Amboy Guardian 7_20_22
6. The Amboy Guardian *July 20, 2022
*Continued from Page 1July 20, 2022 * The Amboy Guardian .7Water, American Rescue Act Funds and Update on Borinqueneer ParkAmongst Topics Discussedthe Borinqueneers is out of thisworld – it’s off the hook! I wishyou all the best.”Sam Delgado then remarked,“We need to market this town.I’m not from here. I grew up inSpanish Harlem, New York. Ilove this city.”Councilwoman Milady Tejedaspoke up, “I am pro keepinghistory alive, and I hope thispark will educate future generations.”Councilman B.J. Torres spokenext, “The military service andhistory should be inclusive ofall people who have served.It is 70+ years and is good toacknowledge (The Borinqueneers).”Council President Bill Petrickhad a question regardingOrdinance No. 5 - A bond ordinanceproviding for the constructionof the Smith StreetShop Distribution Building forthe Water Utility appropriating$2,400,000 bonds or notes ofthe city to finance the cost.Petrick asked, “Can we takethe cost out of the stimulusmoney?”B.A. Greene responded, “Themoney has already been allocatedfor this project from the2020-2021 Capital Plan. Thecost has gone up since them.”Luis Perez-Jimenez spokenext, “WAWA has alreadybought part of that property.”Councilman B.J. Torresspoke up next, “I heard someof the original restrictions werechanged from the $16 millionwe were supposed to receivefrom the American RescuePlan.”Petrick then talked about OrdinanceNo. 7. – Approvingthe application for a long termtax exemption and authorizinga financial agreement with E-Port Phase II Urban RenewalLLC for the property located atBlock 430 Lot 1.02.Petrick asked, “Should we tablethis for further discussion?”No one responded so it stayedon the agenda.Council President Petrick hada question on R-341-7/22 – Insertionof revenue in the CY2022 Budget for Safe Routes toSchools Grant in the amount of$650,000.Petrick asked, “Does theSTEM School (located on CarlockAvenue) have a crossingguard?”Police Chief Larry Cattanocame forward, stating that hewould find out, “We are lookingto add two more crossingguards.”Councilman Joel Pabon askedabout R-343-7/22 – Putting inrevenue of the CY 2022 Budgetfor the Veteran MemorialPark Improvement Grant in theamount of $1,200,000.Pabon asked, “Which park isthis?”Petrick responded, “It is thelittle league park behind Wendy’son Convery Boulevard.The name always throws peopleoff.”Office of Economic and CommunityDevelopment AssistantDirector Tashi Vazquez spokeon Zoom about R-344-7/22 –Insertion of revenue in the CY2022 Budget for the NeighborhoodPreservation Grant in theamount of $125,000.Vazquez said, “This is anOECD Grant along with the Departmentof Recreation and wehave already received this grant.It is part of the NPP (the NeighborhoodPreservation Program)Budget which is a 5-year planthat was approved by the council.Included would be murals,sidewalk cleanups, etc.”Petrick then talked aboutR-347-7/22 – A contract withB&W Construction for removaland replacement of SettledConcrete walkaway along thebay, Water Street between HighStreet and Luis Street in amountnot to exceed $40,475.”Petrick said, “I hope thisdoesn’t happen again. Olderlandfills had all kinds of debris.I remember Front Street nearthe Yacht Club had sand as fillingswhich wasn’t very sturdy.”Engineer Jeff Rauch spoke upvia Zoom, “The sidewalk willbe removed, and the site excavated,and we will put in cleanmaterials. It will be compacted,and a new sidewalk will be builtover it.”Petrick then talked aboutR-348-7/22 – A contract withCenter State Engineering forproject cost which will includedesign engineering, specifications,bid documents, andconstruction inspection wherecapital road improvements toTruxton Drive, Fayette Street(Goodwin Street to StocktonStreet), Fayette Street (HighStreet to Front Street), BrightonAlley and Patterson Alley in anamount not to exceed $45,500.Petrick said, “This amount isthe low cost compared to thenew Water Department Building.”Pabon spoke up next, “I hopethey get this done this year, becausethey keep putting it off.Sunshine Alley already hadmoney allocated to it, but whathappened to it? A lot of streetswere repaved and opened upagain shortly after. Hold theirfeet to the