all right I'm gonna kick off ready I like to call the two order the regular meeting of the bota board of education for Tuesday December 19th 2023 into order please stand for the FL FL flag United States of America the stand indivisible the New Jersey open public meeting law wased to ensure the right of the public to have an advanced noce and to attend the meetings of the public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act of the voter board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place thereof posted in the Voda Bor Hall communicated by a letter to the record file with the clerk of the B of bakota and posted on the bakota board of education website um her Mrs Alvarez Mr Alvarez pres Mr Chavez present Mrs Cruz present Mr Navaro present Mrs solivo absent Mr Ortega Mr ret present Mr Miranda s motion Carri for the record have the Mrs olivo could not make it and she notified um also present is superintendent Daman Kennedy board attorney Thomas coin School business administrator board secretary farm epel and assistant board secretary Elizabeth Ruiz also we have a special guest student representative Ashley P welcome this evening um I'd like to get a motion to open up the floor on hearing of the citizens on agenda items only do I have a motion motion Mr Chavez do I have a second m Mr Alvarez any board discussion all in favor I any oppos is there any member of the public who would like to address agenda items only at this moment you'll have a second chance on anything at the end you have five minutes please state your name your street address online as well anyone KY is there anyone present no one's raising their hand no one no so I'm going to move I have a motion to close hearing of agenda items only motion Mrs rucket do I have a second Alvarez Mr Alvarez any board discussion all in favor I any oppos thank you uh moving on to section 31 agenda superintendent report Mr Kennedy good evening uh before we start report I'm going to ask our student rep Ashley to give her report good evening to all my name is Ashley uren and I'm the student council president and student representative here today before I say anything I want to I want to thank Mr Kennedy for inviting me to this meeting due to my absence at the past meetings I will be touching on a lot of subjects but won't take up too much of your time I promise in the last few months we have had a lot of highs including our homecoming dance the fall Sports pep rally and the commencement of our winter sports I hope that we all have a great year moving forward and have a safe break thank you very much for my report first we had two HIV cases reported at Steen school one was founded uh we will be adding a new fourth grade classroom to Steen uh bringing our number up to three fourth grade classrooms over the last couple of weeks we've got an influx of students so our numbers continue to grow uh monthly so we are will be looking to do a districtwide redistrict reregistration process uh in this during the summer to confirm that all students are residing in bagota so I have talked to a couple of different superintendents have done the process in the last couple of years uh and they have confirmed that they have caught you know between 20 to 50 depending on the district size so uh we are packed to the Gill so we want to make sure that everyone um that's going to our schools is living in bota uh congratulations to Mrs Hughes and the students at BHS for their performance in Radium girls anyone was able to get to the performance they did a great job also great job by the high school students of Mr Abraham at the Winter concert last Friday Also kudos to Mrs uh Dr Pas and the BHS team for putting together the eighth grade dance from what I heard they had a great time and and uh the students and the parents were raving about it also as we speak Vape detectors are being installed in the high school and in the middle school by the end of this week we will have a total of 15 Vape detectors and in the high school and eight in the middle school so this is just a deterrent from our students we want to make sure that our locker rooms and and our bathrooms are are safe and healthy for students to go into them and the detectors do work uh very well and alerts Administration if uh any Vape detection or smoking is happening in that bathroom so this is what we have to do also thanks for the PTO and their hard work and generosity over the last couple weeks they have put on many different programs so I want to publicly thank them for all the work that they do in all four of our schools uh tonight um we say goodbye to Mr John Ortega uh who has been with the board for the last three years uh I've had the opportunity to know John since he was in the seventh grade and I've watched him grow so it's been a uh great experience for me to see a former student uh now that I can consider a friend and a colleague colleague so we would like to wish him luck in his future endeavors and lastly uh we had the arborist Miss Elizabeth Stewart walk the fields earlier this month to give recommendation on the tree situation at the fields and right now we have her virtually so we're going to invite her to give that report uh to the public hi my name is Liz Stewart um I'm a New Jersey licens tree expert and I was asked to give a report on all the trees the condition of the trees in the field area um and I used the um the survey that was given to me um did everyone receive the report okay um I mean in general there were um 36 trees identified and out of those 36 trees even without the construction 29 of them were really recommended for removal just because of their poor condition and because they are in a Park area so the construction um plans showed that those trees should be removed anyway because of the site changes and they should just be removed because of their condition on top of that so that all works out there were seven additional trees that were in good condition but because of sight changes four of them I think are slated to be removed and and these were smaller tree trees under 10-in dbh which is about this this big um they're much smaller trees they've probably only been there maybe for under 10 years so they're not significant losses to the area and with your planting plan um on the plants there are about 30 trees being replanted in both field areas which covers the removal of this of these trees as far as canopy cover goes so you're in pretty good shape with your tree plan and your uh removal and replacement plan I guess anyone from the board has any questions and I guess we can open up to the public if anyone has a question while we have the expert here um anyone on the board why don't we open it up yeah right you need a motion all right I'll take a motion to open up FL motion I have a second motion second all in favor any oppos does anyone who would like to address our professional license offers um please stay your name and street address you have five minutes no uh Daniel fi nice to see you Liz know Hi how are you um kind of surprised that Liz was selected as the board of educations um arborist because