good evening everyone and welcome to the May 20th 2024 council meeting of Clark madam clerk would you call the role when you get a chance councilman Hy here councilman masella here councilman Manti here councilman oconor here councilman Smith here councilman tol here council president albanes here I'd like to ask everyone to please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and stay standing for a moment of silence pledge allegiance to the flag the United States of America to the repblic which stand indivisible liy justice for [Music] all 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 by posting such annual meeting scheduled on the bulletin board in town 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 Council can have a motion to suspend the regular order of business thank you Council mazarella thank you councilman hund okay we're going to all in favor I I he at this time we have some special presentations so we're going to start off with the police promotion and police department Awards presentation thank you good evening ladies and gentlemen welcome to the May uh Township council meeting as council president just said we have a busy night tonight with different Awards and uh proclamations and uh things of that nature so without further to do I will introduce our police captains Captain Miguel akabo and Captain Christian lot come on up guys thank you Mr Mayor all right good evening mayor salvan Coro business administrator Jim mck Madame council president Angel alanes council members clerk Edith Merkel distinguished guests family friends and community members but before we begin I would like to personally thank mayor Salan a Coro business administrator Jim olich and council members for their unwavering support and generosity the support that we have received is not merely a contribution but a testament to your commitment to enhancing the well-being of our citizens so thank you very much I would like to welcome you all to the John E lasa Memorial courtroom and to the 2024 Clark police Awards and promotion ceremony honoring our officers I would like to call on Captain Chris lot to do the honors in welcoming an officer who has been doing really great work for us good evening everyone my name is C Chris lot I am the captain in the detective Bureau and to start off tonight we're going to start off with a swearing in so we're going to swear Josh Weber into the position of a traffic detective Josh if you and your family could come on up so a little bit about Josh he is a 2012 graduate of Dayton high school once he graduated from Dayton he left and he joined the US Marines where he went to Paris Island and was trained as a radio operator Josh served 6 years in the Marine Marine Corps and once he left the Marine Corps he then went to Union County College where he got credits in criminal justice and business sports management he was hired by Union County Corrections in the summer of 2015 he graduated the St Police Academy in December of 2015 and then worked for the sheriff's in 15 and 16 in 2017 he transferred here when Josh first transferred here I was back on the road and I was his supervisor when he first started his training and he's been with us ever since in the last eight years he's become a field training officer he's received several Mothers Against Drunk Driving Awards three distinguished Service Awards and he is an expert in defens defensive tactics and training he's gone to the Gracie level trainings one and two and he is a defensive tactics instructor who is certified with the FBI during his eight years on patrol he has been especially Adept in the areas of DWI has all the trainings that go along with that and will soon become a Dr which is is an expert in the administration of field sobriety tests for people who are under the influence Josh you deserve this you did a very good job on patrol congratulations and mayor mon Corso is now going to swear you income Josh and family welcome who would like to hold the Bible come on over Jos this way right hand up please you have to go the other way put your left hand on the Bott best you can there don't drop precious though whatever you do okay repeat after me I Joshua Weber I Joshua Weber do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the state of New Jersey and of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the saity into the governments established to the governments established in the United States the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will Faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of the office of detective traffic Bureau all the duties of the office of detective traffic detective traffic Bureau according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability for the township of Clark the township of Clark so help me God so help me God congratulations defective [Applause] come come on closer Chris yeah [Applause] we got them you're giving them away aren't you yes yes congratulations congratulations congratulations thank you mayor thank you Captain lot and congratulations uh to detective we well deserved so Tonight We Gather not only to celebrate The Bravery dedication and unwavering commitment of our officers but also reflect on the crucial role they play in safeguarding our communities as we honor these exceptional individuals let us remember the profound impact that they have on our daily lives they are the silent Sentinels often unnoticed and always Vigilant ensuring that our neighborhoods remain safe and secure their service is marked by countless acts of heroism compassion and selfishness often under the most challenging circumstances last year has been particularly significant as our officers have faced unprecedent challenges with resilience and resolve from responding to Public Safety emergencies to engaging in community building initiatives their efforts have been exemplary and inspiring tonight tonight's Awards recognize those who have gone above and beyond embodying the highest standards of our profession first and foremost I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all the family members present here tonight your support and sacrifices are the Bedrock upon which our officers are strong and stand strong apologize we understand the unique challenges that come with supporting law enforcement professional professionals and your unwavering encouragement is invaluable so as we Pro proceed with tonight's ceremony let us celebrate the achievements of these remarkable men and women they are not just recipients of awards they are the embodiment of Courage integrity and dedication through their actions they set powerful example for us all and Inspire the next generation of Law Enforcement Officers again thank you for being here tonight to share this momentous occasion and let us proceed to honor the achievements of our Awards recipients so the first award is our life sing of award it goes to detective Paul snowski Nick kurros and police officer Cassandra Kenny come on [Applause] up right there for their combined efforts on Saturday July 16 2022 in performing CPR and employing an AED on an unresponsive 25-year-old ultimately regaining a pulse before the mail was transported to the hospital [Applause] congratulations thank you congratulations her second award is the life-saving award goes going to police officer Michael D'Angelo and police officer Brandon [Applause] McKenna for their combined efforts on Wednesday July 27th 2022 in performing CPR and employing an ad on an unresponsive 70-year-old male at the LA Fitness and ultimately regaining a pulse before the male was transported to the hospital [Applause] congratulations the next award is a platoon award and a written comment ation Sergeant Michael chacho Sergeant omara detective Daniel Joy detective Paul snowski detective Andrew mados police officer jovanina prisco police officer Brandon McKenna police officer Patrick Delhomme dispatcher Tom bazinsky and dispatcher Joseph GIS gribbon please come on up [Applause] for their collaborative efforts on Saturday May 6 2023 during a period of an attempted motor vehicle burglaries officers responded to a foot pursuit radioed in by Sergeant chacho with collaborative efforts from outside agencies the Union County Police drone unit was requested deployed and emitting a heat Source on its display when the suspect was hiding trying to evade officers subsequently he was arrested and charged with obstruction the administration of law of resisting arrest and other theft related offenses congratulations thank you guys thank you thank you good job oh our next award is the exceptional service award Sergeant Michael chacho and police officer Patrick delom distinguished service award sergeant omara and written accomodations to our civilians Tommy Harrison and D Danny and Corva please clim on up yes it should should be there for their collaborative efforts on Saturday July 1st 2023 while responding to a call on an individual suffering from an acute mental health episode and reasonably believing that the medical attention and believing that medical attention was needed as they tried to