorrow. PRESIDENT KENNY: Okay. MR. MASTROMARINO: I did this all at work in between work. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, because this is the first we’ve ever heard of this. Maybe if you could leave your telephone number with the Clerk, we’ll follow up. MR. MASTROMARINO: I’ll be glad to give you copies of these letters. PRESIDENT KENNY: That would be great. And we could follow up with you then to make sure whatever has to be done is done. MR. MASTROMARINO: Well, at the last meeting, you guys told me you would find out who owned that property, and I never got a call back. PRESIDENT KENNY: I don’t know if that was with us. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I don’t recall that either. MR. MASTROMARINO: I remember Mr. Adezio was on the board at that time. PRESIDENT KENNY: Well, he’s the township attorney, but I don’t think any of us were here. MR. ADEZIO: What’s your property address? MR. MASTROMARINO: 133 Sixth Avenue. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Joe, I can tell you also, I live in Cornell Heights. So I couldn’t come visit you because I couldn’t get out my driveway. MR. MASTROMARINO: I know your father real well. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Yeah, I know you do.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 MR. MASTROMARINO: I make eye glasses too. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I know you do. MR. MASTROMARINO: And I know your father real well. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: My wife right now as we speak is trying to put together something, some sort of letter to Chris smith, to Pete Inverso, to Bill Baroni, to whoever we can put a letter to with some of our neighbors to see if we can get an Army Corps of Engineers or somebody out into, in the area of the Assunpink that has changed so much over the years. I have two video tapes of how kind of how it’s changed. Things have grown in there that use to get dredged out and they don’t anymore. MR. MASTROMARINO: That relieves that. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: And I don’t know what kind of luck I’m going to have, but I’m going to use every connection I have and see if we can’t get something going. It’s got to be a collaborative effort between the county, the state… MR. MASTROMARINO: That’s all I’m asking. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: …because it goes into Lawrence, it goes into Trenton. In fact, most of the problems are in Lawrence, and so far, they don’t really want to do anything about it. So we’re going to try to do something and I promise you, that we’re going to try everything we can. Cause it does affect a lot of people in your area. MR. MASTROMARINO: I’ve never had an optician lie to me, so don’t lie to me. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: That’s right, that’s right. I’ve only made a spectacle of myself once. MR. MASTROMARINO: But I mean, to endure eleven months and two weeks in Vietnam as a grunt man and to survive that, okay… That was enough horrors in my lifetime that I’ve had to live with all my life. To lose my youth and my innocence, and I have to live with this all my life, and have to go through three floods. And my wife is a mess when it rains, man, I’m telling you. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I’ve been… MR. MASTROMARINO: I’ve been boated out of there two times. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I’ve been through two of, three of those, and everybody’s a wreck in our area when it starts to happen, it’s scary. MR. MASTROMARINO: Like I said, I love Hamilton Township; I’ve lived here all my life. I played ball here, my boys have played ball here. We’ve gone through the school system. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: FEMA did just declare Mercer County part of the disaster area. So you should be able to get help on the cleanup. But if the Administration can follow through with your notes with the Engineering Department, and we can kind of work on the legislative end with the State, hopefully we can get something done. I’m with you. MR. MASTROMARINO: All right, I’ll leave you my home number. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Very good, Joe. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you very much. MR. MASTROMARINO: I’ll give you my business card. I’ll leave you a copy of the two letters that I got. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, thank you. If you could make copies for all of us, for the whole Council. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Thanks Joe. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you sir. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: And thanks for your service, Joe. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much for your service.