e e e there they go good evening and welcome to the township of Clark council meeting of March 18th 2024 I'd like to ask everyone to please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in a moment of silence we'll do it after pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you madam Madam clerk would you please call the rooll councilman hund here councilman masella here councilman midi here councilman oconor here councilman Smith here councilman toll here council president albanes here this meeting is in compliance with the open public meetings act as adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by mailing the annual schedule of meetings to The Star Ledger Union County Hawk Union County local source and tap into Clark Mark by posting such annual meeting schedule on the bulletin board in town hall reserved for such announcements the official website of the township and the proper filing of said notice formal action may be taken at this meeting thank you madam clerk this time we'll move on to Communications from the mayor and the reports of Township officers Mr Mayor yes thank you Madame President good evening members of council ladies and gentlemen I have a brief report tonight uh spring cleanup uh lawn leafing cleanup and Branch cleanup has started please put them out in the street we will be picking them up till the fourth week of April once April comes we'll go into our regular Branch cleanup of put them out on the third week and we'll pick them up on week four um I'm sure councilman Smith will get into this later but uh this week we have our first bike with a bunny which will be followed by our Easter egg hunt at the Clark Recreation Center MV stops motor vehicle stops for the month of February were 200 101 there was 19 traffic enforcement details and 40 radar details put out along with our regular Patrol uh about three weeks ago we had a little bit of a um a couple attempts on car thefts at a driveways in the middle of the night and uh working with the police captains I uh increased uh police presence on the road in that uh overnight hour we doubled the the amount of cars we had on the road to try to deter anyone that wants to come into the town we will continue to work in a Vigilant manner to uh do the best we can with that as you could see every day on the news it is a Statewide problem and it seems like they kind of come and go at each municipality so the Clark police is doing a good job working with that and we will continue to be out there and on diligent Patrol and uh using the men uh and Lady power we need necessary out of our Department to try to curtail and stop these uh people from car thefts and that concludes my report thank you thank you Mr Mayor councilman OK Conor you have a question for the mayor I do Mr Mayor with regard to the U spring cleanup when people have grass clippings um obviously you're not starting grass collection till later on yeah but if they loose grass clippings from their mower whatever do they just drop them in the street or do they need to put them in the uh in the paper bags well you know what Pat I would say if they have other debris in the Street dropping into that if they don't I would put it into a paper bag just way if it rains it doesn't get washed away it's contained but if there's other stuff they can just drop it in there like we do with the leaves at the first uh at the end of mid October thank you very much you got it thank you thank you councilman hund thank you madam president just wanted to peig back off the mayor's comments as I'm responsible for the Clark Police Department monthly report for February uh we saw a total of 2, 559 calls for services including but not limited to 109 ambulance requests six fire department requests three motor vehicle and residential lockouts 75 alarm calls 66 motor vehicle accidents 26 shoplifting and theft 13 fraudulent and identity theft 158 were 911 calls and 1,844 were miscellaneous calls there was a total of 19 adult arrests including but not limited to 14 for shoplifting two for DUI and two for warrants the youth Bureau handled a total of 13 cases including but not limited to one for shoplifting one for harassment one for offenses against family and all 13 were in-house disposition so that concludes my report for the month thank you thank you councilman hun councilman mazarella yes thank you council president my DPW report for this even evening electric drop off will be April 27th uh from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. um there will be no drop offs in March this will be on April 27th remember that make note of that please spring cleanup begins March 20th through as the mayor said April um no rocks landscape wood or plastic bags fire uh flower pots fertilizer bags mulch bags are not considered cleanup um or grass please dispose of it in your regular garbage okay Branch pickup will'll start in may please only put branches out um on the third full week of the month DPW will pick up one time on the fourth week of the month okay bulky and appliance pickup uh started on March 4th appointments are required um before your scheduled pickup please be mindful of that Mulch and bulky pickups are uh completely different trucks please schedule the correct pickup to avoid any confusion and not having your material picked up okay root mulch will be available starting April April 1st um deliveries will be on Fridays schedule your delivery as soon as possible with DPW DPW has been making available at our gate 16 inch um uh uh logs free for the taking please do not make a mess out of it if the bin is empty we will rep replenish it as it becomes available and please no log splitters or chain sores will be permitted so make note of that also and if you need any other information um email DPW hour.com or um uh or to schedule your proper pickups and see what we have to offer to dovetail on what the mayor has mentioned to councilman OK Conor if you're placing any debris out in the roadway please please try to leave a 1ot free area from your curb line to the debris in case it rains it doesn't go into your catch basins and clog the catch basins that's the extent of my report thank you thank you councilman mazarella councilman Manti oh thank you in the month of February the Clark fire department responded to 38 calls this is 79 calls year to date the calls included but are not limited to numerous odors and alarm calls one call was for Mutual aid from another town two calls for motor vehicle fires and one call for an overturned vehicle on the Garden State Parkway one call was for an electrical house in a fire um sorry electrical fire in a house um and as always I would like to thank the members of the Clark fire department for their hard work and dedication and keeping our town safe um this concludes my report thank you thank you councilman Manti councilman oconor thank you from the Clark volunteer emergency Squad uh in February the squad hosted the meeting of the EMS Council of New Jersey second district this group is comprised of 24 local rescue squads in Union County working together to strengthen the EMS system the squad has worked with the County dispatch to update the radio systems and the rigs as well as officer Portables the squad hosted Terry Chapman's Brownie troop and gave a first aid and tour of the squad for 12 brownies the squad will be celebrating National EMS week May 19th through the 25th Community program will be part of the celebration the call volume is as follows there are 106 calls in February with five Mutual Aid calls this does not include any calls that were dispatched and cancelled total hours responding to calls is approximately 797 man hours and this does not include any hours the members are on duty when there are no calls year- to-day call volume is 233 regarding membership for those who would like to assist the squad but may not have time to do the EMT training we are accepting applications for people who are interested in becoming drivers for the ambulance must be 18 years of age with a clear driving record the squad will be reaching out to Rising juniors in local high schools for our relaunch of our Cadet program anyone interested can email the squad at membership at Clark em. org and again they continue to service the community we'll be offering Baby safety class in April open to all who would like to see and practice choking CPR demos and safety tips for