meeting call to order council member Bez Anderson here council member Chapman here council member Clayton here Deputy Mayor Quinn here mayor Moore is absent everyone please stand for a silent prayer moment of reflection we will now salute the flag I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the for stands Nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all asked to comply with the open public meetings act chapter 231 PL 1975 adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in the following manner the annual notice was forwarded to the Asbury Park Press the coaster and the Star Ledger on January 3rd 2023 and posted on the B of board the same date all notices are out file with the city clerk we are now on to Matters from city council council member Bez Anderson yes I have something just give me a minute here okay thank you uh good evening happy holidays to everyone the city of Asbury Park has received a score of 100 the highest score possible in the Human Rights Campaign HRC 2023 municipal equality index which means different aspects of lgbtq plus inclusivity and municipalities around the country cities are rated based on non-discrimination laws the municipality as an employer Municipal Services law enforcement and Leadership on lgbtq plus equality and for the full release please visit the city of Asbury Park website.com that's all for me thank you council member Chapman so I just want to thank everyone who um in Asbury Park who helped to make this season beautiful and great for so many people our staff at DPW for the gorgeous decorations um staff and chamber for the beautiful Christmas tree lightings our Police Department who took so many of our children out holiday shopping there's just so many people to thank Community karma for their backpack Drive which impacted over 700 families is all the faith leaders who have provided food and clothing uh throughout the season as well there's just too many people to name but also thanks to all of you who support these initiatives and I wish everybody a very happy holiday season and a wonderful 2024 thank you council member clonk thank you I also want to wish everybody a wonderful holiday and a happy and prosperous New Year and thank all the people that e already than and more and more thank you Deputy mayy Quinn so to Angela's um uh thank you for bringing that up and I have to thank you Lisa who I know spent a lot of time working on that um application so kudos to you greatly appreciated our score you know went up probably 20 points um because of your diligence so that is very much appreciative we're only four or five in the state and so mayor is not here I'm sure as many of you all see he uh underwent surgery he's on the mend um is looking forward to be being back sometime in January um and wants to wish you all a very happy holiday um you know if you want to shoot him a text but he's he's on the menend I'm getting calls so that's it thank you Matters from the city manager I'm nothing to say Matters from the city attorney I'd just like to wish Donal all the best with reti thank you thanks Fred much appreciated at this time we're on to a proclamation the council would like to present a proclamation to our city manager Donna vie City this is Proclamation from members of the city council and the mayor to our city man as whereas Donna has been a committed public servant for the city of as Park and whereas Donna has served the community as Park since 2019 and has brought the wealth experience and insight and whereas Donna has proven herself to be a valuable asset to the city of asber cor with Advanced knowledge of the city's infrastructure and key to the continued revitalization of asber Park and whereas during her tenure Donna was resilient in her ability to steer the city through the covid-19 pandemic and the city's economic recovery assisted in the establishment of rent saing nation was instrumental in beginning the construction of a long planned new firehouse and oversaw the participatory budet process with the residents and whereas she maintain the character as the parts art and culture by facilitating numerous community events and initiatives each such as mural projects Arts Council the Senor now Festival asor Parks music and Film Festival and asber Fest and whereas the city of asor Park wishes to express a sincere appreciation the for our outstanding performance and dedication to the residents of our community now therefore here resolve as the ad Park city council do hereby thank annaa and wish her the best of luck in [Applause] her thank thank so it's been a privilege to work with the amazing and dedicated staff members of the city of Asbury Park throughout my tenure as a team we have had many accomplishments have always PRI prioritized a quality of life for our residents whether it be navigating a global pandemic implementing programs and services to exist assist with the challenges of mental health issues minimizing the impact of food in security providing enrichement employment opportunities for our youth or maintaining and improving our infrastructure employees with the undying support of council have made have been outstanding in their commitment and abilities for guidance from our professionals and some of them are here Jay thank you for your support um have also been instrumental I must also thank the numerous volunteers and agencies within our community such as the Chamber of Commerce syia syia who's here tonight their Contin support and action are integral to our city and I've been grateful for their dedication I wish Miss Naro the best of luck in the new position and much continued success to all that are a part of the city of Asbury Park it's been my pleasure to serve the community of Asbury Park and to had the opportun opportunity to be a small part of such an extraordinary city thank you all sure question want me to do I a picture before you there [Music] yeah thank you thank you all right we're now on to public participation may have a motion to open up the meeting to the public move it second all in favor I I