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 BILL OPFERMAN, 810 Atlantic Avenue: Please help Joe. We have a lot of problems here; I know you’re dealing with different people and things like that. Joe was here before you, before Kelly was here. I thank Kelly for bringing up Miry Brook Road. They’ve been coming here, and they’re not here right now and things like that. Keep them in your processes. It’s hard, I know once again, Joe, this, that, there’s a million things you got here. Miry Brook’s Road has been coming here a lot, and they haven’t been here, but still got the same problems. I’d keep them in what you got to do here as a Council. Going back to my rhetoric. I guess you get tired of hearing it, but this is the Times Sunday April 22nd, more owners facing foreclosures. I always come up and usually talk about Sheriff Sales. June is coming up, gonna see tax lien sales in June. Like last year, probably more, probably 1000 whatever 300, 400 what’s gonna be again. Sheriff sales currently are around eight, they’ve been up to eighteen. Once again, I say it would be easy out. We usually take reducing and stabilize of our new taxes and entertainment cuts and I gave you examples of something’s to do. They’re not severe cuts; they’re not going over to Sayen Gardens and saying not doing something there. We’re not saying about not buying Christmas tree. Have some Christmas lighting, but reduce it back to 2005 level. But put many more Christmas lights on Winter Wonderland just do… I was over at Kuser Park last night, and I was looking at the sheds and things like that. Just sell them, sell them, and get something for them. Light up the place, have tours in the mansion, things like that. That’s all you have to do. You can still be doing things. Cut back because you know there’s gonna be tax increases here coming up. It’s gonna happen, it’s not gonna stabilize here. We got a few things to stabilize while hurting people. Please keep in mind what I asked, and not touch the Bromley Center or the Senior Center. Let’s go to lighting. By coming up here sometimes, when I come up, I come past in the hall, there’s all the lights on. You always see all the lights on in the offices. You can’t really reduce the lights during the daytime. There’s nothing going on for maybe one set going on. Let’s have a hard core energy policy. I know that Mr. Ames and Rocky back there would agree with me on that. They don’t agree with me on a lot of things, but the energy use here is not really curtailed. It’s not really being looked at hard. I see vehicles with nobody in them running going into a school or something or some place or something like that, nobody in there and the vehicle left running. We need to have a hard energy conservation program here. Go to the Bromley Center sometimes, rooms light on, nobody in the room or something like that. I’m not trying to jump on the Bromley Center but I’m just saying there’s nobody really concentrating on reducing energy. I came with Mr. Salerno one time; well we need this for security all the lights on here. No we don’t. Let’s put one set of lights on here when there’s nobody in here. I’m saying it’s not happening. Saves bulbs, replacement of tube lights. Saw Kelly up on TV, very good. COUNCILWOMAN YAEDE: Thank you. MR. OPFERMAN: Couldn’t catch the tail end, ‘cause I was doing something. I caught the beginning of your news crowd. How was that experience? Let’s hear from Kelly on that. COUNCILWOMAN YAEDE: It was wonderful. She’s a very bright talented woman it was great to meet her. MR. OPFERMAN: You didn’t get the prize though at the end of… What was it ten thousand? COUNCILWOMAN YAEDE: No, Tiger Woods. MR. KRAMER: Indiscernible. Laughter. MR. OPFERMAN: No, I’m serious of all this. I’m serious Paul, there’s no really hard conservation here. PRESIDENT KENNY: It’s a good point Bill. Okay, thank you. COUNCILWOMAN YAEDE: Thank you Bill. RICH RAVAPINTO, 36 Mark Twain Drive: Mr. President and members of the Council, on behalf of 926 of the residents of Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, I would like to present to you this evening, a petition to preserve the Rolling Acres Woods. Here is what the 926 residents of Hamilton urge of the Mayor and the town Council. I’m gonna read you the petition. We the undersigned, urge preservation of approximately five acres of woods in the Rolling Acres neighborhood of Hamilton, Mercer County New Jersey, located along Route 33 between Crest Avenue, George Dye Road, Mark Twain Drive, and Perro Place for the following reasons: The woods provide natural recharge of storm water and protection against flooding. They are the last remnant of natural growth, Eastern Hardwood Forest in the area. It would be more valuable as a community park with arboretum then as two more strip malls in a town jammed with strip malls with many vacant stores, already. Preservation will support Hamilton Green Town USA goal of enhancing walkability as environmentally friendly and healthy activity. The proposed developments will depress the value of property, degrade the quality of life of residents, cost additional traffic on Route 33, and create a heat island instead of the cooling effect of the natural vegetation. If the entire woods cannot be saved, we urge that Hamilton not vacate the Bisbee Avenue paper street, but retain it as a forested green space in support of the above goals. So we urge you to please try to save the woods of Rolling Acres. Thank you.