I would like to advise all those present that notice of this special meeting of February 7th 2024 has been provided to the public in accordance with the provisions of the open public meeting Act of the state of New Jersey notice of the time in place of the meeting was posted and file with the city clerk and was forwarded to the Jersey journal and the Star Ledger by facts and regular mail on February 5th 2024 the special meeting of the municipal Council of the city of Bayon is now in session M Medina please call the role Mr Booker here Mr Carol here Mr Perez here miss weer here Mr laaloa here please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I aliance to the flag of the United States America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay our first item is from the honorable James M Davis calling a special meeting of the municipal Council for Wednesday February 7th 2024 at 6 PM immediately followed by the council caucus who'd like to move it second and on that communication Mr Booker hi Mr Carol hi Mr Perez hi Miss weer I Mr laaloa I R1 is a public hearing on a resolution authorizing the mayor Endor his designate to submit an application to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program funding from the urban Parks program in the amount to $5,000 Grant amount and to obtain a Green Acres public development Pro program in the amount of 2,15 15 153,000 in the form of 2,1 153,000 Grant from the state to fund the following project the nor Bay Waterfront Access Project Phase 2 at the cost of$ 2, 653,000 can we move it as a whole please can now is the time for your hearing good evening good evening M Ma I think I just lost this but first of all I want to thank the municipal Council for entertaining this uh this was off your schedule um I think many of you know uh we participate with the Green Acres Program whenever we can they don't always offer funding every year um unfortunately last year I came before you and I presented two projects um that Mr carer had requested both for 24th Street and North stre Street Mini Park and because we had an outstanding tieland issue which had nothing to do with us it's just that over the years there are properties that we've applied for such as raski park alucky park that have tidelands issue and we were never able to close them out because the D who is the Green Acres Program um would not give us a sign off on it so it it was a very complicated issue it had gone on for a few years we had done a great deal of work on it uh through Matrix engineering and um it wasn't until October of this year that the tidelands commission at the request of the mayor Bon actually took us on and said we'll examine this issue and they did they did decide in our favor that tiand should sign sign the waivers that had to be signed to close out these projects you and I have been walking in these projects um Harbor View Down On the Waterfront rowski Park which we all love I mean all these things have been open to the public for at least 10 years but because they were still on our books because thailands which is part of D wouldn't sign off on them we were stuck so I came in good faith last year for two projects and uh we got a letter like eight months later saying oh by the way you have too many open projects so therefore they gave us nothing last year which is sad you know it was was just a sad situation so the mayor jumped to it made sure that we wouldn't be put in that position again and in October of this year the tiand commission approved Bon to sign the waivers and then the next month through Donna ma we had to we had to send in $100 $100 permits for these Parks which she was kind enough to get through for us and then we hit this um okay now you have a permit for the next seven years but you um now need to enter into a management agreement and I'm like okay so we were very very um we're very convoluted like you know we do what we have to do um so we did and we got a letter from the state of New Jersey thankfully on January 5th of this year saying that we could apply for this Green Acres funding unfortunately because of their regulations you you have to have your projects up 15 days prior to your council meeting which would have been January 17th so we missed that deadline also and then um with the help of the council I requested that if you would be so kind you would give us an opportunity to come tonight at a caucus really a regular Caucus meeting the application was due today at 5:00 it was submitted and we got an exception from the state of New Jersey that as long as you consider the application public hearing this evening and uh consider the application if you if you pass a resolution um they will take it until 11:59 tonight we work we work 24 hours that's you know it's important for Bon but also um somebody out here will will write a couple little minute notes uh tonight uh madlin our wonderful city clerk has already arranged to if the council passes the resolution to send it this evening and uh I will have somebody do the very brief minutes that we need to get in tonight to reflect I have reflected already uh we we talked about this at the 17th meeting January 17th meeting which we would have done it at the 17th except it wasn't it wasn't up on the web for 15 days so I did reflect I have sent the uh Boy Scouts I have sent their petition which mine provided to me I have discussed with d the requests from the boy scout and I think also Mr cter is here tonight to discuss possibilities for us to move forward with their request and I will also put a little bit more information I I was briefer at the planning board last night than I am tonight I apologize but um we also discuss with Hudson County we have an annual allocation of Hudson County open space trust funds uh our request for our proposal for application is due in April and we also discuss with the county the fact that the Boy Scouts um had done this wonderful proposal to us so um I don't I think we'll talk more about it as we go on but uh you know we heard what happened at the January 17th meeting and I did talk to D they said they said because the project that we're presenting tonight is really a walkway project that there wasn't a Synergy between the two projects but they said make sure you document it because there's always more funding and perhaps we could do it that way I wasn't satisfied with that considering I F felt that you wouldn't be satisfied with that so we we have a few other options this evening that we would like to present they not gerain totally to um the public hearing on the thing but I want everybody to know that the Boy Scouts petition is already in our application it is in Trend as of 5:00 tonight so they are aware of it and um we take it very seriously because that's the most public input we had on the project so we're very happy very happy when our youngsters and are um their supporters come to us with with applications we can talk more about that later but I wanted to put that up front that um that we did we have already told the of their concerns and interests with with that um I did do a three slide