Motion to dissolve engineering committee fails

POINT PLEASANT BEACH — An impromptu resolution to dissolve the borough council’s engineering committee was defeated on Tuesday night in a 3-2 vote following a motion during the council’s committee reports.

The motion to dissolve the engineering committee came from Councilman Mike Ramos, who explained his opinion that the committee is no longer necessary in the wake of Borough Engineer John Mele’s departure. There is currently no borough engineer.

“Now that Mr. Mele has vacated his position as the in-house engineer for the borough — and we are not hiring another in-house engineer employed by the borough — it no longer seems viable that we have an engineering committee,” said Ramos. “Any future engineering projects can be reported to the council by the borough administrator, and also continue to be discussed on a monthly basis at construction and code committee meetings.”

The committee consists of Ramos as the chair as well as Councilman Jack Pasola and Councilwoman Arlene Testa. In February, when the proposition of forming the subcommittee arose for the first time, Ramos had called it a “duplication of effort,” a sentiment which he echoed in his committee report at Tuesday’s meeting.

“I’m the chairman of the engineering committee,” he said. “I feel strongly that this is a redundant committee…With the use of as-needed, project-based engineers going forward overseeing individual projects, communication will be solidified as the council and borough administrator speak regularly, at every council meeting, and the administrator provides a report and an update as to the status of any project that’s ongoing or being approved by council so the communication is open and transparent.”

Ramos then made a motion to “rescind and discontinue the engineering committee,” which was seconded by Councilman Pasola before the matter was opened for discussion among the council members.

“I don’t understand why we would (disband) something (when) we have projects in town that have not been able to move forward because we have a lack of communication and time gaps for the council to meet with the professionals,” said Council President Rosa Crowley.

“Just like we have a police committee — we trust our chief, we trust our staff, we trust our administrator — but we need a small committee made to oversee certain things. So, I am against abolishing what we just created, which you’re a chair of. If you don’t want to be a chair, I’m sure somebody else will take your position, but I don’t think it’s fair to remove that committee,” said Crowley, who in January of this year led a series of motions to remove Ramos from his position as liaison to the board of education and the recreation committee, as well as liaison to and Class III member of the planning board.

Ramos rebutted, saying, “Speaking as someone who has been removed as chair of many committees, I have no problem being the chair. My issue is, who are we meeting with? We no longer have an in-house engineer.”

When asked by the Mayor Doug Vitale, according to the councilman, the committee has formally met once since its inception in March of this year.

Councilman Pasola briefly made a motion to remove himself from the engineering committee; however, at the mayor’s urging, Pasola rescinded his motion.

“Things are working so much better now that we do not have an in-house engineer,” said Pasola. “I said from day one, when I first got appointed back in January: why do we need an in-house engineer? We spent thousands and thousands of dollars paying him — nothing personal, he’s a good engineer…I agree with Mr. Ramos; I don’t think we need that committee…There’s no reason the building committee can’t, when they meet, talk about engineering.”

The council decided not to disband the engineering committee in a 3-2 vote, with Councilwoman Testa, Councilman Art Gant and Council President Crowley voting “no” and Councilman Ramos and Councilman Pasola voting “yes.” Councilwoman Caryn Byrnes was not present at Tuesday’s meeting.

Check out our other Point Pleasant Beach stories, updated daily. And remember to pick up a copy of The Ocean Star —on newsstands Friday or online in our e-Edition .

This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Ocean Star —on newsstands Friday or online in our e-Edition.

Subscribe today! If you're not already an annual subscriber to The Ocean Star , get your subscription today! For just $38 per year, you will receive local mail delivery weekly, with pages and pages of local news and online access to our e-edition on Starnewsgroup.com.