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 PRESIDENT KENNY: Just so the Council’s aware, there are currently two applications for these two properties on Route 33. This is where the WAWA controversy was at one time. For strip malls on both of the properties, the Planning Board hearings are continuing. One thing, it would have to… There’s Bisbee Avenue that runs through the sort of the middle of the property, with some of it on each of the two lots that are there. And it’s been designed as if the township were vacating Bisbee. That was at the request of township professionals to have a common entrance and exit to these two properties. I’ve indicated to people at the Planning Board meetings that this issue has never been raised before the Council at this point. And there would have to be a public hearing, because it would have to be done by ordinance, if the Township Council were inclined at some point to vacate Bisbee. There also would be the issue of compensation to the township, but that’s probably premature right now because the Planning Board has not acted yet. But of course, this is the petition clearly is to ask the Township to try to preserve both properties in their entirety. MR. ADEZIO: I’ve received requests from the attorneys about the vacation issue, and I’m awaiting information from the various departments and also talking to the assessor about that compensation issue. PRESIDENT KENNY: Oh this is the petition. Yeah, we should hold on to the petition, absolutely. VINCE WALSH, 30 Mark Twain Drive, in Hamilton: It’s good to be here, I’d like to follow up Rich’s comments and the text of the petition. We realize this proposal or two proposals of the strip malls are before the Planning Board and at the Council and at the Zoning Board. And I don’t want to say we understand that, I guess I have a little bit of stubbornness about that. We went through the whole WAWA thing before the Zoning Board, and that was very educational. When I spoke to the Planning Board last week, I confess it’s an educational process every time we do this. And I expressed my…, frankly, my disappointment if that’s the right word, frustration with the Planning Board because it seems the answers for the most part are we can’t do this. And I guess none of us are municipal law experts, but from a lay point of view, from a resident’s point of view, it just gets frustrating that we try. And so we thought we’d use this opportunity to speak directly to the elected people, not the appointees, and have our sentiments known. Another thing I don’t understand, with your permission, with your permission, you’re your indulgence; I’d like to read, I read this letter to the Planning Board last week, and again, from a common sense point of view, this petition gathered 926 signatures. When we opposed WAWA, we gathered 300-plus signatures. We and the community have called this new proposal as WAWA without gasoline. Whatever the definition is technically of shopping centers is, or strip malls, the fact of the matter is, there are gonna be two huge complexes built behind our backyard. And whatever the precise definition is we look at it as a shopping center or strip mall or two. And so with your permission, I’d like to read for the record the letter that Mayor Gilmore wrote four years ago. He vehemently opposed the WAWA application, and this is what he said, on August 12, 2003. He wrote to Shannon Cenci, then the Chairperson of the Zoning Board. ‘Dear Ms. Cenci, This letter is to inform you, of my opposition to the application for a use variance recently before the Zoning Board, a use variance needed to construct a WAWA convenient store and gas station on Route 33, in Hamilton Township. This project presence no inherent benefits that will support such an action, but it does entail significant downsize. Well, I am generally encouraging the new businesses in the township, the location of this business at this site, presents no opportunity for promoting the quality of life that is currently enjoyed by area residents. Such an action is contrary to long range plans by the township.’ Just as an aside, I hope I didn’t insult you, when I said this is before the Planning Board. What really are we planning? And here, the Mayor four years ago, says the WAWA project is contrary to long range plans by the township. And then he goes on, ‘in fact recently, steps have been taken to enhance the suburban flavor of this major artery by planting new greenery along a stretch just west of the proposed project. To approve this variance, would be a setback to the township’s intensions. Bringing a major twenty-four hour a day business to this stretch of Route 33, would also remove an existing buffer to residential neighborhoods that are currently spared to garrets, lighting, noise, and all hours traffic that such an establishment would bring. In conclusion, I strongly urge the members of the Zoning Board to reject this variance, and to just send a message that Hamilton Township is serious about promoting growth which is conducive to our quality of life and not to the pursuit of growth at any cost’. That was four years… Not even four years ago, August 12, 2003. And as I said, we in the neighborhood regard this new project as WAWA without gasoline. And WAWA maybe minus six hours, they’re proposing an eighteen hour operation, if I understand it correctly, from six AM to midnight. And we just don’t see that much difference. And so we just wonder why there was such strong opposition to WAWA, and now, there may or may not be opposition to this new project. If you would like, I’ll supply the letter for the record in addition to my verbal comments. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you Mr. Walsh. Yes, we’d like to have the letter. MR. WALSH: Thank you. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you very much. AMES HOYT, 29 Country Lane: I’ve had the opportunity to collect signatures for the petition that we just presented. And one thing that I found was, when I told potential signees what they were signing, they just couldn’t believe why there could be another two more strip malls along thirty-three; and then a bank, and they,