PowerPoint but unfortunately we don't know how to get it up right now uh so I will go through it very quickly but um this is an application to New Jersey D green acors program uh their Urban parks and also their Urban Parks uh development project which is their rollover program and what it would do is I think all of us have been out to 16th Street Park and the wonderful uh the wonderful work that's been done uh incrementally by Mr CER and his staff and Mr Reichel and Mr Russo on that and so we did a application a few years ago for um for phase one of the 16th Street Park and we put in a boat ramp we put in a kayak launch we did several things down that after that New Jersey Department of Transportation thought it was such a good project they uh approached us and gave us $500 $500,000 additional to put in AER lighting and Shore stabilization believe it or not the hackin river Waterfront is such a you know such a jewel for us in Bon um we already have some wonderful parks on it we you know let's face it we weren't able to use the Hudson River Waterfront because most of the property was between contaminated between imtt or we had M for many years so we had in well many other towns developed their Hudson River Waterfront we we supported the jewel which was our hacken sack River Waterfront and it's we've done amazing things out there under Miss Mr carer so this application would be to continue the work that's been done done on 16th Street Park which would be completion of the boardwalk project including connections to Street ends construct fishing and observation Pier construct a boat ramp Landscaping lighting and Shoreland Wetland improvements the anticipated construction schedule would be 9 to 12 months and the estimated cost is $2.7 million which I will discuss more I think I gave you all of this so you see some of the pictures of what we've been able to accomplish out there it's just a wonderful wonderful gift wonderful project out there I I hope I know you've all been out there and you've done things the actual estimate for $2.6 million includes General work Demolition and removal earth work fishing pier I like that uh piling Boardwalk railing Boardwalk Stone so lighting education ational signage benches temporary codom I don't even know what that is 12 uh 10 in re reinforced concrete boat ramp I know that's important um and then American the different trees and different amenities for pedestrians that would be out there that total cost would be 2.6 mil5 52 996 how do we get there well we have a $500,000 Grant already from New Jersey DOT to do exactly that um which we will be implementing as part of this we also have the uh improvements that have been done at there previously what we're trying to do tonight is put in an application to DP for $500,000 which basically is our every town gets so that would take us to a million and we are also putting on the record that we're applying for rollover FS funds now on the rollover funds we're eligible for another 1 million4 so this would take us basically up to 2 million4 and then as Mr K will tell you as we did last time we didn't quite get as much as we wanted the last time so you may have to delete items to make the budget match but the real issue here is the the hackin river Waterfront is a jewel for us it's a wonderful thing our people go out there they enjoy it you have Veterans Field there you have the walkway and this is money that would come from the state of New Jersey we have letters of support from Hudson County Planning we have L us to support more importantly not more importantly ever than the Hudson County Planning but from the hackensac river Baye keeper discussing how important it is uh we have other L us of support from internally and from different agencies and and things I think one of the more important things to remember here is is that we were required to do a public survey on on the website I want to thank um both Joe Ryan and Junior frante I wouldn't be able to do all those things and also our planning board commissioner ahed La who volunteered to do the surveys for us and get them out really I would not know how to do some of that stuff so I appreciate it and we did get responses so we we you know we try to follow the rules and the requirements of the grants but um we are just in favor of open space whether it's from Hudson County open space or from Green Acres and they provide money as they can but for a few years they weren't able to and now they're back in I would like to bring up the issue that in order to do this we had to submit a rosi it's the it's the recreation uh and open space inventory I thought originally that I needed a resolution from the council for that I don't I was clarified but I will bring up this point because I know um I know councilman Booker has some concern conerns about some of the projects on the rousi so I want to make sure that he has an opportunity to express some of those thoughts um this evening and uh that's basically my I I mean I can add a lot more but also I could take some input from both uh the council and plus um the public I have a couple questions about did believe the vat ramp was partially put in last time and this will be to bring it up to standards yeah there a lot of broken blocks my last question the I guess number four which would be the boardwalk so it's are we extending it or are we just adding this entryways to those two streets no we we are extending it down to uh to Robin's Reef so it will connect all the way to Rober re plus two now entry and exit paths connecting to and we had that in the original proposal which Tom worked out last year or two years ago actually and it just uh the money wasn't sufficient enough to do that so we we moved it over into phase two of it um I think the you know the important thing about it is that in the meantime uh thanks to actually to um the commissioner Diane gutterz STI who was the commissioner at the time she's now the chief of staff for the governor uh we were offered a 500,000 we actually offered and enter into an agreement for $500,000 which can be spent really focused in that area it's 500,000 it's a lot of money for me but not for you know development purposes so that would be for peer uh stabilization of that one area so that money as U Miss Mara went through uh the agreements is you know if we do this even if we don't do this if we didn't get any funding we would proceed with the dot portion but um with all these grants funding or or matches or you know seen as very important I mean there's 521 municipalities in state of New Jersey we have done a Yan's job at getting funding uh because of the importance of Bon and so we try to you know we try to develop these synergies where we can certainly thank you so I guess I um I want to make sure and I spent some time uh speaking with director Carter also and um you know getting some input from the professionals that help us as well as with you um I guess I wanted maybe I I don't know Tommy do we want to give a little bit of an explanation um just to the Boy Scouts because they so much time and effort into um into this