assist the individual a struggle ensued and a black handgun fell from the individual's waistband officers gained control of the individual with assistance of two civilians successfully placing him in handcuffs and providing him with medical attention needed transporting him to the hospital ultimately he was charged with a third deegree aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer third degree resisting arrests by force and third degree unlawful possession of a weapon [Applause] congratulations all right thank you congratulations our next award is another life- saving award it goes out to police officer masar Elward Donnie police officer Michael D'Angelo and police officer Joshua Weber [Applause] for their combined efforts on Wednesday August 23rd 2023 in performing CPR and employing an ad on an unresponsive 49-year-old male and ultimately regaining a pulse before the mail was transported to the hospital congratulations we have another life- saving award going out to Sergeant Christopher tuo police officer Brandon pittz police officer Alexander Ruiz police officer Cassandra Kenny and dispatcher Kelly Linsky please come on up for their combined efforts on February I'm sorry on Friday September 15 2023 in performing CPR and employing an ad on unresponsive 7y old male and ultimately regaining a pulse before the mail was transported to the hospital congratulations good job thank you next award goes to administrative service award to uh special law enforcement officer one Robert Tarantino please come on up so during the course of the 2023 year special law enforcement Tarantino exceeded his job description and voluntarily accepted numerous assignments during and at all times of the day including but not limited to funeral escorts funeral details and traffic control posts at a moment's notice this is not characterized by loyalty and devotion but duty to the department congratulations [Applause] the next award goes out to Chief secretary Gina Moretta and it is a administrative service award in recognition of dedic of outstanding dedication professionalism and exemplary Services as the records I'm sorry as the chief secretary your commitment to maintaining the highest standards of administrative support has greatly contributed to the efficiency and effectiv of effectiveness of our Police Department your meticulous attention to detail exceptional organizational skills and unwavering support have set a standard of Excellence that enriches our department thank you Gina Captain Chris lot you want to come and present your detective Awards sure okay our last two Awards tonight go to individuals who work in our detective Bureau the first one is an honorable service award for detective Bruce McDonald who was the head detective on this case and a platoon award for the other detectives who assisted him with it detective Brian Seuss danany Joy Mark dor and Paul snowski so this award stems from a month long investigation that detective McDonald spearheaded into burglaries to motor uh actually to houses where they were looking to steal highend Motor Vehicles people think that these type of Investigations are like TV and things pop up on screens but it takes a lot of time to pour through hours and hours of surveillance footage and put this all together and write warrants and it literally took them an entire the summer to put this together but of the 12 burglaries that occurred over the summer they were able to charge in 10 of them and it was a crew that was going around and burglarizing houses and then going in and stealing their cars they did a great job on this and they should be commended for [Applause] it all right last but not least is our administrative service award that is going to be given to Debbie d'angela Debbie come on up Debbie is about to be very unhappy with me because today she said to me don't say anything about me I'm just doing my job and I told her that in the 17 years that I have worked in public service I have never worked with anybody who is better at their job than Debbie she first started here 27 years ago as a dispatcher and and for the last 15 or so years as long as I've been here she has been the detective Bureau secretary uh she's not just a secretary she is the sixth detective in there she can pick out what kind of car it is from a grainy surveillance video she knows everything that goes into every job and how to do it correctly she's meticulous she's dedicated and she does anything to the best of her ability and goes way way above and beyond and what I what I said earlier and I'm not just saying that I've work with a lot of people and Debbie is the best congratulations [Applause] Debbie good okay captains thank you very much and uh I'd like to also uh recognize Lieutenant uh Sophia Santos from the Union County prosec here office here with us she's been here a couple years two three years now and has assisted and helped us and a pleasure to work with each and every day ladies gentlemen thank you so much for all you do each and every day this community appreciates you myself and this Council appreciate you and the only thing I can tell you from the bottom of my heart is just stay safe that's all we ask okay everything else we can deal with so God bless you all and thank you so much next we're going to get on to the basketball Awards and then the end gun violence folks are here we're going to get on to that one second please thank you mayor so as the mayor said we're going to move on to the team recognition of the Clark travel basketball eighth grade boys team for their success this season okay one second congratulations congratulations to you guys you can if you [Music] want congratulations man all the best best to help to everybody congratulations guys awesome okay let's get started on the next award I'd like to uh congratulate the 23 24 Clark 8ighth grade uh boys basketball team an overall record this year 31-1 for the 2324 season eighth grade Champs of the 2024 travel basketball tournament which is a very prestigious tournament completed six years of travel basketball winning the Clark tournament in fourth and eighth grade grades again very impressive Advanced to multiple League Championship gains in the Central Jersey league and in the Jersey basketball league we like to congratulate you young guys for um a very well job well done I like to call up first uh ray gun zarowski the head coach Steve Ortiz the assistant coach and terce M Mal malski assistant coach come on up please sure okay we go oh I'm sorry uh thank you uh Mr Mayor Township Council for uh taking the time to recognize us here today uh as as the mayor noted these guys had a a really great season 31- 10 um started off started off with uh a great fall season where you know anytime you get a chance to beat some of our local Rivals even in a fall league it's a great thing Westfield Scotch Plains we we know we like to beat those guys so that was uh that was a really good start to our year and then uh these guys really you know they they put in the effort they were playing on the com Team all year as well as as well as playing with us and uh you know I just thank them thank coach Steve Coach teres for for all of the uh effort that that they've put in over these last six years and and trying to get these guys ready to go off to high school and and be successful and um you know I'm looking forward to seeing what these guys do in the future hopefully the the people in the community get get an opportunity to come see these guys play because they're they're fun they're fun kids they're they're really exciting to be around so thanks call out yeah I can call them out sure I'll Chris brand say their name even if they're not here Matt Tel Rico Steven Ortiz Logan Downey Derek gzowski uh unable to be here tonight Justin mausi Julian cologne and and Roman malski come take a picture guys come on down good boys you can take these I will okay got thank you no problem I squish in squish in come on we can do do it okay congratulations thank you again no problem thank [Applause] you okay congratulations boys and we'll be looking forward to seeing you at the high school next year should be an exciting year and next we have a proclamation Madame clerk will you read it into the record please were the ladies for the uh ing gun violence please come on up and join me it's good to have you back again this year second year or third second okay that's what I thought perfect welcome back to Clark good how are you tonight good to see you May's gon to read the center the record we'll present it to you whereas every day 120 Americans are killed by gun violence and more than 200 are shot and wounded with an average of nearly 18,000 gun homicides every year and whereas Americans are 26 times more likely to be murdered with guns than people in other developed countries and whereas protecting Public Safety in the communities they serve is mayor's highest responsibility and whereas support of the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens goes hand inand with keeping guns away from dangerous people and whereas Mayors and Law Enforcement