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 without hesitation signed the petition. So probably easily ninety percent of the people who we asked to sign the petition would sign the petition. There is overwhelming support for preservation of the last number of standing trees along Route 33. Is there any way to put this up as a referendum, or some way that we can ask the residents of Hamilton Township if they want to purchase this land or is there some way that we can find the money to save this land? PRESIDENT KENNY: Mr. Adezio, I don’t know about a referendum. I guess we could do a referendum. MR. ADEZIO: Certainly, you could put it on the ballot. It could be a nonbinding public question. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, because there are a couple levels of issues here. First, it has to get through the Planning Board. Then it will have to come to this Council and the vacation and the plans are contingent on the vacation right now. If the vacation isn’t done by this council, then they’d have to go back. But it would be a very similar plan; I have no doubt, from what they’re proposing right now. So I guess a referendum would be one thing to be considered. MR. ADEZIO: Funds obviously, same issues we have with other ones. Green Acres… PRESIDENT KENNY: If we can win in the Appellate Division as we should on Klockner Woods, I can find some money. MR. HOYT: Right, I’ll get to Klockner Woods in a second. PRESIDENT KENNY: And I’ll get Klockner Woods, it will get preserved anyway. MR. HOYT: But there always seems to be some way or reason that the township always, in planning and engineering seems to allow these applicants to put in the maximum amount, what’s supposed to be an allowable amount. Yet, there are constraints on a lot of the lands around the Township, and those somehow are ignored and… PRESIDENT KENNY: I don’t disagree with you. There should not be this assumption that sixty percent impervious, means you get… A maximum of sixty percent means you get sixty percent. MR. HOYT: And build ability of land as you know in a lot of these areas such as Klockner Woods, are questionable. And I had the opportunity during the Nor’easter to go out to Klockner Woods. It was covered with water. So that picture of the Maryland Swamp, I think they look strikingly familiar, although, this picture is truly of Klockner Woods. So I think you will see that picture of Klockner Woods, but I hope you consider… I strongly urge you to preserve Rolling Acres. Thank you very much. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Mr. President, do we know if the… Obviously, it’s a permitted use, but if the owners would entertain being bought out or are they… PRESIDENT KENNY: I have no idea. I don’t think they’ve ever been approached by the township, that that issue’s ever been raised. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Okay. FRED TAVENER, 66 Knapp Avenue: Good evening and thank you for your time. I’m bringing a basic question. I’ve written and my wife has as well and I also spoke with Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Adezio and the Mayor concerning a revision of apparent conflicting township ordinances; two of which involving jet skis and boats, campers, and utility trailers. I’m just asking, I know, I spoke with Mr. Kenny and he was kind enough to return my call I appreciate that. And Mr. Goodwin you were very kind enough to respond to my wife. We’ve been trying to do this for about two and a half years. We need a, some type of a resolution or a finding of whether or not you’re even gonna consider addressing the apparent and both these ordinances. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: But Paul, you were working on that, weren’t you? You were working on this? MR. ADEZIO: I gave you a draft. PRESIDENT KENNY: Right, and I was remiss, Mr. Tavener. I have to go back and look at what the ambiguity is, and see how best we can try to resolve that, if it needs to be resolved. MR. TAVENER: Okay, fine, the ambiguity is involving boats and trailers, specifically not on the streets. I think you have another one saying utility trailers may be on the street for three weeks, and there is no way of measuring that. Personally, I just feel that it’s something that would affect a lot of people in this town and I understand how that could be. That most towns I’ve checked with, they have that pretty well squared away. And I’ve tried to do it by the numbers here for two and a half years. The Mayor has agreed, Mr. Jacobs has