as a project and and I want to make sure that they know that we are um that we value their input and their concerns and that even if perhaps it's it's not um everything that we hope it it could be just because of of financial straints that it's going to be a something um do we do do we two minute sort of scenario or something of that nature or and maybe at this point in time it's just we're not quite sure what it is we're absolutely going to dedicate some time and effort to making sure it's a part of something even if not right at this dedicated area because as as um Miss Max said earlier this is the project in and of itself that's in front of us is really dedicated to the walkway way the boat ramp but I think director Carter spent a significant amount of time looking all around um 16th Street and the park as a whole to see maybe where we could make that work is that is that fair to say Tommy sure um now that I've said it now that I've said it is that the um I wasn't here for the last meeting I'm sorry I missed the Boy Scouts um so you know how like when you want a merit badge you just don't get a merit badge it takes time takes effort so that's kind of similar with the dog park and any park we do it requires a lot of work a lot of paperwork um so what we're doing right now is I talk with the mayor and he likes the idea and we see the problem is twofold that people are bringing their dogs down to park they're not doing the right thing they're taking them off the leash um unfort I think one of them got knocked down or something like that one of the guys right so um a dog park wouldn't fix that problem not the issue is the owners of the dogs not being responsible with the dogs so that being said we know we're never going to get them to fully comply it just never works in a in a perfect world it would but not in this world so we're looking at to possibly on the upper level of 16th Street to make a dog run up there um and then we would apply to make a full-fledged dog park on a smaller scale you're talking probably half a million dollars just by the time you're putting in fencing lighting Turf sprinkler systems all of that to make a sanitary dog park um so we were looking at possible like a dog run up there where there's a safe spot for people to bring their dogs let them run and they won't be you know interacting with the people they won't be in the tennis courts they won't be in the playgrounds so um that being said we're we we're definitely taking that into account unfortunately this grant is already being applied towards this so we wouldn't be able to do a dog park with this so um I could sit down with you guys maybe one day and I'll show you the spot maybe bring the kid kids see if they like it um we're more than more than happy to see a little more input the area you picked um there is a playground there so we can't just remove a playground to put a dog park we would have to create a new playground somewhere else Green Acres has requirements that you can't take away certain things without replacing unless they give us the okay on all of that stuff so um I think we could definitely come to something where I think everybody happy and that be temporary and then apply for a grant since we're already having this open meeting here and deep uh Green Acres has the application and they know about the petition they may be more apt to where we could find a grant and then build yeah a newer dog park you know so we would do something temporary until hopefully we're able to get the money to do something the I I just want to I just want to follow up on this so I was so excited when I came to the meeting J January 17th when the when the children and the they When the Children came with their uh scout leader I called the next morning because I was like I I understand I was so excited about the fact that they wanted it but I also knew walkway dog bark kind of two different things just in the same location and also history some of you have been here forever like me uh some of you haven't but we actually we actually we've spent so much money down at 16th Street so 10 years ago one of the projects I was closing out was Veterans Field we had a million dollars from D 10 years ago to build the stadium with a soccer field uh we've gotten other money as you know Mr kter can tell you we we got the walkway money we have like three or four walkway grants not only from Green Acres but from other people so there's been a lot and also one of my favorites is that uh through Hudson County open space we were able to really have the first handicap accessible Children's Park in Jersey in in Bayon and like it was you know just a wonderful thing and it was actually I was um the first uh the first week that the mayor was mayor was sworn in we had the we had the groundbreaking and Bayon is always at the Forefront of helping our disabled children so you know so we have a lot to be proud of but but everybody spent County state has spent a lot of money because it's near the it's near the high school and you know it's their field and things like that so but it's a wonderful wonderful space so the addition of this stalk Park is a very interesting concept for me and I called them and I said we really we had all these children coming and they said very good idea make sure you document it and we'll consider it and they said but it wasn't filed by January second on the website and so therefore they were like you know we definitely like the idea we'll work with you but you have an application for a walkway and I was like oh well you know I wasn't happy with them as you know I cannot be sometimes so um but then I called Hudson County open space I talked to them about it those applications I think you were at the meeting with us a couple weeks ago and we talked to them about it and they said well you kind of have to have people in open space also so but we we really have been since since the Boy Scouts came in we have been scouring how we can how we can fund it but as um Mr cter recommended or mentioned we can't take out something that's been paid for but we it's a big space down there you think we'd be able to find something right yeah on the uh upper level of 16th Street right it's the what was originally you know the top part of the park um there's space there it's shaded uh it's kind of underutilized so it'll be a space where if the dog does get out you know people do take them off their leash it's not as uh heavily traveled and we're not worried about maybe getting knocked over again or God forbid somebody get bit by a door or anything like that so it's terrible quieter place for and it' probably be better for dogs too because it's more their own little area there right so I I mean I want I want everybody here tonight to know I mean we take I take I take what you're trying to do very seriously things take a while so you came Jan January 17th I was here and like we're now here February it's only three weeks later we want to get this done it didn't fit quite into this one but they did tell me that they would consider it for future funding which you you don't know this