public participation portion is now open any member of the public who wishes to speak please use the microphone state your name and address for the record and there will be a 3 minute time limit for each speaker again state your name and address thank [Music] you hi everybody Sylvia Sylvia Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce um I wanted to first thank everybody for everything that you guys did to help with the manur lighting and with the tree lighting downtown those are the the two um events that the chamber runs I know there's a lot of tree lightings manal lightings and we still have Quan are coming um but those are the ones that the chamber does that we would absolutely never be able to do if not for um the uh help from the city and particularly our Police Department the fire department and DPW which is now I think just another um part of the chamber those guys are absolutely Ely unbelievable um and I wanted to make sure to wish everybody a very happy um Christmas Hanukkah is over now but I hope if you celebrate that you had a wonderful one um New Year and um and K Quanza coming up um and then wanted to make I'm a little a little rough today I'm I'm sad that Donna is I'm sad Donna is leaving I um it was about four years ago right now that you became our interim city manager and I you know I I Google everybody and I tried to Google you but I didn't realize you had all those extra vowels in your name so I was I wasn't really able to find you so I was like I'm just gonna have to meet her and um and I did and you were you were lovely from the beginning and then you became our um permanent city manager and about a minute later Co and it what a baptism by fire um and the way you handled such an unprecedented time um it's it was wonderful that you were professional and knowledgeable but that particular time also required um compassion and you had it in in just space you just are an unbelievable person to be able to navigate through all of that people were dying and businesses were strugg struggling and failing we all thought it was going to be a few weeks and then we'd be back and it was going to be hard enough to get back from that and when it turned out to be what it was you were present and you were visible and you were responsive and every time I reached out to you about something that my businesses who there were really many of them just didn't think they were going to survive and some of them didn't but then other ones also came back and they did that because Asbury was surviving through it and that wouldn't happened without you here and I thank you for all of that and for being a blessing to me still and I look through old text messages and you you get me and I'm allowed to drop my bad language sometimes and you and and you're nice to me about it so I appreciate that um and and all that you've done so thank you and don't go far and I know where you live thank you syvia I appreciate you too hi re Moro 8th Avenue I also want to say I think I one of my nasty phone calls I say goodbye to Donna but I want to wish her good luck thank you and all that goes with it I know what you've been through I understand and it's not easy having five borses I know so I just want to wish you good luck and hope you have the rest of your future is happy and you enjoy yourself thank you and meanwhile happy New Year and merry Christmas to everyone you too thanks Rita good for you anybody else we're going to close public I'll go good evening everyone my name is Nancy Phillips and I am a resident of Neptune action but I follow the city of Asberry Park very closely the city of Asberry Park is an embarrassment to the town of Mammoth County okay let's start with the Housing Authority councilman Anderson you winess firsthand how fou the Asbury Park Housing Authority there how foul they are you were standing right next to me when the meeting was closed and the public was not made aware how are the elderly supposed to zoom into a meeting how they don't have knowledge what they did was illegal what they did was foul I reported a possible asbest in the whole entire building okay to codee enforcement the Housing Authority okay [Applause] is they what they're doing right now is called elder abuse the way the elderly are living okay is deplorable what the mayor needs to do when he's out of surgery okay he needs to get up off the bench and he needs to take a walk to people apartments in the Housing Authority he need to see the roaches firsthand okay he need to test for possible espesas he need to walk up and down Lake Avenue and look at the homeless people that's everywhere the mayor needs to investigate where did that $2.7 million go that the Housing Authority robbed he is aware of it he told the ASB Park Press he knows but yet everybody in the Housing Authority still have a job the mayor needs to inquire as to why the high school cannot pass basic skills why is the mayor on the bench he does not care about anything unless pertaining to those million dooll condos or the beachfront how can you sit on a bench and don't know that it's discrimination right downstairs in the police department how can you sit on the bench and not know that officer michan L Su to the police department for $1 million how can you sit on the bench and not know that it's homeless people how can you sit on the bench and not give a damn that the Housing Authority robbed the community of $2.7 million why is he in office he needs to be dethroned and if you need a new mayor I'll apply for the job cuz somebody needs to I'm done here next thank you anybody else move to close second second all in favor I I public participation portion is now closed we're now on to the minutes I the executive meeting minutes and regular meeting minutes of the December 6 2023 meeting do I have a motion move it second council member Bez Anderson yes council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes I'm going to say one thing really really quickly not related to public session but just so everyone knows we have some openings I thought you were doing it IA