City Council

BOROUGH OF BARRINGTON MINUTES OF MONTHLY COUNCIL MEETING February 14, 2023, 6:00PM COUNCIL ROOM AT MUNICIPAL BUILDING A regular monthly Council Meeting of the Borough of Barrington was held with Mayor Harris presiding. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Harris called the meeting to order with the following statement: "This meeting is held in compliance with Chapter 231 of the open public meetings act of 1975 and appropriate notice has been given. Notice of the meeting was filed with the Retrospect and Courier Post and is also posted in the main office of the Borough Clerk where notices are primarily kept. She then led everyone present in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL The Municipal Clerk called roll of Council with the following in attendance: Councilman Cerrito, Councilman Drumm and Council President Hanson. Councilman Beach and Councilman Robenolt are absent with prior notice. Councilman Ludwig was also absent. Mayor Harris, Municipal Clerk Terry Shannon and Solicitor, Timothy Higgins, were also on the dais. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mayor Harris reported that council was provided with the minutes of the January 3, 2023 Reorganization and caucus and the January 10, 2023 council meetings and asked if there were any corrections or abstentions. On a motion by Hanson, second by Drumm the minutes were approved by all council members present. RESOLUTION FOR APPROVAL The Clerk read the following resolution for approval: 2-2023-29 Promoting Tyrell Thomas to the position of Police Corporal of the Barrington Police Department On a motion by Hanson, second by Drumm, the resolution was approved with the following poll vote: Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Hanson-yes Officer Thomas was administered the oath of office by Mayor Patti Harris. COUNCIL PRESIDENT HANSON congratulated Corporal Thomas and said we are lucky to have him and looking forward him to having a long future in Barrington. COUNCILMAN DRUMM to Corporal Thomas, congratulations and well deserved. Hoping you stay here for your whole career. COUNCILMAN CERRITO congratulated and thanked Corporal Thomas for being a role model in our community and said it seems like you are getting some king of award at every meeting. We look forward to you getting another one next month! Thank you for your service. MAYOR HARRIS said Corporal Thomas has a nice ring to it. I am so proud of you. Your commitment to the kids, including my own sons, and all the communities--Barrington, Heights, Lawnside and Merchantville. You work with all the kids at the high school and I applaud you for jumping in and being part of the community. We look forward to your career and you being here for a long time. PROCLAMATIONS Hometown Hero, AJ Steen, mail carrier for 37 Years of Service and dedication to Barrington as read by Mayor Harris. AJ thanked all for this recognition and is very appreciative. Said he liked serving in this town and will come back to visit. COUNCIL PRESIDENT HANSON congratulations on behalf of council and thank you for your service to our community. It is obvious that you are well loved by our residents. COUNCILMAN DRUMM congratulated AJ saying they worked alongside each other for years when the Councilman was a police officer. We appreciate all the help you have given the residents in or community. Enjoy your retirement. MAYOR HARRIS congratulated AJ. Thanks to the Veit’s and Lampe’s for letting us know about his retirement. Thank you for your service and commitment to our community. COUNCILMAN CERRITO congratulated AJ on his career and retirement and thanked him for his 37 years of service to Barrington. Black History Month as read by Councilman Drumm; February 17 as Random Acts of Kindness Day as read by Councilman Cerrit;. National Cancer Prevention Month as read by Council President Hanson. American Heart Month is posted at Mayor’s Office and on website. COMMITTEE REPORTS The Municipal Clerk read a summary of the January 2023 monthly reports from the following departments: Police, EMS/Ambulance, Regional Fire Alliance, Tax & Sewer Collector, Court Administrator report for December, Construction, and Trash and Recycling. The Fire report was read by Chief Joe Hales. On a motion by Hanson, second by Cerrito, the monthly reports were approved as submitted by all council members present. ORDINANCES FOR PUBLIC HEARING AND ADOPTION The Municipal Clerk read the following ordinances by title: Ord. 1165 Amending Article I in Chapter 128, Zoning, in the Borough Code Ord. 1166 Fixing the Compensation of Certain Employees of the Borough of Barrington Covered by the AFSCME, Council 63, Local 3528, Contract Ord. 1167 Adding Article IV, Tax Abatements for Commercial and Industrial Structures, to Chapter 111, Taxation, in the Borough Code On a motion by Drumm, second by Cerrito, the ordinances were approved with the following poll vote: Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Hanson-yes On a motion by Hanson, second by Drumm, the public hearing was opened on these ordinances. Seeing no comments from the public, on a motion by Cerrito, second by Drumm, the public hearing was closed. On a motion by Hanson, second