yet that's a big deal to to have somebody at the state of New Jersey say we'll look at it that's a big deal I mean I don't get things I want looked at very often but I told them of your interest I took your petition which was 19 pages I scanned every one of those pages and I sent them to them so now people at the state are thinking Bon's got these really good boy scouts cup Scouts that are really like looking at a really good project so I mean I'm I'm very proud of you all we're going to get it done we just have to figure out figure out what week need a little patience to get it done but we're going to get it done yeah we're g to get it done but I I don't want you to go away I want to get this done because I do a lot of Outreach and input and all that stuff the fact that you want this and you came out to do it it it it makes you shining stores because you know a lot of kids won't come out and like really dedicate themselves to an issue like you are doing at your age it's phenomenal just really wonderful so we got to get it done for them somehow we we definitely admire your actions and uh we will get it done we're not going to say maybe we're GNA say we will get it done yeah so and I I don't know Miss Miss Mauer controls the money in the city so I don't exactly know we'll have to shake exactly but we're shaking her down let's say no but I'm saying I you know I I wish the first time I asked for something when I was that their age it could have happened but you have a you have a group of adults that you really have a group of adults that admire what you did uh so I I want to just ask a question as well the um construction uh of the fishing and observation Pier do you have dimensions on that because that sounds like a really really nice addition uh I would have Mr reel get it to you tomorrow it's probably in here uh I just uh I just don't have I don't have that but I do know that the state of New Jersey looked at his stuff and they decided to fund the pier and I was like that's also a good thing but I do not have the dimensions I mean somebody has the dimensions in here I just don't fishing pier is what what is already there half of that is what they they considered at the fishing pier so we just it's like the walkway fish they're going to make it wider though right cuz that's that's like walking the plank what's there now so it is it's a plank it's six feet seven feet okay so no so so they are going to improve on that though it says construct so going to go from where they are now and start to work your way towards Robins Reef then there's going to be stairways that lead up to Washington Parkway and and okay so no no the the pier that's on the end that goes out the fishing not the board not the boardwalk the fishing pier is like a plank if if that's what you're talking about um number one on the pictures depending on how much money we get and I mean Sue's been great at finding funding for us that's going to determine what we do I think our priority right now is getting that boat ramp fixed first and then probably fishing pier and then continuation of the walkway okay so and that's why we bid it out in phases if you notice is phase two so that this way if funding becomes available and they're saying we need a shovel ready project we have it the engineering's been done the studies have been done it's ready to go go we submit it resubmit it resubmit it again and keep till we get funding till we finish the whole project unless someone wants to give us $3.4 million or what what are we 2.6 million we're really in we're really in good shape though I mean I'm I'm trying to I I looked at the fishing pier it says 885 square feet I I take it so that's the reason I was asking is that a I mean I don't know how to figure that out if we don't know the with so that's that's what I'm saying not the boardwalk the fishing here yeah okay all right that's pretty I'll have that information I'll get it for you in the morning yeah yeah right anybody else have any questions uh yeah um good evening everybody uh councilman Booker here uh so listen first of all I want to thank you for your efforts in terms of uh all these Park projects and the rosi and open space I just want to go on a record that we have already spoken about the pocket park on 2019th in Avenue SE and uh I've been approached by several residents in that area and they're patiently waiting I understand there's a lot of moving parts that go into uh putting these projects together and getting the funding for them but I want to go on the record and let the people know that we are working on that I know we had some issues in terms of uh who ownership of the property who owns it the city owns it myself and the director Mr cter actually have spoken on this before so I'm positive about it but I just want to go on the record letting the the public know that that Park will get taken care of because right now it's being utilized by people in the neighborhood and and it still needs to be fixed and if we want the safety of the children and people using that Park that it needs to be addressed so I am not here you know moaning and groaning about that I just I applaud your efforts and everything that you do but I just want to go on a record anybody watching this right now that we are working on that Park and and we've talked about this park for a bit and I I encourage you to put it on the record because I don't think some things are complicated and this really is one of the complicated ones so and and I really I just you know I've hit my head head against the wall on this one for a number of years so we the city of Bon and I'm not the attorney so Mr Mr uh coffee isn't here so you know please you know I'm just giving you what I remember of it and he would be able to be you know give you the details but we act city of Bon actually leased this property from the neighborhood church that was in the area because we wanted to develop a park somehow along the way because it was being used as a park somebody from the state put it on the rosi and the rosi is the um the inventory of recreational and open space in the state of New Jersey it has very specific regulation so that what once you create a park for whatever reason most of Mostly because you get some sort of funding for it you deed it over to the state to say that you'll keep it as a park so that's what we've done we've got an amazing you know amazing amount of parks in the state state of B it's not a state but it's a city but I mean by the state but in order to get it off the rasi if you decide then you got to do something else and this is all over the state of New Jersey you then you have to apply very rigorous application and you have to replace it to in kind so if you got a quarter acre you got to replace it with a half acre if you got a half acre you got to replace it with an acre well finding a two for one ratio like that is sometimes very difficult in this instance the city of Bon never put this parcel on the rousi and we've tried to talk to the State about taking it off the rasi because now it was a lease and therefore unfortunately the owner of