Point Boro Board Members Sworn in; Appointments Made

Point Borough Board of Education newcomers Peter Hetzel and Nancy Pazienza, along with incumbent Rick Ruiz, were sworn in at Thursday night's organization meeting at Ocean Road School.

The board voted unanimously for Board Member Sue Byington to serve as board president and Ruiz to serve as vice president and as New Jersey School Boards Association Delegate. Byington was absent due to a family health issue.

The board also voted unanimously to keep Daniel S. Popovitch, who has been board attorney for more than 20 years, and auditor Jump, Scutellaro and Co., who have been working for the district for more than 10 years.

Popovitch received a monthly retainer, as a base contract, of $2,100 from May 1, 2012 through Jan. 31, 2013. He will receive, based on handouts at the meeting, $2,175 from Feb. 1, 2013 through Jan. 31, 2014 and, if reappointed again the following year, $2,225 from Feb. 1, 2014 through Jan. 31, 2015.

Additional billable hours had paid $154 per hour from this past May through the end of this month, which increases to $158 per hour from Feb. 1, 2013 through Jan. 31, 2014. That amount would increase to $165 on Feb. 1, 2014.

For auditing services, Jump, Scutellaro and Co. and Hutchins, Barrell, Meyer and Allison both submitted proposals to do the annual audit for $19,500. The board reappointed Jump, Scutellaro.

A meeting schedule was set, with the next meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at the district administration on Panther Path and the one after that at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at Ocean Road School. The complete schedule will be posted on the district website.

Hetzel and Pazienza replace board members Joan Speroni and Louis Cuevas who decided not to run for reelection.

The three members sworn in Thursday night beat former board member Brian Bartlett in the November general election.