City Council

COUNCIL CONFERENCE MEETING MINUTES APRIL 1, 2008 CITY HALL – 5:00 PM A Conference Meeting of the City Council of the City of Trenton, New Jersey, was held on the above date at 5:20 p.m. in the Council Conference Room, City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Council President Paul M. Pintella. Council President announced that adequate public notice had been provided to the public specifying the time and place for this meeting in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act. FY 2007-2008 annual notice was mailed to the Times and the Trentonian Newspapers, posted on the first floor bulletin board in City Hall, and filed in the City Clerk’s Office on June 21, 2007 by Resolution No. 07-316. The agenda for this meeting was mailed, posted and filed on March 28, 2008. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Messrs. Bethea, Coston, Ms. Lartigue, Messrs. Melone, Segura, Ms. Staton, Mr. Pintella – 7. PARKING AUTHORITY APPOINTMENT: Mrs. Juanita M. Joyner, Acting City Clerk notified Council members that she had distributed a list of the Parking Authority members with their terms. She stated that Mr. Worek’s term had expired on January 6, 2008. She also advised that an advertisement had been placed in both the Trenton Times and Trentonian Newspapers, and Mr. Worek was the only individual that showed interest in serving on the board. There was also an ad placed for the Zoning Board and no one responded. Council President Pintella thanked Mr. Worek for taking the time to come before Council. Mr. Andrew Worek stated that he has been a member of the Parking Authority for five years and is the current Treasurer. He is also the President of the Mercer County Park Commission. He stated that he loves, and has lived in the City all his life. After a brief discussion among Council members it was agreed to send a letter to all candidates that had previously shown interest in serving to see if they were still willing to serve. Councilwoman Lartigue made a motion to send letters to all individuals on file that have shown interest in serving on City Boards in the pass and to advertise for any open positions, it was seconded by Councilman Bethea and carried with the following vote: Ayes: Messrs. Bethea, Coston, Ms. Lartigue, Messrs. Melone, Segura, Ms. Staton, Mr. Pintella – 7. City Council Conference: Minutes April 1, 2008 1 EXECUTIVE SESSION: (Council went into Executive Session at 5:35 pm) Adoption of the following resolution to go into Executive Session was moved by Councilman Bethea, seconded by Councilmen Segura and carried by the following vote: Ayes: Messrs. Bethea, Coston, Ms. Lartigue, Messrs. Melone, Segura, Ms. Staton, Mr. Pintella – 7. RESOLUTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION BE IT RESOLVED, that pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10:4-12 et seq. the public is hereby excluded from the following discussions; Concerning pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiations. Forester vs. Palmer, Santiago BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the contents of these discussions will be disclosed to the public at the conclusion of the litigation if the need for confidentially no longer exist. Council reconvened in open session at 6:40 p.m. in the Council Chambers, all members were present. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Bea Perry, 26 Sylvester Avenue – Stated that the City needs more enforcement of the raid system; profanity law; trim trees and clean properties for the spring season Rev. Vincent Jackson, Concerned Pastors – Supports Director Santiago staying. Rev. John Harris, 440 Dr. MLK, Jr. Blvd., Galilee Baptist Church – Support the Residency Ordinance but would like to see Director Santiago stay. Roland Pott, 112 S. Montgomery Street, Old Mill Hill Society – Supports the old project for the Old Mill Hill Hotel site. Ken Bullock, 341 Monmouth Street, Wilbur Civic Association – Supports Director Santiago staying; this is not about Santiago, it’s about the Mayor. Delores Harrison, 42 Cove Street – Something has to be done about the slum landlord coming into our neighborhoods from out of town and ruining them. Bill Kearney, 1620 Riverside Drive, TRAC – Concerned with the tax money being paid for attorney fees for this case; supports the Residency Ordinance. City Council Conference: Minutes April 1, 2008 2 Peter Page, 241 Morris Avenue, Chambersburg Civic Association – Supports Director Santiago and Communications Director Bradley. Carol Russell, 41 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Boles – Supports Director Santiago, Council should not look at where he lives but at what he has done. Beth Ragolia, 832 Brunswick Avenue – Director of Occupational Health Systems came before Council concerning Resolution No. 5kr and also provided binders for Council members with information regarding Capital Health Corporate Center in 2007. Limmie Caver, Jr., 616 New Willow Street, Boles – Support Director Santiago. Patricia Stewart, 679 Lamberton Street – Read the following article that was published March 15, 1999 under the byline of Douglas H. Palmer, Mayor