by Drumm, Ordinances 1165, 1166 and 1167 were adopted with the following poll vote: Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Hanson-yes ORDINANCES FOR INTRODUCTION ON FIRST READING The Clerk read the following ordinance by title: Ord. 1168 Amending Sections 128-28 (F) (2) ((I) and 128-29 (F) (2) (I) in Article IV, Manufacturing Districts, in Chapter 128, Zoning, in the Borough Code On a motion by Drumm, second by Hanson, the ordinance was approved on first reading with the following poll vote: Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Hanson-yes This ordinance will be considered for adoption following proper notice and a public hearing to be held during the March 14, 2023, council meeting. RESOLUTION CONSENT AGENDA The Clerk read the following resolutions to be approved by consent agenda: 2-2023-30 Authorizing Agreement with Environmental Resolutions, Inc., to Perform Master Plan Services 2-2023-31 Authorizing a Shared Service Agreement with Bellmawr for Sewer Connections 2-2023-32 Authorizing Removal of Certain properties from Foreclosure List 2-2023-33 Referring Certain Matters to the Planning Board for Recommendations and Review 2-2023-34 Appointing a Member to the Barrington Fire Department 2-2023-35 Authorizing Application for Program Year 2023 Community Development Block Grant Funding (senior programs) 2-2023-36 Authorizing Application for Program Year 2023 Community Development Block Grant Funding (VFW senior center improvements) 2-2023-37 Approving the February Bill List in the Total Amount of: $4,886,256.26 On a motion by Hanson, second by Drumm, the resolution consent agenda was approved with the following poll vote: Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Hanson-yes PUBLIC PORTION On a motion by Drumm, second by Hanson, the public portion of the meeting was opened. Mayor Harris advised that if you have comments or questions to come forward and state your name for the record. Public comment is limited to five minutes per person. Diane Schreyer, 212 Nassau Dr S - thanked Eileen Holcombe for the chair yoga program the seniors have provided. It is just great, and I thank her for this program. Seeing no further comments from the public, on a motion by Cerrito, second by Hanson, the public portion of the meeting was closed. COMMENTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY COUNCIL PRESIDENT HANSON – some announcements from our senior coordinator that the senior center is open every Tuesday and Thursday from noon-4 pm with yoga on Tuesdays and crafts or game day on Thursdays. All Barrington residents 55+ are welcome. Call Eileen at the borough for more information. The Council President thanked Chief Hales for his perseverance over the last few months to get everything smoothed out for the Frie shared service, all seems to be running smoothly and we are very happy with the results. We look forward to continued progress and growth. Thanks also to the Police for their work for the first month of the year. We have no events in February. Thanks to the Civic Association for the ice-skating event at Cooper River last week, it was a great with about 300 attendees. COUNCILMAN DRUMM – Barrington EMS Chief Bowen reminded us that it has been 6 months of service with Runnemede along with service to Barrington and Haddon Heights. She reports that Runnemede is very happy with this service. Fire Alliance is running well and using a new program for inspections through the state. They also purchased new tablets that make the inspection process smoother. COUNCILMAN CERRITO – thanked Chief Hales for his report, we are hearing great things. Members of our Green Team are here tonight, thank you. Happy Valentines Day. MAYOR HARRIS – Happy Valentines Day, thank you all for being here tonight, we appreciate it. Mayor thanked the Lampe’s and Viets for their commitment to the town not only as Green Team and Community Garden members but for bringing AJ’s retirement to our attention. We are honored to have such great employees for out post office, we have had several retire who were long time mail carriers for out town. Thank you, Kyle for the Civic Association skate night. I could not be there but I heard it was a great time with a lot of people attending. Many appreciate the free events from the Civic Association, the Recreation Committee along with the borough. Thanks to our school resource officers for their commitment and dedication to the schools. The Mayor had an incident today that involved her son’s college, she knows how important it is for the police to be present. We depend on them to protect and serve our children, the greatest assets to our community. I appreciate all that you do. Joe Hales, I know it has not been easy and there is a lot on your shoulders with this shared service. You are dong a heck of a job and we appreciate your commitment and dedication. Many young firemen say they are coming back to serve in Barrington, lots of positive things are happening and we are glad to hear that, thank you. Thanks all for coming out tonight. Seeing no further business to be transacted, on a motion by Drumm, second by Hanson, the meeting was adjourned at 6:32 pm. APPROVED: Terry Shannon Terry Shannon, Borough Clerk