parents and Grand parents we will be sending Flyers out next week to the public asking for people to sign up for the programs the squad hosted three blood drives in February and is looking to expand the number each month as the need for blood is increasing the next blood drive is March 28th and they're asking people to consider coming to donate that concludes the report uh respectively submitted by Lori Sheldon trustee and from the finance committee um we're looking to adopt the budget next month thank you thank you thank you councilman OK Conor councilman Smith thank you madam clerk from the pool and Recreation Department the annual Easter egg hunt is this Saturday March 23rd from 12: to 2:00 p.m. at the Brewer re Center and it is rain or shine uh there'll be a ton of entertainment and activities from the Easter Bunny magic show Easter egg hunts every 15 minutes giveaways and the usual Raffles pool memberships are now available online at our clark.com or you can always stop by the Recreation Department it is this the 50th Anniversary this summer so Ralph planned A Summer Long celebration and on Saturday July 13th will be the big birthday bash uh celebrating the 50 years of the pool and it's something you won't want to miss if you remember and also registration is now open for the summer rec Camp as well as spring programs all information is online or you could always stop by the office and there is a senior citizens bus ride to Atlantic city which is this Thursday I'm sorry which is Thursday May 2nd and you need to go to the recreation office to sign up for that and two events that will be in the near future will be a Somerset Patriots family night and a Red Bull family night uh please uh be on a lookout for that information and that's all I have this evening thank you thank you councilman Smith councilman toll thank you madam president from the environmental commission this Wednesday March the 20th at 7:30 the environmental commission will hold its annual meeting at room :30 in the bur Municipal Building anybody interested it's open to the public and various discussions of our mother nature will be held anybody interested please join us at 7:30 in room 30 at the Brewer Municipal Building thank you madam president that's all I've got thank you I'd like to give the library report uh provided by our director Megan kic um during the month of February there were 8,41 visitors to the library and there were 7,485 website visits some of the upcoming events coming up is are uh on Wednesday March 20th at 3:30 um a celebration of Mr Rogers and our neighborhood won't you be my neighbor day um on Tuesday March 26 at 7 pm there'll be a discussion with Wayne by Wayne Zu talking about the solar eclipse and it he'll take a tour of the solar system uh so the solar eclipse is coming up on April 88th and if you're interested in that program once again it's Tuesday March 26th at 7 p.m. the friends of the library has been Gathering books and thank you all for your donations been very generous uh the sale of books and Library costume jewelry will be held on Saturday April 13th from 10: to 3: and they're asking if you can bring a uh your own bag 14 by 13 you can fill up the bag as as much as as many books as you can get for $10 and uh also bags will be available at the event on um the history of Oakridge Park will be uh discussed by with Jeff kopo and he'll get into the really going back to prehistoric times to current times um on the history of Oakridge Park and the surrounding Ashbrook swamp and that event will be held on Tuesday April 16th at 700 p.m. and finally if you're um interested in building a Downey woodpecker birdhouse uh with Bob uh there'll be that event will be held on Thursday April 25th at 6:30 p.m. and each family will leave with one bird house which will be ready to mount just in time for spring um there will be they will be using power tools so if you can register for that event get in touch with the library and that concludes my report on the library at this time we'll move on to ordinances Appropriations and claims and the public hearing on proposed ordinances whenever you're ready Madam clerk thank you madam president for the record no objections have been received in connection with the proposed ordinances first ordinance is 24-4 ordinance of the mayor and Council of the township of Clark County of Union New Jersey adopting that Redevelopment plan titled Redevelopment plan block 77 Lots 2 and four 175 Westfield Avenue and 181 Westfield Avenue Township of Clark Union County New Jersey thank you at this time I'd like to open up the meeting to the public hearing is there anyone who wishes to come forward to discuss this ordinance Council seeing no one I'd like a motion to close the open meeting move that thank you councilman hund do you have a second I'll second that thank you councilman medidi um at this all in favor I thank you at this time I'd like a motion to adopt the ordinance yes I'll move it thank you councilman mazarella do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith um at this time I like to ask the clerk for a roll call councilman hundt yes councilman masella yes councilman midi yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes so i' just like to remind the public that we had discussed this at our business meeting and the objective of this Redevelopment plan is to facilitate the appropriate revitalization of the Redevelopment area aligning it with Clark's urban planning economic growth and affordable housing goals uh situated within Township the Township's downtown Village District TV Zone encompassing much of the vicinity along Westfield Avenue the Redevelopment area allows for diverse land uses these include retail and service and Commercial activities restaurants offices and other nonresidential functions alongside residential accommodations on upper levels moreover the plan adheres to the county master plan objective concerning housing which emphasizes the promotion of a wide spectrum of hous housing opportunities for various income brackets and household compositions this entails encouraging the preservation of renovation of existing housing stock as well as the construction of new housing units okay at this time we move on to the roll call weall the did sorry the next next ordinance is 24-5 an ordinance requiring the township to share pilot payments with the Clark Board of [Music] Education I'd like like to open up the meeting to the public for a discussion on this ordinance if you could please come forward state your name and address for clerk I'm John Greaves and uh my address is 30 Parkway Drive uh good evening I just had some questions about the uh the sharing of the pilot money it's great that there's going to be about $55,000 going to the schools where they wouldn't have gotten it before um but I was just and some of the stuff I looked up might not be all perfect so you know if I'm wrong on something let me know but it said something about it would be no less than the amount gotten in 2023 is that correct which was 55 yes that's corre but I I looked on like NJ parcels and I saw that it was like 106,000 that was collected was that is that incorrect I don't know I haven't looked at that number but I can tell you whatever it is our tax office has the right number and they would pay that number okay um but the other aspect of it is is that this property since it's been redeveloped it has changing assessment Valu so at $50,000 let's just say that that was it that's based on a $5 million assessment for the property right what we did Sir is by law we do not have to give the schools any money most communities do not we chose to make a decision I chose to make a decision and bring it to the council that what they were getting prior to that property being redeveloped they were going to continue to get with the understanding that if like Walnut Hill let's say for example on uh cross from the holiday in if that brought an abundance of kids in that would stress the school we can adjust that number upward the count will get their 5% and Clark Township's budget's going to get the rest so so that's the thing that you were saying that's that I'm a little concerned about I have kids that are going to probably be entering College school soon and um you're saying that they the school's going to get roughly the same amount that they were getting before it was developed but it