At Guttenberg’s last Town Council meeting, the council took a final vote to pass four large bond ordinances, even though one resident voiced his opinion that the town is spending more than what was already appropriated in the budget.
The first ordinance will allow the town’s bond counsel to issue bonds for $295,000 for the future waterfront park. Guttenberg has already appropriated $450,000 for the park and expects the total cost to be around $800,000.
Even though grants will fund the park, Drasheff said the bond is still necessary, because after the town pays for the construction, they will submit a grant application to the Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund to be reimbursed for their costs.
Guttenberg resident Alan Frost asked if K. Hovnanian – which has built a townhouse community south of the proposed waterfront park and plans to build one north of the park – will pay for a waterfront walkway along the river next to the park. Mayor Gerald Drasheff said that they may, but it is not certain when. This is because Hovnanian years ago agreed that if the town developed the park, K. Hovnanian would pay for the walkway when they develop their northern property. However, the town may want the park built before Hovnanian completes that round of development.
The second bond ordinance was for $600,000, which will cover a tax refund to the owners of the Galaxy Mall, who appealed their property assessment.
The third ordinance will allow for the issuance of $225,000 of bonds to be put toward repairs on 71st Street.
The last bond issuance to pass was for $370,500 and will be spent on numerous capital improvements, including computer equipment and construction for the new community recreation center adjacent to the Anna L. Klein School. Drasheff said that $930,000 had already been appropriated in the budget for this cause.
“Part of it was the purchase of the property up by the school,” said Drasheff. He explained that they had received $540,000 from the county’s Open Space Trust Fund, and that these funds will make up the difference.
But Frost didn’t like the fact that some of the money for these projects is not in the town budget.
“It’s not budgeted, but there’s money in this appropriation that we’re assuming we already have to spend?” asked Frost. “Where does it come from?”
Drasheff explained that some of the bonds are for capital projects, so they didn’t have to be included in the regular budget. Sometimes, the state allows certain capital projects funded in specific ways to be outside the regular budget. He also said that some of the bond applications will not be spent until next year’s budget.
Town Attorney Charles Daglian said that appropriating the bonds did not mean that the town has to spend the funds they receive.
Parking meters
During the caucus, which is a meeting among council members before the regular council meeting, Lt. Joel Magenheimer said that numerous merchants along Bergenline and Park avenues had complained that parking meters aren’t in effect until 9 a.m., and their businesses open earlier. Before 9 a.m., the spots are only for residents. Therefore, he said, some of their customers had received resident parking tickets for parking before 9 a.m.
Magenheimer said if someone ran into a store to buy a can of paint, that became an $80 purchase with the addition of a parking ticket.
The council is considering making metered parking in effect starting at 7 a.m. for non-residents, while residents will be able to park at meters without filling them until 9 a.m.
Denied again
Resident Vasilios Scoullos, during the public portion of the meeting, said that despite numerous Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests for the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue’s (NHRFR) local service agreement contract with North Hudson municipalities, he was denied the documents.
Scoullos said that he wanted to see the service contract that the NHRFR has with Guttenberg, North Bergen, Union City, West New York, and Weehawken because he wanted to know the formula the NHRFR uses to decide how much each municipality contributes to the regional department (see related story, p. 3).
“I would suggest that you go to a meeting of the NHRFR and demand from them what you demand from us,” said Daglian. “I don’t know if you used the official OPRA request, [but you] have a right to appeal to the government records council and say that they inappropriately denied your request.”
Drasheff said that there was an agreement, but that “apparently” it was not called a “service agreement.”
Awards contract, gives out checks
Angel Consultant, LLC was awarded a one-year contract, terminating Feb. 9, 2010, for $25,000. This was done because the township needs a professional computer maintenance firm.
Also, several employees were given stipends for perfect attendance for 2008, depending on unused sick and vacation time.
“I want to say that one of the satisfactions of this job is to be able to reward your dedication and sacrifice because I know they’re long suffering employees,” said council member Adela Martinez.
Tricia Tirella can be contacted at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.