Council Meeting

June 1, 2010

Minutes of a Council Meeting of the

Borough Council held at 7:30 P.M. on

Tuesday, June 1, 2010, in the Council

Chamber, Hillsdale, New Jersey.

The meeting was called to order by

Borough Clerk Sandt who also led the Salute

to the Flag.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETING

Borough Clerk Sandt stated, "This is a Meeting of the Hillsdale Borough Council on this 1st day of June 2010. Notice of the time and place of this meeting has been provided to The Review, Pascack Press, The Record and Community Life; a copy was posted on the bulletin board outside of this meeting room and provided to any interested parties.

Please notify the Municipal Clerk for any disability requirements necessary for attendance at Mayor and Council meetings. The fire exits are located through the double doors to your left. Please silence all cell phones and pagers.

INDUCTION OF MAYOR:

Assemblyman Robert Schroeder administered the Oath of Office to Mayor Max Arnowitz.

POINT OF ORDER: Councilmember Giancarlo read a letter from a resident congratulating Mayor Max Arnowitz.

ROLL CALL:

Borough Clerk Sandt called the roll those present being as

follows: Councilmembers DeJoseph, Giancarlo, Hanlon, and Weinstein. Also in attendance Borough Attorney Paul. Absent: Councilmember Schiavone.

Mayor Max Arnowitz expressed his thanks to the people of Hillsdale and the County Committee for their confidence in him and their support.

CORRESPONDENCE:

1. DAVID HARGES EXPRESSING SUPPORT OF SCHOOL BUDGET.

Received and filed on motion by Councilmember Hanlon, seconded by Councilmember Giancarlo, and unanimously carried.

2. LAURA MC KENNA CONCERNED ABOUT SCHOOL QUALITY IN HILLSDALE.

Received and filed on motion by Councilmember Hanlon, seconded by Councilmember Giancarlo, and unanimously carried.

3. JACK STUBBS, ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION, THANKING THE

COUNCIL FOR THEIR SUPPORT WITH THE MAPLE SYRUP AND

PANCAKE BREAKFAST.

Received and Filed on motion by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Weinstein, and unanimously carried.

4. JIM MOLDOW ADVISING OF ROADWAY CONDITIONS.

Received and filed on motion by Councilmember DeJoseph, seconded by Councilmember Hanlon, and unanimously carried.

Councilmember DeJoseph said has been scheduled for repairs.

5. STEVEN STRAUSS MAKING OBSERVATIONS AT HOUSE FIRE ON

MORRIS DRIVE.

Received and filed on motion by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember DeJoseph, and unanimously carried.

6. FIRE DEPARTMENT, BOARD OF FIRE OFFICERS, REQUESTING APPROVAL

OF RICHARD SOLIMANDO AS A REGULAR MEMBER OF THE FIRE

DEPARTMENT.

Received, filed and approved by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Weinstein, and unanimously carried.

DISCUSSION:

1) Recommended FAR Ordinance “definition” Changes.

Borough Engineer Statile said we are providing clarification of the FAR Ordinance. Some people are having difficulties understanding the ordinance and they are making it more clear definitions of patios. There was an application before the Planning Board last month.

Mayor Arnowitz said this will be introduced at the next meeting but will not be voted on until July.

OPEN PUBLIC MEETING

Mayor Arnowitz invited comment from the audience.

Seeing no one, the public portion of the meeting was closed at this time.

RESOLUTIONS: (Consent Agenda)

Mayor Arnowitz read the Consent Agenda of Resolutions.

10072 Civil Rights Policy was introduced by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Hanlon.

10073 Snow Plowing Agreement with Bergen County for 2010/2012 was introduced by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Hanlon.

10074 Authorize Redemption of Tax Sale Certificate, Block 1802, Lot 6, was introduced by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Hanlon.

10075 Approve Refund for Various Tax Overpayments was introduced by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Hanlon.

