Borough Council again debates disclosure of talks with Nassau HKT
By Nick Norlen, Staff Writer
Fittingly, Princeton Borough Council used a closed session Tuesday to discuss a potential policy that would govern the release of closed session minutes, according to Borough Administrator Bob Bruschi.
Nevertheless, Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman said the policy is scheduled to be discussed at the council’s next open session.
That issue was just one of the topics discussed by the council Tuesday in relation to the broader situation involving the borough’s ongoing negotiations with downtown developer Nassau HKT.
Mr. Bruschi began the meeting by summarizing the closed session, and noted that the council has received a “significant portion” of Nassau HKT’s response to the remaining items included in the negotiations.
”But there’s some outstanding issues that we need to take up with them,” he said. “There will be a future meeting scheduled with NHKT.”
Since the borough’s redevelopment agreement became a source of dispute between the municipality and Nassau HKT, the council has held a number of closed sessions both to negotiate terms and to discuss strategy among themselves.
According to some borough officials, the borough is entitled to withhold the contents of those sessions if they pertain to current negotiations and strategies.
But Councilman Roger Martindell has said that not releasing the portions of the minutes unrelated to strategy is illegal, and has requested that the July 10 and Aug. 7 closed session minutes be released to the public.
More recently, he wrote a letter to mayor and council with a document detailing a state Supreme Court case that he said Borough Attorney Michael Herbert “identified as the leading case on the public disclosure of closed session minutes.”
The case, Payton v. New Jersey Turnpike Authority, states that “a public body that meets in private generally must make the minutes of its meeting “promptly available to the public.”
However, the court also states that “the extent of disclosure may be modified appropriately … provided the public interest is not subverted.”
Mr. Bruschi said Tuesday that he thinks “it’s clearly safe to say that the council is generally in favor of releasing closed session minutes that have no issues related to negotiations or would jeopardize a position that the council (holds).”
But Mayor Trotman said she plans to discuss that policy at the council’s next meeting.
Though Mr. Martindell said he fears drafting such a policy could drag on for months — further delaying the release of the minutes — Councilman Andrew Koontz disagreed.
”I have a feeling we’re going to have a policy in place in short order and I think your fears will be taken care of then,” he said.
A copy of the July 10 closed session minutes obtained by The Packet under the Open Public Records Act included only one readable line with the rest marked out.
A further OPRA request for the closed session minutes of July 31, Aug. 7, Sept. 4 and 25 was not granted, according to the response from the borough clerk’s office, because the minutes have not been approved by council.
However, a copy of the July 24 closed session minutes provided by the borough does include a summary of the Nassau HKT discussion during that session — which involved “outstanding issues” in the negotiations.
The document lists “personal guarantee” as a remaining discussion item, and notes that Mayor Trotman directed Assistant Borough Attorney Karen Cayci to outline personal guarantee standards for the council, “including bank requirements and annual review in addition to itemized list of outstanding issues.”
On Tuesday, the council dealt with one of the more minor outstanding issues, which was tabled at its Nov. 7 meeting because some council members cited concerns that Nassau HKT was slated to contribute to a portion of it.
The council vote unanimously Tuesday to approve a $60,000 upgrade to the payment processing equipment and software at the Spring Street Municipal Parking Garage.
According to Mr. Bruschi, the outdated system currently in use doesn’t work quickly enough to catch the use of bad credit cards, which has caused the borough to lose money “every week.”
Mr. Bruschi told the council that the developer will likely agree to pay a portion of the improvement cost, and said the borough is at a “critical stage with needing the upgrade.”
He added, “I think as long as the council holds their line and decides that we’re not going to give away something for free, then you hold all the chips — especially with this item.”
Moreover, the system needs to be improved regardless of whether Building C — an outstanding structure planned for the second phase of the development — is constructed, Mr. Bruschi said.
”This is going to allow us to do a lot of the things we wanted to do,” he said, noting that the upgrade will accommodate future changes. “This is not just a one-time thing just so we can process credit cards.”
Though Mr. Bruschi said the borough’s “maximum exposure” for the lost payments would only be a few thousand dollars, Mayor Mildred Trotman said the change would be worth it for the sake of efficiency.
”It’s the cost of doing business at the garage,” Mr. Bruschi said. “We’re making $1.3 million per year, and sometimes we need to invest back in our own system.”