Officers know their communities best are the most familiar with local criminal activity and how to address it and are best positioned to understand how to keep their citizens safe and whereas June 7th 2024 would have been the 27th birthday of hadia Pendleton a teenager who marched in President Obama's second inaugural parade and was tragically shot and killed just weeks later and whereas to help honor Hada and the 91 Americans whose lives are cut short and the countless survivors who are injured by shootings Every Day a National Coalition of or organizations has designated June 7th 2024 as the 10th Annual National Gun Violence awareness day and whereas the idea was inspired by a group of Hadas friends who asked their classmates to commemorate her life by wearing orange they chose this color because Hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other Hunters when out in the woods and orange is the color that symbolizes the value of human life and whereas anyone can join this campaign by pledging to where orange on June 7th to help raise awareness about gun violence and whereas by wearing orange on June 7th Americans will raise awareness about gun violence and honor the lives and lost human potential of Americans stolen by gun violence and whereas we renew our commitment to reduce gun violence and pledge to all we uh we can to keep Firearms out of the wrong hands and encourage responsible gun ownership to help keep our children safe now therefore be it resolved that mayor salbon a Corso in the township of Clark declares June 7th to be National Gun Violence awareness day I encourage all citizens to support their local communities efforts to prevent the tragic effects of gun violence and to honor and value human lives signed mayor saan Corso I thank you um mayor bakoso and the Council of Clark and citizens um for honoring uh the 10th National Gun Violence awareness day and wear orange weekend which will be as we said June 7th of this year um we talked about the reason why we honor it it was started um for hadia Pendleton who um by her friends as she was tragically shot and killed we wear orange because orange was hadia's favorite color but it's also um the color that Hunters wear to St to stay safe while they are hunting and that's what this day is about um couple things in uh increasing awareness about gun violence in our communities we all um know that it's um a terrible um incident that happens in the United States that doesn't happen in other countries and so we like to uh raise that awareness we also want to encourage um respons responsible gun ownership and safe storage of guns to keep guns out of the hands of children because um more so than disease or car accidents actually gun uh gun violence is the leading cause of death of children in the United States and we know that there are simple common sense um solutions to those issues like keeping guns out of the hands of people who don't have them locking up your guns and um supporting um Common Sense uh Solutions such as that we'd also like to invite the community to two events that we're having um on WE orange weekend June 1st in planfield we're having um a March that goes from the Performing Art Center to the town hall that's on June 1st at starting at 8:00 a.m and then also in Summit we're having a rally on June Friday June 7th at um 6: PM so uh we' invite everybody who would like to come and wear orange on that day um to support our cause uh all are welcome thank you very [Applause] much okay thank you I'd like to thank These Fine ladies for their uh diligence and their efforts and keeping people safe and we do support you and admire you for all you do thank you very much thank you madam president turn it back over to you thank you mayor uh bonac Corso at this time if anyone would like to leave uh and uh you're welcome to stay and join us with the legislative business of the evening but otherwise have a good evening and congratulations boys great to see you thanks for coming here take care good have the neighbors here okay Council I'd like a motion to move on with the regular order of business Some Mo thank you councilman tol do you have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith all in favor I okay at this time we'll move on to Communications from the mayor and reports of Township officers so mayor back to you yes thank you again Madam president I'll try to be brief um month of May grass pickup is started please each week get it out in a biodegradable bag and or DPW will be around to pick it up Branch cleanup we are in the third week of the m month this is the week to get them out the DPW will be here next week to we'll be here next week to remove them off their street folks again I say it all the time please try to adhere to this schedule for safety for pedestrians bicycle list and uh vehicles of course try this one okay uh Memorial Day Parade will be this week on Memorial Day at 9:00 a.m. it is a very very important day on the calendar to honor our fallen heroes we have a parade out here on Westfield Avenue followed by the um ceremony uh from the American Legion VFW please come out and support our veterans it's a very very important day on our calendar um I'd just like to give fair warning on behalf of the Clark Police Department we are getting a lot of uh complaints and no up on Bartell and Byron the police have been notified they are going to be out there and whether you're fortunate enough to get a warning or a parking ticket that depends on the officer I'm going to ask you to please adhere to the no parking signs when you're up there it's very important you know they're there for a reason they're done by ordinance and if you violate that ordinance you can be subject to getting a uh parking uh ticket up on Bartell and Byron especially goes throughout the town of course but those are two hot areas we're having uh psng has given our DPW shade trees we have 28 uh they are one and a half to 2 in caliber different varieties if You' like to uh have one contacted d PW and Scott will put you on a list in a first come first serve type of um um uh prize the way you get it okay the other thing I'd like to talk about is the new Hot Topic of the week is the dredging of the Clark um Reservoir or technically known Reservoir resi is from us altimers in Clark the uh was called The Clark Wildlife Preserve inhabitat uh I'm not into that the resi is what we know it as but anyhow uh I was able to sell that to Union County many years ago for $1 probably one of the best things I could really hold my hat on as your mayor because I knew someday it was going to take a neat dredging and right now the County's looking at somewhere between 30 and $40 million to do that and they are much more uh better equipped than a local municipality to do that about four years ago I started the pursuit and asking the county to Reed the reservoir those of you who grew up in Clark for a long time like myself remember the days down by the DOR Club Featherbed Lane bridge when you could look out to both sides and there was no um vegetation growing in the water it was clear wide open actually on uh winter weekends there was a probably a hundred people out there ice skating it was a very nice place and a very nice body awarded to grow up on we played ice hockey on it we fished on it we did a lot on it and over the years it is filled with silk years ago before all the environmental rules impacted our state they would send two bulldozers in there every three or five years and bulldoze the material out truck it away and it was really a nice deep body of water I believe then and as I do now we needed this uh dredging for many reasons one for the environmental aspect two for flooding and three it's such a beautiful body of water that's now cluttered with Islands of um water vegetation that I think it could be done and used in a lot better way at that time Union County told me that they might like to add a recreational a um aspect to it and uh that is their call it is their body of water and they have done that and uh we have talked to them for quite some times back and forth on it they've more or less been letting us know what their ideas were nothing at this time is etched in stone I will say it is a county project I have worked on many major County projects with uh the county and always has been very successful and accommodating to work with as of this morning at 8:30 I was on the phone with County manager edman who I consider a friend and uh told him that there was some concerns I was reading out about on social media and he had said to me that he will be back to me this week with a date to have a town hall meeting right here in our Chambers in the meantime if you do have concern concerns over the recreational aspect or any other aspect for that matter I would encourage you to email the county manager edman but I would also like you to email Jim ol RBA baar clark.com so we could take a look at what some of the concerns are and know what went up to the county and then hopefully be able to have some discussions with them prior to the town hall meeting if they choose to do