fire. Smith Street,State Street, and New BrunswickAvenue are horrible. Wecan’t wait until October and betold it is too late to start (becauseof bad weather comingup).”Petrick said, “We need to startdates for road repairs.”Rauch replied, “We have to goout for bid to start this work atthe end of July. Truxton will bethe first road to be repaired afterthe contract is awarded. Utilitycompanies are doing separationof lines and in the winter, itcould create icing. We are alsorepaving streets.”Petrick brought up the fact thatBrighton Avenue, Patten Street,and Sunshine Alley were discussedto be repaired during theDiaz Administration.”Rauch replied, “Funding wasnot in place for those streetsuntil the 2022 Budget. ElizabethtownGas is still doingconnections for residential andcommercial properties. Afterthey complete their work, then7/11/22 Caucuswe can start working on streetrepairs.”Bill Petrick asked if they couldgo back to Resolution R-354-7/22 – Authorizing the propercity officials to execute an AdministrativeConsent Order toresolve all penalties associatedwith the failure to complete aremedial action by the regulatorytimeframe.“A partner from the NorthgraveLaw Firm spoke viaZoom, “This is for the landfillat the DPW facility. The timeframewas extended to 2027for the city to do a remediation.This timeframe is mandatory.”Law Director William Opeltalked about R-355-7/22 – Asettlement agreement and releasein the matter of CrowsNest Condominium Associationversus Landline Investments,City of Perth Amboy.Opel said, “This is a tax appealon one unit shared by otherunits.”There was a lengthy discussionregarding R-357-7/22 –Approving the issuance of amural permit to Olga Muzicianfor artwork at 272 Smith Street.Councilman Torres asked, “Isthere a time constraint on thisgrant for this project?”Tashi Vazquez answered viaZoom, “The grant is in the secondyear, and we have to do thisby early August. We have notbeen getting many responses.We paid artists to submit theirrenderings which the BID andOECD agreed to do. No one appliedto do the mural at the trainstation.”Torres spoke up again, “Wemight be setting a precedent ifwe pay for an artist rendering.”Vazquez replied, “We put themural at the train station onhold until renovations are completed.”Torres continued, “Some ofthe artist’s work are not thatdetailed, and we might need anart’s coordinator. We have putin for ten murals through thecounty and it fell through. With$20,000 budgeted for artist renderings,we should have hadseveral artists applying.”Vazquez responded, “Havingmurals are an economic driver,and that is why we try to do atleast one a year.”Torres then mentioned, “JerseyCity has had several artistsdoing murals throughout theyears.”Vazquez then explained, “Wehave reached out to artists whohave also done murals in JerseyCity. There is another resolutionfor artwork to be done at RudykPark. It is your call. We neverput in the money for the artist’srendering, yet. The cost forthe mural done by RiteAid cost$16,000.”Torres continued, “I was notable to attend the meeting aboutthis mural and the other councilmembers were not aware thecost associated with artist renderings.The timelines are notmatching up to advertise whenartists are needed and the deadlineto submit their renderings.”Vazquez explained, “I hadgiven the council the paperworkon time. We want to continue towork with the Arts Council.”Councilman Torres made amotion to table R-357. It wasseconded by Councilman JoelPabon.Fire Chief Ed Mullen talkedabout R-360-7/22 – A contractto Metalcraft Marine US Inc.for the purchase of Fire RescueBoat to replace Marine 5 undera General Services AdministrationGovernment Agency Contractin an amount not to exceed$1,375,000.”Chief Mullen said, “We willhave one boat and the old boatwill be traded in. It took us twoyears to do a crossmatch grantand we lined up additionalfunds. This new boat will be2-feet longer, and it will float indeeper waters. We will be givena $900,000 Port Security Grant.The remainder of the cost willbe through another grant. TheMarine 5 Boat did not catch fire.The barge that had the fireworkscaught fire. The remainder ofthe fireworks were set off later.”The next item discussed wasR-365-7/22- Authorizing