Sayreville names new construction official Borough pressed disciplinary charges against predecessor BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer As disciplinary hearings continue for the former head of the town's construction office, Sayreville officials appointed Kirk Miick as the new construction official Monday. Mayor Kennedy O'Brien and five of the six Borough Council members approved Miick for the position, a move that officially terminates Michael Gianotto as construction director. Gianotto is fighting disciplinary charges from the borough that include allegations he failed to safeguard plans for construction projects and was repeatedly absent from duty. Gianotto's attorney, David Brook, had his client's ongoing disciplinary hearing opened to the public. Brook has said the borough has no legitimate basis for suspending, and now terminating, his client. Brook said yesterday that the council's decision to appoint a new construction official negates the need for the disciplinary hearings. "If that is the case, why are we having a hearing tomorrow?" he asked. During the course of the legal battle involving Gianotto, it came to light that the Board of Education did not have full permits to proceed with work on the school district's $47 million renovation project at Sayreville War Memorial High School, though that work began last fall. The building department, under Miick, has since issued those permits, and Board of Education President Michael Macagnone said the district is making an effort to ensure the project is completed by the 2009 deadline. The controversy surrounding the construction department involved allegations that it ran a complicated and delayed approval process for the high school and residents' projects. Brook has said that the disciplinary charges against Gianotto came about after Gianotto cited his own boss, borough Business Administrator Jeffry Bertrand, for putting an addition onto his borough home without a building permit. Bertrand said the charges against Gianotto are performance-related, and said those issues were made clear to the employee before Bertrand's home was cited. Miick has been in charge of the construction office throughout Gianotto's suspension. Miick, who is a Sayreville resident, began work with the municipality as a fire inspector, then went on to become fire subcode official about three years ago, according to Bertrand. Miick has also served as acting construction official at various times. "He has worked for the borough in different capacities in the last nine-and-a-half years," Bertrand said. Until Monday, Miick had a dual title as acting construction official and acting director of the department of code enforcement and zoning. He is now the head of all construction activities, Bertrand said. The state Department of Personnel provided the borough with the certification of eligible candidates, Bertrand said, adding that the municipality then selected Miick from the list of four candidates, one of whom was Gianotto. Bertrand said he feels that Miick was a good choice for the position, and noted that the borough's decision to appoint a construction official was not based around the high school reconstruction project issue alone. "He is diligent, he is direct, and he is a conscientious individual," Bertrand said, "and I think that the people who have interacted with him know that already, and the people who have not yet will find that."