that's okay we have the city of Asbury Park we're probably the only one who's got you know we're a a city of one square mile but we have 20 boards committees and commissions it's all volunteer um those people are the people who really keep the city running in a lot of ways we have openings on multiple boards if you are interested please fill out an application it's on the city's website indicate what board that you are interested in not all of them have openings but many of them do and um we just want to strongly encourage people to do that throughout December and January because throughout January we're going to be doing appointments sorry thank you we're now on to consent to resolutions all matters listed on consent agenda are presented collectively to the city council and will be considered for approval with one vote these matters are considered to be routine and nature and there will be no individual discussion of these items if discussion is desired by one or more council members as to any particular item then said item shall be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately on consent agenda we have resolutions 2023 547 through 2023 548 do I have a motion moving second council member Bez Anderson council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes we're now on to individual resolutions resolution 2023 549 resolution approving payment of bills move it second council member Bez Anderson council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes resolution 2023 550 resolution authorizing emergency rolloff truck repairs needed at the Department of Public Works move it second council member Bez Anderson council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes resolution 2023 551 a resolution approving change order number for the wastewater treatment plant underground storage tank removal project move it second council member Bez Anderson council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes resolution 2023 552 resolution approving change order number two for 2023 pavement and sidewalk improvements project move it second council member Bez Anderson council member Chapman council member Clayton yes mayor Quinn yes resolution 2023 553 a resolution approving change order number nine from Memorial driveing improvements project move it second council member Bez Anderson council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes resolution 2023 554 resolution authorizing the release of a performance bond for 1156 Springwood Avenue block 803 Lots 1 through 14 move it second council member VZ Anderson council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes resolution 2023 555 a resolution appointing an acting city manager Joanne boo second council member Bez Anderson yes council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes congratulations congratulations Jo congratulations uh we're now on to ordinances second reading public hearing I have ordinance 2023 39 ordinance of the city of Asbury Park amending and supplementing subsection 7- 4.5 entitled license fees of SE seven of section 7-40 private parking lots of chapter seven traffic of the code of the city of Asbury Park sure so this ordinance amends um the section of the city code that deals with private parking lots um and basically after a study it it brings asbury's fees in line with what other towns are charging um other towns charge based on the spot and this will um be impose a flat fee of $10 per spot previously we had um uh charge for X number if it was up to 25 it was one fee and then from 25 to the next number say 45 it was the next fee and it wasn't based on the spot um we're now charging $10 per spot which we found to be consistent with how other towns are handling it and which we feel is more financially advantageous to the city may have a motion to open up the public hearing on ordinance 2023 39 move move to open second all in favor ordinance U public hearing on ordinance 2023 39 is now open any member of the public who wishes to speak please use the microphone state your name and address for the record and your comments may be regarding ordinance 2023 39 only move to close second all in favor I I public hearing on ordinance 2023 39 is now closed may have a motion to adopt ordinance 2023 39 move it second council member Bez Anderson yes council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes we're now to ordinance 2023 44 ordinance of the city of Asbury Park to repeal section 276 entitled Award of public contracts of article 10 regulation of public Contracting contributions to public offices and entities of the code of the city of Asbury Park Fred are you will to provide a brief summary on this yes earlier in the year 2023 the state legislature adopted the elections transparency act which preempts the field when it comes to uh the issue of U public Contracting reform and what's commonly known as pay to playay previous ly um municipalities could adopt their own ordinance that could be more stringent than the state regulations but with this new act the state has basically taken over the field and says uh that their Provisions now preempt and the DCA issued a local Finance notice that recommended that Towns now repeal their local pay to Plate ordinances because now the state uh regulations control so we're basically just withdrawing and repealing our local pay to PL restrictions as a result thank you may have a motion to open the public hearing on 2023 44 open second all in favor thank you public hearing on ordinance 2023 44 is now open what could you explain that again what did that mean so the state now has taking control over um how much um professionals like myself and Mr harzel that our firms can contribute to the candidacies of local government officials um previously the state regulations allowed towns to have their own local um requirements that were more stringent than the state regulations but now with this new act that was adopted at the state level in 2023 the state has knocked out all local pay-to-play regulations and said we now have preempted the field and