February 11 Town Council meeting

Council approved proposals to renew two no-bid contracts at a higher cost for township legal services for property tax appeals, extend three contracts for tree-removal services, and apply for a $150,000 county Open Space grant to create a splash pad at Ginny Duenkel Pool at the February 11, 2014, council meeting.

The meeting agendas and related materials are here. Video of the meeting, downloadable and indexed so you can quickly find specific issues you want to watch, is here.

Council also approved on second reading a salary ordinance to create a new position, mechanic’s helper, that will raise the pay of the impacted employee by 18%. In addition, it approved a three-lot subdivision on Lincoln Avenue and approved renewal of the rent control ordinance on first reading.

The no-bid contract to Blau & Blau of Springfield for legal services for commercial property tax appeals was renewed at $6,000 per month for nine months – up 20% from $5,000 per month in the earlier contract. The firm has provided services since September 2012. Council also approved renewal of the no-bid contract to Edwin Matthews of Bourne, Noll & Kenyon, Summit, for residential property tax appeals at $3,250 per month for nine months – up 18% from $2,750 per month in the earlier contract. Mr. Matthews began these services in January 2013.

Both resolutions passed 4-1. I voted against these resolutions because of the significant increase. The administration justified the increase by saying the contract for last year provided the town significant savings over previous years, but the amounts turned out to be too low for the vendors. There was no indication the new contracts involved more work or increased benefit to the town.

Council also approved extending three tree-removal contracts first competitively awarded to begin in January 2013. Two contracts are held by Kevin Downes Tree Service of Hawthorne and the other by Dujet Tree Experts of West Paterson. The resolutions passed 4-1, with me voting against each. I pointed out that the contracts had no “not to exceed” amount, although combined they cost the town nearly $90,000 in 2013, and should have more oversight by council. My floor motion on the first contract to add a “not to exceed” amount failed for lack of a second. The administration argued that the limitations were not needed and would cause additional administrative burden. 

A council majority approved 4-1 the administration request to apply for a $150,000 grant from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund to reconstruct the Ginny Duenkel wading pool and add a spray pad – a project already in the town’s capital budget. County property owners pay a tax to the county fund, which occasionally makes direct grants to municipalities. I voted against the proposal because I believe that the funds would be better spent rehabilitating town athletic facilities, including those on school district property, to positively impact more residents.

The administration also received approval of its request for a salary ordinance on second reading to create the position of mechanic’s helper in Public Works. It reflects a promotion for an employee who last year reached the top scale in his position as garage attendant, $45,038 (rising from $24,676 in 2008). The new position, which was not approved in a salary ordinance by council last year, raises the maximum pay for a mechanic’s helper from $49,372 in 2013 to $58,141 in 2014, or 17.8%. The approved ordinance is here.

The ordinance passed 4-1. I voted against this because I was not satisfied that we needed to increase our employee costs at this time. The administration argued that the employee began doing the work of the new position 18 months ago, although it didn’t provide a cost-benefit analysis justifying the higher expense. The administration warned that it could face a grievance under the labor contract if the employee was doing work at a higher level than his pay scale.

Council also approved a plan, already approved by the Planning Board, for the estate of Hugh Forfar to subdivide two existing lots into three lots to build homes on property known as 45-49 Lincoln Avenue. The estate plans improvements to the property that include sewer, street and sidewalk extensions. The proposal does not require the town to bear the cost of the improvements, although the town will eventually incorporate the street and sewer extensions into its regular services. The two properties are delinquent in their property taxes, but town attorneys said compliance with taxes was not a requirement of the contract.

The council approved the administration request to consider on first reading the renewal of the rent-control ordinance. Authority for the law expired in October 2010 “due to an unknown administrative oversight,” according to the ordinance’s legislative history. The ordinance will make authority retroactive as allowed under case, according to the legislative history.

In addition, I spoke at length of  the need to comply with our council ordinance (Article 3-15.1) that requires the public be allowed to speak on any proposed resolution at the time of council consideration. At the January 28 council meeting, a dispute arose from residents who believed they would be allowed to speak on the police firearms and ammunition investigation at the time of its consideration. Council President McCartney had allowed this, as well as a back and forth between a proponent and opponent of the resolution, at the January 14 council meeting.

Council President McCartney said she was on the council when it decided to ignore the ordinance because it resulted in too many public speakers and meetings that ran too long.

I also argued that the council should also allow more interaction between public speakers and the council members and administration representatives during the meeting. Council members did not address my proposal.

Separately, I followed up on my comments at the January 28 meeting about the difficulty in getting information about the administration’s new self-insured medical plan. Beginning with a request for the information December 6, I filed an Open Public Records Request on January 17. Two days after the January 28 meeting, I received a response from Fairview Insurance, the town’s insurance broker/consultant. The response didn’t comply with my request, so the administration asked Fairview for the correct information.

If you’d like to contact the council with your thoughts on any of these issues, please send an e-mail to council@westorange.org or call 973.325.4155 to leave a message.

I’m a West Orange Township councilman since 2010, reachable at jkrakoviak@westorange.org. I'm a business communications consultant in my spare time.