City Council

BOROUGH OF BARRINGTON MINUTES OF MONTHLY COUNCIL MEETING April 9, 2024, 6:00PM COUNCIL ROOM AT MUNICIPAL BUILDING A regular monthly Council Meeting of the Borough of Barrington was held with Mayor Hanson presiding. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hanson 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. He then led everyone present in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL The Municipal Clerk called roll of Council with the following in attendance: Council President Beach, Councilman Cerrito, Councilman Drumm, and Councilwoman Mercado-Miller. Councilman Ludwig and Councilman Robenolt were excused with prior notice. Mayor Hanson, Municipal Clerk Terry Shannon, and Solicitor Timothy Higgins were also on the dais. Students from Woodland School also participated with Council tonight as part of Government Day festivities. PROCLAMATIONS Mayor Hanson announced that the following proclamations will be posted on the bulletin board outside the Mayor’s Office: Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week; Autism Acceptance and Awareness Month; National Child Abuse Prevention Month; National Donate Life Month APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mayor Hanson reported that Council was provided with the minutes of the March 5, 2024, caucus, and the March 12, 2024, council meetings and asked if there were any corrections or abstentions. On a motion by Drumm, second by Mercado-Miller the minutes were approved with all in favor. Council President Beach abstained on the caucus minutes as he was absent. abstained from caucus. COMMITTEE REPORTS Mayor Hanson advised that the monthly departmental reports were distributed to the governing body, are posted outside of council chambers, and posted on the borough website. On a motion by Drumm, second by Beach, the monthly departmental reports were accepted with the following poll vote: Beach-yes, Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Mercado-Miller-yes. ORDINANCES FOR PUBLIC HEARING AND ADOPTION Ord. 1181 Ordinance Establishing Police Department Salaries Pursuant to the Contract Effective January 1, 2024 Ord. 1182 Calendar Year 2024 Ordinance to Exceed the Municipal Budget Appropriation Limits and to Establish a CAP Bank (N.J.S.A. 40A:4-45.14) On a motion by Cerrito, second by Beach, the second reading of the ordinances was approved with the following poll vote: Beach-yes, Cerrito-yes, Drumm-abstain on 1181, yes on 1182, Mercado-Miller-yes. On a motion by Cerrito, second by Mercado-Miller, the public hearing on the ordinances was opened. Seeing no comments from the public, on a motion by Beach, second by Drumm, the public hearing was closed. On a motion by Beach, second by Cerrito, the ordinances were adopted with the following poll vote: Beach-yes, Cerrito-yes, Drumm-abstain on 1181, yes on 1182, Mercado-Miller-yes. ORDINANCES FOR INTRODUCTION ON FIRST READING Ord. 1183—Amending Chapter 127, Weddings and Civil Union Ceremonies Fees Ord. 1184—Repealing and Replacing the Tree Removal Ordinance Ord. 1185—Repealing and Replacing the Privately-owned Salt Storage Ordinance Ord. 1186—Introducing the Borough Code Adoption Ordinance Ord. 1187—Amending the Zoning Code Pertaining to Political Signs Ord. 1188—Amending Chapter 120, Parking on Lawrence Ave On a motion by Drumm, second by Cerrito the ordinances were approved on first reading with the following poll vote: Beach-yes, Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Mercado-Miller-yes These ordinances will be considered for adoption following proper notice and a public hearing to be held during the May 14, 2024, council meeting. RESOLUTION CONSENT AGENDA The Clerk read the following resolutions to be approved by consent agenda: 4-2024-44 Increasing the Fee for Weddings and Civil Union Ceremonies 4-2024-45 Authorizing Submission of an Application for Recreation Facility Enhancement Funding, Round 2024, for Lost World Park Playground Rehabilitation 4-2024-46 Awarding a Contract to Schaefer Fireworks for the 2024 Fireworks Show 4-2024-47 Authorizing Self-Examination of the 2024 Municipal Budget 4-2024-48 Introduction of the 2024 Municipal Budget 4-2024-49 Certification of Compliance with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” 4-2024-50 Awarding a Contract to J.H. Williams Enterprises for Police Dept. Renovations 4-2024-51 Approving the April Bill List in the Total Amount of: $839,650.79 On a motion by Drumm, second by Mercado-Miller, the resolution consent agenda was approved with the following poll vote: Beach-yes, Cerrito-yes, Drumm-yes, Mercado-Miller-yes. PUBLIC PORTION Mayor Hanson advised that if you have comments or questions, please come forward and state your name for the record. Public comment is limited to five minutes per person. On a motion by Beach, second by Drumm, the public portion of the meeting was opened. Bernie Bryson – he has an encroachment on his property since 2008; wants to know what the township will do about it. He also feels as if he is being harassed by an employee from the property maintenance department. Twelve times he has been taken to court and the employee showed up only four times. Mr. Bryson believes the employee is overstepping bounds. What will Barrington do about this? Solicitor Higgins advised that this is a litigation matter which he will discuss with the Mayor at the proper time. Mayor advised that he