was an empty lot then no prior to the what was there what they've been getting yeah so but now there's like 170 something and we're and we're going to get that money finally and I'm going to tell you what we are the township budget is going to get that money and I'm going to tell you why we are the collector of taxes the Township municipal government we collect taxes for the schools we collect taxes for the county yeah you pay your tax bill we collect those taxes in our office we pay them that money throughout the tax cycle throughout the year when there's tax appeals homes industrial buildings which has been many over the last 20 years Clark Township eats the entire appeal that's the state law we do not go back to the school and say oh by the way your share of the appeal is 100,000 your share county is this our share is that or 5,000 10,000 20,000 depending on the size of the property we eat it all okay so guess what this is our chance to get some money back and put some money in our coffers versus doing what we're doing the past that's the thing is like when you say get money back wouldn't this money have been going to the school if there wasn't for the pilot and it's still going to the schools yes okay so I think you're really not talking about this ordinance this ordinance is not about the approval of the pilot agreement and I think that's what your questions relate to but that has that um issue is resolved at the time the pilot was approved declaring this an area in need of Redevelopment by the planning board and approved by the council what this ordinance is about is the fact that the township wishes to break away from the tradition of a pilot all the money going to the township and and what we've we're doing here is giving money to the schools which is probably as far as we know the only Township in the state that's done this okay we're not required to do that but if you have questions on the amount that's being being paid to the Board of Education we can answer that they're getting their percentage or proportion of the amount that's being collected that they would have gotten if it was a normal tax uh assessment but this is a pilot already I understand um I guess the question in general the larger question I'm asking is and um you know I'm getting educated here so I don't know everything here um is that $55,000 I just looked briefly also the revenue per student for schools in Clark is like $20,300 so that $55,000 doesn't really cover the revenue for three students and we have a development there that has 177 units so like three people living there yeah that's with kids excuse me president what I'm saying we we understand what you're saying it doesn't seem like it adds up and no no we do understand what you're thinking our alternative was to give nothing but we decided to do better than that because we don't want to take away from our district to hurt our district your school district has ended their year the last few years with a surplus of over three three and A5 million do they're not out of money by any stretch um well I mean schools need money and uh and so do towns because you ask us how we provide your services how we provide police protection how weay into pensions we need money too and we taken care of our schools we share a lot of services with them we help them a lot and we would be glad my business administrator and I to sit down with you you like to come in one day and talk about it we'd be happy to do that with you okay at this point we've reached the five minutes um but I didn't actually get to speak for five minutes I was spoken to for five minutes and just all right I I can sit down I just wanted to confirm this the amount of $55,000 does not NE necessarily outweigh the burden on the school system because that 177 units is probably going to have more than three students in the system and it's doesn't seem like a great tradeoff I appreciate that it's better than zero but it doesn't seem like overall this did a good job for the town okay thank you okay I'd like to just say um the school budget is not tied to our budget the school budget is subject to a separate process okay and as long as under the new laws they stay within the acceptable cap limits they get all they want they would get this they would get if we didn't give them this money and they needed 55,000 they would get it but we're giving it to them so that's a separate issue but as far as the school budgets getting their money they are getting what they request if they need to go over that amount there's a process the school board follows to get additional funds if they need to go over their cap they can put that budget up to a vote that is how it used to work the budgets were voted on now the process has changed okay is that anyone else good evening Michael scholman 382 Carolina Street um maybe some of my comments can also shed a little light on maybe John's questions um we don't have to have a lengthy talk about pilot programs obviously this was in the works and it's been settled for some time but as I'm reading this and as I understand uh both the municipal and school budget this ordinance is kind of for show the municipal budget is going to be the municipal budget school budget as council president alluded to they get what they want by state law regardless of this the money we're getting in goes to the town it's nice they're giving some to the school I'm thrilled they're doing that but in essence all this really does is shift the tax burden on to the rest of the taxpayers right they are not ratables anymore if they have a pilot program so as prior speaker alluded to um the budgets for both the municipality and the school board are being funded by less people because the folks that are going to be paying 170 some odd units um are not going to be assessed in the same rate so the burden sharing of this pilot program actually raises taxes on the balance of the folks in Clark nevertheless because again as the councilwoman or council president alluded to these agreements I think were in 2019 and 2020 when the development started um Can the council point to what the tax revenue would be if the pilot program was not put in place and was developed naturally we'll say can the council discuss what the total pilot payment is per year for how many years and we expect that lastly can the council discuss whether or not the P excuse me the pilot payment is based upon a fixed rate or is it going to be based upon the income or rents collected at the property thank you okay this ordinance is not about Madam president the details of the pilot excuse me V is not regard regarding that we obviously do not have all those details here here they're readily available um you can take a look at the pilot agreements uh a pilot is put in place because an area is in need of Redevelopment that is a whole different issue and there are a lot of requirements to qualify as a area in need of your Redevelopment and also there's a lot of qualitative issues about how you want your community to look and what development is done in your community I'm sorry may go go ahead no I'm I don't have all the numbers that Mr shelman asked for but I'll just one quick broad brush he can get the numbers from Jim when he gets back next week if he wants detail by Detail no problem to get him that um the municipal budget will be making earning more money off that site if it was on the old tax rate the county would be taking 20 odd percent and the municipality would be getting the least amount we provide the most Services we provide tax appeals we provide infrastructure repairs and upgrades it's more probably off the top of my head the old the traditional rate I'll call it would be more money total but the municipality would be getting less the county would be getting more the schools would get some more but we are the people not the schools that are providing proving 24hours 7day a week 365 day a year service there infrastructure and everything else that goes on and because of our great working relationship and shared services with the Board of Education Madame President and members of council we can adjust that number if need be going forward that's a matter of us making a vote a recommendation from the administration and a vote and PS the Board of Education nor the superintendent of schools has said one word about it they're totally happy what you know what's going on