Bloomfield Council Approves Appropriation of $10.5 million to Purchase Scientific Glass Property

The Bloomfield Council approved an ordinance on first reading by a vote of 5-1, appropriating $10.5 million to fund the purchase of the former Scientific Glass property (Block 875, lots 55 and 102) for public use.

The ordinance authorizes the issuance of $9.975 million in bonds or notes, with the remaining $525,000 needed as a down payment coming from the township’s Open Space Trust Fund.

The township has been working to purchase the property, which is located at 1 and 8 Lion Gate Drive, since last year. It is currently owned by a developer that had planned to build 104 townhouses on the site.

Councilman Nick Joanow, who has urged the township to purchase the property for over a decade, presided over Monday night’s council meeting as Acting Mayor, as Mayor Michael Venezia was absent.

Prior to the vote, Councilman Joe Lopez stated that he had been thinking about the planned purchase and felt that $10 million was “a lot of money” to invest in an “empty piece of property.” He said as a former member of the Board of Education, he was involved in the efforts to renovate Foley Field. He pointed out that that expenditure (which was $2.9 million) had been approved by the voters by referendum, and said the people should have the opportunity to approve this expenditure as well.

Lopez stated that while he agreed with the reasons to obtain the property, including reduction of flooding and preventing another increase in the number of children attending the local schools, there were other uses for that money that would be better for the township. One example he cited was obtaining South Junior High (currently slated for development into 114 studio apartments) for use as a school to ameliorate the crowding in some of the elementary schools.

Councilman Carlos Pomares agreed that $10 million is a lot of money, but said that in this case it is a worthwhile expense, as the township is 95% built out and preservation of additional open space would have a “multigenerational” benefit. “At some point,” he said, “It’s not just about dollars and cents.” He also said there are grants the township can secure to offset the costs.

Councilwoman Nina Davis agreed, saying that the purchase is about the long term, and not short-term political gain. Councilman Elias Chalet also stated his support for the ordinance.

Councilman Carlos Bernard said he agreed with Lopez, pointing out that when he had requested a police substation in the Third Ward, it was put to a vote (and approved) via a referendum last November.

Attorney Brian Aloia noted that postponing the appropriation until after a November vote would basically shut down the current agreement that the township has been negotiating. Acting Mayor Joanow told the council members there would be a public hearing where the management team directly involved in the negotiations would explain further details about the funding and be available to answer questions from the council and the public. He said that the council would have another opportunity to vote on the measure on second reading at that time.

When the vote came, Councilors Chalet, Davis and Pomares voted yes and Councilman Bernard abstained. Joanow told him abstention was the same as voting no, as the ordinance needed five votes to pass. After further discussion, including more assurances that the council would learn more at the public hearing and would then get to vote again on second reading, Bernard changed his vote to yes, and the ordinance passed 5-1.

Historic Preservation Commission

An ordinance creating a Historic Preservation Commission in Bloomfield also passed on first reading on Monday. Councilman Pomares explained that currently Bloomfield has a Historic District Review Board, which only has jurisdiction over the officially designated Historic District surrounding the Bloomfield Green. The new ordinance will create a Commission that would oversee the whole township. Most towns in New Jersey have Commissions. The ordinance passed 6-0.

Police Commendations

The Council awarded commendations to Sergeant Fano and Officers Piscitelli, Barillari, Gonzalez and Cartagena, for apprehending four suspects and recovering a Tec-9 handgun and .40 caliber Glock pistol as well as 33 rounds of ammunition (including “cop killer” bullets).

They also awarded a second commendation to Officer Stefano Barillari for rescuing a toddler who had fallen into a koi pond unbeknownst to his caretakers. Officer Barillari, stopping to check out a house with an open door, heard the child crying, found him waist-deep in the pond at the house next door, and brought him to safety.

Police Department Changes

Consultant Samuel DeMaio of SDM Protective Services presented highlights of his recommendations for changes to the Bloomfield Police Department. DeMaio, a former Newark Police Director, was hired by the township in March to conduct a management study of the department.