10076 Approve Refund for Tax Overpayment was introduced by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Hanlon.

10077 Authorize Fee for Returned Checks was introduced by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Hanlon.

10078 Developers Agreement, V&R Developers, Block 1101, Lots 6 & 7 was introduced by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Hanlon.

Motion to approve the foregoing resolutions was made by Councilmember Giancarlo, seconded by Councilmember Hanlon.

Roll Call Vote:

Ayes: Councilmember Giancarlo, DeJoseph, Hanlon and

Weinstein

Nays: None

Absent: Councilmember Schiavone

(SEE COPIES OF THE AFORESAID ORIGINAL RESOLUTIONS AFFIXED HERETO)

DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

Board of Health monthly report for May 2010.

Motion to receive, file and accept was made by Councilmember Hanlon, seconded by Councilmember Giancarlo, and unanimously carried.

(SEE COPY OF THE AFORESAID ORIGINAL REPORT AFFIXED HERETO)

Last Go Round

Borough Engineer Statile said the DOT will be looking for applications for the 2011 State Funding. These applications will be forwarded to the DOT within the next two weeks.

The applications for Community Development block grants will be available shortly. He will be putting in applications for the fire house for barrier-free handicapped accessibility.

Mayor Arnowitz said the trench on Knickerbocker has not been paved.

Engineer Statile said he sent PSE&G a letter and a response was not forthcoming.

Mayor Arnowitz said the water trenches on Pascack Road and the silver control box.

Engineer Statile said there is a trench before that at the subdivision. They should be taken care of at the same time.

Mayor Arnowitz said if the county chooses to redo Hillsdale Avenue we told the Methodist Church we would look into inserting the parking area so that people don’t open car doors on Hillsdale Avenue. He asked the engineer to take note of this.

Engineer Statile said we haven’t finished the striping at the intersection or extra handicapped spaces on Magnolia.

Mayor Arnowitz said that was just done.

Engineer Statile said the only outstanding developer’s agreement that he knows of is D&R by Patterson Street, the building going up now. We have the bond money in place.

Councilmember DeJoseph said the Community Development grant we would do the bathrooms at the firehouse and also looking at accessible handicapped entrance doors at the borough hall.

Engineer Statile said that would involve two separate applications.

Police Chief Stalter said the police coverage for Memorial Day was handled by 10 Auxiliary which enabled the Police Department to have our standard staffing for the day and we had a couple of extra officers who opted to take time back and we did not incur any expenses.

Mayor Arnowitz expressed his appreciation.

Chief Stalter said we met with the vendor of the Reverse 9-1-1 system. We pay for semi-annual updated phone lists and there were issues with people who have been in town for a long time were not on the new list and businesses out of town for five or six years were on this list. They provided an up-to-date list, going back to their vendor; we are currently doing an audit from 2003 forward with regard to numbers being added or deleted. If you are aware that Swift Reach has gone out to the whole town and you haven’t been called, you can go on to the police.com website and put the information or call police headquarters. We will advertise in the next month or so a test message for which we will not be charged. You can include more than one number, such as cell phones, etc.

Chief Stalter said our police department along with most in-state and everyone in the Valley are participating in the Click or Ticket Campaign. We have the highest compliance in the nation.

DPW Superintendent Durie was pleased to advise the Council that our Borough Mechanic is back today after seven months of rehab. Dennis Wheeler is back full-time. He thanked the Herb who stepped up to the plate when we didn’t have Dennis and he did a wonderful taking care of our fleet and worked inter actively with the Borough of Montvale, Westwood and River Vale. Their mechanics assisted us when we had trouble.

Confidential records were destroyed at the DPW and we had an electronics collection at which the boy scouts assisted. The container is still available at the DPW; he wanted to be a full 30 yarder before he gets rid of the dumpster. With shredding, we were able to get rid of police records and borough records.

Mayor Arnowitz said Corner Stone has put out their tables and they have a fence which is extending into the sidewalk, making the walking area quite narrow.