the property passed and that you know the The Heirs want to do something or whatever and councilman Booker and the city would like to not only you know pursue it but we'd like to expand it but we're in this Catch 22 of leas property isn't supposed to be on the Ros SE blah blah blah blah I mean so it's been very comp icated and so I have approached councilman Booker several times about okay can we apply to straighten it out and unfortunately we're we're kind of there but we're not there uh the last thing I heard was was that the city will purchase the additional property from the owner and then therefore um we would you know being fee title Fe fee simple we'd own it but the source of the funding for that that I've been told is cdbg now in my other thousand capacities I am the cdbg I'm the affordable housing but I'm also the cdbg because as you know Samantha now works for an autonomous agency and I went to the public hearing on cdbg which was held three weeks ago here in this council chambers they get so little money that I don't see the capital there to do what I really want us to be able to do we want to keep it as a park we want to own and so I did talk to the county of Hudson again County of Hudson does have acquisition funds so what I would you know you have these pots clean up this that and the other thing we've never acquire we never apply under acquisition so I did talk to Franchesca Gano about well can we apply now those applications go in uh in April of this year letter of intent and I'm going to check with director Skiller uh about however there really is sufficient funding to say cuz I wanted to put it in one of these applications right now but I was told cleaner way is to go cdbg but I'm not sure I'm I'm sure he is looking into it but I'm not sure that there's funding there so I would encourage I'm glad you brought it up because we're talking about rosi you have you can't apply to this for this program unless you like submitted updated rosi that has to be within one year of uh you know today in order and this your partial is on that rosi uh we'd like to take it off to get it out of it but we're still in that and that's really a discussion between um M Mr skander and Mr Coffee but I would encourage you to encourage me that when we go for a Hudson County open space trust fund which we have to send in a letter intent we get that money September 30th of next year it's like lockwork the county of Hudson provides it to us um I would I would really encourage the council to try to go for acquisition funding on this n it's 19th Street park right because then we could do something more but we're in this um and it came up because the planning board Juan I think when you were on the planning board Rich capano got an application and you know they wanted to do something and he said you can't it's on the rousi and you know it's still on it's still on the recreational open space so whatever the solution is we have to pursue it when when should when should we so we could calendar a followup or something of that nature when should we make that request you you can make that request to Mr K right now that uh Mr Russo pursue uh and I will help him uh acquisition and after we talk to Mr Skiller to see if he has just like we're talking about the the DOR run there may be another solution but if not if not but we should in my opinion go for uh acquisition funds in order to fund it because the I I find the county very workable um very helpful um so I I would you know I would just say I can discuss it with Mr Russo um I I certainly already have discussed it with the county um but and I I I tried to talk to Joe today I just didn't get a chance to yeah I um like I said I don't want to belabor the the conversation but I just wanted to go on a record your efforts have been I know your your commitment to not only the community and the parks in the town so I just wanted to go on record because people have been constantly asking me about that Park and I want them to know that we are working towards it there are some loopholes there's some little complicated things that are going on but I wanted to go on public record uh for you and thank you again because I know you're we've looked you had interest in heart we've looked from document to document who put it on I mean we we can't figure out how it got on because normally normally like we you know like the council and um the planning board does you update the rosi and Mr uh didn't happen during Mr Russo's time we you know we we keep going back to see when it got on and we we have approached them and we really haven't gotten you know haven't gotten a solution from them so I think the solution really is to I I agree with Mrs Skiller that we should acquire it so let's figure out how we can acquire it so that we can move forward for you miss thank you thank you very much and uh Mr cter uh director we've spoken about this before I just want to thank you too seriously because I know your heart is in the right place and we just want to resolve this for the citizens uh in that area thanks absolutely we definitely should thank you Lord yeah I know Lord you get me on this one all the time with this park I know I apologize and like I said once we could get the acquisition we can put that on the top of the list as as far as upgrading that Park and doing but the it's in the details you know we have to be able to own it before we can be it over to Green Acres and you know there technical things I'm a I'm a public works director I'm not a lawyer all right so so perhaps through the council president you can uh you can ask Mr Coffee uh to uh discuss it with we'll Remer in for the calendar for a yeah I do it and then you know like I would say uh to go back to uh councilwoman a question you know like let's check back in February CU I'm pretty sure these applications are due in April but they may be doe sooner I I'll make sure I'll be at the council meeting next week I'll be able to tell you what the timeline is I'd be happy to do that of because you were so kind to hear me tonight I really do appreciate it could thanks thank could I ask you for yes Bri very brief update on Cottage Street yes you can this has been going on for a while you can yes do you want the answer sir I maybe not but I okay so I'm going to explain this to you and I'm I'm glad um glad director Russo is sitting next to you so uh Donna Russo was was uh critical to us resolving our issues with de with d Green Acres all these projects from you know the dawn of time when I was here but most people weren't uh you know they've been going on and on and on so the state basically came to and said you have to do certain things for instance we couldn't find the records at mby they floated away I mean we had a storm you know things happen so um so uh director Russo helped us get over the hump by filing a bunch of paperwork as I think everybody has said tonight everything about the state is paperwork which I really do appreciate her efforts on this this was like you know was herculine what she did for us during those conversations and I have not had a chance