that with us and if they don't it's uh body of work so they'll deal with the public that night so they've encouraged me to send emails they've encouraged me to tell you to Mark a calendar for the June town hall meeting which I will alert you all to in by many different Fashions of uh information and they also encourage you if you'd like to have more questions answered you're welcome to go down to the county commissioner meeting in Elizabeth to have that conversation with them um I read some of the stuff on social media I get some of the concern some of it I think gets a little too carried away the fact that you don't want it is not really I think in the equation the fact that is if you have an issue now the one thing I've asked for like I said dredging first and foremost for over four years now very happy they're going to do that secondly when they brought in the recreational aspect I asked them to please do not put things behind paths walking paths in people's backyards where they're going to have strangers walking through their backyards along the edge of the reservoir they said they would not do that and we asked for a very thick burm uh blocking for Janice drive and it is a 50 foot heavily uh burm the the plan they have is very interesting I think it's well done and I know there's some uh rubs in it and some concerns and that's what Union County will go over it with you I would ask you from reframe from dealing with the township Council and myself in this because we don't have the answers to your questions it is not technically our project it is in our community the host community and like I said I gotta say we put together uh Esposito Park uh back in the day I know councilman tol can attest to this he was the councilman up there in Esposito Park they wanted to put a children's museum and I wasn't happy I know Brian wasn't happy about it and many other uh citizens weren't and we wanted to be an open space of you know fields and walking paths and what you kind of see now again the county has full authority over that and after the residents spoke to the county they uh scrubbed the Children's Museum and went with what you have right there which I think is another asset to the community uh the reservoir is in open space and it's going to be preserved as that and it's going to be now taken care of there was a plan back in uh 2001 when I became mayor from the previous Administration to have a recreational aspect to it in the reservoir which was uh walking paths and fishing peers and things of that nature and I did not follow through it as the newly elected mayor for a few reasons one at the time we did not have the money the town was in rough Financial shape and two we did not have the workforce between police and DPW to maintain those fishing docks and walking pass it takes Personnel to do that at the time if you think back to 2021 cellones were around but they weren't as relevant as they are today and the last thing I wanted was to have a little eight-year-old go fishing with Grandpa on a fishing dock and Grandpa take a heart attack and having a young child run up to ridan Road and fllying down a car we do not have the Personnel for the Clark Police Department to walk those paths at night and Patrol them so we scuttled that program and uh kept it as is and that was accepted and again uh at the time when I saw the condition of the reservoir I thought it was a very advantageous thing to sell it to Union County and I did for a dollar I think it was $10 but I don't even know if they even gave it to me but I forgave them for it because they did a good job but anyway one summer day uh I get a call shortly therea they taking it over from councilman tall and he says to me there's a dead fish in the reservoir so if you know Brian and my relationship I said so what do you want me to do it's a dead fish pull it out fry it up and you got dinner tonight he said no you don't understand there's thousands of them so I went up to uh wend place and met Brian and because of the oxygen level and the shallowness of that water dead fish and I'm telling you this big and bigger were dead lying all over the reservoir the county had to come in with boats and clean them up and take them away and about 6 hours later the then County Manager George Deany called me and said uh would you like your Reservoir back and I said no no you're doing a good job at get those fish out before they smell and he we laughed and they did a great job and they did that so that's where we stand on the reservoir folks please I know social media is fun and it you know we all get on there and everybody goes crazy put your questions down if you're going to not email them and you're going to send them to us or drop them off if you write them by hand legible so we can understand that sometimes we get letters we can't understand not that I have the best penmanship in the world but if you want your voice to be heard and we'll forward them up to Union County and we'll all be invited to that meeting that night and we can hear what they got to say and hopefully if there's any little concerns they can tweak them that's enough thank you very much Madam president thank you mayor at this time we'll move on to um reports of the uh Council councilman hunt thank you Madame President I have the Clark Police Department monthly report for April we saw a total of 1,924 calls for service including but not limited to 118 ambulance requests four for fire department requests 12 motor vehicle and residential lockouts 75 alarm calls 80 motor vehicle accidents 47 shoplifting and theft 17 fraud and identity theft 225 or 911 calls and 1,147 were miscellaneous calls there was a total of 27 adult arrests including but not limited to 16 for shoplifting two for DUI and six for warrants the youth Bureau hand handled a total of 17 cases including but not limited to one for shoplifting two for harassment eight for offenses against the family and all 17 cases were handled in-house disposition that concludes my report thank you thank you councilman hun councilman mazarella yes thank you council president um this is my DPW report for this month uh the electronic drop off will be June 29th from 9:00 a.m. to 1: p.m. there will be no uh drop off scheduled for May due to the holiday that's coming up Spring Cleanup is complete um as the mayor has mentioned um grass pickup will be every Tuesday please as the mayor stated in biodegradable bags and only grass clippings please no rakes landscape wood plastic bags fertilizer bags rakes mulch bags they are not considered grass clippings you could dispose of them in your trash um Branch pickup starts in May please place all your branches out the third week of the month for DPW to pick it up at the fourth week of the month bulky and appliance pickup appointments are required and please schedule it one week before your UH scheduled week pickup bulky and metal pickups are completely different trucks please schedule the correct pick up to avoid um non- removal of your items uh we will be out of root mulch for approximately until June 7th please make note of that DPW is still making available 16in free wood um placed outside the DPW Yard please pick it up as much as you want as long as supplies last and please keep keep it neat no log splitters or chainsaws and if you need any other information please contact DPW hour clark.com for more information or uh www uh hour clark.com for the schedule of all pickups and programs that we offer and lastly um I and the mayor and Township Council would like to wish our DPW staff a safe National Public Works week this week May 19th to the 205th keep up the good work guys I uh all of council the mayor and our community appreciates what you do thank you that's the extent of my report thank you Council mazarella councilman maniti uh thank you um for the Clark fire department report in the month of April they responded to 31 calls that total is 16 four for the year the calls are uh limited but not uh I'm sorry include but are not limited to numerous owners and alarm calls one call was for Mutual Aid two calls for motor vehicle incidents and three calls for mulch and brush fires I just want to remind everyone that when your mulch is piled too high it can build up heat and Catch Fire so please keep your mulch away from your homes and other structures and on uh very hot days that are coming up please keep your uh mulch wet down if possible um as always I'd like to thank members of the Clark fire department for their hard work and dedication and keeping our town safe this concludes my report thank you thank you Council M councilman oconor thank you from the finance committee we're on budget and closely monitoring all expenditures and from the Clark volunteer emergency Squad recent Squad activities the squad has been interviewing prospective members and developing ideas to recruit additional adult members Squad members have been diligent in completing their annual trainings and the squad and its members would like to recognize the continued support from the mayor ba and councel in its mission to care for those sick and injured