they're getting the end of their year with a $ three5 million surplus last year so I don't know how this is trying to get skewed to make it look like we'd be getting less pilot programs are for areas that are in you know a brad brush again not to get into a lot of detail or for areas of in need of Redevelopment you go into a pilot because you want to encourage that parcel to be developed and we needed that parcel to be developed through our affordable housing as you know and there's another bill going into Trenton today that's going to raise those numbers Statewide I was reading it before but at the end of the day it saves the developers some money which they're supposed to make a better place for it that was the way basically the state can Cobble the deal in layman's terms the pilots were used for that reason at the end of the day again I will say I will not apologize for bringing moreone money into our budget and trying to stabilize the cost that we have in municipal government because we talk about all these niceties and services we do they cost money when we put extra police uh presence on the street to combat car thefts and burgies it costs money this is a 24-hour day 365 day a year operation so again I appreciate the citizens concerns but we are continuing very happy at what we've done thank you and if you want more detail feel free to call my office and Sir uh John I believe your name was if you'd like to meet with my uh administrator and myself and come in and sit down and go over and on paper PS I'll be glad to do it for you because I know you said you're kind of new to it I know Mr shman has talked about it a few times but he can get any numbers he wants whenever he needs to no problem thank you thank you and just to clarify one statement that Mr Schulman made uh I didn't say the school gets whatever they want it's within a limit it is a separate body who determines what their budget will be and they do have caps just as the township has caps on Appropriations and it cap and caps on its Levy okay is there anyone else who wishes to come forward seeing no one I'd like to close this portion of the meeting thank you councilman mazarella do have a second thank you councilman oconor all in favor I okay at this time I'd like a a motion to adopt the ordinance I'll move that thank you councilman Smith second please thank you councilman hun this time I'd like a roll call councilman Hy yes councilman masella yes councilman Mani yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president alanes yes ordinance adopted let's move on to introduction of proposed ordinances Madam clerk when you're ready okay the first ordinance for introduction is 24-6 Bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements and the acquisition of new additional furnishings and a new automobile vehicle including original apparatus and equipment in by and for the township of Clark in the county of union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $1,730 th000 to pay the cost thereof to appropriate a state Grant to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds this time I'd like to um ask for a motion I'll move that thank you do I have a second I'll second that okay the public hearing on this ordinance will be on April 15th and I just want to remind everyone of what we discussed at the workshop uh for the benefit of the public uh this is going this Capital ordinance will include uh parking lot Improvement programs um parking lot construction reconstruction and some of the areas included are Bartell Field parking lot construction Bradley Road curb R Construction Paving of Cromwell Court Kent Place Largo Lane Partridge Run Ritter place Russell court and the municipal parking lot and driveways in addition um we'll be Paving um Valley Road and and as was explained by our business administrator the way this will be timed is we'll do half of Valley Road with this ordinance and the do Grant of $346,000 and time it so that will'll have it in next year's um Capital program to do the other half of Valley Road and ition will be purchasing a $275,000 dump truck with plow and spreader for the Department of Public Works um $100,000 for furniture to be used at the library which will be complemented by a contribution from the library as well in addition we'll be renovating the bathrooms at the recreation center um and that's $100,000 of that ordinance okay let's move on to ordinance 2407 call the roll sorry roll call councilman hunt yes thank you councilman masella yes councilman minitti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes ordinance 24-7 is an ordinance amending ordinance 24-1 entitled an ordinance to fix minimum and maximum salaries okay at this time I'd like a motion for this ordinance I'm Mo that thank you councilman Manti do I have a second I'll second that thank you um this ordinance uh contains a um correction regarding the position of senior building maintenance worker which is covered by a union so couldn't be in both places and the public hearing on this ordinance will be on April 15th at this time I'd like to ask the clerk for a roll call councilman hun yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes ordinance 24-8 is an ordinance entitled an ordinance to fix the salaries of police Personnel for the years 2024 through 2027 thank you do I have a motion I'll move it thank you councilman masella do have a second second that please thank you councilman Hy at this time we'll have a roll call councilman Hy yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman toll yes council president albanes yes the public hearing on this ordinance will be on April 15th ordinance 24-9 is an ordinance to fix the salaries of the white collar employees for the Peri period 2024 through 2027 do I have a motion Council I'll move that please thank you councilman oconor do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith roll call Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes so those last last two ordinances is relate to Collective bar bargaining agreements with our police and with our White Collar employees at this time we'll move on to payment of claims thank you I have reviewed the bills for the month holding $3,474 thank you at this time we'll move on to the citizens hearing on the agenda I'd like to open up the meeting to the public if there's anyone who would like to address the council please come up and give your name and address to the clerk and all remarks sh shall be addressed to the council as a body and not to exceed five minutes in duration good evening again Michael scholman 382 Carolina Street before I get to what I wanted to comment on the mayor keeps mentioning tax appeals just over agenda you can come back up later oh on the agenda this is on the agenda MH items on the agenda I got early is there anyone else who would like to come and comment or have a question on items on the agenda that would that include um 2406 I just had a couple questions about that in a general sense no we passed that we just passed we just had the public hearing on that well that you can come up at the public hearing on April 15th okay all right is there anyone else seeing no one I'd like a motion to close the public session thank you councilman told do have a second second all in favor thank you we'll move on to the resolutions on the agenda the first resolution is opposing New Jersey A4 and s50 which proposes to overhaul the New Jersey fair housing act in a manner that imposes new unrealistic compliance deadlines and obligations and invites developers to subject municipalities to repetitive and unending litigation okay this uh resolution was discussed at our workshop and was going to be motioned in second or is going to be a motioned in second by the entire Council but I just want to make the public aware that the Senate um passed the legisl passed the legislation and moved it on to the governor's desk don't know what he'll do at this point but um do we want to move ahead with this Council yes opposing good okay Madame clerk um You can call the role councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number eight is authorizing an upgrade to the contract with gov pilot for cloud-based government management software and maintenance in the amount of $9,99 do you have a motion Council I'll move that please thank you Council second thank you councilman Smith I just want to um mention to the