Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • January 14, 2009 Franklin Lakes Borough council holds off on naming president by Frank J. McMahon In its first official action of 2009 after the swearing-in of two incumbent council members, the Franklin Lakes Borough Council could not provide a majority vote on a motion to nominate Michael Friscia as the 2009 council president. An opposing nomination of Councilwoman Nathalie Lota was not voted on because the nomination was tabled to provide time for the council to discuss the opposing nominations. When Mayor Maura DeNicola called for nominations for council president, Paulette Ramsey, who had been the council president for the past two years, nominated Friscia, saying it was the tradition of the council to rotate the council president’s position and since Friscia “graciously” stepped aside for her last year, it was his turn to be the president. Councilman Steve Marcus seconded the nomination, but Councilman Brian Trava then nominated Lota for the position and Councilwoman Leslie Greer seconded that nomination. The nominations were closed, and the vote on Friscia, ended in a tie with Ramsey, Marcus and Friscia voting in favor of the nomination, and Trava, Lota and Greer voting against it. Borough Attorney Douglas Doyle advised DeNicola that she could vote to break the tie, or abstain from voting, because it is a council appointment. He explained that if she did not vote, the nomination would not move forward, and DeNicola did not vote. Marcus then moved to table the nomination and all six members of the council voted in favor of that motion to table the nomination process. Ramsey will continue to hold the president’s position until a new appointment is agreed upon by the council. Trava explained that his nomination of Lota was based on his opinion that the job of council president requires a lot of time and promptness and the ability to talk about all the town’s business without the need to recuse oneself and Lota has that time. “Tradition is great, but when it comes to time, you need to be able to do it,” Trava said. Ramsey responded, “No one is more responsible than Mike Friscia.” At that point, DeNicola stopped the debate, saying the council needed to move forward. “Unity doesn’t mean uniformity, and that’s the wonderful thing about our country,” she said. The reorganization meeting continued with a proclamation by DeNicola thanking all the borough’s volunteers and the administration of the oaths of office to Fire Chief Charles Bohny, Assistant Fire Chief Denny Knubel, Captains Lawrence Kohan and Thomas Fahy Jr., and James Webb, the president of the fire department company. Oaths of office were also administered to Captain David Kampschmidt of the borough’s ambulance corps, along with First Lieutenant Laurie Burnette, Second Lieutenant Marc McKeon, Third Lieutenant Jamie Kleinert, and Marilyn Fuhr, the president of the ambulance corps. Those oaths were followed by the mayor’s appointments of the council’s standing committees, professional and staff appointments, and her appointments to various boards, committees, and commissions, and the appointment of Police Officer Robert Lyons, who will be assigned to traffic safety duty. The resolution to approve the council’s bylaws was removed from the consent agenda of the meeting when Friscia said he continued to have concerns about them and would vote against adoption. DeNicola recommended, therefore, that the bylaw resolution be removed from the agenda so further discussion could be held at the council’s next meeting, and the entire council agreed. The Franklin Lakes Borough Council has tabled an ordinance that would regulate noise from construction and property maintenance equipment in the borough until the Planning and Development Committee can review it and conduct additional research on the subject. The action was taken unanimously by the council at its last meeting in December, when Councilman Brian Trava moved that the ordinance be tabled and explained that the ordinance will also be reviewed by the borough’s new attorney. Under consideration by the council for some time, the ordinance was introduced in November at the same time that the borough’s new legal firm, DeCotis, Fitzgerald, Cole and Wixler, was appointed by Mayor Maura DeNicola. Tabling the ordinance will provide time for the new law firm to review the ordinance. Council tables noise ordinance The ordinance proposes an amendment to the section of the borough code entitled “Enumeration of Prohibited Noises” to include the operation of any tools or equipment used in construction, drilling, earth moving, excavating, or demolition work on any weekend or legal holiday, or on weekdays between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. Under the ordinance, however, the use construction equipment would be permitted during the prohibited hours in case of an emergency in the interest of public health and safety. Another section was also supplemented by prohibiting the use of property maintenance machinery including, but not limited to, leaf blowers, snow blowers, lawnmowers, chainsaws, or wood chippers, except on weekdays between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., and Saturdays between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Under the proposed ordinance, (continued on page 21) PROUDLY SERVING WYCKOFF AND THE GREATER BERGEN COUNTY AREA FOR OVER 20 YEARS! 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