City Council

BOROUGH OF BARRINGTON MINUTES OF MONTHLY COUNCIL MEETING April 13, 2021, 6:00PM, VIRTUAL MEETING HELD VIA ZOOM A regular monthly Council Meeting of the Borough of Barrington was held via Zoom with Mayor Harris presiding. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Harris called the meeting to order via Zoom at 6:00pm with the Sunshine Statement announcement and with the special notice pursuant to the Executive Orders and guidance issued by the State of New Jersey due to the Corona virus state of emergency. She explained that the public will be muted until the open public portion. At that time, the public can ask a question or make a comment by raising their virtual hand and they will be unmuted. Public comment will be limited to five minutes in the aggregate per person. Anyone being abusive or unprofessional will be removed from the meeting. Mayor Harris then led everyone on the Zoom meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL The Municipal Clerk called roll of Council with the following in attendance: Councilman Cerrito, Councilman Drumm, Councilman Hanson, Councilman Ludwig and Councilman Robenolt. Mayor Harris, Municipal Clerk Terry Shannon and Timothy Higgins, Esq were also on the Zoom meeting along with department heads and members of the public. Council President Beach was absent. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mayor Harris reported that council was provided with the minutes of the March 2, 2021 caucus meeting and the March 9, 2021 council meeting and asked if there were any corrections or abstentions. On a motion by Drumm, second by Ludwig, the minutes were approved by all members of Council present. COMMITTEE REPORTS The Municipal Clerk read a summary of the March 2021 monthly reports from the following departments: Police, Fire, EMS/Ambulance, Regional Fire Alliance, Construction, Trash and Recycling, Tax & Sewer Collector and Court Administrator report for February. On a motion by Ludwig, second by Robenolt, the monthly reports were approved as submitted by all members of Council present. ORDINANCES FOR PUBLIC HEARING AND ADOPTION: Ord. 1134 Amending Chapter 120, Vehicles and Traffic, in the Borough Code Ord. 1135 Calendar Year 2021 Ordinance to Exceed the Municipal Budget Appropriation Limits and to Establish a CAP Bank (NJSA 40A:4-45.14) Ord. 1136 Salary Provisions as Indicated in the Contract Negotiated by and between PBA Local #328 and the Borough of Barrington Ord. 1137 Fixing the 2021 compensation of Certain Officers and Employees of the Borough of Barrington On a motion by Ludwig, second by Hanson, the second reading of the ordinances was approved with the following poll vote: Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Hanson-yes, Ludwig-yes, Robenolt-yes. On a motion by Ludwig, second by Hanson, the public hearing was opened. David Hunt, Barrington Police Department, said that on behalf of PBA Local 328 and the officers of the Barrington Police Department, as the head of the contract committee he thanked Mayor & Council, in particular Mayor Harris, Councilmen Hanson and Robenolt on their diligent work on getting through the contract. It was a long process for everyone and Officer Hunt is sure it is beneficial to everyone. Thank you very much. Municipal Clerk Terry Shannon also recognized Denise Moules, CFO, for her work with everyone else on the contract. Seeing no further comments from the public, on a motion by Ludwig, second by Cerrito, the public hearing was closed. On a motion by Hanson, second by Drumm, the ordinances were adopted with the following poll vote: Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Hanson-yes, Ludwig-yes, Robenolt-yes. ORDINANCE FOR INTRODUCTION ON FIRST READING: Ord. 1138 Repealing Antiquated Ordinances, Chapter 5, Board of Assessors, Chapter 14, Economic Development Committee, Chapter 70, Housing and Chapter 112, Taxicabs, in the Borough Code Ord. 1139 Revising and Replacing Chapter 116, Trees, in the Borough Code On a motion by Ludwig, second by Hanson, the first reading of the ordinances was approved with the following poll vote: Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Hanson-yes, Ludwig-yes, Robenolt-yes. Mayor Harris announced that these ordinances will be considered for adoption following proper notice and a public hearing to held during the May 11, 2021, council meeting. RESOLUTION CONSENT AGENDA The Clerk read the following resolutions to be approved by consent agenda: 4-2021-51 Setting the Fee for the Spring Town-Wide Yard Sale 4-2021-52 Authorizing a Three-year Average Calculation for Certain Anticipated Revenues 4-2021-53 Cancelling an Unexpended NJDOT Grant Balance 4-2021-54 Authorizing Signing of the Shared Service Agreements with Merchantville for the Services of a Tax Collector and Finance Officer