public that um one of the things we implemented um last year was gov pilot and it's automated a lot of the um licenses and applications that our citizens have to apply for it makes it easy for them to go online and apply for these items and I just want to give you an idea of the statistics that the um business administrator provided on um what the activities have been on go pilot this past year uh dog licenses 1,713 cat license 113 138 retail food establishments 234 licenses business registrations 360 applications landlord registrations 56 applications construction 1,569 transactions certificate of compliance 89 transactions planning project four transactions zoning projects 92 transactions vacant property seven applications dumpster permits nine permits garage sales 281 applications bulk pickup 726 applications and to report a concern 249 requests at this time I'd like to ask the council if they have any other comments otherwise we'll call the role councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number nine is authorizing the financing of the HVAC replacement for the municipal building through the program authorized by the BPU in the amount of $183,400 60 interest free over a 5-year period via the national energy Improvement fund council do I have a motion yeah I'll move that second that please thank you councilman Smith and councilman hund um we will achieve significant savings as was outlined by our business administrator uh entering into this program so thank you to the administration for their hard work on this uh this time I'd like the does anyone else have any comments uh Madam Clerk you're ready if you could call the role councilman Hy yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number 10 is US utilizing the state and local cyber security grant program administered by the New Jersey office of Homeland Security and preparedness through the crowd strike Falcon endpoint detect protection and response solution with 24/7 managed cyber security and authorizing the mayor to execute and deliver the memorandum of agreement for services do I have a motion I'd like to move that please thank you councilman OK Conor do you have a second I'll second it thank you councilman Manti just want to mention to the council as was brought to our attention by our business administrator uh first of all crowd strike is a is a superior um cyber security software system system providing endpoint security threat intelligence and also Cyber attack response services so we're very fortunate to get this discounted rate by participating in this state program Madam clerk would you call the role councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman OK Conor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes yes number 11 is appointing Edward cardoo and Andrew plumber as members of the Clark volunteer fire department um is it okay if we EC this Council sure sure okay always always a pleasure to have um new members joining our Clark volunteer fire department um so um we certainly wish them luck and thank them for their service Madam clerk when you're ready you can call the role councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman oconor I'm sorry councilman midi yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number 12 is accepting the resignation of Carmen Brado as director of Public Safety do I have a motion I'll move that please thank you councilman oconor do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith U Madame clerk when you're ready would you call the roll councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes uh the next two resolutions are Council as the pool utility the first is Award of contract to Clark concession operations LLC in the amount of 8 ,100 for operating and maintaining the pool food concession stand for the 2024 pool season I'd like to move that please thank you councilman Smith do you have a second I'll second that please thank you councilman ' Conor Madame clerk when you're ready if you could call the RO councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president alanes yes uh next is Award of contract for pool maintenance to Aquatic Service Incorporated in the amount of $5,760 for the 2024 pool season I'd Like to Move Motion I'd like to move that please thank you councilman Smith do have a second I'll second it thank you councilman mazarella Madame clerk when you're ready and call the roll councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman man yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president alanes yes consent agenda resolutions the first is authorizing the tax collector to refund overpayment of sewer fees in the amount of $1,430 and next is authorizing the tax collector to apply sewer account balance adjustments as credit in the amount of $79,200 and 46 cents council do you have a motion to adopt the consent agenda I'll move that Madam president thank you councilman toll do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman medidi roll call Madam clerk when you have chance councilman hund yes councilman mazarella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes this time um um I'll ask the clerk do we have any new business on the calendar no there is no new business thank you with this time I'd like to open up the meeting for public comments there's anyone who wishes to come forward please do so state your name to the council uh I'm sorry give your name and address to the clerk and address your remarks to the council as a body and your time is allotted to five minutes in duration is there anyone who wishes to come forward John Greaves again 30 Parkway Drive um I I did have a question can I ask a question now about the 2406 yes yeah so the main question I had was it seems that you guys are getting a grant and you're using that as like money that you're also going to ask for you're going to issue bonds so it's going to create more debt right you're you're you're you're taking the state Grant and you're going to take the grant plus what you're getting from the bonds and I just was curious how much is Bond uh that debt that's being created and how much is the state Grant any other questions um that's the only question that's the only question I had and I'll answer when when you're done um and then the second thing was is you know um related to the situation with the pilot and that uh the school board it just I just wanted to urge the council it seems like the school board and the town and the county would be getting more money if the property had been kept as a vacant lot and I'm all for development in fact those those apartments look really nice and I like I like seeing them I'm not going to live in there I have my own house but you know I urge the council when giving out pilot grants or Pilot grants or programs I don't know how it's properly stated to take that into account you know because you guys are talking about how you're giving 55,000 but that 55,000 would have been going there if it weren't for the actions taken previously so you took something away you gave it back but then also added the increased burden of public resources that that that development is going to use police fire as well as children that are going to go to our school and I'm happy to have more children in school but it should just be offset um and so the question is All That Remains I had about the debt versus Grant the um the ordinance is for 1,730 th000 and the grant is 346,000 $346,900 that's a do Grant and the down payment is $6 66,329 from that yes okay all right thank you just wanted to clarify that for a couple years I wouldn't jump early again Michael scholman 382 Carolina Street um just to address the idea of recouping losses um tax appeals last year amounted to about $118,000 in change not really a significant number I would submit uh particularly in some of the items that have been passed uh regarding other payments in town but I wanted to talk about two things tonight that unsurprisingly weren't addressed um the first is the lawsuits filed by uh off or police chief MOS and uh officer teston as everyone knows we've been doing this now multiple years and we are now engaged in more litigation these officers are now suing us um we'll note that for the record for not being dealt with quick enough but we all know why it wasn't dealt with quick enough the individual who had to deal with it was involved um nevertheless