28 Jun Borough Meeting Highlights 06-01-2019
Dear West Wildwood neighbors,
West Wildwood borough held its 6th meeting of 2019 on Wednesday, June 3rd at 3PM and was attended by approximately 50 taxpayers. The Mayor and Commissioner Golden were in attendance. Much of the discussion focused on the Budget and the ethics violations imposed on Mayor Fox.
Prior to opening the meeting up to the floor, Mayor Fox acknowledged the Local Services Finance Board (LSFB) violations imposed upon him. He referred to the violations as “ridiculous” and a “joke” and likened them to a motor vehicle violation. He has hired a lawyer to appeal the violations.
The first order of business was Donna Fredrick reading a letter of resignation from Commissioner Maxwell.
The May 1st meeting minutes were not completed but the May 15th special meeting minutes were available to the commissioners. Minutes were approved.
Ordinance 571-2019 was approved on the sale of adjoining property on 221 R Ave for $16,000. This is a remnant piece along the waterfront. The Borough was requested to provide a Quitclaim deed in exchange for the sale price.
Ordinance 572-2019 was approved to exceed municipal tax limits and create a cap bank. This allows the budget to increase above the 2.5% limit to 3.5%.
Ordinance 574-2019 was read creating an ordinance to control litter affecting the storm water system as required by the Department of Environmental Protection Public hearing will be at the next meeting.
Resolution 2019-050 for the Liquor License renewal of the Liquor store was approved.
Resolution 2019-053 for General Hearing officer was approved.
Public Hearing on Budget went for about 10 min and was approved. The public sentiment was it’s unfortunate that we don’t get benefit of reduction in school budget due to the costs of the judgement.
In the public comment part of the meeting Mayor Fox was requested to resign on the basis of the violations resulting in a lack of confidence and evidence of conflict of interest as identified by the independent governing body (LSFB).
Questions also arose as to what would happen as a result of Commissioner Maxwell’s resignation. The governing body and legal counsel were unsure and said they would look into the rules. A resident, John Banning, expressed interest in the open commissioner’s position.
Questions continued regarding Brady Letters for staff and the cost of conflict counsel hired. The legal counsel would not allow discussion on these matters as they are “personnel” related.
Suggestions were made to perform risk analyses to determine the root cause of the lawsuits and to manage the issues proactively.
The JIF appeal has not yet been scheduled.
Mediation for the Mawhinney lawsuit is scheduled for June 13th.
Change of meeting day and time was again requested. Mayor Fox indicated it may be reconsidered; however, he has a schedule conflict.
Consolidation of services was discussed. Mayor Fox would only support a merger with another town.
We encourage you to watch the video of the monthly meetings to fully understand the discussions. To view the videos go to the https://ctwww.org/ website. The latest video is always on the homepage. There is a separate page for the prior videos. Also the newslink page has articles and the communications page has the newsletters.
We appreciate your support through becoming a member and your generous donations. We welcome your feedback as it helps us address the issues most important to you and your family.
Sincerely,
The CTWWW Advisory Council
| Trish Sinnott – President | Mary Anne Welsh – Asst. Treasurer | Bob Bradley – Director |
| Joe Kline – Vice President | Joe Segrest – Secretary | Nancy Doherty – Director |
| Susan Czwalina – Treasurer | Jim Bannan – Director | Paul Matuszak – Director |