in our community the call volume is as follows there were 121 calls in April with two mutual Aid calls with roay this does not include any calls that were dispatched to and canceled on total hours responding to calls is approximately 842 man hours this does not include any hours and members were on duty when there were no calls and the year- to-day call volume is 464 calls membership the squad is hosting an emergency vehicle operator course on June 10th from 8:00 a.m. to 3: p.m. anyone with a clean driver's record who is interested in becoming a driver for the squad is invited please contact the squad at Clark volunteer emergency Squad atgmailcom all spelled out anyone interested in becoming a member can email the squad at Clark volunteer emergency Squad gmail.com and they continue to service the community the 50th anniversary of EMS week 2024 is this week May 19 19th through the 25th this year's theme is honoring our past forging our future please keep an eye on for open and congratulate our members when you see them the squad will be celebrating their members with small tokens of appreciation during the week Katie Sheldon Squad Captain was named outstanding EMS provider of the Year by Overlook hospital and will be recognized during EMS week please check their lawn signs for all upcoming blood drives respectful submitted Lori Sheldon trustee thank you so much that concl concludes my report thank you councilman oconor councilman Smith thank you Madame President from the recreation and pool uh Friday June 7th is Clark family night at the Somerset Patriots baseball game and tickets are $10 each uh please contact Ralph Bernardo or em Emily Lambert in the rec department at 732 42884 to reserve your tickets TI are going fast and there is a fireworks uh display immediately following the game as there may have mentioned on Monday May 27th is our annual Memorial Day Parade it kicks off at 9:00 a.m. on the corner of Nassau streets and Westfield AV the parade route ends at alj high school with the ceremony remembering all our fallen heroes we ask the citizens to please line the streets and cheer on all the various organizations bands and Marchers who participate red registration for the Clark community pool is taking place the pool is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day uh this summer is the 50th anniversary of the community pool so there's festivities planned throughout the summer also on Saturday June 29th at the pool from 12: through 3:00 p.m. there is a skin cancer screening event sponsored by the Clark Health Department lastly the registration for the Clark summer wreck program is going on now please if you're interested register your children ASAP as over 1,200 children attend Camp each summer and it fills up very quickly again any questions contact Ralph or Emily at 73242 8400 and that's my report for this evening thank you thank you councilman Smith councilman tol thank you Madame President I'm going to keep this brief but I have got things to put on record tonight first of all mayor it was over a th000 carp 2 feet big or larger that just saturated the reservoir from the Garden State Parkway bridge down to the falls and they kind of floated towards the banks and the county came in with their boats they scooped them all up they dug a hole with a back ho behind the squad house and on Ren Road dug a hole and put them all in there and patted them down for a nice long nap and they've been there ever since that's one of those Tales of Clark history but the question was why why did this happen it brought an alarm to us why all these fish died and it was true it was oxygen short is of oxygen and the county start looking at things they start to do more that was about 2004 2006 range I'd have to get the exact dat I'm sorry I'm a little bit vague on that one but I remember the phone call and who it was from and that's what happened last Thursday folks my phone blew up it's you want to be a counsilman this is the job you get phone calls you get texts you get emails I'm at work I'm trying to do make a buck pay the rent and what happens my phone blows up because the residents along wendle and Bartell and other section wasn't about the parking it was about the res and the county decided to drop this in an email and the one resident and the I want to say thanks to our clerk who emailed this over to me and people are asking me Friday Saturday Sunday have you read this have you read this do you know what's in it you can't just read this thing once you got to read it several times because there's little things hidden in there you have to just get a more better understanding I spoke to the mayor and Amica said exactly the the honest words it's not our property it's the counties but we went through the same thing in 2002 when petpo died in 2000 he was a friend of mine I used to go over and farm with the guy I'm not going get into my side stories I'll be here all night and I know we don't have that kind of time we have business still on this agenda espositos we went to the county and we said hi we need to save this open space County came in and said okay they settled up with the girls they had to do women at domain with them but they did they gave them good fair market value they got a lot of money and they went away the property was turned out it was originally earmarked from 2000 to 2002 2003 for a children's museum there were 13 acres saved in the open Land open space preservation open space 13 acres on that site the county wanted to come come in and put eight Acres of pervious surface Madam and cement and a building on top of it and there was going to be some buffer zones for the open space preservation well of course that's not going to happen in Clark because we don't do it in our backyards but what we did is we used our heads and our logic and we talked to the neighbors we went up I went up and as a mayor who would say my ammo was to go and talk to the residents and see what they felt I'm not going to fight the county there's 21 20 other towns with a massive budget but we talked to them we learned what we can do and we ended up having that nck so what the county did was a plan a plan it wasn't the final product the only thing we had us kind of settle with was the tennis court up front I didn't want that in that Park I wanted open space we got the kids uh skateboard park because that's what the local neighborhood kids wanted but they wanted a tennis court because that's what their surveys their numbers came back and said here's what the residents want I said could you show me that that was espito in 2002 was dedicated no6 it's beautiful people love it because it has the little Trail it's passive and here's the words I'm going to say tonight what all I want to be on the record tonight I thank the county for doing the following and the mayor said it best dredge dredge dredge and more dredging not the whole just one section do the whole thing go all the way down and don't go just to silt cover when you read this thing it says they're just going to take dredge to silt over that what is that an inch or two go down six feet go down whatever the environmentalist tell you can do because you need to go down and open that all up and once you open it up you leave it for a couple of years you don't go building things out to go and Pease your own constituents you take care of Mother Nature the reservoir is not ours it was a gift from God if you don't like it then move there's plenty of places that have cement and that's another thing I have a problem with Union County they like to cement things over unacceptable it's not an angry res I don't even live near the resi but I grew up near it and I've always loved it the reservoir was supposed to be an intended use it was a Waterway used for drinking that's why it was put there it was a little babbling stream back in the township of Clark's early days when it was a farm in 1907 that babbling stream got Damned and all the farmers sold their little Waterway areas except for one access to go water the animals and they turned around and they used it for a Water Resource Supply that was up until the 1960s and in 1967 everything changed when a young Clark kid who went to St John's School died trying to cross the resi in 1967 his name was Dennis COI young kid died I was a kid I was 5 years old and I remember the neighbors my neighbor was a fireman and rescu his name was Huff Schneider him and the other neighbors big alvich all got up in the middle of night slammed the doors I got woken out of bed and they ran up to go see what there's a kid who's drowned in the resi they didn't find the body till the next day it was a horrible tragedy and they scared the parents our parents scared the heck out of us don't go near the resi Don't Go Near The resi that was in ' 67 1972 we all know what happened with Mr Harrison okay it was a horrible tragedy again kids weren't supposed to be on the resi the resi became a Fear Factor don't go near It Don't Go Near it and that's stuck for the last 40 plus years so now we want to dredge it dredge it dredge it and the mayor will tell you what