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 agreed, Mr. Adezio has heard me by nausea. So I’m just trying to do the right thing here, just looking for an answer. Thank you. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Thank you. AUGUST SCOTTO, Mark Twain Drive: First, about that Mark Twain business, I have a different solution. Mr. Herbert, up there said that if they vote it down, the people will take it to court and the court will award it to them. Well, I feel what could be done, is to tell those business people that want to build there if you leave all those trees up, we’ll let you build there. They’ll say no. And if they go to court, with that, the court will say well wait a while, they offered you something and you said no. And that will settle it right there. And if the trees are left, everybody will be protected from those floods. And that’s what I think should be the point to keep it that way. Now, about the, what Mr. Mason said about the budget, not being due until November, he’s wrong. What he’s talking about is not the budget proposal but the Council approved budget, by November. But they’re taking, approving the budget that is supposed to be in June, into November. When you guys are supposed to vote for it, because I remember when the Council up here, when it was Pete Schroeder was President. He was trying to get it voted in November. And Salerno said what’s your rush, there’s plenty of time in November. What happened, they passed it in November, it went to the DCA, and the DCA said, you’re one day late. So they threw out that budget. And then the people that came in, in January, the new council, they put up their budget. So he’s wrong when he says that the budget is not due until November. The final approved budget is due in November. That’s what he’s not telling you. He’s doing what Gilmore’s telling him to do. What you have to do is tell him June. Come across or go to the DCA and report that he’s not presenting the budget. He’s playing games with that budget. And that’s the only way to stop it because that’s outrageous, the business of his playing games with the budget and making it come out so late. I wish you guys would fight it in a more direct way. And tell Herbert to put that business of the trees being left on that property for Mark Twain Drive. And then, they’ll approve it. And that would cover that business and stop any floods. Thank you. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you Mr. Scotto. Anyone else who would like to be heard who has not been heard yet, tonight? JOE DiMEMMO, 585 Klockner: Mr. Chairman, can we… I didn’t know you were gonna meet tonight cause I’ve been up to here with the flood thing. So I checked my calendar and I found out Council’s meeting tonight. But also, today is the first day to pay my taxes. Now I don’t know about you guys, but my office is in the basement, and we had about four to six inches of water down there. So I’m down there throwing rugs away. But I had to move my desk, and in moving my desk, I know I lost my tax bills. They’re in a box about this big, and it’s full. MR. MASON: The tax office will be happy to provide you with the number that you owe. Just a quick call will solve your problem. MR. DiMEMMO: I can do that? MR. MASON: Absolutely. Give me your number; I’ll have them call you. MR. DEMEMMO: Oh I know, they know. I got stuck with the federal government, last year. I had a guy make out my income tax and they sent me a bill for two hundred and some odd dollars. So I told them wait until the end of the month. I paid my bill, and about three days later, I got another bill from them, with a letter of reprimand. And they were fining me for it being late. The fine was twenty-five cents. The letter cost them thirty-nine cents to mail it to me. You talk about bureaucracy, now this is ridiculous. I can do that? PRESIDENT KENNY: You can, you call the tax office, and yeah, you have ten days in which to get paid. MR. DEMEMMO: Ten days, oh okay, I was gonna say. PRESIDENT KENNY: They’ll be happy to tell you the amount. MR. DEMEMMO: Everybody’s got their tax bills floating around in their cellar, they could use a two week period. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Kenny. PRESIDENT KENNY: Okay, thank you . ROCKY SWINGLE, 102 Armour Avenue: Earlier, a resident happened to be talking about flooding on Assunpink Creek, and Councilman Pone talked about the Army Corps of Engineers is doing something. The solution is not downstream, dredging or building the walls or whatever on Assunpink Creek. It’s not gonna solve the problem. The problem is upstream. The problem is in places like Rolling Acres, those woods. When that’s paved over, that’s gonna drain into Pond Run. Pond Run along with Miry Run, both of which flooded,

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 feed Assunpink Creek. That’s where the problem is. The problem is doing developments irresponsibly, not enforcing the stormwater regulations, maximizing impervious surface, not going to structural solutions instead of nonstructural solutions, like basins. That’s where the problem is. It’s many, many, many places all around town that contribute to the run off and the flooding. And what you see is the end result like in Cornell Heights or Assunpink Boulevard. Really, the town needs to go upstream and address those issues. And the responsibility mainly is the Planning Board. And basically, simply need to do a better job enforcing the regulations, asking for developers to cut down the footprint of buildings and do other things that minimize and mitigate flooding situations. Regarding Rolling Acres property, one thing that Council can do is rezone