Garwood Council Discusses Gun Control Resolution

At Tuesday night's Garwood Council meeting, Councilman Bill Nierstedt presented a resolution he drafted concerning gun control. The resolution lists Garwood's support of state and national adoption of the following gun measures:

1. The requiring of training in firearm safety for gun buyers, paid for by the gun buyers and
2. The re-imposition of the federal ban on the sale of military style assault weapons as they account for a larger share of guns used in mass-murders; and
3. The ban of high-capacity bullet/magazines/reduction to ten rounds maximum, and
4. The adoptiong of universal background checks inclusive of a review of the National Terrorist Watch list, and providing a waiting period before the sale of all weapons, including sales that take place at gun shows, and
5. The ban on the sale of ammunition that can penetrate police bulletproof vests; and
6. The establishment of a regulatory adn reporting program for ammunition sales, and
7. The support of gun buy-back programs, and
8. The creation of mandatory, state shared databases including criminal history, serious mental illness, arrest warrants and restraining orders, and,
9. The review of the nation's involuntary commitment laws regarding the mentally ill to better balance the civil rights of mentally ill individuals with concerns of community safety.

Councilmembers ultimately decided to table the resolution rather than vote on it just yet. Councilwoman Sara Todisco made the motion to table, saying she needed to give the residents time to voice their opinions on it. Councilman Mathieu said he was not in support of the resolution, and that he owns several semiautomatic weapons and is a member of the NRA. 

Westfield townhome development concerns. Former Mayor Dennis McCarthy voiced concerns about a new 16-townhome development recently approved by Westfield for the intersection of Grove and Myrtle Streets on the Garwood border. McCarthy said he was concerned about runoff from the property and how construction might affect the flood plain. McCarthy asked that the mayor direct Borough Engineer Don Guarriello to look over the runoff tables and the mayor and council obliged.

Payment of retired police captain's accrued time off. By a 5-1 vote (Mathieu voted no), council approved an ordinance that will allow the borough to fund retired Police Captain James Pipala's accrued time off over the course of five years. Pipala will receive payment for the $88,291 he is owed in two equal payments, paid this year and next, but the borough will borrow and pay off the money over five years. Councilwoman Sara Todisco explained that this payment structure is a tool the state provides so that municipalities don't have to take on such a large expense in one budget year. Todisco said that because interest rates are so low (she estimates the rate on this loan would be about 1.25 percent), that this is the right move at this time. She added that if the borough had to pay the full sum this year, taxpayers would have to pay an additional $45 more per $100,000 in home assessment for this year.

Councilman Jim Mathieu disagreed, saying the borough already has too much debt. "We are on this borrowing binge," said Mathieu. "This is more debt that's being added. I just think that this is hiding a $45 tax increase that everyone should have been hit with this year. I think this is deceptive. This hides the policies of this mayor and council, where there is no appetite to cut back on things like this – none whatsoever. Also, why are we are paying $90K for people not to work?"

Councilman Blaufeder suggested that in the next few budgets, council anticipate other expenditures like this (for example, when the Chief retires) and that the borough should start saving now. Todisco later suggested negotiating that time off is paid at the rate an officer is making when its accrued, rather than the top rate an officer is making when he or she retires. 

Pipala's accrued time and payments are listed here:

Hours

Description

Hourly Rate

Amount

255

2013 vacation hours

51.95

13,247.25

127.5

2013 holiday hours due

49.12

6,262.80

127.5

2013 sick time hours due

51.95

6,623.63

192

terminal leave calendar month

51.95

9,974.40

166

Compensatory time due

51.95

8,623.70

192

LTDB entitlement due

51.95

9,974.40

646.5

terminal leave sick bank

51.95

33,585.68

1706.5

TOTALS:

88,291.85

Spraying the brook. By a 3-1 vote (Nierstedt voted no; Blaufeder, Mathieu abstained), council approved spraying the Garwood brook to remove vegetation, a process the Board of Health has said is necessary in order to bait the brook for rodents. Councilman Bill Nierstedt initially had asked council to hold off on the spraying until he had time to investigate the chemicals used in the process and whether spraying was truely necessary. Nierstedt reported that after investigating he found that the the brook feeds into the Rahway River, which is actually a source of drinking water in Rahway. He advised that a representative from United Water, whom he consulted, wrote that the spraying should only be done on the vegetation and not directly into the water and that they would prefer an alternative method. Nierstedt said he plans to look into other methods of controlling rodents in the brook for next year.

Garwood PD will get a license plate reader. Paid for entirely by funding from the county and grants, the Garwood Police Department will be getting a license plate reading system that will scan plates for violations as an officer patrols.