to have this conversation with the council or with even maybe m Russo although I may have you know I may have glossed over it the state of New Jersey D program green ACR said we'd also like you to uh get a letter from the ba on Cottage Street as you know Cottage Street was applied for in 29 they feel that it is gone beyond its useful life because we have no date because of the FEMA Grant you know we're in very involved in the FEMA Grant doing the underwater the under Mr uh Miss uh kavanau John Armstrong uh Joe Nichols they're all involved in that process and we're kind of finishing phase one and then we'll go on to construction we're really outside the window of Green Acres on on the time frame that you're supposed to use the Green Acres funding they proposed to me and I have not had this disc discussion with anybody else because I was going to have the conversation with you because I thought I should um they suggested we also get a letter from Miss Russo on Cottage Street removing the Cottage Street project from the current program with the cavat they said that if we do that they will give us a letter saying that they will fund it again in 2025 we're in 2024 now and that will start the clock again the clock would be 2025 through 2028 because they are concerned about the fact that it's too you know was approved in 29 and we're in 2024 and we we we're telling them that it's going to be at least two more years to do the underground storage stuff um I I have not had a conversation with you about that it I had the conversation with them two weeks ago and I said to them would you please just let me get through the public hearing on what where we are and then I would have the conversation with the administration on it understood and I do want to have that conversation with you but just to clarify we're essentially dealing with two separate factors so the one group willing to refund in 2025 is essentially talking about the park itself while there's the underground element part two that is a different source of funding yes so um just so everybody knows we received a $6 million Grant from Fe and actually turn around I think junior is still here yeah Junior's here so this is um the FEMA the FEMA director in the building is uh Eduardo fante our OEM director who has shephered all of the the Brick grants uh along with support from uh Suzanne kavanau and John Armstrong and Andy reel and the world of Joe Nichols the water people in the building um and the way that was we we were very lucky that we got a $6 million grant for storm water so that Grant actually the way it's written is you do all the upfront paperwork which takes a year and then you file that and then you get the construction money and we've had many conversations about that recently I think a lot of that effort is under Joe Nichols has been helping shepher that but until you put in the underground storage you can't build the park and that's what D is question questioning they're not questioning the need for the park they want the park they're questioning um the time frames that they're allowed to spend money in all right well let's meet as soon as we can I while I'm dissatisfied with taking it off the list and putting it back at the as long as as long as we have a letter from them stating that it will be the project and hopefully we get that letter but we can also begin the underground work so this all coalesces at one time I have uh I have asked that question but I I think I heard discussions on it like you know we have development team meetings every week I think I heard discussions on it in the past couple weeks and I have brought up to them well we have this issue with d they'd like us to pull it and then you know reallocate it um I really I I don't like to drop things on you but it happened two weeks ago and I said would you let me get through tonight and then I I did start to mention that you know we we need to talk about conry because we also need to talk about and this is what I've said to DP I'm not letting that money go I mean I'm looking for a reallocation of that money to and they've told me it has to be to something that's already approved um so anyway so I've tried to I started that discussion with them well what does that mean you know because you know we have a list of things so you know I think you had 750 for that we want the 750 to to be reallocated to another project in Bon and then that's fine and that you know I I understand I had we had the freight Grant in down at mby uh we we we had a we missed the deadline because of covid and we had to you know get that letter saying oh well you know time ran out and we had a companion letter the same day saying but you can start a new and we we got the project done and built in nine months so you know I understand as long as you're talking to a uh responsible party on the other side uh but you know but I would not discuss with the reallocation of money for Cottage Street and Mr Carol's Ward without talking to Mr Carol and and and the board and your board you you are the board for me um so you okay okay um this past week I met with director Carter and Rob Russo our engineer yes to go over some of the things for Russell Golding Park there's a lot of good things happening Russell Golding Park is the park on Avenue E right by the turnpike by uh 50th Street down to about uh 48th Street and um I want to say thank you and congratulations on getting us a very very large Grant and um that money is going to be very very well worth spent and there's a lot of great ideas I don't want to go and expand on that too much yet but uh I think director Carter can tell you it's going to be some unique things there and um it's it's in the process and I want to say it's the largest Hut Grant EDI Grant in the state of New Jersey for Russell Golding Park and it was supplemented by Hudson County open space which they you know you were very patient by allowing that money to be waved during the turnpike whatever the turnpike building took part of that money and diverted it to Fitzpatrick part yes it was diverted but um but I will say that and I'm Sorry Miss Mar is out of the because I wanted to thank her we had a very good Capital meeting the other day I provided all the documents on the fact that Russell Golding is fully funded and Mr Russo assured me that his staff is starting back at CME is starting the design and he told me that you know in in a little bit he'll be able to uh tell me you know what the time frame is on the bidding um and as long we also discussed the ever HUD EDI Grant I have to thank uh thank uh Congressman Menendez for his support because these are federal grants that don't just come without support from from DC but uh Field of Dreams and Mr U Mr U Mr carer and miss marer and Mr Russo said that U they you know Rob told me he's going to make that a priority also because we have a deadline on that one we have to have that open for the 10th year anniversary which is May of next 2025 so it's an amazing um space because a lot of people don't know this but I'd say about 55 years ago it was a junkyard and there was no turnpike