Liz is actually the Burrow's arborist and the way I understood it from the planning board meeting was that the company in Name Escapes Me Now the engineering firm that's been doing all your plans um said that they had a landscape architect and that they were going to do the plan and then Liz was going to look at it on behalf of the burrow so I'm kind of surprised that Liz has done the work on behalf of the Board of Education because she's the one that did the work on behalf of the board was supposed to peer review what the board was going to do so I'm a little bit surprised by by it but I know an interest list um I have a question about the weeping willows um Liz had said that 29 of the trees and I haven't seen the report and I didn't see it on the website and could you maybe post that on the website 29 of the trees are recommend for removal seven in good condition and she said several were um not that significant size but need to be moved because the Great change were those the weeping willows along the side of the of the park is my question because even though they may not be deemed significant there really isn't going to be anything left if there's going to be Fields soccer fields baseball fields what's what's going to be left uh after after all these trees are removed thank you yeah so I found three weeping willows that were younger I think Danielle that's what you're talking about on the side um 14 inch a 20 inch and an 18 inch they were not in good condition when you go up to them they have Bor holes all throughout them they have some broken branches and not that they were in fair condition I put in my report um because of this construction they are going to try to do they're trying to save these three trees and it will depend on where this path is going and what the um site conditions what changes there will be so those are remaining for now um as construction goes they may need to change that but also they're not in very good condition I ECT that they have a limited life expectancy of maybe another 10 years or if they do live out their natural life they're going to have problems they're going to have broken branches they're not going to be great specimens just because of the condition they're in now um unfortunately um and I don't know if to answer your question of why I'm doing this project um Ed hin had recommended me to the board because there were some trees that were borrow trees and some that were on the property so he had recommended me so I don't that's as far as I know as why I'm I was doing the tree evaluation are you also evaluating the replacement PL so that weeping willows will be um replaced yeah the replacement plan I think you'd be happy with it's very good they have um natural species going in they have 30 trees but they after we did the walk through before I did the tree evaluation they said that there is room to add in especially because there were maybe two or three trees on this plan that were slated to stay and I feel like they should be removed because because they're not in good condition they have significant cracks and decay in them and this is a field area that's going to be used by a lot of people and they're are going to be significant grading changes so as far as safety is concerned I'm doing a risk assessment um and I did not feel like they were safe in a Park area so that's 25 trees uh no the 20 so those three Willows are you speaking about the willow trees no the plan that was presented had removal of 22 trees and now yeah so I I found 29 trees to be removed and I evaluated 36 trees there um there were some other trees on the plans that that were not on the plans when I first walk the site but will be within the area of construction okay I just so we were presented with a plan that showed X's 20 22 X's okay so now you're saying that's so that was that was the Architects plan and now the arborus is presenting her plan so that's the original plan was from our Architects and that's when we were um asked to have a professional walk it and that's why she is presenting this new plan so this will all be updated on the website tomorrow I wanted to present it out tonight but this is from what we did and what she want what she feels is the best thing to do is where we're at right now no understand Mr Kenny why I'm surprised because we I was at the planning board me at you're at and it was it was the testimony was that your the company that's representing the board had that expertise well let me let me interject Mrs feedi the exact question that you posed was who is your professional um as a Planning and Zoning member uh the architect and the engineer said we utilized in some way shape or form a landscaping company your response was very clear they're not a liced arist that those were your works we as a board as Administration then and and the engineer and architect said then we'll speak to your your professions right what to satisfy that need Mr Kennedy reached out to your burough administrator and we asked who is your professional your arist because I would assume since it was heral property you would probably want the the opin opion of a profession who you've utilized in trust as you just stated prior to starting your questions when that transpired actually it went as far as what the bill would look like and the the Board of Ed decided to just pay the bill so that we could satisfy the Planning and Zoning inclusive of your remarks and that's how this professional okay so the Board of Education paid for Miss Stewarts that is correct to satisfy West right thank you it just that the the my understanding that meeting was that the I'm sorry the woman's name Escapes Me and the gentleman's name Escape it was some sort of landscaping and they said they said that they had a licensed landscaped architect in house and however you reiterated not a licensed right right right but now so we went a step further to satisfy your needs but I think also at the council meeting they made it very clear that they wanted their arban to walk the fields that was stated several times right I think if we go back to the recommendations that closed out that that uh zoning meeting it was built into the recommendations that we seek out the advice of the Town Arbor and I surprised just I'm just gonna say for the record my recollection was that the Board of Education was going to hire somebody and the town Arbor was going to peerreview it but it's it's it's it's done and that's fine I'm just surprised you know as as a member of the planning board a member of the environmental commission I'm not here as as either tonight I'm just surprised that this transpired but you know what LZ is certified she knows what she's doing and I'll be happy to look at a report thank you thank you just for the record I think we're doing the right thing by Consulting the Professionals of the buau so that it's not you know subjective to only the opinion of the Board of Education where using professionals from the burough which at the end of the day it's one taxpayer base what it how you want to name it but it's the facts so we're we're hiring the