towns can no longer have their own individual uh restrictions that are more restrictive than the state and so the DCA has issued a notice recommending that all towns that previously had their own local restrictions that they repealed which is what we're doing now so we have to follow the state regulations now we can't have our own so how does that affect this um well the the state regulations um um do not allow um contributions within 12 months of um the award of contracts or during the term of contracts um and they place Place limitations on um uh the types of if a contract is is awarded through a fair and open process versus a non-fair and open process and everything is now done through at the State uh with these state regulations yeah so what does that do leave you out well no I'm still governed but not by the local restrictions by the state restrictions oh there's still a state pay to play but the individual pay to plays are now have an individual local pay to playay ordinance anymore the state now is taken over move to close second all in favor I public hearing on ordinance 2023 44 is now closed may have a motion to adopt ordinance 2023 open second move to adopt oh adopt sorry that's okay move move to Second um council member Bez Anderson yes council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes deputy mayor yes we're now to ordinance 2023 45 ordinance of the city of Asbury Park in the county of mammouth in the state of New Jersey authorizing the execution of a lease agreement with Asbury Partners LLC and cajun fish Holdings LLC for Block 4307 Lots 1 2 and 3 within the Asbury Park Waterfront Redevelopment area Don would you be able to provide us with a brief overview certainly this is a lease agreement to relocate the beach equipment to the parking lot adjacent to the wastewater treatment plant we're leasing this from Cajun fish Holdings and this is um a relocation due to the sale of the current location where our equipment is currently stored thank you mayor motion open the public hearing second all in favor I thank you we're just moving equipment Rita from one spot to another I know we before so it was across from the wastewater treatment plant on King yeah that lot so now we're moving it across the street in the parking lot between North Beach and the wastewater treatment plant move to close second all in favor I I public hearing on ordinance 20234 is now closed may have a motion to adopt ordinance 20234 move to adopt second council member Bez Anderson yes council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes we're now to ordinance 2023 46 ordinance constituting the 2023 Transportation update for the city of Asbury Park and amending and supplementing chapter 7 entitled traffic of the code of the city of Asbury Park our transportation director James bonano can you provide a brief overview for us sure thank you so much good evening good even evening uh so this orence is a few recommendations from the parking committee to the city council it adds um four new 15-minute parking spaces that weren't already existing it also codifies some 15minute parking spaces that were existing in our network but not in our code uh just kind of missing you know cleaning up a little bit uh it's intended the 50-minute spaces we're adding are intended to serve a few businesses that don't have much parking available to them specifically along Main Street by Spring Avenue where all parking was removed when Main Street was reconstructed it also adds three areas of the Town three parking areas that are supposed to be intended for taxis and ride share Vehicles the intention is to work with uh companies such as Uber and Lyft to have their drivers only use those areas when picking up to avoid cluttering roads such as Kingsley Street or Main Street when picking up when popular restaurants and bars close thank you may have a motion to open up public hearing on ordinance 2023 46 move open second all in favor I move to close second all in favor I public hearing on ordinance 2023 46 is now closed may have a motion to adopt ordinance 2023 46 move to adopt second second council member Bez Anderson yes council member Chapman council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yes thank you and finally ordinance 20234 8 ordinance of the city of Asbury Park amending and supplementing chapter 15 entitled rent leveling regulations of the code of the city of Asbury Park our director of Community Development Robert Goodman will provide a brief overview of this ordinance good evening Council good evening we had opport to discuss this previously and the changes that you're looking at tonight in the ordinance are consistent to discuss mostly they be revolve around simplifying and streamlining the administrative process for uh managing this ordinance uh it actually reduces a number of small transactional fees or eliminates them and it takes the filing of rent updates from within 25 days of when they occur to it being done annually after having administered this for two years we realized there was very little risk uh by doing so and it simplifies the process it's also in conformance with what our software can do that uh tracks the uh the necessary information to administer this ordinance and it's setting this up for by 2025 to be able to have landlords directly enter this information into the system without having to submit any paper forms uh or you know double checking it will be able to automate the the validation and verification of rent updates by early 2025 thank you thank you thank you Robert made motion to open up the public Hearing in ordinance 2023 48 second all in favor public hearing on ordinance 202348 is now open move to close second all in favor I public hearing and ordinance 202348 is now closed may have a motion to adopt ordinance 202348 move to adopt second council member Bez Anderson yes council member Chapman yes council member Clayton yes Deputy Mayor Quinn yep no one has anything else we're on to adjournment thank you chist move to a journ second all in favor thank you everyone happy holidays