I've always say and I'm a pain in of the ass folks that's the truth open space you don't go taking a the same thing they try to do with espositos they're trying to do with oakd they got to build everything on it leave it alone it's God's gift to us let's take care of it and say thanks Lord we'll move on to the next day we'll we'll walk on it have you ever actually gone down the resi any of you have you actually walked and looked at some of the most scenic beautiful in central New Jersey leave it the hell alone that's what I say to the county free holders I'm going to say this passive non structured open space I'll go to your meetings and I'll say my two cents but I'm only one of you I'm one we need you if you're indirectly impacted and you got this and you've seen this then get on the phone call the county manager call the county chair of the I'm sorry Commissioners now they used to be freeholders and say to her hey lady hey guys this is too much it's God's Gift let's protect it let's preserve it that's our Legacy to our children a nice if you want to put a floating dock behind the high school where it should have been or you want to put one behind where the Hungarian Club is can Union County bought out the Hungarian Club when the club went to fun Union County bought the Hungarian Club property there's a perfect location to put a boat house there and then you once you dredge it in a couple years down the road hey then the next generation gets it we're only caretakers of this time folks and I'm sitting here wasting yours to talk about an issue that should have been resolved years ago we don't just put a bunch of Playland this is not Disney World south or north this is Clark this is Union County let's take care of God's Property for once and for all thank you Mr Madam president I'm sorry to take up the council's time I didn't talk do committee reports or anything else it's just a travesty though and just as a reminder maybe if we discourage the recreational activity someday they'll turn around and sell that for uh apartments in the affordable housing which could happen too someday so let's be careful what we wish for we may get it thank you first cement for always thank you madam president thank you I'd like to give the library report so as you know um the library catalog is online it's available 247 you can place orders and have your books picked and pick them up but uh the library will be upgrading its online catalog system the bad news is that from Monday June 3rd to Wednesday June 12th you won't be able to place a hold uh on any books or any materials So to avoid any issues please place your orders now or prior to Monday June 3D the good news is the new catalog will be intuitive and user friendly and will make it easier than ever for you to find what you're looking for manage your account and discover new things along the way as far as programs coming up the summer reading program which is one of the big programs the library runs in coordination with the state theme will start on Monday June 10th the theme this year is season of Adventure where every book is a ticket to New and thrilling Expeditions please sign up at uh Clark library. beanstack.org as far as events the friends of the library will be having a costume jewelry sale on Saturday June 1st 10 to noon all items are $1 cash only um the county Aging Services kiosk ask kiosk will be on hand Thursday June 6th available to answer any questions you may have about services that are available in Union County for seniors and also for their caregivers so come to visit the Union County Aging Services kiosk and speak to the P Specialists that will be on hand to answer your questions the summer reading program for ages 4 through 12 will kick off with a program called unique creatures from around the world and that'll be on held on Thursday June 20th available for families to attend at 700 p.m. attendees are asked to register for the program they'll be invited to paint a flower pot and plant a flower in it as far as the summer reading program for adults they'll have Adventure Bingo will be uh held on Tuesday June 18th at 7 p.m and small non-monetary prizes will be awarded to the winners and that concludes my report on the library at this time we'll move on to um ordinances Appropriations and claims Madame clerk thank you we have uh one ordinance for public hearing and for the record no objections have been received in connection with this ordinance ordinance 24-10 an ordinance to fix the salaries of Department of Public Works employees for the years 2024 through 2027 microphone NOP I'm sorry sorry I want to open this um ordinance up to the public hearing moov I'll second that okay I I'll assume that's to close the hearing uh since no one came forward all in favor I thank you do I have a motion Council yes I'll move it thank you councilman mazarella do you have a second I'll second that please thank you councilman Hy Madame clerk would you call the rooll when you're ready councilman Hy yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes ordinance adopted okay let's move on to the introduction of proposed ordinances we have one ordinance for introduction it is entitled an ordinance to amend and supplement section two entitled fees of chapter 122 entitled construction codes uniform of the code of the township of Clark I'll move that thank you councilman medidi do you have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith yeah this is a a a change to our current ordinance to deal with commercial buildings and black backflow um preventors it's the primary reason is to keep the fresh water from mixing with stagnant water in event of low water pressure it's uh it is a state requirement uh we've always been having this process now we're just charging for the inspections thank you any questions Council Madam clerk when you're ready councilman hun yes councilman masella yes councilman minitti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes the public hearing on this ordinance is June 17th thank you at this time we move on to payment of claims Mr uh councilman okono will give you a report thank you I have reviewed the bills toing $378,900 thank you this time we'll move on to citiz hearing on the agenda if there's anyone who wishes to address the council please state your name and address to the clerk all remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and shall not exceed five minutes in duration and the public may speak on any any agenda item that does not have its own separate public hearing is there anyone who wishes to come forward Daniel fukes 333 Carolina I am here to speak on the first agenda item for the Oprah uh the Oprah bill so the agenda item says that you support the Oprah bills because they modernize and strengthen the legislative intent of Oprah the bills start by limiting the types of records that can actually be requested the bill also goes on to say that a request shouldn't be fulfilled unless confined to a discreet and limited time period and a specific subject matter that broad language gives the governing body the opportunity to determine if it's an adequate request this will lead to more denials now I know politicians have been saying that it will save taxpayer money politicians are generally only concerned about saving taxpayer money when it benefits them I'm always going to be concerned when the government's the government intent I'm going to be always going to be concerned of the government intent when it comes to their transparency now this bill is led by democrats and I know how everything in here turns to be Democrat Republican and all that stuff so this is led by democrats but of course a bill limiting the government transparency has bipartisan support and it's certainly no surprise to me that this government Gover body supports this bill given the lack of transparency that has occurred over under sales Administration over the last many years thank you is there anyone else who wishes to come forward speak on agenda items seeing no one I'd like to close this portion of the meeting do you have a motion thank you councilman tol thank you councilman hund okay um for the first resolution that we have regarding the oh could I have a a vote all in favor thank you okay I I skipped ahead I'm sorry for that um the first item that we have here regarding the Oprah request um our business administrator has suggested that we pull this item from the agenda and uh he's going to comment on it right now thank you Mr ol yes so um just following on those comments again it was uh passed by the assembly and the Senate um there's no reason for this resolution at this point however uh there is a lot of you know past issues with the Oprah Bill and it is being supported by both sides of the aisle um you know there's been a lot of egregious requests we deal with them on a daily basis um you know just recently we had a request for 44 years of um tax appeals right we've probably spent over $1,000 in legal and um Personnel time on it and you know again there's just one of the examples um we've had examples for all expenditures you