at that time and you would go down Avenue E if you were coming from downtown to Uptown you'd have to make a left on 503d street and there was no Turnpike if you wanted to go say to Newark or whatever you have to go over the bridge by communa Avenue in Jersey City so when Bon got its own exit um right around that time they created a playground I think I showed director Carter I must have been four or five years old at the time and brand new park my mom took pictures of me sliding down and it's a lot different the regulations were a lot different back then than they are now so this is going to be state-of-the-art per it's going to be a lot of really good things that I don't want to give away right now the May the mayor but everybody did a great job you did a great job the mayor discussed it with me today and he said don't forget it's the Gateway into town which you know which is really really amazing the other thing uh I got a call from Washington uh the other day about other projects and we talked about um doing safety and pedestrian improvements at both parks both Field of Dreams which is down on 11 Street and your Park your Park on 50 you know 57 stre and you know other things but we we discussed the fact that we would like to do like to we got a call from the cits our our Washington Consultants they said we know we didn't get any money in 2024 because the Congress hasn't acted on anything on 2024 but they said but we're asked for projects for 2025 uh so I said you know in my mind you know definitely because we talked to the county about it last week and they said that they thought that we should look at some uh safety Improv improvements for the children crossing the streets and uh traffic caling and stuff like that so we're going to be pursuing that shortly also we have a question from the audience Mike you want to come up to the podium yes yes Mike I'm gonna move over all right yes because I like walking if I can thank you uh I know the to uh it's basically a point of order uh there's lots of parks in you do a great job I really appreciate everything you do and Andy and every like that and the Waterfront access in Bayon is is is terrific And in regards to the 16th Street Park the boardwalk extension going to Robins Reef okay so and you mentioned there's going to be a walkway is it just going to connect the robins reef and and the walkway will be there or there will be walkways coming down from the homes Mike I I I don't know the details I I apologize um I I was given it was very broad it said it said uh Waterfront access um connecting from I can get it for you in the morning oh okay yeah because I mean from Robin stre over to the park would be would be great you know but I don't think you'll have walkways coming down from the private homes will you uh when we I don't think it's going all the way connecting to Robin's Reef not at this point yet I know there's some obstacles there as far as Robin but it says from the street end take it to mean private homes I took it to mean the public access streets public streetway up to the street that's what they they would like to do okay cuz that's up fairly High yeah to where you're not just walking down a walkway and then turning around and coming back right oh yeah or go out on one of the streets a circle but yeah residents who live on you know the other dead end blocks are able to just come down use the Waterfront and go back up okay yeah cuz you've all done a great job with the park and the the fishing peers there are terrific cuz I think you just redid them two years ago maybe because they redid All the fishing peers at 16th Street out into the bay so it's terrific and um what other question did I have and then I guess that'll do the Landscaping work also yes on the kayak now this because I know with the grants and everything the money it cost but being a peninsula City shouldn't the city have some kind of a a kayak uh house or what I would suggest since it shouldn't cost too much money at 16 Street Park since you have the kayak ramp there those shipping containers at the corner by the boat launch if we could use one of those to store our kayaks in the summer just where the people put it there at their own risk let's say or is a bar chain inside it and you can because everybody in Bon has kayaks everybody I talked to have kayaks but by the time you get it out of your house put it on your car go down unload it it's a to to use this kayak launch and to make it easy without a large cost to the city or having to get grant money just a shipping container and maybe a kayak Club could get started and say you here's your container if you use it and put a chain on it and just you know in out with the boat you're at your own risk in that sense were you listening by my window today we were actually reaching out to a company about seeing about um rental no getting some shipping containers and reaching out to see um they have a rental company that has a truck store like the container in some of the county parks already Lincoln Park right that L it didn't uh but that's that's another I know that's a big job and it's Insurance involved and everything like that I'm just saying I have a kayak so I can go down to the park and put it in just a shipping container and lock it up you know and then when I want to use it I just go down there and boom I don't have to call anybody up or rent it or get you know any insurance papers and stuff I'm on my own because it's a great job you're doing with the parks and uh we do bird watching and everything we at rowski today we had over 18 species of birds and it's just a terrific thing that's going on so just keep up the great work and we really appreciate it we know you all working hard on it thank you real quick uh Mike uh just to let you know I don't have a kayak so maybe you can show me how to you see once you get a place to put it you'll get one you can show me how how that works thanks well here's a chance to plug the kayak event that's going to come we do it every year so we'll be doing it again I believe it's we're gonna have a discussion on Friday on the exact dat we're looking for August the end of August on a Sunday so come on down Lloyd will put you in the kayak you paddle around good luck with that one you want are we good everybody's good on this you want to move oh I'm sorry Rich yeah hi Rich I just get your name because oh rich rich matelski 87 87 was third I have to go do minutes from this meeting get them in by midnight I'll I'll be real fast no no I want you to talk I just have to say who you are in oh okay Rich melki yeah I like a lot of this guys uh run the same wavelength there but as far as the uh the boat ramp that's a given I mean that's the only public boat ramp in town right as far as the walkway though which I call the walkway to nowhere I mean I don't I mean I would rather I was I came here really I thought maybe you'd be talking about the walkway from veteran Stadium to 16th which was going to be a great thing but that seemed to have petered out maybe we can sort of put some money into that project back into that project that