for the Borough of Merchantville 4-2021-55 Terminating the Contract with Perma-Liner 4-2021-56 Refund of a Homestead Rebate Credit to a Tax-Exempt Veteran 4-2021-57 Authorizing Self-Examination of the 2021 Municipal Budget 4-2021-58 Introduction of the 2021 Municipal Budget 4-2021-59 Approving the April Bill List for a Total of: $648,215.98. On a motion by Ludwig, second by Hanson, the resolution consent agenda was approved with the following poll vote: Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Hanson-yes, Ludwig-yes, Robenolt-yes. PUBLIC PORTION: On a motion by Drumm, second by Ludwig, the public portion of the meeting was opened. Mayor Harris advised that if you have comments or questions to raise your hand and you will be unmuted. Please state your name for the record. Public comment is limited to five minutes in the aggregate per person. Seeing no comments from the public, on a motion by Ludwig, second by Robenolt, the public portion of the meeting was closed. COMMENTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY COUNCILMAN ROBENOLT – Good evening and thanks for coming out tonight. Mutual aid is relied on heavily by Camden County with the big fire in Winslow Township and Barrington was well represented. The Chief can commend all his guys; Barrington has been to Somerdale, Lindenwold, Berlin, Sicklerville, Winslow and Lawnside. Fire company running ragged but making Barrington proud and doing a nice job. We rely on mutual aid coming into our town and we pay back by going where we are asked to go. If you see another truck throughout town its not because Barrington is not there, we bring in the help that we need. That is reciprocal with Ambulance and Police too. If you have any questions please reach out to myself or other members of the Public Safety Committee, Kyle Hanson and Mike Drumm. Thank you. The Mayor thanked the Councilman for explaining Mutual Aid to everyone--it’s important to help each other. COUNCILMAN HANSON – thanked the committee for helping and organizing the Easter Dinner. We fed over 110 seniors and included “goodie bags” that Eileen and her sister Marie Dobisch made up. Seniors also received cards thanks to Kristen Lampe who organized “card making” by children throughout town. Thanks also to all the volunteers who delivered the dinner. Easter Dinner food boxes were delivered to some families throughout town so thanks to everyone who donated to the food pantry including hams that were donated specifically for the Easter Dinner drive. The food pantry is open for those who are food insecure so contact Kyle by email if you need some food or would like to donate food. Little League opening day was this last weekend beginning with Friday night under the lights game. They were all new LED lights updated with a grant from PSE&G with partnership from the Borough; the DiMatteo family was also honored by Mayor Harris and her friends who donated a sign in memory Danette DiMatteo. Thanks Denise Moules, our CFO, for all the budget work that was done over the month and all the Department Heads for their hard work. We have yellow ribbons along Clements Bridge Road which is to bring attention for Suicide Awareness and to support our neighbors in Audubon and Haddon Heights. The town paper will be coming out in about a month so if any organizations want to submit anything please email the Councilman and he will pass along to Terry Shannon. There is no Barrington Day this year and we are still deciding if we will have Memorial Day virtually or in person--watch for the update on the Borough website and FaceBook page. We are planning a drive-in movie event which will be on the field behind Woodland School. The Mayor thanked Kyle for all he is doing and Eileen for keeping the seniors actively engaged through email land phone calls and county at home exercises. The Mayor has received several letters with reference to Covid vaccines we are helping to provide for the seniors. We have “Covid Angels” in town who are doing a great job getting our seniors signed up for the vaccine. COUNCILMAN LUDWIG – apartment inspections need to get started, is there any reason why we were holding up? Mayor advised that during covid the resident would need to be comfortable letting the inspector in. The Councilman said Union Grove still owes the Borough $43,000 and the fee has not been paid. What is the process or plan to receive the funds? Clerk Terry Shannon said Union Grove was just inspected in November due to delay last year. Mayor said it has to be within a year but there is no deadline and Union Grove is still within that year. She advised that it can be discussed with the Construction Department and Committee once we decide how we will go forward with the inspectors but we can move forward with inspecting the other apartment complexes. The