CITY OF HACKENSACK

MINUTES

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING

MONDAY, MAY 7, 2012

The Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting of the City Council of the City of Hackensack was held at City Hall, 65 Central Avenue, Hackensack, New Jersey, on Monday, May 7, 2012.

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Mayor Meneses and he asked the City Clerk to call the roll.

Present: Mayor Jorge E. Meneses, Deputy Mayor Michael R. Melfi, Councilman Marlin Townes, Councilwoman Karen K. Sasso, Councilman John P. Labrosse, City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono and City Attorney Joseph C. Zisa.

Mrs. Heck stated: “In accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, Chapter 231, Laws of 1975, adequate notice of this meeting was provided by sending a notice to The Record and the Star-Ledger and by posting a copy on the Bulletin Board in City Hall."

DISCUSSION RE: DIGITAL SIGN ORDINANCE

Mr. Zisa advised that he has met with Fran Reiner and Mayor Meneses regarding this matter and that more time is needed before a draft ordinance can be prepared.

SIDEWALK ORDINANCE

The Council has a draft of the proposed ordinance, however Mr. Lo Iacono said that a change is coming to the handling of fees by municipalities. This will be discussed again at the next work session.

SALARY ORDINANCE

The Council is in possession of a new salary ordinance which prescribes salary ranges only. It was agreed that it will be introduced on May 8, 2012.

MADISON STREET ORDINANCE DISCUSSION

A discussion was held regarding the omission of Madison Street from the City Code, thereby preventing police from issuing tickets on this street. This will be discussed again at the next meeting.

HACKENSACK CAR SERVICE REQUEST

A discussion was held with reference to a letter requesting to obtain taxi licenses. As there are no remaining licenses, a decision would need to be made for either the City to issue new licenses or for the requestor to attempt to buy unused licenses from a taxi company. Mr. Zisa will conduct further research about this.

CBS OUTDOOR REQUEST

It was agreed that the Council needs additional information regarding this request.

SEWER BILLINGS REVIEW

Mr. Lo Iacono spoke to the Council about sewer billings which are being handled by Tax Collector Elisa Coccia. The Council asked Mr. Lo Iacono to please extend their gratitude to her.

FIRE DEPARTMENT FACEBOOK PAGE

Mr. Lo Iacono advised that the Fire Department is setting up a Facebook page. Accordingly, he checked with both the League of Municipalities and the JIF to confirm that this is not a conflict. People will not be able to post on the page and there will be only one person in the Fire Department with the authority of the Chief that can post. Also, there will be a link from the City website.

ESGR RESOLUTION AND JEANS FOR TROOPS DAY

Resolutions will be prepared for both of these matters.

VIDEO TAPING OF MEETINGS

Mayor Meneses said that he would like to have a committee to review this. Accordingly, Deputy Mayor Melfi and Mayor Meneses will comprise same.

Councilwoman Sasso said that she had questions about permit fees for the solar installation ordinance. She also asked the City Manager to advise the Building Department that she would like information on permits incorporated into the monthly report of that department.

Councilwoman Sasso also spoke about Arbor Day and her attendance at the State Arbor Day ceremony at which the City received their 20 year Tree City USA award. Councilwoman Sasso also reported that she was pleasantly surprised to learn that a student from Hackensack, Alina Nesimi, was named as first place winner, statewide of the Calendar Art Contest which was run by the State. Accordingly, Alina will be acknowledged publicly at the next Council meeting.

At this point in the meeting, Mayor Meneses announced that he would be interrupting the usual business of the meeting for a presentation by NJIT students who had prepared an infrastructure plan for the City through a federal grant.

A motion to open the meeting to the public was made by Deputy Mayor Melfi and seconded by Councilwoman Sasso.

As no one wished to be heard, a motion was made by Deputy Mayor Melfi and seconded by Councilwoman Sasso to close the public portion of the meeting.

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the City of Hackensack deem it necessary to discuss certain actions under Section 7b7 & 7b8 of the Open Public Meetings Act which pertains to matters falling within attorney-client privilege and personnel matters concerning the employment of a current or prospective public employee(s).

WHEREAS, the discussion more specifically involves: litigation*, personnel issues which may or may not include various disciplinary matters, possible contracts and expenditure of public funds.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor and Council of the City of Hackensack deem it necessary to exclude the public from this discussion. The outcome of the discussion will be disclosed within 90 days or at such time as the interests of the City do not require confidentiality.

A motion was made by Deputy Mayor Melfi and seconded by Councilwoman Sasso to pass the resolution.

Roll Call: Ayes – Labrosse, Townes, Sasso, Melfi, Meneses

The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

APPROVED by the Mayor and Council on ______

ATTEST: ______

CITY CLERK

*Litigation may involve the discussion of the following cases: Dakka, Sarapuchiello, Hibbert, Mellone, Hectorr, EVAL . 62/64 Main Street and/or federal civil litigation and Passaic Street.

**Personnel may also include various disciplinary matters, as well as a workers compensation matter and the Al Ayoubi case.