the property. You know that up until the time of decision, which means the presence of the time the Planning Board a preliminary and final decision, the property can be legally rezoned. It could be rezoned as; I think it’s an REO zone which would preserve a lot of the land. And still have a lot of REO zones, for example. It would create a lot of green space. They have much more then are zoned via high way commercial zone. Or you can rewrite the high way commercial zone law which was done with the WAWA application and revise it to require more open space and more impervious surface to allow for more recharge and address some of these flooding issues. There are some things that can be done. What really has to happen is as Vince Walsh says, is that the Mayor needs to come on board and support his original position which was that a development there is just totally inappropriate. What’s happening there is really systematic of what’s going on in our town and the county and across the state. And that is we’ve used up pretty much the prime buildable land. And now what we’re starting to do, we the development community is to move into these marginal areas. That’s a marginal area because of the hydrology. Klockner Woods is a marginal area. The Levin Shopping Center is a marginal area. There’s nothing else left, and that’s what’s happening. People are starting to nudge in and file applications to build on flood plains and encroach on the streams, and cut down woods that observe lots of water. And it just keeps snowballing, so to speak and getting worse and worse. And I think that’s, I think that’s where you via ordinances perhaps need to address the situation. The bigger picture is that we’re going to run out of land pretty soon. You know, Rutgers came out with a study not too long ago, saying the state had about twenty-five years left before we reach build out, which means, everything that can be built on, is built on and everything that is preserved is preserved. Hamilton does not have that far to go. Four years ago, when the Council adopted the Open Space and Recreational plan, there was only about fifteen percent of our property left. That was four years ago. I don’t know what it is now I haven’t added it up, but it’s certainly less than that. So when all that’s gone, that’s gonna have a huge impact, not only on the environment but on the economy of the area. Where are the union jobs gonna be to build warehouses and shopping centers? What about the banks and mortgage companies to finance those places? What about the real estate people that sell them? What about the construction industry that builds them, and the suppliers that supply all the stuff to build Hamilton Market Place and the warehouses that along the interstate? That land’s gonna be gone, and that’s gonna have a huge impact on our economy, not only for Hamilton, but for the whole state. And I think what we need is some forward thinking, than looking beyond just tomorrow to address that issue. And it’s bigger than a Council issue, but it starts at the Council. It’s really a statewide issue, but that’s the big picture. The immediate picture is five acres on Route 33, so I hope that you will take to heart the sentiments expressed in the petition and what Mr. Walsh said to you. Thank you. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you Rocky. VINCE WALSH: When Mr. Swingle mentioned zoning or rezoning, it triggered my mind. I hate to beat this issue to death, but it’s an example of… What I was trying to say before, and before the Planning Board, there is so much technical stuff that we as ordinary citizens have to deal with. And this question of zoning and rezoning has never come up. I don’t think in our meetings, and we’ve never mentioned that to the Planning Board. Because really it’s not their jurisdiction, its zoned highway commercial, that’s it, live with it. But the common sense point of view, those of us who have lived there for many, many years, and a lot of us are original owners. My parents were in 1967, when the development was built, and a lot of the current residents have been there nearly as long as that, if not as long. They remember when this site, this so-called WAWA site, was a residence. It was a big residence with a swimming pool, but it was a house with trees. And gradually, Mr. Francis died, and then sort of gradually through the years, everything looked the same, just the house was gone. But gradually, somehow, it got rezoned to highway commercial. And I as a layperson can’t understand that, frankly. How can an area which had been existing as residential, and evidently, okay as residential, suddenly become the same area that supports two shopping centers; and for a while, a twenty-four hour WAWA. This doesn’t go together, so I don’t know, as I said, the question might be rhetorical, but is this something that the Council can look into? Can you require as for the zoning history of this parcel land? PRESIDENT KENNY: Certainly we can. MR. WALSH: It looked a little bit, and it’s murky, is the best thing I can say, but that’s something you can do. PRESIDENT KENNY: Yeah, we can do it as best we can to try and get some answers from the Planning Department on that type of issue. MR. WALSH: Okay, sure fine. Thank you. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you Mr. Walsh.