the top law enforcement officer in our state told you all what needs to be done gave a recommendation was terminate these individuals and that again could have been done um instead there is a ongoing mediation hearing arbitration something that was passed and there's been no updates uh regarding that so with that backdrop the town taking any public position as to the lawsuit um has the town retained further outside Council imagining that tric Bon court is probably going to be conflicted out of this issue again um what is the status of these mediation arbitrations that were supposed to take place after the AG recommendations came down have those hearings been held what has the result of those hearings been um and most directly does anyone on the council does the mayor believe these individuals deserve to come back and keep their job and is anyone advocating for that publicly or privately second issue I want to discuss is another person who's employed by the town under another investigation that's our municipal court judge um reported this month that he's under investigation for representing Municipal Employees including law enforcement officers and code enforcement officers who would then be appearing in front of him his professional affiliations with law enforcement officers and personal friendships and professional relationsships with Clark town code enforcer officer excuse me quote acted in a manner that casts Reasonable Doubt on his capacity to act impartially as a judge that is the complaint in what it alleges I can go on I imagine someone has read uh the article and the complaint with this backdrop and with another issue involving ethics and keeping things in the dark um since this news is broke which has been several weeks ago has any action been taken uh unlike the officers in the prior comment uh this is an Atwell employment single year two year threee contract uh there is not the same due process mechanisms that are required uh this could simply be a termination um has the mayor and Council discussed termination have they discussed this issue at all um when did the Town Council and when did the mayor become now informed of this issue and does the council or the mayor believe that the judge should continue to serve while under an investigation thank you than you is there anyone else who wishes to come forward seeing no one I'd like to close this portion of the meeting thank you all in favor I okay we'll move on to Mayor counsel and professional comments yes thanks Madam president Mr Mayor um I don't know the gentleman from Parkway Drive I'm kind of confused on where I should even go with this to you know um I'm going to say at this point I do not think the Walnut apartment complex has put any burden on the on the school district um Pilots versus taxes lot to be said towns make their choices I know many towns throughout the state and municipality are working as you know council president within pilot program so I don't think we're all wrong number one there's options there's reasons there's a lot that goes into it yes we do get an increase of I believe it's three or three and a half% upon the revenue that goes up it's a winner for the community we've been hearing about these Pilots now I don't know I must have heard four or five times in the last six months about pilots pilots and from people who have every right to ask the question and they should but don't really understand the process and it's kind of hard here in a in a nutshell to explain all this without sitting down Madame President as you know being a financial officer in this Township of East Brunswick um gentleman was asking about our bond issue that we're going on yes we're getting a de T grant for I think it was $365,000 and we are bonding money yes we're raising debt we're absolutely doing that to provide services for you and your family and the rest of this community building improvements road paving equipment for our Township so yes that is a that is a yearly process of government raising bonds to do Capital Improvements matter of fact proud to sit here and tell you I've been the first mayor in many moons that has actually paid debt off not just paid interest on bonds prior to me coming the office and rest of all John lasa laying out a fabulous debt service plan our bonds have been paid each and every year and not only have we played interest we've paid principal you're sitting in a12 million building your taxes never went up because of it because each year debt falls off the fee schedule new debt comes on we pay down principal we've refinanced I'm giving you a 20-year picture 24e picture we've refinanced debt we've paid down on bond anticipation notes we've set a program here to Second To None So our bonded debt was never a reason that you'll hear a tax increase here in our community there's other reasons but not that so I don't know what more I could say on that um Mr shman made a comment about the 18 ,000 in tax appeals probably correct on that and that's okay a few years back we had to pay a million dollars to Hyatt Hills so that's what I talk about Mike about you know getting our share of the pie listen we can make this a campaign issue we can make this a monthly issue whatever you want to do it's okay by me at the end of the day this is the way we're doing it this is best for the community unless you really understand it thoroughly which obviously from the questions that are being Arisen you don't and this is a winner for our town the schools are in good shape financially there was a time the schools used to suck wind every year again that unit has been sold out it'll be a money maker under the pilot agreement for the community I certainly don't care about Union County we're providing the services if the school children have a problem then we'll turn around and work with the Board of Education as we all we've done the lawsuit without the with the police that you mentioned Mike you're an attorney I wish you would know this stuff I'm sure you do but maybe your professional life is one way and your political life is another way um they're not suing us per se they are going before a superior court judge because they feel their rights were violated in the time it took to do this investigation period nothing to do with me I didn't take three and a half years for it and they didn't deserve to be out three and a half years either that I will tell you in my opinion so no is there any more opinion than that if the court says that the police officers are wrong then they will have a hearing which is due process due process that's an attorney word I'm a contractor you're an attorney you understand that word I hear from guys like you it's due process at that point so at this point I don't care it doesn't matter to me it's up to the court system they go before the judge if their 45 day rule was violated they're going to walk away period That's the End whether they come back here or not because the Attorney General makes a recommendation it doesn't mean it's 100% correct it's up to the appointed Authority and a lot of times through attorneys and negotiations that comes to that middle you can lay the Hammer as you know as a defense attorney down on anybody but it doesn't mean it's right I could say tomorrow they got to do this it doesn't mean it's right it doesn't mean it's right right you're a lawyer you're a defense attorney I believe you should understand that better than I judge an asio I was never AFF formed um as a mayor through the court system that there's an issue he had called me and had spoken to me personally about this I guess investigation you want to call allegations maybe it would be a better word I'm not quite sure and I support the judge 1,000% matter of fact you filled in as a municipal uh uh public defender here so you should know his qualities if you sat in the courtroom I've had defense attorneys guys that I know that are good defense attorneys come up to me in my 24e period and say to me are you going to reappoint the judge he's up this year and I said yeah sure why wouldn't I oh he's one of the best municipal judges in all of New Jersey fair balanced does a great job so if we want to come up here now and start chopping him up every month be my guest but you saw his body of work when you sat here and got paid by Clark Township as a public Defender for one day and if you don't think the Judge is a damn good