With the potentially divisive discussion of the Grover Farm report moved to a closed session at the end of the meeting, West Windsor Council’s reorganization meeting on January 7 ran smoothly for a change.
Council Member George Borek was unanimously appointed to the position of Council president. The only hint of political rancor came when two Council members were nominated for the position of Council vice president. Kristina Samonte was nominated by Kamal Khanna, and Linda Geevers was then nominated by Bryan Maher, who noted the benefits of having the Council leadership shared between Democrats and Republicans. Maher explained that while both candidates were equally qualified, as a matter of fairness and non-partisanship the position should go to Geevers. Appointing Samonte would demonstrate “a hardened level of partisanship that the town doesn’t want to see,” he said.
Samonte and Geevers each abstained from voting on each other’s appointment, and both agreed to work together regardless of who won. By a vote of three to one, Samonte was approved for the position of Council Vice President. Maher was the lone dissenting vote.
During public comments, West Windsor Republican Club President Marshall Lerner echoed Maher’s comments on non-partisanship. He noted that this was “the fourth consecutive year that a Democrat was in charge of the Council.” He also said that many of the town committees were made up entirely of Democrats.
However, at the Town Hall meeting on January 12, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said that he does not consider people’s party affiliations when considering them for a committee position. “Mr. Lerner’s comments are simply not true,” the mayor said. “For example, I know that at least two members of the Planning Board are registered Republicans, and two are Independents.”
The issue that generated the most discussion was a proposed agreement with Mercer County Community College to allow nursing students the opportunity to participate in the Health Department’s Public Health Clinics. Lerner and Jim Solloway both pointed out that Mercer County College had been less than cooperative with the township over the solar farm issue, and perhaps the township should not be entering into agreements with the college as a result. In contrast, resident Brandon Goldberg asked that the Mercer County College students not be penalized because of the actions of the college administration.
Geevers mentioned that she had sent a list of questions to the township regarding this resolution; she explained that she had just received answers prior to the start of the meeting and asked that the resolution be postponed for two weeks for further discussion. Geevers noted that while she recognized that combining the discussion and the vote on agenda items was a way to speed up the process, “there are some issues that needed to be discussed and considered before being voted upon.” Samonte later commented that in general she agreed with Geevers that some issues needed lengthier discussion than was currently being allocated.
Borek asked Business Administrator Marlena Schmid whether there would be any issue with postponing the vote on this resolution for two weeks. Schmid responded that this resolution memorialized “an arrangement that has been in practice already, since 2009, at no cost to the town.”
Schmid added that since she became the business administrator, she has been trying to implement memoranda of agreement to document informal agreements the township has already entered into, and this resolution is a part of that effort. She also noted that one of the students’ responsibilities is to administer flu shots and other inoculations, and the longer the resolution is on hold, the greater the risk of flu or other outbreak. Accordingly, Borek, with Council consent, agreed to pull the resolution from the agenda until after the conclusion of the closed session portion of the meeting, and to vote on the resolution once the Council reconvened in open session later that evening. The resolution then passed by a vote of 5-0.
In other reorganization matters, Council’s discussions revolved around renewal of the contract with Ruderman and Glickman as labor attorney, for a one-year period at a cost not to $30,000; and the reappointment of Michael W. Herbert of Herbert, Van Ness, Cayci & Goodell as Township Attorney, for a one-year period at a cost not to exceed $243,920.
Maher opposed both resolutions, stating that he felt that the labor attorney should be held accountable for the decision to pay for police officers’ helicopter flight lessons; and further that the fact that Herbert had previously announced that he represented both the administration and the council was a conflict of interest. Borek pointed out that it was the appointed arbitrator, not the labor attorney, who had made the decision ordering the township to pay for the flight lessons. Both resolutions passed with a vote of 4-1.
Maher also opposed resolutions that authorized the temporary municipal budget appropriations for 2013 and established the interest rate and penalty to be charged on delinquent taxes.
In addition, the Council endorsed the membership of father and son Jeffrey T. Starr and Aaron A. Starr into the New Jersey State Firemen’s Association. Jeffrey Starr is the president of A-1 Limousine, located at 2 Emmons Drive in West Windsor.
Finally, the Administration provided an update on the Hurricane Sandy debris and Christmas tree cleanup: Zone 4 would be finished as of the second week in January, and then the schedule would resume with Zone 1, following in order until the street cleanup is completed. The Township will then finish the cleanup on public property, starting with street trees and then focusing on downed trees and other debris in Township parks and open spaces.
The Council then went into closed session to discuss the Grover Farm report. Attorney Herbert reportedly shared his report with the council but did not yet release it to the public.