know over you know a three-year period those things you know take a lot of time to um colate get you know copies and submit them so again people may disag agree with this and may think that it doesn't make sense because of transparency however there are instances in those are just two egregious ones and I can you know give you a whole host of them because I deal with the the clerk on these on a daily basis I think that it makes sense to limit the ability to you know um make these requests that are you know at times um you know work against the township take people away from from their regular jobs and you know quite honestly we're lucky in some respects because we do have um oper request um but we never had to go out and hire a person to do it we have a a law firm that does it some of our surrounding communities at the business administrators um meetings this is one of their biggest complaints you know among you know among all of everything that's going on in the county you know and these aren't Republic towns as you know there's only two real Republican towns or two fully Republican towns these are all the Democratic towns that have the same issue so it's not a Democrat or Republican issue and it really does um give the benefit to the town one other thing I wanted to bring up is and you know we've been sued a few times on these um Oprah requests and when we win the when we win we still pay the legal fees if we lose we pay their legal fees now how does that make sense right it's it's again another situation that it's it's time to you know have the openness I have no problem with it um but when it just becomes egregious it just doesn't make sense and um I I appreciate the support that we had on this but it's it's no longer needed Madam president I'd like to also add I anytime you saw me comment on the Oprah bill I do support Oprah I sat on a governing body as councilman from 97 to 2001 where the basic questions the basic questions we asked the administration for expenditures for the month things of that nature we were stonewalled for weeks and months at a time and getting basic information forget the public the council should know the council should know basic information as the last speaker said it was uh supported by partisan in Trenton I will agree with the conversation that the bill was not a perfect bill by any stretch any imagination um I'm very upset that the Senate and assembly didn't add themselves into the oer process and have them become operable for things that the public would want they're exempt from it the governor's office is exempt from it so the transparency should be there people have a right I think people should also put their name on it not Anonymous not through an opr machine if you want a question answered you have every right to have it answered put your name your address your email on it that should be in the bill and then the um proper person in the uh Administration will get back to you within the a lot of time so again was it perfect that bill probably not but it did help in some different ways in the Avalanche of time wasting that we spend and time is money when you run a business thank you thank you Council um does anyone object to pulling this from the agenda does anyone object to that no okay what we'll need to do is um have a resolution to remove this item from the agenda okay do you have a motion so moveed do you have a second second thank you Council Mella thank you councilman Smith okay is there any special wording counselor that we need on this no no okay so we are going to remove this from the agenda uh Madame clerk when you're ready uh we'll take the roll call councilman hund yes councilman mazarella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes Okay resolution removed next resolution is extending the recycling marketing contract with Waste Management of New Jersey for one-year term under exception njsa 40a col 11- 51s of the local public contracts law do you have a mover Council yes I'll move it thank you council mazarella do you have a second I'll second that on that Mr this is just for the marketing of our recycling so uh quote unquote sale of our recycling so when it goes to the um disposal location they give us a certain amount of money back based on the value of the commodity at that point Thank you roll call Madam clerk when you're ready councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president president albanes yes number five is affirming and ratifying the action taken by the administration to obtain the necessary pool sand blasting services from rustic restorations in the amount of $4,395 do have a mover Council I'll move that thank you councilman Smith do you have a second I'll second that please thank you councilman OK Conor okay so we are going to be sand blasting the pool I think it's pretty self-evident what we're doing with this money um Madame roll call any other questions Madam roll call when you're ready you can call the vote councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number six is authorizing the execution by the mayor or business administrator and delivery to neota logic Incorporated of a master license and service agreement for use of specialized software services to manage contracts and leases okay council do I have a mover yes I'll move it thank you councilman Mella do you have a second second that thank you councilman Smith exactly what it says um we're going to get a database to manage our contracts leases Etc Tickler system expiration dates escalation pricing so it's all in a database as opposed to um you know the process we have right now is a spreadsheet MH thank you um Madam clerk when you're ready councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number seven is resending resolution 24-8 and awarding the contract for municipal buildings photov voltaic system installation to easy energy in accordance with JSA 19 44 a-205 do I have a mover Council I'd like to move that please thank you councilman OK Conor do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith did you want I mean this is just the wording change that we discussed at the um Workshop meeting um you know we referenced an agreement that's not finalized thank you madam clerk when you're ready councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number eight is authorizing a voluntary flexible spending plan for Township employees to be administered by All State Insurance you have a moover council I'll move that thank you councilman medidi do I have a second I'll second that please thank you councilman OK Conor so this this plan will offer flexible spending program to a new provider All State Insurance currently the township uses afflac and uh this is a set aside monies for the benefit of our employees it's an employee benefit that they pay for but anyone who's using the old plan with Aflac can have a separate contract so it's a win-win for all the employees of the township this time I'd like to ask for a vote 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 approving the execution by the mayor or business administrator of a memorandum of understanding for the can Network program between the township and Kane University have a mover Council I'd like to move that thank you councilman Smith do you have a second I'll second that thank you councilman tol now for the employees this is for the employees if they take any classes at K College they get a 10% discount on in person 20% on um virtual and they don't have to pay any registration fee so it gives the township employees the opportunity to further their education through cane at a discounted rate excellent um I'd like to call for a vote Madam uh clerk 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 Award of contract to DLS Contracting for the 2024 Capital Road improvements various locations in the amount of$ 41,5 18927 okay do I have a mover I'd like to Mo move that please thank you councilman oconor do I have a second I'll second that thank you Council Manti okay um yeah we'll call for a vote uh councilman Hy yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number 11 is approving the Fleet Management agreement with Enterprise to provide IDE and manage the fleet of vehicles for use by various departments do I have a move uh this this one um resolution um was discussed at our March 4th Workshop meeting we had a presentation um from Fleet and we agreed on um a motion and second by entire Council so we'll go ahead with that so you can call the role councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman midi yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number 12 is authorizing the purchase of one Toro field PR gromer for use by Clark Little League through the escnj Cooperative pricing system in the amount of $ 36,7 1840 okay do I have a mover I'll move that thank you councilman Smith do you have a second I'll second I please thank you councilman OK Conor so here we're going to use a national cooperative to purchase this piece of equipment for the Clark little league and they will pay the township back um taking advantage of best pricing that we