professionals that the bur already rely and Trust on to guide us in the process for the entire tax base of bota Lisa koh's 385 River Road um I'm just asking personally going forward if we could after the new year is you know reorg if the Board of Ed could walk with the councilman members and the mayor and just point out what trees are being taken down and what you know what's staying up so we get a little bit of you know honestly I don't really know what treat are taken down I just want to take a peek at it and just you know of course all right thank you thank you just the trees are all tagged too there is a metal tag in each tree and it um each number correlates with the tree on the report just to make it easy for anyone walking the site thank you so much that that really helps yeah yeah Mrs Harper yes hi um so can you hear me yes okay so basically then what you're saying is I guess based upon the math here you have you said that you counted 35 trees 29 you recommended for removal right so that leaves us six you said that four are SL for removal so basically there's going to be two trees left right there were 36 trees total that I inventoried um 29 are being removed so that leaves Seven Trees um Seven Trees that in my report were in good or fair condition the rest were in poor or dead condition um the three willow trees are staying as far as the plans go because they will not be affected as much by the site construction but they may need to be removed at some point there are four trees on the end of the site um that are going to be affected by significant grade changes these trees will probably struggle and and be in very poor condition in the next five or 10 years so for a large project like this I don't know any arborist that would keep any of these trees honestly because of the condition that they're in and I would be happy to walk the site with you know if you want to have a meeting that's fine um but they the replace plan is is more than compensating for what's being lost and it seems to me just from walking this area these trees have not they've been here for a long time and there's been no replacement and that's why it seems like there's such a big loss because there have not been a lot of Replacements to compensate for these trees aging out and that's what they've done they've aged out they've lost significant branches they're very decayed on top they're they're older trees that have weak wood anyway um so they're they' lived out their lifespan and um The Replacements should provide um coverage in the future moving forward so how many trees are you saying going to be left because well I think there's there's still a little bit back and forth between these Seven Trees four three trees are on the plans as staying three willow trees that are in fair condition um there are four trees on the end of the site that that are going through significant grading changes and on the plans two of them are removals I don't know if anything's changing with the plans to be able to keep them but also they're not you they're already with those changes they they probably are not going to do well or survive um also they're Maple three of them are Maples and the maples in our area are not surviving they're they have significant um health issues right now um so replacing them with species of trees that are thriving right now is not a bad plan so I guess I guess so I guess I'm still not clear so you're saying maybe three willow trees and or maybe four other trees according to the the gradient so basically it doesn't sound like it really sounds like that there may be just three weeping willow trees and that's it and the rest of the trees are all going to be cut down so this is a wholesale cut down of the entire park now I've been living behind this park for many years years now and the trees bloom there's lots of you know there's there's there's activity happening in this you know with all these different trees so you know while I do understand I and I agree with you there hasn't been much replacement in this town there's been a lot of neglect on that part that's sad you know for a park I mean a park should have should have some but I mean I just I find that that's very it's it's very sad it's a very sad day in bagot to have to chop down your all your entire park trees there are two buffers which I did not mention I kind of grouped them into just two areas so um there are two areas on the plans which I should have mentioned um and they are on the property where the houses are on that side of the park those are staying um anything in there there is a path going along the backyards and anything that's overhanging that may be dead or um just needs a pruning um those that those areas are staying so there are quite a few trees in those two areas um um so you're saying that along the trees along for a space the trees along for a space I mean I don't know I mean I know I find it's interesting that you're saying that they're staying or they're not staying you're just making recommendations but you're you're but you're see you sound like you're making you're saying that they're staying or not staying so but so you're saying the trees that are behind our homes the ones that are behind our homes so the one that's behind the the the baseball field the home plate there's a tree right behind my house there's a huge tree right next to it and the right next to it m Harper from my understanding and looking at it where we looked at where the containers were those trees were mostly staying remember we walked that length and then on the corner the other Corner those trees are staying as well yep I think the trees that we were trying to keep were the the ones along the um third Baseline of the softball field near the road there was a couple there was three or four trees there those are being recommended by Mrs Stewart to come down right the other weeping willow the other weeping willow there's another weeping willow there's a second that's the weing large weeping willow yes that tree is in significant Decline and has um it has several caners it has active fungal growths going up the trunk with a split there's a mushroom growing at the um the CR of the tree and that's a very dangerous situation actually like that tree is hollow and decaying inside so these trees would be fine in an area where there is not a lot of activity in a more natural setting these trees would be better in that area but along a walking path um there's there's a lot of there are a lot of signs of large branches already breaking off of these trees and as an arborist I was asked to do a risk assessment and when there's a significant Target um and a significant um defect in a tree I have to say that that tree has to be removed right you know that's and I love trees I do I love trees and I am not an alarmist as an arborist I think a lot of my arborist um people who are arborist do take trees down before I do so I have to say I I do try to keep trees when I can thank you Mrs Stewart I would like to just to make one last comment just to follow to follow up to follow up on Danielle F's comment the fact I