Superintendent Durie said we have addressed that situation; they did put in an application with us. The Police Chief, Lieutenant and Durie discussed the legality prior to their putting this into place, they did not properly put the fencing in place; they have now moved it to the front of the building. It is a trial and error situation to see how well it will work. They are 60 inches from anything which makes them legal, giving them the handicapped accessibility they need. It seems to better as people are not coming out and congregating at the front door. We are working together with them; they worked immediately with his request.

Chief Van Riper of the Fire Department referred to the house fire on Morris Drive on May 19. He said there was some concern about the response time. After reviewing the audio tape provided by the police department, the first 9-1-1 call came in at 7:39PM. The police arrived at 7:41PM, he arrived at 7:42PM. The engine arrived at 7:44PM for a total of five minutes.

Mayor Arnowitz said we received letters and comments stating it took 20 minutes for the fire department to get there which is ludicrous. The Fire Chief is reading from the police department tapes; five minutes from the time the police department notified the members who got to the fire house, get dressed, get on the truck and go to the scene of the fire on Morris Drive.

Chief Van Riper said his first priority is the safety of the residents and members of the Hillsdale Fire Department. His 2^nd Lieutenant was his daughter’s dance recital at George White which he up and left and ran down Hillsdale Avenue to get on one of the trucks. The 2^nd Lieutenant of the Ladder Company was at a baseball practice in Montvale which he left to respond. His Deputy Chief was at a second job which he could not leave until he was finished. The problem is watching a neighbor’s house is not easy. We were there within minutes; that night we were doing preventive maintenance on the engine and we were out quicker than normal. We drop what we are doing to respond.

He called out his second alarm which was an ambulance, a fast team from Park Ridge and a truck from River Vale. The fire was under control at 8:50PM. There were no report of injuries and he released mutual aid at 9:40PM. He had seven engines, one ladder truck, four rescues, totaling 86 members, volunteer firemen. He thanked the police department for helping out to make sure no one was in the house when he got there and evacuated other houses. Fire Prevention did an outstanding job.

Mayor Arnowitz added that the ladder truck got stuck by the train. He saw pictures of the fire and he said you could not send anyone immediately into that inferno.

Chief Van Riper said there was no reason to jeopardize any of his members until the fire was knocked down.

Mayor Arnowitz said a comment was made that your department was not capable of fighting that fire because there was a 220 volt line on the lawn. We were putting water safely which the wire was still alive.

Chief Van Riper said wire was down and hindered bringing trucks on Saddlewood. Two cars were on fire, things in the garage were popping such as propane trucks, etc. It proves that our training is paying off.

Mayor Arnowitz said everything that could have been done was done properly. He expressed his thanks to the fire department and assured the public that we have a very efficient fire department, they know what they are doing and they did the right thing.

Chief Van Riper said when he arrived the fire was coming out of the garage and into the second floor and he felt it was a delayed 9-1-1 call.

DPW Superintendent Durie said there was a fire alarm but it was connected to a dialer, that is set off in the basement when the alarm has been activated. The telephone line was severed by the electric line burning on the outside of the house and there was no way for the police department to get notification.

Councilmember Giancarlo said this is digitally recorded and there is no human interaction, numbers don’t lie.

Chief Van Riper said we went to the Allendale Parade and did very well, we got second place on engine and third place in marching.

Councilmember DeJoseph said regarding the defeated school budget, we heard from the residents that they want to keep costs as under control as possible in Hillsdale. After our budget is approved, we should evaluate other costs and look at other areas of potential revenue throughout the year. We can be evaluating Town Day to see what can be scaled back, but that is just one item that should be looked at. He said the dumpster is still available at the DPW and there is still room for recyclables before the dumpster is taken away. People are bringing large items to the DPW and are filling up the 30 yard dumpster. He requested the residents to leave them at the curb and Waste Management will pick up on the normal co-mingled day. The Green Team is making progress in Hillsdale, they are half way through certification and possibly get a grant application for July 1^st.

Councilmember Weinstein said Stonybrook is up and running, all of the improvements discussed with the Council during the budget period appear to be completed. They are off to a good start.