DeMaio said the department will implement a new schedule to better cover the hours between 7:30 p.m. and 3:30 a.m., when the largest number of calls for service come in. The new schedule calls for three shifts, down from five.

He also discussed changes in the number of sergeants and captains. He said there are two vacancies at the lieutenant level. Once two sergeants are promoted to fill those vacancies, there will be 19 sergeants.

The council discussed the amendment to the ordinance governing the Police Department’s T/O (Table of Organization), which had been on the agenda and held until after DeMaio’s presentation. The amendment designates the number of sergeants in the department to be “up to 20.” Councilman Lopez asked that that number be changed to 16. DeMaio recommended that they implement the new schedule for six months as a pilot program before reducing the official number of sergeants. He said further reductions in the number of sergeants could be attained through attrition.

The council also asked to reduce the number of captains from 6 to 3.

The council ultimately passed the amended ordinance on first reading. One major change the amendment makes is to create the position of Police Director. It states in part:

“A. There shall be a Department of Police, also known as the Police Department, the head of which shall be the Police Director.

Where [a] municipality has opted not to name a Chief of Police, the Director of Police is vested with such authority, without a Chief of Police, all Police Officers are subordinate to the Director of Police in accordance with rank, and the Director is entitled to assume duties ordinarily assigned to Chief of Police, including directing daily operations of the Police Department.”

Recent Boil Water Alert

Bloomfield Licensed Water Operator Anthony Marucci and Health Officer Mike Fitzpatrick spoke at the beginning of the meeting to address the recent boil water notice that the town issued last Thursday. Marucci explained the township takes 50 samples a month. He said 25 samples were taken on July 7 as part of the routine sampling process. Seven came back positive for total coliform the next day. (The samples take 18 hours to incubate, and are tested at a certified laboratory). At that point the town was required to re-sample, which they did. Just one sample came back positive, and they issued the boil water alert as required by state regulations.

Fitzpatrick explained that the heavy rains of July 3 and 4, followed by extreme heat on the two following days, likely caused the problem. He said the rain would churn up the reservoir water, and the heat would cause an inversion, with silt and bottom level water coming to the top. He said geese and ducks were probably the source of the contamination. He also said that they are allowed two positive samples per month without issuing any alerts. Fitzpatrick said that the one positive reading found after retesting stemmed from a local establishment that had a filtration system that filtered out the chlorine. As a result, there was likely not enough chlorine to completely eliminate any contamination that was in the water at that site.

Fitzpatrick also stated that animals that drink contaminated water are not at risk due to the differences in their digestive systems compared to humans.

He said they will continue to test every two weeks to ensure the water remains pure.  They are also going to look into how to improve the testing procedure.

Animal Shelter

During the public comment period, Municipal Clerk Louise Palagano read a letter from Karen Banda asking when the RFP for management of the Bloomfield Animal Shelter would be going out. She stated that Township Adminstrator Ted Ehrenburg had issued it and had responded to her that bids were due back on July 30, 2014 at 10 a.m.

School Bus Problems

Three people spoke about problems with the Bloomfield High School school buses. Alyn Specht, who lives on Park Avenue, said he had been complaining about school buses idling on his street for longer than the local ordinances allow, and was subsequently forced to sign an agreement after a court hearing and mediation. Another Park Avenue resident also spoke about the buses idling. Jon Semcer said he was almost hit by a school bus as it swerved into his lane to go around school buses parked on Broad Street.

Acting Mayor Nick Joanow said that he and the council “hear and understand your plight.” He requested that Township Administrator Ted Ehrenburg, the Chief of Police and the Fire Department code enforcer reach out to the Board of Education and come back to the next meeting with a solution that will address the issues that were raised.

The next council meeting will be a Conference Meeting to be held next Monday, July 21, at 7 p.m. in the 2nd floor conference room in the Law Enforcement Building.