municipal court judge then I've got to think about you for a few minutes because everybody that I respect in defense law over my 24e period has come up to me and told me this judge anasia is one of the best judges in all of Union County matter of fact what sold me years ago I saw the way he handled a 16-year-old young lady I'm going back a long time ago matter of fact I was a councilman at the time and this young lady took her mother and father's car out 15 16 years old for a cruise and the CPD grabbed her and there was a fine of like I don't know hundred or $150 I'm going back a long way and the judge brought her up I was sitting there that night I don't know what I was there for but I stopped in and I enjoyed listening to that sometimes and he said to the young lady do you work and she was and he talked to her about the whole process and she says yes you're honor I work and I don't know maybe she was working at McDonald's or Burger King or one of those places back in the day and the just says listen defines I don't know let's say a hundred bucks I don't recall exactly and he said to her but I don't want your mom and dad's check I want you to go out to the court window and I want you to make a um a payment plan with her outside the court clerk whatever you could afford each week I want you to come in here and pay her so you can understand what you did was wrong and how compassionate but understanding but smart he was to try to make her understand mommy and daddy's not going to take care of this Pro process and I got to tell you I'm proud to have judge a nasio on our bench and I wasn't the guy that appointed him uh mayor ellport had appointed him prior to me and when I came into office because I've known him since high school and the quality he performs here and I would just hope for the political reasons we keep him out of it I I would think maybe being a defense attorney and he's a judge if you got something to say he's down on Westfield Avenue you should go talk to him one-on one want about it I don't want to bring him into politics I think it's unprofessional and what he's being alleged of maybe that you could say that's unprofessional we'll see when it comes to fruition that's all I can say as far as the cops come you have no idea who those cops are you don't know the body of work they did here yes did something that was inappropriate like I have done but the body of work that they did and the fairness that they showed people in this community and way they were respect but you weren't here then because you're new newer to the town and you're not really in the fabric of the community to know what goes on here coming to a meeting once or twice a month and complaining about you know pilots and people and this and that doesn't bring you into the community and know who these people are so when they were here we had damn good uh Chief here one of the best I had out of the four I had damn good and they have a due process and a right it doesn't mean because people are going crazy after our community and individuals it makes them right I sure one could feel that and feel that way and we'll see in the end um I don't know it's just like I said I guess you know it's going to be funny on the 25th the petitions are filed for mayor and Council race this year it's going to get more ridiculous so you know the name we'll go back to the name calling and the questioning and this and that who said this and who said what it's under investigation it's a lawsuit we can't comment on that that you're an attorney you know better than that guys like me should be getting up there asking that question you should know better than that you should know better that's it I had enough thank you mayor uh councilman hund yes just a couple things I want to welcome the new members of Clark Fon to your fire department it's great to see two more members come on there uh we always need volunteers as as councilman Conor says pretty much every month for the different department so that's great that we have two more members uh thank you to the police department for the continued diligence on the roads with this radar traps and things of that sort that's been going on for quite some time now possibly about a year and then also for the making the changes with the increased presence of of the number of officers out on the road During certain times of night when people like to come into town and try to steal uh some high-end vehicles and things of that sort and then also wish all the Spring sport teams uh throughout the town from elementary school actually no there's no teams in elementary school I take that back middle school and the high school good luck uh with all their Sports CU they're starting that up last week and if we could can all support them that's all I have thank you thank you councilman hund councilman mazarella yes thank you council president to duvail on what um councilman hund has said about our police presence around our community I've been getting a lot of positive response from the residents saying they like it and they wish it to continue it's a great job that the are our police force is doing having um these roving units around with their lights on it gives the residents a little bit more a sense of security I commend our Police Department doing that and keep it going thank you um and please as I've said each month the mayor has said this many many times uh please residents uh lock your vehicle doors at all times and your residents um doors keep them locked and if you see something that you don't quite understand or you're uncomfortable about just call our Police Department they're going to respond immediately and they're not going to get annoyed or aggravated they want to ensure your well-being and safety so please remember that anytime you have a problem or you concerned about something don't hesitate to call just call our Police Department they'll come right down and they'll make sure that everything is okay on your property and your house and yourself uh until next month be well stay safe and God bless thank you thank you councilman Mella councilman Manti thank you I just want to um again welcome Edward and Andrew to the Clark fire department I think it's great to have more volunteers and really appreciate the time um I just want to give my condolences to a dear friend uh class of 1987 Christopher Canada passed away recently and I want to give my condolences to uh Debbie the boys and his family um he was a prosecutor and Clark and just a great loss just a great guy so again my condolences and uh finally just want to wish my uh son a happy birthday for tomorrow other than that that concludes my uh comments thank you thank you councilman medidi councilman oconor thank you I'd like to thank the residents of the second board and of the Town there's been a lot of road construction recently specifically public service has been shutting down Lanes here and there to uh to upgrade so I know it's something we've all dealt with and uh I appreciate everybody's um patience with it and I want to thank the police as well because I'm sure you guys have to deal with the traffic and the and the unhappy people specifically when it was on on Central Avenue I'm sorry on uh yeah Central Avenue by by r Road um other than that you know by the time it gets down here A lot's been covered I'm not a big repeater but worth repeating is thanking the new members of Clark volunteer fire department because um it's easy to complain but it's hard to do and these uh these two gentlemen stepped up to give back to the community and I want to thank them and all the volunteers in Clark thank you thank you councilman oconor councilman Smith thank you madam president just again just a reminder this saturday from 12:00 to to 2:00 is the annual Easter egg hunt so if you're around please come down for a fun few hours with the kids there's a candy Raffles and a lot of entertainment that's all I have to have this evening thank you thank you councilman Smith councilman tol thank you Madame President I wasn't going to get into this but I'm going to say this it was brought up by judge Tony anaso Tony anaso is a Clark kid I'm not gonna get into a whole thing but I'm gonna say this because I had a personal experience with Tony anaso not in front of his judicial but through a friend a friend's daughter who is in the grips of addiction and drug abuse who is killing