thecancellation of interest andfees on account# 146-0 in theamount of $819.75.B.A. Greene spoke, “We hadentities to pay bills online, but ifyour water bill was $25,000 ormore, it could not be paid onlineand those who couldn’t pay onlinewere charged interest. Thatglitch was fixed, and we had tocancel the interest for those waterbills.”Luis Perez-Jimenez spokedabout R-368-7/22 – A contractwith CDM Smith ConsultingEngineers to assist the city withachieving compliance with theWater Quality AccountabilityAct Cyber Security Changesenacted into law November 8,2021, in the amount of $22,800.Perez-Jimenez said, “TheGovernor made amendments.Anyone who has a system with500 internet connections mustdevelop a cyber security plan.”Police Chief Larry Cattanotalked about R-371-7/22 – Acontract with IPS Group 414Solar Parking Pay Stationsin an amount not to exceed$90,978.50 which is beingfunded through the AmericanRescue Plan Act.Cattano stated, “This is fortwo parking lots. One at thetrain station, and maybe one atthe Jefferson Street Parking lotand on some of our city streets.”Pabon spoke up, “I see theAmerican Rescue Act spent onitems that I don’t think are thatimportant.”Greene responded, “TheAmerican Rescue Plan hasmoney for community grants,broadband technology and security.We hope to receive moremoney within the next twomonths.”Pabon had a comment aboutR-373-7/22 – An amendment toR-102-2/13 – An agreement betweenthe city of Perth Amboyand the NJDOT for the Rte. 35Convery Boulevard Bridge overthe 440 Connector Road for anadditional amount of $440,000as outlined in the Utility ModificationAgreement of April 23,2013.Pabon stated he hoped therewere no more delays on thisbridge.Perez-Jimenez spoke up, “It isfor a force main owned by thecity for emergency purposes,such as if there are vibrationsunder the bridge.”There was a discussion onR-377-7/22 – Authorizing agrant to Borinqueneers Park EducationAlliance in an amountof $75,000 to be funded throughthe American Rescue Plan Act.Councilman Pabon questioned,“How can the American RescueFunds be used for this?”Greene responded, “It is acommunity grant for an event.”Opel added, “It can be usedfor nonprofits.”B.J. Torres then asked aboutR-376-7/22 – Authorizing agrant to Celebrate Perth Amboyin the amount of $50,000 for theFourth of July Fireworks to befunded through the AmericanRescue Plan Act.Torres asked, “What was theexpense of the fireworks?”Greene responded, “Theremight be a reimbursement forsome of the funds.”Celebrate Our Stars andStripes Chair Barry Rosengartencame up to speak. Hethanked all who participated inmaking the fireworks a success.“I have been doing this since1989 and it has been exciting,and it has been a privilege to bea part of this. All the expenseswere paid for except for the policeand fire departments. Thecost was $100,000 which waspaid mostly through our sponsors.We had a hardworkingstaff and Yolanda Flores did thebulk of the work. We workedhard, and we are proud of whatwe’ve done to show pride forour country.”Torres continued, “The fireworksget marketed as beingfor the Perth Amboy and SouthAmboy residents, but we aremore cash strapped.”Rosengarten responded,“South Amboy is a third of ourpopulation. We’ve had donationsfrom our city, but peoplewant to celebrate the pride wehave in our city.”Petrick said, “It is moneywell spent. I love fireworks.It is money coming back to usthat will circulate back into ourcommunity. One year, Staten Islandjoined us. We all enjoyedthe patriotic celebration. Thiscountry is a place where everyonewants to come to at anycost. We all benefit and peoplefrom other towns come in andare exposed to our town. I rememberMrs. Nanton said weneed pamphlets to distribute topeople at all of our city eventsto point out all the positives ofour city such as restaurants andother attractions.”Rosengarten responded, “It isfunny that mentioned that, becausewe just signed a contractwith a company who will do arestaurant guide.”Petrick then spoke aboutR-378-7/22 – Authorizing anagreement with Kaboom to installa community playground*Continued on Page 8
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6. The Amboy Guardian *July 20, 2022
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