of the City of Trenton. “I personally believe, and have heard from enough residents to know that they too believe, when it comes to the safety of our city, nothing is more important, symbolically, than for the head of the police force to live in the city that he or she is in control of protecting and serving. I cannot be persuaded that it is OK for our police chief to be isolated from our communities.” Joe Santiago has to move into the City of Trenton. This is about the Laws we have in the City. Janet Sabon, 270 Cumming Avenue – Thanked Gino Melone and Manuel Segura for being in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade; asked about Jules Tavern business license and the special conditions. Paul Harris, Jr., 137 Centre Street – Complained about the police department having Ms. Amber Ramsey’s body since 2006; everybody in the County Morgue should be identified and checked immediately. Nicolas Stewart, 679 Lamberton Street – Supports the Residency Ordinance; WiFi project are failing all over the country - this company does not have a good track record. Stephen Cooper, 43 Sanhican Drive – Supports Director Santiago, he has cleaned up a lot of bad areas in the neighborhoods; Council needs to do what-ever has to be done to keep him here. John Harmon, 846 Riverside Avenue, MTAAC – Supports the Residency Ordinance; read in the paper that no one lives here that qualifies for the Police Director position, Mr. Golden lives in the City. Joe Harris, 15 Swan Street, TRAC – Supports the Residency Ordinance. Lee Ingram, 39 Edgemere Avenue – Supports Director Santiago, he is tired of loosing family members to street shootings while Council is worrying about where Mr. Santiago lives. City Council Conference: Minutes April 1, 2008 3 John Scarpati, Sr., 871 Edingburg Road, 1350 New York Avenue – Complained about the Police going to his business and giving him tickets, he now has a warrant for his arrest. Beverly Garrett, 589 Bellevue Avenue – Santiago has done nothing for this town; complained about the police department. Councilwoman Lartigue left the meeting at 7:00 pm. Council recessed at 7:30 pm and reconvened at 7:50 pm. PRESENTATION: 1. E-Path Communications Appearance: Mr. David Hurwitz, President E-Path Communications Jane Feigenbaum, Business Administrator Jim Damron, MIS Coordinator Jane Feigenbaum, Business Administration distributed handouts and reminded Council that a resolution had been approved on November 20, 2007 for a Wireless Network to be built by E-Path. The Resolution before you is for the City to contract with E-Path for services after the network is successfully built. Mr. David Hurwitz, Co-Founder and President of E-Path made a Power Point Presentation that covered the following information and points: • Built network at no cost to the City of Trenton • Provide faster and cheaper service to the City and it’s residents • PSE & G Co. will install the equipment • Video surveillance would be faster at 2/3 the present cost • Will use the 4.9GHz Licensed Spectrum owned by the City of Trenton Ms. Jane Feigenbaum, stated the benefits to the City of Trenton if they became the anchor tenant: • Dedicated to the City - no other customer could access • Commitment only if it gets built successfully • Better police and fire service • E-Path will pay the City 5% of it’s WiFi revenue • Cheaper monthly fees • Speed will be much faster than what we have Mr. James Damron, MIS Coordinator spoke on the current camera services the City has and what E-path will provide. Installations will be quicker, better quality, and faster upload speed. E-Path will provide 9 or 12 frames per second and the City will save money. Field workers will be able to do their reports electronically on-site. Water meters can be read remotely with this technology. City Council Conference: Minutes April 1, 2008 4 2. Review of Competitive Contracting Resolution for W/C, W/C Managed Care, TPA, Etc. Appearance: Dennis Gonzalez, Assistant Business Administrator Jane Feigenbaum, Business Administrator Karen Marut, Purchasing Agent Mr. Dennis Gonzalez, Assistant Business Administrator distributed a summary on the Solicitation Process for Insurance that the City wants to start using. A detailed discussion was followed by a question and answer period. Council President Pintella introduced Mr. Alexander and asked him to give a brief explanation of what he is offering. Mr. Scott Alexander from the Police and Firemen Insurance Association came before Council to speak about benefits offered to the Police and Firefighters in the State of New Jersey. He stated that they would like is to ask the City to provide a payroll deduction for the individuals who would like to sign up for their Insurance Program. DOCKET REVIEW: Appearance: Renee Haynes, Chief of Staff Jane Feigenbaum, Business Administrator Council reviewed the docket items. CIVIC MATTERS: None The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted ___________________________ __________________________ PAUL M. PINTELLA JUANITA M. JOYNER CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT ACTING CITY CLERK City Council Conference: Minutes April 1, 2008 5