At the last Board of Education meeting two teachers and a nurse were honored after receiving a state-wide Governor’s Award; Mrs. Rosenbaum from the Ann Blanche Smith School, Mr. Rosenberg from George White, and Mrs. Deutsch from Meadowbrook.

Next Monday, June 7, the Regional Board of Ed will be meeting to publicly discuss a resolution with regard to the reformulation of the tax distribution. This is the issue where Woodcliff Lake and Montvale lobbied the Board of Ed to have them re-evaluate the tax formula which now is based by household, not by student. This will be the first public discussion and the Board of Ed is probably moving towards the opportunity for a four town referendum to be put to a vote, sometime after summer probably in September, and let the residents weigh in directly. He recommended residents go out and be part of the discussion, let the Board of Ed know your opinions on that, and we will keep everyone fully apprised of their decision. If it goes to referendum, we will be sure that Hillsdale and River Vale, who we are working closely with, will be well-educated on what the issues are and what the implications will be to our towns.

Councilmember Hanlon said our Parade was one of the best. We had help from all departments and she thanked the Chamber of Commerce for their donation of the balloons. Town Day is September 25 and asked if we are working to get donations for this event. There are only two big events in this town and Town Day is very important and she would hate to lose it because of money. The other, of course, is the Memorial Day Parade and we get quite a few donations for that. She suggested the Liaison for Stonybrook help Patty Hughes get donations for Town Day.

Mayor Arnowitz asked Councilmember Giancarlo to follow up with the Recreation Commission to see if we can get some donations. He asked for a report by the second meeting in July.

She thanked Councilmember Weinstein for serving as Acting-Mayor and said he took over at a very difficult time.

The next senior luncheon is June 8, Rain Date June 9, at the Stonybrook Pool.

Councilmember Giancarlo said Memorial Day is a great day for a town like ours. The turnout almost dwarfs the other surrounding towns and we get an appreciation of how much the volunteers make up the town. He thanked Councilmember Weinstein for the excellent job done during the transition and congratulated Mayor Max Arnowitz.

Administrator Polce congratulated Max Arnowitz to his elevation as Mayor.

He will meet with the department heads the week of June 21 to review the possibilities of increasing revenues as we move into the second half of the year 2010.

Borough Attorney Paul congratulated Mayor Arnowitz and looked forward to working with him.

Mayor Arnowitz thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve as Mayor. It has been a long 23 years and he wished to express his appreciation.

With regard to the Memorial Day Parade, he thanked Councilmember Hanlon, Ann Cron, Paula Huhn. A lot of time and effort is spent on this Parade. He congratulated the Poster and Essay Winners. Our Grand Marshall gave a magnificent speech about veterans and he became emotional because he remembered his friends he left behind, the people who gave their lives so we can be here today. They gave the ultimate sacrifice and that is what Memorial Day is all about.

He thanked Councilmember Weinstein for his efforts as Acting-Mayor during this transition.

The Robotics Team will be here at the next meeting to be honored for their work and the Pascack Valley Baseball Team to honor them for their victory at another meeting.

As a long time firefighter, he was taken back and by a letter and email and comments about the performance of the fire department and the timing of the fire department. The training our department gets is the same exact training that any paid fire department gets. Our continued training is stronger than any paid fire department. We drop jobs and family to get to the firehouse to fight a fire and we fight it professionally and to the best of our ability. If anyone has a question, please contact the fire department, the Chief is always open for questions. His observation at that fire was that no mistakes were made, it was a very difficult fire to fight. If we had a paid fire department in Hillsdale, it would cost two million dollars a year for payroll costs to man a full fire department. They save us a lot of money and do the job and no one can do it better than the Hillsdale Fire Department.

ADJOURNMENT:

A motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Hanlon, seconded by Councilmember Giancarlo, and unanimously carried.

6-1-10

________________________

Robert P. Sandt, RMC

Borough Clerk

APPROVED AS PRESENTED

________________________

Robert P. Sandt, RMC

Borough Clerk