have I agree as well I agree as well with Danielle fetty with the respect to the fact that we were under the impression that the town itself was going to be uh commissioning Liz um you know for their own report and not and not that it was going to be commissioned through the Board of Ed um because the fact that there was a lot of inconsistency I I have to cut you off it's not fair thank you goodbye thank you anyone else anyone else uh you know actually I'd like to say something hold on we'll open that up anyone else all right can I have a motion to close Alvarez Mrs Alvarez Mr Alvarez a second all in favor any oppose Mr Alvarez well what I wanted to say was that these fields you know although it's a park it is fields of play for the children they're two softball two baseball fields a football field so uh I mean I don't know how many of us actually use those fields and play on those fields um I mean I do I play softball on on the one field I I'm looking forward to running on the track on the football field and at this point it it's you know we're making a change we're making a huge change for the the better of the kids of the park of the field um so it is going to require some change uh also I think you know getting the the arborist that is you know work that that uh that knows especially like working with the um with with the the burrow I mean it it kind of go goes right to the point in eliminates having to get two three people uh we're getting the the person that you know we would be Consulting with anyway so I I I think you know we need to think about what would be good for the kids and and these parks and the renovations it's it's good for the town it's good for the kids and I mean to make it more complicated over a few trees I I just I think we need to allow for the change all that's what I wanted to say I I do want to thank Mrs Stewart but I think to be very clear Mrs Stewart didn't didn't architect sent someone that was an arborous as well to walk with you who else was with you they sent their landscape architect and just to be clear in New Jersey to evaluate trees you must be a licensed tree expert you're licensed with the state you can't be a landscape architect to evaluate trees it's a whole different thing so um yeah I went I walked with the landscape architect just to get an idea of what the plans were um and then I did my report and my report would have been the same no matter who hires me Mrs Stewart thank you for your professionalism I want to make it very clear that at the end of the day the taxpayer for the bill it really shouldn't matter who they who was hired it was recommended by the burough administrator so it's just a bunch of shenanigans about who brought it and what brought it we satisfy the needs of the Planning and Zoning Board if you had any real concerns you should have brought it up seven eight a year ago when this started transpiring the discussion and the people have had concerns for months at the F and Council and no one offered it until the planning and zoning board made the suggestion we took the suggestion and we execute it accordingly it's not our fault that we've executed things the letter letter of the way things should be done so for it to come up now it doesn't matter who paid the bill we hired the professional the one that's trusted to the burrow as was said by Mrs feedi and it was done this is your report and we will not question your report we appreciate it however you can trust that we too like trees and we would do whatever it takes to replace trees because let's not kid ourselves to Mr Rob Al's point you call it a park they're Fields 98% of the park are fields and we're giving the burrow an opportunity to finally have something they could never have done thank you we moving up someone has their hand raised but I think they're already close yeah we close so bring it back so Mr Lopez at the end of the meeting there'll be another chance to speak uh just FYI you know for the record let's just be very clear right because a lot of people said show up the media shows up randomly when it all shows up on September 2022 we put out a trifle right we put out brochures it was all just basically conceptual right it was all conceptual on January 19th we presented to the Bodo Council mayor and Council stating that we had budgeted for a turf field just for the little portion of the baseball fields however some people had concerns it was some back and forth um you could do Turf on your side do grass on this side and then we you know when we got to the synopsis event and we started digging deep we always said it was a concept we needed D approval we needed to understand the flooding we needed to understand the elevation we would we were just stuck on a little piece of turf however the board recognized that the flooding would prevent us from possibly going through headaches when it came to Turf right because on the football side we can go Turf we're up to the elevation level or just a bit over however in the baseball side um meaning the burrow side we're well below the elevation level I mean if we went above and beyond we probably be building a skyscraper right kid you not so we're we're well below that level so that made us to Pivot a little bit pivot a little bit what do I mean by pivot we're trying to add lights we're adding um drainage system that that basically it doesn't have there there's a man-made um and if you really go use the park there's a man-made drain in the pipe heads out uh you know maybe 150 feet then it stops and it goes around three or four trees that divide what we call this and I'm tired of saying the burrow and this is a taxpayer Feld right so in between it divides it we figured out through all I say we right I have no inclusion in non engineer but meaning the professional we figured out that it can it's going to be redone it's going to be directed it's going to come over so we're taking out our big fences and we're going to beautify right but we could not we would be risking a lot if we went into Turf on the baseball side so however we're adding more drainage where you know they've talked about how it all drains out I'd be lying if I tell you I remember every detail and then we said hey we're going to do the whole park we're going to redo a sad sad was a discussion right you see I think about grass it was actually s uh we went back and forth with the Planning and Zoning Board um on February uh 1st we had a town hall meeting we said about to say because and I'm bringing this up I bring this up because an individual said it at the planning and soing board that it was a bait and switch and that we are basically deceiving our taxpayers right the ones who voted for this referendum um however we've been extremely transparent to the te what we're saying how we're saying it and we on our professionals and I think most of you know on the commit weef drill are professionals then so we got to that you know some members of the council were adamant about Mur right so two of and and and and I'm glad right they said that because we weren't going to be able to give it to them it wouldn't look