Boggia represented the borough April 14 in Superior Court for a case management meeting for a lawsuit by Woodcliff Realty against the borough’s planning board, the borough and i.Park, the developer of a mixed-use complex on River Road that will include a new borough hall and police station.

The lawsuit was filed on March 13 but some of the council members said they didn’t find out until earlier this month after Councilman Denis Gallagher asked for an update on the i.Park project and Mayor Nancy Merse said there was a lawsuit involving the developer and a neighbor.

The complaint and answers filed at the Bergen County Court House in Hackensack showed that the three parties were named in the suit and Merse and Council President Neda Rose were also mentioned because they had voted on the application as members of the planning board. The trial for the lawsuit is scheduled for July 11.

There was a council meeting April 14 but Boggia did not mention the lawsuit during his report to the council.

"I have a very serious problem with my attorney sitting next to me and not telling me I’ve been sued for two months," Councilman David Weschler said.

Boggia said all the documents were forward to the borough and he followed the usual procedure.

"I don’t report everything that comes in," Boggia said.

During the public portion of the meeting, Valory Bardinas, a former councilwoman, asked who was served with the lawsuit.

"Someone here had to accept and if it was Boggia then the council had to authorize him to accept it," she said.

Boggia said he didn’t think he was officially served with the suit. He said he received a phone call from Ira Weiner, the attorney for Woodcliff Realty. Weiner told Boggia that he was representing Councilwoman Beatrice Robbio in her own suit against the borough and was also representing Woodcliff Realty.

"He said that I had to report on April 14," Boggia said.

But he said Weiner never served him with the complaint.

Merse said that the council wouldn’t discuss litigation in a public meeting.

But Mary Hogan, another former councilwoman, asked how Boggia represented the borough if there was no agreement setting the amount of billing for the case. She said terms of payment are discussed during a public meeting.

Bardinas said the attorney needs that agreement before he can represent the borough in court.

"They never took that vote," she said.

Residents also questioned how Boggia could represent the borough since at the time of the lawsuit’s disputed planning board meetings he was the planning board attorney.

"It seems to the public that there’s a cover-up," Hogan said at the meeting.

Weschler said this was "probably the most significant project in borough history" and he was angry that Boggia didn’t inform the council in a more appropriate way.

But Boggia said Weschler could have called him if he had more questions.

"You chose to do this now (at the public meeting) to embarrass me," Boggia said.

While the council had a lengthy closed session to discuss Department of Public Work contract negotiations and the i.Park lawsuit, residents sat in the council chambers discussing how their questions weren’t answered.

The i.Park issue was discussed again later in the public meeting and Robbio motioned for Boggia’s contract to be terminated effective immediately for "breach of professional ethics and failure to inform the governing body that Edgwater was sued on March 13."

Gallagher seconded the motion. He and Robbio voted yes while Rose and Councilman Jim Delaney voted no. Weschler abstained from voting.

The motion didn’t pass and Boggia repeated that he did inform the governing body in the normal manner.

"This is nothing but a grandstand to embarrass me and tarnish my reputation," he said.

Weschler repeated that not finding out about a very important lawsuit was unacceptable. He said he first read the suit on a popular local online message board.

"I hope we can have improved communication in the future and not have council members find out (about lawsuits) on a Web site," he said.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, resident Michael Trachtenberg said he realizes the issue is politically sensitive but said there needs to be a better procedure in place.

"This is no way to run a government," he said. "You can’t have questions of who accepted the service."