was Green Acres that that went one block and stopped Tommy isn't that what this is this is phase two of no I don't think this has anything to do with that he's looking to go from why why extend that walkway which no one uses rich maybe uh director skeler can all right let me just finish up yeah okay but Tom one other thing about the stairway going up how about the the Disability Act you going to put an elevator there I don't you know he's saying to Robins reef and then a walkway up to Washington Parkway right that's what they have in we going to put elevator for the disabil for disabled I mean I don't see I don't see the the need need to extend that walkway no I'm in the park every day nobody uses that it's a walkway to Nowhere where in 16 stre yeah I would I would argue the point once you put new con see is beer cats I mean once you put new construction in it draws people to it I'll give you the example of the playgrounds Fitz Park before it was refurbished you had some people using it take a look on a sunny day when that that's listen there's a lot of good projects but that that I'm just going to I'll I'll post red interest I'll give you a picture every day of the summer there's nobody on there maybe they're drinking some beers and doing some other uh activities I'd put it to you this way as well I I think at one point the idea was that there would eventually be a walkway that would take you from First Street all the way around I we got Robins reef is not is a problem but there are things in place yeah that are happening that would eventually connect okay okay I don't want to take up I I want to go up tonight's columus uh the fion pier is this something new or is this or is this the fishion peers are already there it's new that would be new huh it says construction so I'm thinking where will it be will it extend out that's what the the picture shows which picture that was the question I asked picture right on the front page shows okay oh you that that dark brown thing to the to the left of the okay that that would make sense that would make sense because nobody wants to fish in that Cove right you know what I'm saying and and as far as the parks and Bayon I think as far as fishermen go that's the least used park for fishing most fishing is done on the west side down the base uh wherever they can f but Hudson County Park rowski Park even veteran Stadium 16 Street Park is I mean from my I'm in the park all the time on my bike nobody fishes there I don't know why maybe they don't bite there and I'm not much of a fisherman but i' love walking on a pier I'd love to go out there and even just do you have another option is you would you rather see something else yeah I'd rather the dog part I'd rather put any money that you could save like is the boardwalk am I reading this right the boardwalk is $600,000 is that how it is that how that 30,000 which is the by far the biggest item on this list 600,000 to extend a walkway a city block I think it has a lot of Tommy says you could build a a dog park for 500,000 but this grant is for Waterfront access you wouldn't be able to build a dog 6 600,000 before before director skiler gets up because he's got more details no I wanted to tell tell you it's the um it's the shore stabilization you can't just build anything out there CU you're out in the water leave the leave the walkway there as it is it's it's it's useless as it is don't make it twice as useless excuse me um M Rich um councilman book here real quick I understand your argument and I and I'm I'm hearing what you're saying but I I mean this might be a little fantasy but yeah it's like if you ever seen the movie uh if you build it they will come and I think if you allow people if you build it and let them see it but it's there it's already built when are they start when are they going to come they're extending it I think you get renewed interest with the new building I that's my opinion are you serious only access right now is what is from 16th Street so if you lived on Avenue way you have to walk all the way to 16th Street come all the way down around just to walk on that little walking is good exercise man I know but what I'm saying is if you have an another exit onto there you could come from 12 Street walk down Washington Park onto the fishing pier onto the walkway to the park so just again kind of uh bring some clarification to on the on the walkways the walkway uh of what we're doing for uh the city of Bayon um is a state mandated program so for the the Hudson County uh the Hudson ber County walkway that's supposed to connect the George Washington Bridge to the Bayon bridge that is a state policy that uh I'll be honest with you is older than me uh in that regard this is back from the 1980s on it and there's supposed to be a continuous walkway from like I said George Washington Bridge to the Bon bridge now that is a policy goal that has been initiated by the state um from a practical standpoint though uh because of how um there's always a balancing act the city of Bayon has a lot of industrial property um you know on Constable hook and because of that walkways are allowed to be built elsewhere throughout the city to kind of continue that you know that trail uh so when we have walkways you know that are you know talked about being built to Nowhere um it is a you know a plan to help achieve that Statewide policy goal um and then furthermore as we have other developments that are coming up and being built they're being funded from outside sources too in addition to uh you know you know Green Acres or or Tide lands funding that Miss Mack has been um you know very uh you know gracious and helping uh fund it uh get those funds you know she spent a lot of time and effort to get there um even from private development uh to do the payment in Loop per this uh State D policy um you know such as progis they're um you know giving us a contribution to fund our walkway projects uh to the tune of about $2.3 million so uh that check should be coming uh very soon um here on that uh but again these are just so that everyone is aware of the you know for the the record on what the policy goals on these walkways are that this is you know something mandated by the state but also again give us you know some flexibility because they look at the challenge you know you know uh they don't want to build a walkway in a Industrial Area uh because our water uh you know is a uh public resource okay so just want to have a good night clarify that for the record thank you bye bye thank you direct coming thank you thank you again shall we so Gary I just want to go on the record and say I I don't remember when there wasn't an exit for Bon either like director SK I'm not that much older than you think 30 kids here tonight about 30 kids here tonight no to a close was not you're wrong so on that resolution Mr Booker hi Mr Carol hi Mr Miss weer I Mr laaloa I and motion to close the hearing over it and on the motion to close the hearing Mr Booker I Mr Carrol I Mr Perez I miss weer I Mr laaloa I we're done thank you thank you Miss Mack excellent really appreciate it