herself and they came to me and asked me for help and I had heard that Tony gave interventions and discussions and talks not in front of his bench but in his office and they asked me for help they were in desperate times when your child is lost from drugs and needs help and they weren't getting it from the parent rental guidance they weren't getting it frombody else so I sent them to Tony judge anaso a friend a clarkeite somebody who grew up on the streets of Clark like us who cared and he talked to that mother who was in tears to try to help and guide the daughter out of her thinking and her chemical dependency unfortunately that girl had passed away and those parents never were the same but judge anaso took the time out of his busy schedule everything he's involved with just to try to help a fellow human being who was lost something like that is very special we are lucky to have him in this town doing what he does best trying to help other people who make mistakes find the right Road and the right path and do what is good for our fellow man why life is so short I've known Tony naso for years and I can only say one thing what a great great person that's all I got to say Antonio nasio who we've lost in the last month Michael ceraso an executive board member of Clark Little League Clark po Warner football to his family our deepest sympathies on your loss Charlotte gesler former lyen teacher and active in all the Affairs at St Agnes church for years her and her sister were there every morning opening up the parish doing things for the church are thoughts and prayers to Chris her twin sister on this loss Ed kosa longtime parishioner and friend of the St J St John's Community Ray Goldman Lieutenant Clark PD retired 27 years he drove and served the Clark Police Department 27 years how do you do that for a job unless you care about the community and care about your fellow soier officers and your family and your residents of your command his sons are still police officers I know they're getting out of retirement how time goes by so fast to Mrs Goldman and her son Ray Jr Chris and Vincent there's no words I can say to you except we will miss your dad he was a really good mind he was one of my little league coaches when I was a kid but he gave so much of himself for the safety and the betterment he rode that night with Billy Waterson who was taken from us on July 4th he was a part of that uh officers of that generation to George sakur lifetime clarkeite somebody who grew up in the township a Clark became a Clark police officer he became a Clark police Sergeant served for 31 years of dedicated service he made Clark a safer place to live to his wife Helen children Teresa Michael Louis Deborah Patricia and all the many many grandchildren again a special person who gives of them back to the community un there's no words to say anything except we appreciate everything he did and he will never be forget forgotten Ed is muchmore loving wife of mother friend to many she was my neighbor for years every Christmas Eve they had a party invited the entire neighborhood over M Mrs muchmore would be remembered because of Mr muchmore Mr mmore was one of the founding members of the Clark Little League that's why mmore field was named in his honor to Debbie Eric Eddie and Bonnie class of 77 our condolences to your lost your mother she had a life a long life of 95 but we will never forget the two of them you're always the support of the good man Mr muchmore the support of a lovely wife who was there for him to do the good things he did for the town again it's just a simple process of helping others and not tearing people down with that said Madam president I thank you thank you for your night I'll see you next month thank you councilman to Madam president if uh councilman oconor I yield my remaining balance to councilman oconor thank you very much I knew Brian was going to touch base on on Mr Goldin and I just wanted to say I did not know Mr Goldin when he was a police officer but I know him as a neighbor I was neighbors with him for 20 years and you couldn't find a better a neighbor a better man and and a better family so my condolences to their family thank you thank you Madam president Madam clerk no comments thank you counselor no comment okay I just want to touch upon a few points that were raised during the public comments section of the meeting John I appreciate you coming tonight and asking all the questions about the pilots and it might seem like it's not a good deal but as I mentioned um there's a lot of requirements that have to be met to even be included as an area in need of Redevelopment and then beyond that you have to look at the qualitative issues as I mentioned earlier that are involved in how the town should proceed so I hope you do sit down take advantage of the invitation from the mayor you can take a look at all the records on that and as the mayor said this state of New Jersey is going through um you know we have a lot of blighted areas areas in need of Redevelopment so it's a common theme throughout the state U many towns have separate Redevelopment agencies there's so much Redevelopment going on you take places like Jersey City New Brunswick all the Redevelopment that's gone on so we're a small piece of that but uh there's a lot that's going on in New Jersey which brings me to the next point that was raised about uh the example that the mayor raised about how taxes are raised and and the impact on the township so if you take a $100 try to keep it simple and the schools get about $60 and the county gets about 25 and the towns get about 15 and that's pretty much the percentage breakdown throughout the state of New Jersey in each town when monies aren't collected the township has to pay the $100 but they're only getting 15 so they have to pick up the $60 for the schools and the $25 when there's a tax appeal now probably we did we we have very small appeals right now what happened a year or two ago we had an entire tax revaluation it was a very laborious task it was very costly undertaking for the township people were very nervous about what was going to happen generally for the most part most of the people were unaffected but there were some people that got a lot of increases and some people that got a lot of reductions um so when that happens and the revaluation is done the tax appeals aren't going to be that significant but we were required to do that revaluation and when the valuations were very low below the fair fair market value that meant more of the tax appeals were taken on by the township so I just want to I hopefully people understand that part of the process Angel may I add one more thing to that please I forgot what your real complaints should be here tonight about is how the state of New Jersey only gave our community an increase of $200,000 in state a for our schools when I'll give you this riddle to go home and figure out because I'm still trying to figure it out it's been week or two since it's happened New Providence is a smaller School District than ours meeting income is higher than ours and they got way more than us neighboring Community it's a city with more schools row got a $13 million increase the city of nework got a $50 million increase now putting them at1 billion doll a year in state aid so when you're talking about school issues those are the ones you start looking into and try to understand why we're always getting a short end of the stick because like I said I could understand some of the cities of course they have a dozen schools dozen and a half schools and many many many people my question is how about New Providence how about New Providence smaller District higher medium income and get more money that's where the problems are in this state but thank you m Madam president and then finally um as far as you know all the questions about VI rights being violated and firing people Etc I I agree with what the mayor mentioned especially about our chief Matos um but I think really it makes me reflect upon the citizens of this Township their rights being violated by the case dragging on and on for years not being handled properly um I'd like to congratulate the fire volunteers that were mentioned and it's uh well appreciated and I hope to see everyone at the Easter egg hunt at this time I'd like to adjourn the meeting if do I have a motion so move do I have a second all in favor for