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 JANICE GLONEK, Cornell Heights, 432 Trinity Avenue: Listening to these two gentlemen, I mean, we’re at the point, where we have to say you can’t build anymore. I mean, we were under… Dennis, you know, we have eight streets, and six were under water and that’s without the six hundred and eighty houses. And that development on Laura, and Bucknell… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: No perk at all. MRS. GLONEK: That was completely under… VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: It still is. MRS. GLONIC: That was like a giant lake. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Two weeks later, it’s still under water. MRS. GLONEK: Right and they’re gonna build more and I teach out there in Alexander. I mean, and if that is going under, and people out and out were in Hamilton Square had water and they never had water. There are a lot of families that came in; they never had water in their cellar before. They’re not even near lakes or anything. I mean, I woke up and there was Whitehead Pond right across the street from me, I’m a block away from it. But we’ve got to stop it, we have to stop it and we have to start educating the people. Everything is money; we have to stop the money; you have to start the environment here. We’ve got to save our land, we’ve got to stop the flooding because this is only gonna get worse. Like that poor person in Whitehead, I mean we’re the same as Cornell Heights. I mean, we wonder all the time and it’s not sanitary and the building’s still going on. So we’ve got to save everything we can save. And if you have to rezone it, rezone it. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you Janice. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Thanks Janice. AMES HOYT, 29 Country Lane: The recreation open space inventory, when was the last time that it was updated? PRESIDENT KENNY: We just got a copy of it tonight in our packets for the first time, so I don’t know if it will tell us when it was last updated. I thought I saw that here tonight. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: Yes it is. MR. ADEZIO: March of ‘06 is the last date that I saw on it. I’ve asked the Planning folks to update it. MR. HOYT: I thought Planning. MR. ADEZIO: Planning. MR. HOYT: I thought maybe Mr. Adezio who is kind of overseeing that project, even though… MR. ADEZIO: What project? MR. HOYT: The updating of the Rossi. I mean that… MR. ADEZIO: That’s through the Planning Division. MR. HOYT: Through the Planning Department, but my understanding was that you were to follow up on that. MR. ADEZIO: No. MR. HOYT: Okay, all right. I was told that Army Corps of Engineer projects on the Assunpink Creek and on Miry Run, which would be dam site twenty-one, as well as dam site eight in Veteran’s Park, would control much of the flooding along a lot of our streams. And as an example, on the Assunpink, four out of the five roads into the transit villages, were closed off. That Miry run was flooded in a number of different locations for dam site twenty-one. And all of this was documented during the Nor’easter also. The area of Hollywood, there is a concrete wall. Crank concrete Canalization of Pond Run. That concrete channelization was breached. The spill way to dam site twenty-eight was over topped. So there’s a real problem and I’m trying to figure out how to say this. There’s people in the current Administration are not cooperating with storm water, they need to be fired. That’s all I want to say. It’s a real problem, and somebody’s gonna sue this township. PRESIDENT KENNY: Thank you Ames. Anyone else?

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: COUNCILMAN PATTIK: Thank you Mr. President. Thank you folks for coming out. Just want to wish those of you who are mothers a Happy Mother’s Day on May 13th. And hopefully, we’ll see you back here in two weeks. COUNCILMAN GOODWIN: Thank you folks for coming out, and expressing your opinion. Council wants to hear from you. You are the people, and this is the body to come to. And we’ll try to get you answers. Thank you. COUNCILWOMAN YAEDE: Thank you everyone for coming out and bringing your concerns forward. For those of you that have made requests to this Council please be assured that we will address them as quickly as possible. And again, thank you for coming this evening. VICE-PRESIDENT PONE: I also thank everyone for coming out. Rocky, I do agree with you on the flooding as a proactive thing. My thoughts on that were that some of it is too late because some development has taken place already beyond probably what it should. I know some of Dave’s ideas on the Planning Board to reduce some impervious surface. There’s too many parking lots tend to be bigger than they should be. I absolutely agree with the proactive stance, so don’t get me wrong. My thinking is some of it is too late and we need to do something with what’s there, and then evaluate via a good open space master plan review so that we really can understand it, but I agree, I think we should curb development everywhere that we can. I know that the tens of thousands of trees taken down at the train station contributed to our flooding cause ‘cause you could see it coming right off the property into our neighborhood and it never did that before. Trees absorb a lot of water. So I’m with you there and I thank you for your comments and intelligence on that. Thank you, good night. PRESIDENT KENNY: I really appreciate all the comments that we get from the public. It is helpful; it gives us a lot of things to think about. As you can see we’re dealing with many issues but all these issues are important and we have to deal with them and so thanks very much for coming out tonight. ADJOURNMENT: 10:00 PM _______________________________ ___________________________________ Jean Chianese David Kenny Registered Municipal Clerk Council President