BOT Meeting re-cap 12-17-12

The following is a brief unofficial recap of many items that occurred or were discussed at the December 17, 2012 BOT Meeting.  Official minutes will be posted online at www.southorange.org when they are available or the video can be viewed on-demand at southorange.org/videoViewer.asp

Presentations

Darryl Walker shared a re-cap of the Street Fair that was held on September 30, 2012:   www.streetfairs.org/southorange

Ordinances on First Reading

Ordinance 2012-24 Approving Valley & Third St Redevelopment Plan, passed 4-0-1 (I abstained)

Resolutions on Consent Agenda

6 items passed on consent agenda, 6-0

Resolutions for Separate Action

Resolution 2012-293 Introducing the 2013 Village Center Alliance Budget, passed 6-0

Resolution 2012-294 Authorizing the issuance and sale of $34,455,000 in bonds, passed 6-0  (this converts current short term bond anticipation notes to longer term financing and funds additional debt for recent tax appeals)

Reports

• Neighborhood meetings are scheduled in January to obtain feedback on the Village's storm response.
• Town Hall Meeting will be scheduled for February 19 to obtain feedback on the Village's storm response.
• Online Survey will be posted to website by end of week to obtain feedback on the Village's storm response.
• NJ Transit - schedule examination was delayed by Sandy;  Residents and Trustee Rosner met with NJ Transit on 12/11 and agreed to give them 2 weeks in January to gather data. NJT will then take 1 week to analyze that data and hopefully develop a modified, acceptable schedule to be presented to the Village representatives on January 29, 2013.  It is hoped that the solutions presented will be able to be implemented within a short amount of time, understanding that some larger changes may need to wait until the NJ Transit regular schedule updates in March or April.
• First Budget workshop was held last week - initial draft indicates municipal increase in 2013 will be less than 2% and may be closer to 1%.
• Village is continuing to work on FEMA reimbursements from the storm.
• Village Hall - waiting on final numbers from cost estimator.
• Village Administrator will distribute a Year-End Status Report to the BOT this week.

Legal & Personnel

• Discussed replacing the assistant to the administrator position, which is vacating.

Planning & Zoning

• Meeting to be held on December 19

Public Safety

• Meeting to held on December 20

Public Works

• Meeting to be held on December 18

Recreation

• Meeting to be held on December 27

Discussion

Protocol for Resolutions Requiring Board Action - Trustee Gould requested that all financial resolutions be discussed by Board prior to a vote.  The Board agreed this should will be addressed by returning to the Conference Agenda format in the new year.

Procedures for Awarding Contracts - Trustee Gould requested that whenever a contract is awarded without an RFP, the BOT should discuss why there is no RFP and what the requirements are for the service and why a particular firm was chosen.

Open Space Committee - I proposed that the Open Space Committee be utilized to vet all projects which require the spending of any funds from the Open Space Trust Fund.  I also requested that a staff person and BOT liaison be appointed to the committee.  

2013 Capital and Maintenance Budget items by SOPD - Trustee Bauer requested that the PD submit their requests for the Capital Budget

2013 Grant Opportunities - Trustee Bauer requested the status of upcoming grant opportunities

ICMA Report Next Steps - Village Administrator will parse the report to delegate various sections to  the relevant standing committees for review and discussion (Public Safety, Legal & Personnel, Public Works and Finance)

For any questions or comments, please post below or email me at mgoldberg@southorange.org