##VIDEO ID:aY4bs01glJw## e e September 5th 2024 in compliance with the open public meetings act chapter 231 pl1 1975 adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by mailing the annual schedule of meetings to The Star Ledger Union County local Source Union County Hawk and tap Clark by posting such annual meeting schedule on the bulletin board and Town Hall reserve for such announcements and by the proper filing of said notice with the Township Clerk formal action may be taken at this meeting this meeting is a Judicial proceeding any questions or comments must be limited to issues that are relevant to what the board May legally consider in reaching a decision and to form appropriate to a Judicial hearing must always be maintained I'll do roll call Mayor bonacorso Mr ol councilman minti here Mr cotch here Mr triola here Mr Alman Mr Jacobson here Mr Steinberg here Mr Bano and Mr aranel here Mr Cruz here Mr O Conor no okay we stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance [Music] I'd like a motion to approve the minutes of July 11th 2024 meeting motion thank you Lance have a second thank you Mike all in favor I correspondence tonight we're going to be hearing Township Council resolution 24-12 and resolution authorizing the re Redevelopment study of Block 105 Lots 1.01 2.01 26.0 this correspondents and all other corresponden is available at town hall for the viewing of the public I'd like I have a motion to dispense with the reading of the correspondence thank you Mike second thank you Lance all in favor resolution authorizing Redevelopment study resolution authorizing the undertaking of a preliminary investigation determine whether the property is identified as BL Block 105 Lots 1.01 also known as 56 Westfield Avenue Block 105 lot 2.01 also known as 52 Westfield Avenue and Block 105 lot 26.0 one Broadway near the intersection of Joe Street on the tax map Township of Clark quality for designation as an area in need of condemnation Redevelopment uh councelor could you discuss this for us uh yes Mr chair um you have had various of these uh request from the governing body the township Council to conduct preliminary investigations uh the investigations that you've conducted so far have been non-c condemnation uh preliminary investigations uh this one differs uh because the council has made the decision uh that uh this investigation should be undertaken on the basis of a potential condemnation of these properties doesn't mean the council will exercise that power it only means me that uh in order to preserve its ability to do that it has to upfront explain that it's going to be a potential uh condemnation matter uh what this resolution does is follow the recommendation of the council it is the planning board's responsibility to conduct uh a preliminary investigation to determine whether these two properties meet the one or more of the criteria in the local Housing and Redevelopment law and you do that through a study that is prepared by your uh Township planner uh that that study is made available to you and to the public and there is also a public hearing on that uh study uh which will uh at which the planner will present his results uh and anyone from the public is obviously uh able to come and speak at that at that point so just so everybody knows I read the lot in blocks this is also known as the old a property yes um we approved the development of a apartment complex quite a while ago and they have not proceeded to move forward in that as I understand it this is the first step um which allows us allows the town to move forward we're following the proper procedures uh has everyone had a chance to read the resolution any questions or comments seeing none i' like to have a motion to approve resolution thank you Mike second thank you Lance roll call Mayor Bon Corso yes councilman Manti yes Mr cotch yes Mr triola yes Mr Jacobson yes Mr Steinberg yes Mr orcio yes resolution passes approved this point I'd like to open at the meeting up to the Public Public may come forward and discuss any matters they wish I I have a motion to open to the public motion thank you Lance second thank you Mike for seconding if anybody from the public would like to come forward to discuss any matter before this board please do so state your name and address good evening everybody Michael scholman 382 Carolina Street um I guess usually I'm up here not agreeing but it's I think a long time coming for this resolution I think it's about a year past when it could have been first started uh the town has spent the better part of 18 years looking at an abandoned building uh the better part of the last three years uh if not longer being promised development uh most recently the only people that have been inside of it I don't know if you've all seen the the YouTube videos of of urban explorers or something along those lines which allowed everyone to sort of see the dilapidated inside and outside of this property uh not only is it an eyesore it's incredibly dangerous uh for it to be sitting there uh so I guess I would give some kudos to moving this along I guess the questions people may have as this takes place is uh as there's no discussion thus far of of this board um the developers at all involved what is their anticipated uh reaction to this I understand it may be a way to try to motivate them to build they've built other things in this town and seem to have skipped over this in terms of the timeline of approvals but what if any backlash is the planning board or town expecting um what is the timeline for having the planner conduct the study uh based on the criteria it seems pretty obvious that it's going to meet one if not multiple of the criteria for condemnation and then if condemnation does happen what is the town's next steps what is the actual plan you know we're doing this obviously we have to do it step by step but we all just approved a resolution to do it what is the expectation one way or the other what is the expectation if the Builder steps in and says wait wait wait I'll get my act together and get on it what is the expectation if they say oh well it gets condemned what is the town's plan at that point to rebid it is it going to take the building down in the meantime to make sure it's safe I guess we're just sort of looking for some answers in terms of the thought process that the board here and maybe the Town Council people that are involved in that side of things have for the overall uh ideas here other than that thank you thank we with this resolution we expect uh to proceed with the plan immediately um could have it as early as the next meeting uh if not the following meeting and that's the first step in the whole process mayor do you have anything to add or we shall see what happens in a week by week month-by-month basis we are not here to promise a plan to show our hand which is more important there's a process of the law law that we are following as you said earlier Mr chairman we have worked with this developer in the past here in town to very good outcomes he was here and passed that plan uh early on in the conversation with him it was about biomics and supply chain issues and interest rates going from 2 and 1 half 3% up to over 8% and things of that nature he was having supply chain issues on the building on Walnut which turned out to be a very nice site and then things have kind of gone silent and we as a community has had enough at this point we had a deal with the first owner and working with him for many years as a private property to work with him he was trying to encourage and make deals with several different developers then we went to a condemnation processing against him and he sold it over to garden homes so the questions are the questions and time will tell the answer to all those questions at this time I will not show my hand to the developer or anybody we are taking the legal necessary procedures and as far as the video goes I would just like to remind the videographer that the owner I believe has contacted Clark Police Department for trespassing the area is fenced off the doors were closed whether they're locked or unlocked it is private property and I encourage people to follow the law and respect the privacy of that owner although couldn't argue it's a deplorable condition but there are still laws and regulations and I know he uh called the community Township to uh make a comment to me about it and I think he was looking into legal action so that's what I know about that and time will tell and we will proceed step by step month by month until we come to a resolution thank you thank you mayor anyone else like to come forward seeing no one I'd like to have a motion to close the meeting to the public M by Mike second by Lance do we have any new business to discuss seeing none any old business all right our next meeting will be October 3rd or meetings October 3rd November 7th December 5th I'd like a motion to adjourn the meeting thank you Mike thank you Lance all in favor meeting adjourned Mr chairman just one question I'd just like to uh take a moment to welcome Joe arancho to the uh planning board Joe is a community activist and volunteer and has spent many years volunteering in different aspects and I'm happy to see him get involved I know he has a lot of concern about our community uh and I just want to welcome you Joe I think you're G to find a very diverse group of citizens here who volunteer their time for the betterment of the community and uh I got to say in 24 years of uh sitting on this planning board I found each and every year and the members that we've had and have have worked hard to try to do the best take the best step foot forward for the community and I'm sure your input will be appreciated as we move forward so welcome welcome Joe e [Music]