Councilman said he thought there was money still to be collected. The Mayor said 2020 was paid, this is for 2021. The new amount didn’t go into effect until 2021 so that is not paid yet and we will follow up on that. Councilman Ludwig would like the Construction Assistant in Bellmawr to sit with our Construction Technical Assistant, Carol Fultano, to show her our apartment inspection process and asked if that would be okay. Clerk Terry Shannon said she was sure it could be worked out. All of Council said it would be okay. Councilman Ludwig said that Councilman Hanson did a great job with the Easter Dinners and they had a great time with the residents giving out the dinners. COUNCILMAN DRUMM – reminded everyone that on Saturday, April 24th at 11 am at Wish Upon a Star Park we will have the dedication of two trees. One for Covid victims and one for Front Line Workers. The Councilman will reach out to department heads and ask them to have some members attend. He will also ask residents who were front line workers to see if they want to come out too. He reported last week that schools were opening this week but that was a mistake, it is next Monday the 19th. You will see more kids walking so please watch your speed as more people will be out in general. He also reiterated what Councilman Robenolt said about Mutual Aid. As a retired Police Officer he said mutual aid is critical. It’s nice to see the Fire Departments helping each other as we do as Police Officers. We help other towns when they are busy and they do likewise for us. With Emergency Services mutual aid is critical and the Councilman congratulated the Fire Department for a great job and the Police Department as well who do this as a daily job. Mayor Harris thanked the Councilman for his comments. She, Councilman Hanson, and Councilman Cerrito will not be available for the tree dedication as they will be attending a class from 8am to 4 or 5pm, if we get a break we will try to come to the event. Thank you for taking care of this and thanks to Jen Milligan and her neighbor for bringing this to our attention. Councilman Ludwig advised that there is a grant for bars and restaurants that can be applied for and it does not have to be repaid. The Councilman met with the Rail and let them know about it. if we know anyone with a restaurant or bar there is a lot of money available to help. This includes food trucks. The Mayor asked Councilman Ludwig to give the information to Councilman Cerrito so he can pass it along to our new businesses in town. COUNCILMAN CERRITO – apologized in advance for not being available to attend the tree dedication but will come down if he can. This past Monday the Councilman attended the Camden County Community Block Grant meeting to discuss federal money coming in, more information at the next meeting. The improvements for the Conrail track came back and they look incredible. It’s only the first rendering and it transforms the whole area in a very inexpensive way to do so and looking forward to final rendering. The 9/11 Memorial is moving along, he will send Terry a donation letter to be sent to our businesses and hopes to receive donations to be put towards the monument. MAYOR HARRIS – reminder that Chick-Fil-A is coming along nicely, they are hiring. The owner has been making videos and they are on FaceBook if you want to check them out. Hoping for grand opening at the end of summer. Tonewood is hoping for a June opening, we will keep you posted. We have lots of business moving in town including two photographers and people reaching out to try to find space in town and we are trying to work with them to locate their business here in town. Opening day of baseball was a nice event, we met with PSE&G and thanked them for the grant for the lighting, the lights look amazing. The Mayor received an award from Little League and she was very surprised, honored and touched. They have a great board with lots of people getting involved this year. They have 200 boys and girls playing ball. Parade was on Saturday; it was exciting and the kids are having a great time. On Covid updates for Barrington we have 467 cases with 10 deaths, we had 15 cases over the weekend. This is a reminder that Covid still exists--if you want to get vaccinated Camden County has Moderna and has plenty of open appointments. The Borough will be dedicating a tree in memory of Pat Farinella in front of the borough when we have the plaque and tree in place. The playground will be dedicated to Angelina Szabo, Angelina DeMartinez and Macey Johnston who came up with the playground idea. In May Councilman Hanson will have some event. With no further business to be transacted, on a motion by Ludwig, second by Robenolt, the meeting was adjourned at 6:35 pm. APPROVED: Terry Shannon Terry Shannon, Municipal Clerk