good to have in the you know the area of the pl would have been grass and then Turf just imagine a kid running trying to catch a ball and he went from Turf to Grass some other member asked if we could just do one field and they can share softball and baseball well the bases are different uh the mounts are different there's a whole different ball game there um you know that's just fundamental in the sport you know on so February 1 we had our our here our town hall meeting and we went over all these details we talked about a grass option we talked about the possibilities it was always just a reimagination discussion concept reimagination change hurts or reimagine it too right now what we have and what tax base looks like in bod is cracked and we're finally putting something that's going to appeal to the better nature of the grand public a member said an individual said that if taxpayers knew about trees they would have never voted for the referendum I highly doubt that I wish we had a survey go out why because from the very beginning I was looking at our notes in some meeting another member said we only said eight trees we actually were hovering around 16 18 20 trees we never were at eight we're always in that area i' I've seen different videos it says 18 and then 20 we never had the facts right and now we have them on March we we then went back and we looked at the reimagine and and and it's always said concept we always said there were things we needed another planning zoning Board member showed up to the mayor and council meeting last week to just go over a lot of things and intervention and this and that land swap there is not a land swap transpiring it's an interlocal agreement that's how we got the referendum you read the referendum and how it's spelled out and never identified Turf never it talked about upgrades it talked about Renovations it it was a very broad because we knew it's just silly how it all plays out right you got to put a referendum out you really don't know what to get approved so we we did that at the end of the day pagot and those who are so concerned about pagota and these trees is that we have Plain Fields that are that are down there that are simply not adequate for the children for today's age for this era for what's going on our fields are going to have terf beinging B Boe Fields I also remind you when we talked about the grass and the turf we also were trying to Edge out the the pool park about that was another dramatic moment right about the pool parking lot we always said we think concept says that we may have to dig into that area and that was really the discussion that really helped transpire with the burrow coun mayor and Council when that we learned after all the survey because we always said we needed to survey when we got the approval from the mayor and counsel to go out and survey we realized if by tilting the fields just a bit voila we don't touch the parking lot for the for the pool all right so I hope that that really really just helps everyone it's always been a concept we didn't have all our bills and whistles now we do we you know going out the the Planning and Zoning Board it was a courtesy review what that means is they can give some suggestions they did and we followed the suggestions quickly because at the end of the day the one thing that I'm getting and I know most of you are getting is tax spare stop you on the street the ones that soall would not have voted for these without trees where are my Fields I believed in you guys I believed in the board of ENT I don't see anything happening well it's happening it's happening we're in the process we have to respect all taxpayers I get it just unfortunately and we are going to try to save trees and we're going to try to plant more trees we hire the profession to satisfy the world and this is it all right and with all the trees that are coming down just to be clear there's even more being put up so it's a it's a net positive of trees correct I agree yeah and we we're g to try to do more you know you know I I it shocks me right because I hear about the awards that happen with the the trees and bod and just the greenery and everything we do I I've seen post and political things go out about how we're replacing trees and we're adding new trees somehow not in the Parks not in the Parks they haven't replaced them over the years based on what I just hearded I don't know any better that's what I heard so at the end of the day it sucks that this is all coming up in a moment where we're trying to really make progress in m in in an era that we're trying to satisfy taxpayers children Sports we're trying to thrive here Boda listen it's up to you at this point we're trying to thrive we were able to accomplish it when many people said that referendum wasn't going to pass guess what pass with flying colors and we're here we are so I I'm sorry if we have to take down some trees I'm truly sorry I I wouldn't want to go and play on a field that's pure sun and geese but but things have to happen for the better things to come all right is this the this map for the trees will this be posted on the on the website yeah everything is going to be updated on the website tomorrow again I wanted to wait to for the arborist to give her report tonight and then for the board to get all the information so I do want to thank Miss Stewart for coming on you can log off you don't want to sit through this whole meeting okay thank you I have to give a tree talk right now so appreciate thank you for having me and what well okay moving on to uh approval of the minutes 4 three for November 14th work meeting Open Session and November 21st regular public meeting Open Session do I have a motion to approve 4 three motion Naro do have a second Chavez Chavez any board discussion eron Mr SZ yes Mr Al uh I have to I wasn't here on November 14th Mr Chavez yes Mrs Cruz yes Mr Navaro yes Mr Ortega yes Mrs record yes Mr Manda yes motion carried Mr Alvarez I know you have stay November 14th you were here the 21st yes so you approved 20 yes so for the record okay um there is no POS policy resolution moving to 612 in the educ thank you H oh actually I'm sorry it's the reverse I was here the 14th not the 21st I abstain for the 21st approve the 14th 21st yes 14 moving on to resolution 712 in the educational section of the agenda 612 I'm sorry 612 which is consist of 61 61 do I have a motion to approve 61 mot do I have a second Chavez so Mrs Rocky for a motion chavas for second any more discussion or Mrs Alvarez yeah Mr Alvarez yes Mr Chavez yes Mrs Cruz yes Mr Navaro yes Mr Ortega yes Mrs rucket yes Mr Manda yes motion carried moving on to resolution 712 Personnel section uh which consist of 71 through 711 do I have a motion to approve 712 Cruz Mrs Cruz do I have a second I was you thear yes sir any board discussion roll call Earth Mr solarez yes Mr alare uh I have to abstain from 7.3 but I approve the rest Mr Chavez yes Mrs Cruz yes Mr Navaro yes Mr Ortega yes Mrs record yes Mr Miranda yes motion carried moving on to resolution 812 in the finance section which is approv agendas 81 through 811 