9/15/09 Council Meeting

Nice swearing in ceremony for firefighters. It gave a rare feeling of pride at a council meeting.
Recognition was also given to the doctor who gave CPR to man who was electrocuted and to Census 2010 workers.

Actual business was pretty mundane - but long

City Manager's Report
Anderson Street - will remain closed for 3-4 more weeks. Emergency bids were too high, so work is going through regular bid process, on an accelerated schedule. It seemed that Montana was doing a good job there. We'll see who gets the contract.
First Ward Town Hall Meeting - scheduled for September 23 @ 7pm - M&M Building. City departments will be there to discuss area issues. It will be posted on City website. (same night as next zoning meeting for LTACH??)
http://www.hackensack.org/controls/eventview.aspx?MODE=SINGLE&ID=465
Reorganization of Staff - there has been some moving around in City Hall. The City Clerk is now on the 3rd floor. An employee has been reassigned to answer phones, be receptionist and assist City Manager.

Final Adoption of Ordinances 22-2009 thru 25-2009
Three are parking - Hudson, Meadow, Clinton & Maple
Fourth is Contractual Salary Ordinance

To be voted on and open for public discussion on 10/6 for the following
26-2009 increase number of H-COPS to 220
27-2009 Bond Ordinance for storm & sanitary sewer repairs $598,500 bonds or notes
28-2009 Bond Ordinance for play gym and spray fountain 2nd Ward (Hillers) Park $214,435
29-2009 Elm change to one way street from Pine to Grand
30-2009 Building Dept Fee Schedule
31-2009 No trucks over 4 tons Railroad between Passaic & Anderson (didn't know Railroad ran past Passaic)
32-2009 One hour parking on Hudson from Kansas to E Lafayette (both sides)
33-2009 30 min parking on Linden East side from Anderson to Maple
34-2009 lease 120 parking spaces from HUMC for $1/year for 99 years

The only other items of interest were "First Amendment to Memorandum of Agreement" with HUMC to be signed (renegotiation of cap?) and Cafe Arabica was permitted to re-open under certain terms and conditions as specified in a written agreement.

There were very few public comments and most questions were answered after the citizen had spoken. Basically the public was told that the salary increases were about 3%, City does not pay for gas, food or parking for attendance at League of Municipalities, details of Cafe Arabica "agreement" could not be discussed because there might be litigation, Johnson Park use under Green Acres is still being looked into, parking meters near unemployment office charge .25 for 1/2 hour while on Main you get a full hour (City Manager was asked to look into this by Mayor) and that a citizen had a complaint about the postings on nj.com - especially those of one particular party.

Finally, Councilman Labrosse asked that the Mayor reconsider his new rules for public comment. Thank you Mr. Labrosse.