will discuss with Mr. Higgins after the meeting. Mr. Bryson would like a letter on what will be done. Seeing no further comments from the public, on a motion by Beach, second by Cerrito, the public portion of the meeting was closed. COMMENTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY COUNCILMAN CERRITO –upcoming events for the Green Team is the free speaker series which will be held at St. Maria Goretti Church in Runnemede at 6:30pm tomorrow evening. Saturday April 13, we will have Coffee with the Green Team at Little Coco, 8-10 am, to hear about the PSE&G energy efficiency program. Our native plant sale will return this month, follow the Green Team on Facebook for more information. Also, this month is Barrington’s Cleanup Weekend on April 20; call Eileen Holcombe to volunteer to clean up an area in town. We still have some community garden plots available for sale, inquire in the borough office. Thanks to the students for participating in our Government Day today. And best of luck in your future. COUNCIL PRESIDENT BEACH– Emily, the student shadowing the Council President, read his report as follows: Public Works will be working with our Green Team and Girl Scouts to install a rain garden next to the tot lot and to install gardens at the VFW/Senior Citizens building. If anyone is interested in a rain garden, please reach out to our Green Team. The Council President thanked all the students for coming today and attending the meeting. To be so young and want to be a leader is a great start. Thank you. COUNCILWOMAN MERCADO-MILLER – The students shadowing the Councilwoman, Mary and Harley, read the Councilwoman’s report as follows: recognized the Muslim holiday celebration; asked as weather improves and more are outside to keep our children safe by following the speed limit and using the crosswalks, please stop for pedestrians. Shout out to our amazing departments for maintaining our town’s safety and health. Check out the events calendar on the borough website for events such as the town cleanup, town yard sale and Barrington Seniors Ice Cream Social. We invite anyone interested to attend our next Board of Health meeting on June 20. More information is on the Board of Health Facebook page. Thank you for coming out tonight. COUNCILMAN DRUMM –thanks to all for coming out tonight. It is wonderful to see the eighth- grade kids up here tonight and we appreciate the effort you put into this. The students shadowing Mike, Arianna and Zoe, presented the Councilman’s report as follows: Barrington, Haddon Heights and Runnemede entered into a five-year agreement with the Ambulance Association. Each town will contribute to the cost based on call volume to each town; they will also contribute to maintenance. This agreement will provide better response time and consolidation of equipment. It will be less of a burden on the taxpayers. Thanks, Chief Kate Bowman for your hard work on this process. The weather changes and daylight savings will bring more people outside, please watch your speed especially around the ball fields and parks. Enjoy spring! MAYOR HANSON – thanked the eighth-grade student for having the courage to come up here tonight and participate in the council meeting. All day they followed the departments around the borough departments and our employees spoke with them at lunchtime. It was a great day and the Mayor looks forward to continuing this tradition. As an eighth-grade student the Mayor shadowed then Council President Popiolek and now he is Mayor! He hopes to see some of the students in the next decade take this chair from him. Dylan, the student shadowing the mayor, read the Mayor’s report as follows: thanks, all employees and department heads for their participation in today’s Government Day event, our partners at Woodland School and the eighth- grade students. This Saturday is opening day for Girls Softball, and it is their 70th Anniversary. Earth Day cleanup is the weekend of April 20 and the town wide yard sale is April 27; Barrington Day is May 4 behind Woodland School from 11am-3pm, this is a free family event. The Civic Association will be hosting its first annual Barrington Block Party at Deerfield on Saturday, June 8. Please see their Facebook page for more information. Registration is open for the Barrington Summer Rec program which will run from June 24 to August 2, more details are on the borough Facebook page. Thanks to our CFO Denise Moules for her hard work on the budget. Congratulations to resident Cody Brunner for his participation in the Special Olympics basketball championship. With nicer weather please get out and walk around to see our great public parks and fields. Thank you all for coming out tonight. Councilman Cerrito added to his comments advising that he didn’t realize he should have let the student shadowing him give his report. With that, the students shadowing him announced that the Green Team was asked to participate in the New Jersey Sustainability Center on May 3 in Holmdel. Brittany Beyer will be our representative and speak about our partnership with Sustainable New Jersey and PSE&G. Our participation shows what great work the team is doing. There is a Green Team meeting following the council meeting tonight. Seeing no further business to be transacted, on a motion by Beach, second by Drumm, the meeting was adjourned at 6:22 pm. APPROVED: Terry Shannon Terry Shannon, Borough Clerk