you have a motion to approve 812 motion Mr Chavez do I have a second Mr Alvarez any discussion roll call Mrs Alvarez yes Mr Alvarez yes Mr Chavez yes Mrs Cruz yes Mr Navaro yes Mr Ortega yes Mrs Reet yes m Mr mirand yes motion Carri there's no buildings and grounds this evening um before I move on to 101 make sure I'm doing this I want to congratulate Stephanie P Pon thank you very much stepanie it's our new vice principal from bota high school we welcome you with open arms um as you can tell we're very passionate Al I think I see their eyes and thank you thank you for applying thank you for making through and bring us all the thank you all I really appreciate and thank you so much thank you so much um I did say no buildings and grounds is there a committee report this evening no any old business no so I'll just make this um last meeting correct me if I'm wrong we had a set of parents come up uh to discuss band uniforms when I got all over passionate about um we we're definitely working on it with the administration for those parents who did come up doing a ton of fundraisers I hope some of you purchase funcakes have some waiting downstairs uh pay attention to those fundraiser boards we need them uh everyone needs them in the school uh the administrator has aured that working uh closely with those parents more importantly with the Educators who are responsible to manying those budgets um to work on an outcome whether it's some administrative funds and I mean you know some Capital funds some fundraising funds um the one suggestion that uh the administration did bring up is that back to the fields we're coming up with coloring schematics of the fields and it would be ideal for the band uniforms to match look at those fields I know we've uh so that you know we are working on this we've talked about the purples and the yellows and there's some um issues with certain colors um that fade over time fairly quickly was it yellow so we're gonna fix it byle purple purple yellow is fine purple yeah purple yellow but we're working on the color she that that identifies BU as a whole so just want to let you know that and to the band uniforms we are discussing it we will meet on it just want to make sure you that you know that maybe we should look deeper into spending uh that we know exactly what the future is going to look like in the color sheets um okay moving on to new business anyone new business KY you already cover that moving on to 131 I'd like to open the floor to hearing of the public I have a motion to open the floor anything motion I have a motion Mr Chavez have a second Alvarez sorry any board discussion all in favor any oppos any member of the public who like to come up you have state your name street address you have five good evening Danielle FY 178 Larch again council meeting parties aren't required to their address maybe because of Daniel's law so I want to think about that um you repeat that Council during the council meetings members in the public are told not to give their street address possibly because of the Daniel's law oh thank you so just maybe look into that I'm happy to give my address but they don't do that anymore it's Council meetings I just want to um relate two comments I heard Shenanigans and political posts I just want to say that my comments here are coming from over 20 years of experience for trees for our town I worked on getting this town Tree City USA certification for 20 years I worked on getting our town C sustainable Jersey certification and I see I I welcome that the schools work getting into that program for 10 years I helped get a TW $40,000 grant for our town and I don't think that's political I don't think it's Shenanigans I don't think my interest in the environment it's my it's my profession is is should have statements that I had made to me this evening I don't think that's that's right or fair I also want to say that 26 trees as part of that grant were planted in the park on the other side of the athletic fields behind the Gazebo are 26 trees and those trees were planted this year so I'm just a little bit maybe annoyed um at the statements that were directed at me this evening because they're just very unfounded and very unfair good evening thank you yeah so Daniel's law dealt with I think the um the situation where someone's a judge a retired judge law enforcement law enforcement retired prosecutor prosecutor retired relate people married to those people so if it was a situation where we did have a speaker who was in one of those categories we you know we could have them wave given their address so it's it's a good point though thank you thank you Mr coin what you do recognize is that no matter how much of a professional you are we're we're open to making mistakes or difference of opinion and there's always some sort of bias statements I did not direct anything directly to a person however the entire conversation just had a professional armorist and we're not talking about the Zeos or anything on the other side that we are referring to a specific site we're discussing a specific project and the aror who you stated you trust and knew and from the Burl stated that nothing has been done however and I think I we can go back that there's it needed to be taken care of and the words exactly were somewhere in sort of Abandonment with that being said and that's what I was referring to so I'm not pinpointing here I'm saying hey there's a lot going on we're all trying to do our best as this disord as a whole and it's being diminished by people who think that somehow we're not paying attention to the same trees and we enforcing your efforts that's that's where that comes from it's also somewhat annoying to know that we passed the referendum that the burough problem would have never been I mean we haven't gotten a wreck Center done and we're moving faster and and and all the requests so that's where it's also frustrating for us we're looking to move forward and the whole town forward as a whole um anybody else I got Anthony Lopez hello uh Anthony Lopez uh I just want to say yes I agree this is not easy change is going to be good for the town but you know whether I'm able to make one meeting or all of them as a taxpayer and as someone who looks wants the best for the town and someone who probably not like anybody in the room or very few actually lives on the park it is a big concern of for us that it's done properly so if I've got to ask 400 times how many trees because nobody said the right number the first time I'm going to ask 400 times and you can tell me until we get the right answer and we decide what the right thing to do is I agree it's a field but it's not just for children half of the year there's nobody on there and you know who's on there me and the rest of the neighbors who live on the park so it's not a playground it is a field and a track for adults as well so let's please keep that in mind because kids are not out there in the snow but I am when I walk around the track to do my exercise and so are the other neighbors so take that into consideration it's not just about kids it's about the town so uh yes and thank you for that and and and that is understood but what our plan is was to remove a few trees that were on the fields itself um the arborist is making a recommendation to remove the other trees that we originally did not plan to take down because of their health so I understand that the idea that um you're walking on the path but she's also stating that those branches are capable of falling down on you while you're walking on these paths that that is what she is stated to us tonight of course of course and so I don't think we're besides one or two trees that are on the fields of play that have to come down because they are on those fields of play every other tree and this report has a treeby tree um analysis will be posted on our website tomorrow and you can go through it and they're tagged and you could walk the fields and you could see but she has direct um notes to each field and uh each tree and why she feels they're not safe or or not going to uh stand much longer of of course and you know that is probably she seems I I don't know Liz but obviously the town trusts her so so I have to understand that this is a very unique circumstance where one person is hired by two different parties for the same interest right so the again we are talking about a unique circumstance and I think what her report says would be great to see because it'll be facts as opposed to somebody saying all of them are dead or none of them are gone or only seven if it's fact let's look at it and all I'm saying is that you know thank you um just please keep in mind that adults use the park too yes and also with these Parks uh with the walkway we will be enhancing them with lights and also exercise equipment natural outdoor ex exercise equipment that will be available to the public and uh solar lighting at night to walk the the uh paths as well so we are looking to do our best and we are going to add as many trees as possible um thank you I have one more question in reference to the light pollution I know I brought it up the last time I was uh at a meeting but uh you know I really would love to see that I I know that it is an issue for many of us every anyone there everyone there is welcome to come back to the house and see that you know it it will be a situation so if we could just very clearly just be clear about what that means because it will affect our sleep it will affect our you know our quality of life the walk the walking paths are are not going to affect that will just be lowlevel lighting when you're walking at night the field lights will be on a timer will be turned off at certain times they're not going to be kept on in all night I imagine 9:30 10 o'clock the latest in the summer if events are going on but if events are not going on the lights will not be on and the lighting from my understand is very specific and that they're able to really narrow down on the field they're not wide openen lightning that that you're not it's the lighting project in front of it specifically and not behind it again I look forward to all the changes and again they're not easy but you know but I I I know it's going to be a beautiful park at the end of the day thank you Mr Lopez um Cara talking there you go I'm talking to the phone can you hear me now yes okay Carmel Bernie 1162 East portly Road um just a general question maybe not for this time but maybe looking forward um I'm a member of the board of wreck committee and at our last meeting the gentleman who runs a soccer program during the summer months um that uses the fields um obviously this summer I guess the fields will be under construction um has there been any talk with the county um or hackin sack to utilize one of their fields for the programs that usually run during the summer during the construction time to the right it is something that we have talked about we have not reached out to anyone specifically but it is something that's on our radar that we I guess we would have to work with the town as well but we also have to relocate graduation this year for the first time if we can't hold it Outdoors because the field will be under construction so we're hoping to work with the burrow and see if we can get into uh maybe by the Gazebo there if we can find a way to have the graduation there as well so yes these things are on our radar and hopefully we will have answers in the New Year okay that's good to know that they're on the radar because PE you know so the kids like at least for the summer that they don't have to travel far if they want to keep the programs running you know the soccer programs which all eventually Fe um feed up into the high school program so just want to make sure thank you absolutely absolutely um there was one thing that I wanted to bring I mean today I mean yesterday there was a lot of rain and a lot of towns flooded um and I would tell you that boto was okay and and not to say the houses were okay however those fields were pretty good so mother nature is very unpredictable and I guess we'll say now so 40 50 years from now those folks who did those fields didn't think it through well we've thought as much much as we can see for in our for side and it didn't flood but some I think what a year ago we didn't even have as much as we did so it's just a hit or miss uh we're really trying adding some exercise um equipment around something we we came up with to figure out how we can chip in there you know to to help to help we get it through again it's something the burrow um they're focusing on the wreck they could I don't think they could have ever done this field at least not for the next 20 30 years we're doing it and we thanking taxpayer for that we do thank you consider to trust that we're we're trying to iron details as we go along Susan Harper yes so um I want to Echo what Anthony said too um there was a comment it says that the fields were for children and they're not for children only I mean there's lots of adults that are out there walking and and running um and this is of course a public park a public taxpayer Green Acres Park um and when the board did um did present their uh referendum it was a very very highlevel concept so the the concept of pushing back on you know um where were you and not speaking up is really really uh I think not accept um I've lived in bagoda now for I think about 18 years uh I think now the total uh along with the number of trees that will be taken down will be 66 trees in that park that's this is a very sad day 66 trees if you're wondering I think Frank I think you were on the uh council at the time when they took down the trees and maybe if you weren't and if I if you weren't I apologize uh when they took down the uh the trees um just whole you know where this wholesale there's a whole lawsuit about that um for the parking lot right where the baseball field is so um if you're wondering where we're coming from we're coming from a place where we moved into the neighborhood and there was a park a park with lots of big beautiful trees that stopped light coming in from hitting our homes and now you're talking about adding solar lights which of course will not go off and so be seeing probably that too hitting our homes um and so those things need to really now be taken into significant consideration any lighting now because if you're going to be taking down 33 trees or wherever how many trees it is now um that's going to impact the value of our homes and I've had to sit there and hear things over the years uh about recycling centers and other sorts of things about how it impact the value of people's homes and this needs to be taken in consideration to that we live here this is our homes and this is really going to possibly impact the value of our homes thank you anyone else all right so GNA have a motion to callose hearing of the citizen Mr Chavez do I have a second all right Mo so before there's no executive session um I to say something before we adour yeah I wanna I want to thank you John um John Ortega who served on our board for three years uh my experience with John has been a very unique one he's uh probably one of the youngest elected uh persons in Moga uh I've tried to go back in history i't seen only one in the 23 24 Mark yeah 20 somei Mark right 23 yeah something like that John brought perspective to us um in a time where um there was a climate that that needed to empower the youth that needed to hear their voices and it had nothing to do with color or background culture or ethnicity it had everything do where uh the youth is inter and in that moment you stepped up to the plate um I hear the complaints I hear my brother this is a really hard thing you've done at 20s something you could have been out there partying you could have been out I'm sure you've done some but you could have done that and be here on a Tuesday uh over and over again and and and you've questioned me you know how can people not have the site when you see it right you had it and you and you you gave me stories Mr K as your as your what was VP VP and princip and principal he gave me stories back there when he wasn't so much of a good kid and and the thing is he let me see something of the student body that we focus on in Voda today I personally want to thank you I I'll I'll make it up to you I I think time is flying the middle of the holidays but thank you for serving thank you for speaking up thank you for going through all this because most people who have 50 years in bota don't dare to take that seat run for office work the floors and do what you did and that's extremely honorable and I know today you're only 26 or 27 I think you're just and bless you my brother go on do big things talk about this go pick some rear because because of people like you you know is why we do this but Goa is going to have sound waves when people hear that you graduated from here that you're do your thing and then you were a board member that's very few people who do it people do it for selfish reasons and you did it because you wanted to give back to a place that you were neutralized in that you were built in you knew and I want to thank you personally brother it's been a it's been a wonderful Journey um I hope you come back around go have fun because this isn't so much fun all the time go have fun build your youth come back when you're good and ready and I thank you I really do thank you so much thank you friend that's exactly in the same vein that I John I appreciate what you did it takes a lot for anyone to do this and to be 23 years old I remember asking you you sure you you know you sure this what you want to do and you said you were and you came with a level of intensity that many people twice your age don't share and it was a pleasure to to go out and introduce you to the public it was a a overwhelming pleasure to be elected first African-American person to be elected in this town up again running with the youngest person I remember that night we felt like whoa what can't we do and I I I challenge you to say that what can I do whatever you want is what you can do yes you're a good man John Nota and it was a pleasure to serve with get chills and I will just remind when John ran he was the second highest VG yeah and and that told you that you spoke up I think you got I look back that you got more folks as a second tier that anyone ever got for the board yeah of Education my brother you gave a voice to a bunch of Youth that didn't have it you need to be proud of that you need to speak on that and one day just come back and show up and we're going to receive you with open arms as least at least as long as I'm being a appreciate I appreci you say Ken it's been fun right he'll remind Ken because you have the kids and it just allows us to do the job in a different way John thank you so much thank you thank you and welcome to miss P welcome good like to say something I wanted to thank uh all of you as well um it's been you know roller coaster roide for me uh these past three years um you know and there's been you know there's things I could have done better there's things I could have done worse at the same time uh but you know it was a learning experience for me it was a a very pivotal point of my life uh pivotal point of growth my maturation and um elevation in general and I wanted to thank everybody involved there's a lot of moving Parts in this and I saw a lot of development over the years me being here me working with Mr Kennedy superintendent Mr ER of this of the fellow board members attorneys as well um and you know was this was a once in a lifetime experience for me possibly coming back like you said uh in BC as you said I I do have a lot of things do uh doing right now uh big things coming uh so I want to thank you for motivating me on that as well and you know once I get things in order um perhaps I even uh you know have a have a second go at this because this is definitely an experience that I encourage everyone to do obviously not everybody can but uh a lot more people should come up and and do things like this and do things where it's for the betterment of the town the betterment of well you could you could say they bigger the Earth in general because we are a really small town but if you really think about it we are making a difference and it's a difference that um that goes with being a part of you know we small town but we're part of Earth uh Earth is really big but we we we do our thing and I I just want to thank everybody this was uh great this is great experience call Drake of our board tonight goe just want to uh wish everyone a happy holidays and a healthy New Year and looking forward to 2024 we have a lot of things going on 2024 so just happy and healthy and enjoy time with loved ones thank you Merry Christmas my part happy holid for those and um have fun enjoy your family hope that taught us a big lesson uh don't take any minute any person any step any growth granted you have been part is all about you you've been part of probably the largest SE in a very long time so you know just don't take anything for granted I've made a lot of good friends you one of them and happy holidays to everyone who have emotion second all in favor I any opposed have a good evening everyone