could we could get for uh a winwin for the town um Madam clerk when you're ready councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yep councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes right council president albanes yes number 13 is seeking approval of the director of division of local government services for insertion of a special item of Revenue in the amount of 26133 34 for the national opioid settlement okay do I have a mover Council yes I'll move it do I have a second thank you councilman mazarella I'll second that thank you councilman Smith so this is an ongoing grants the township is receiving related to the National opioid settlement and um because this grant arrived uh after the budget was formed we're amending the budget to accept the grant to be used for the specific purposes outlined in the grant award uh I'll call for a vote Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number 14 is Seeking a approval of the director of division for local government services for insertion of a special item of Revenue in the amount of $42,500 for the infrastructure and Municipal aid grant Mr ol do you have some comments on this yeah this is a grant that we again worked closely with the county and Westfield we're going to pave from the railroad tracks to Terminal Avenue uh part of the problem with that road is it's in Westfield and Clark and just to get you know the money to do it we went to the county worked the county manager and the Commissioners to get a grant to pave um that portion of the road so it doesn't totally affect um either Westfield or CR um Westfield or Clark's uh budget excellent great work uh do I have a mover move that thank you Council Manti please okay councilman hund thank you uh roll call when you're ready councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes this time we'll move on to consent agenda resolutions okay first one is authorizing the tax collector to make the proper adjustments for 100% property tax exemption of block 97 lot 9 in accordance with a directive from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs next is authorized ing the tax collector to refund over payment of sewer fees in the amount of $150 and last is authorizing the tax collector to apply sewer account balance adjustments as credit in the amount of $7,150 and additional charges in the amount of $140 you have a mover Council I'll move that Madam president thank you councilman toll do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith Madame clerk when you're ready councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes excuse me is there any new business on the Cal calendar Madam clerk there's no new business okay this time I'd like to open up the floor for public comments is there anyone wishing to come forward okay please come forward State your address your name all remarks shall shall be addressed to the council as a body shall not exceed five minutes good evening I am a resident at 44 Wendel place and my first time here attending one of these meetings it was very educational thank you very much uh but my concern and I'm here with two of my neighbors um is the proposed uh our project for lack of a better word um and it was alarming to me when I read the extent of what was uh being proposed there and so I did some research and I just wanted to ask whether uh the council and and this is ptor of course was consulted on these plans uh my concern is the preservation of the reservoir uh my concern are the intended project at the end of Wendel and I believe as leopards um that I believe is uh part of a deed of conservant iny uh that's recorded back in 1997 and to my knowledge that deed uh is still in place and whether the county or the township will review this deed uh with an eye towards Improvement the dredging but overall maintaining the quality of the reservoir as it stands with of course uh the Improvement but I just wanted to address uh the Hot Topic of the week and hopefully that uh this Conservancy document is reviewed by the council ma'am it wouldn't it wouldn't be um reviewed by the township Council I mean Folks up here you're talking about yes okay the Conservancy deed is with the um habitat your name pops out of my head umor the Conservancy Foundation right right that's it okay it's been a long time since I dealt they were one of the reasons I gave the reservoir to the uh County recomend you for that because they were completely unreasonable but yes before anything can and will happen there they have to work with them and of course the D so you know again there's a plan out there it's not itched in stone at this time and like I said earlier I'm sure you were here you could take your concerns to the town hall meeting we'll be having here or to a county commissioner meeting or by email you could send them to the ba we'd like to have a record of them too so we know what's happening the only uh thing I will tell you and I addressed the County Manager on it today we were all kind of surprised by the letter that went out we weren't given any heads up and I said to Ed who's a very reasonable man I said Ed please just give us a heads up so when people walk in we'd all look at him like where you hearing this from so yes there'll be proper protocols followed thank you ma'am is there anyone else who wishes to come forward Ellen Mulligan 461 place in Clark I agree that the reservoir needs work and dredging and maintained um I'm totally against any building on on the reservoir property on on the county property let's keep it as God intended it and keep it as natural um as it as we can open space so our future Generations can enjoy it thank you is there anyone else who wishes to come [Music] forward good evening um jilia Collins 72 Georgia Street Clark I have a question about zoning in this property when the property at 370 Madison Hill Road which is at the front of where this proposed recreational area is proposed was cited according to the zoning map of Clark as a r150 which is a one family detached residential district when this property was sold by the owner was that property now deemed open space does anyone know if that had to be changed when it was purchased I don't know I don't know the answer to that question but I do believe if I'm I'm going back now memory that they had purchased that it's a part of the plan it's part they had purchased that property along with it I do believe not 100% sure it's been a long time no I understand so I think they do own that whole parcel there okay on the um what I don't understand and I know you said you don't want to hear about it and and with go to the go to the commissioner meeting which is Wednesday night May 22nd at the Union County offices in Elizabeth they start at 6 o' with their private sort of meeting and then the open meeting is open when they're done so you have the right to speak if they listen to you you're lucky um does the county I was looking on the map when I was sitting there and it says that the area around the reservoir is considered o which is a Conservation District according to our zoning laws in our town that I went on the board and you brought up about they may don't worry about it I mean worry about it what they can do with the land but as if land is z own oh open space are they allowed to build on it like you brought up that don't be surprised if they decide to sell it I really don't want to comment at that at this time you you just did no I'm not going to get into a debate here I told you all that earlier tonight if you don't like the project you go to the county but this is something that you stated that they could sell it and bu they could do anything they want down the road someday God only knows I don't know if the town zones it as a zero which is open space open space they could come back someday and I would imagine if it's their property they have to come to the town like a builder we're going to get into a debate now and I don't want to do that so if you have an issue answer I have no answer for you at this time okay well fair enough you should become a commissioner there you go that would be good you can represent Clark we'd appreciate it is there anyone else who wishes to come forward Nancy tasus 43 Colonial Drive and I'm coming forward to commend the Clark Police Department for driving around with their blue and red lights on I guess at night I'm a night owl so and I sit in my living room looking at my computer and I can look at my front window I could tell when they're approaching because I could see the lights coming and then going past and not with it seems to be pretty frequent maybe every hour and a half or so and so I'm happy to see that that's being done you know overnight when there you know might be things going on when everybody's asleep and I was happy to be here to attend to hear the police get their recognition tonight thank you thank you is there anyone else who wishes to come forward seeing no one i' like to close this portion of the meeting do I have a motion I moved thank you councilman toll do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith going to move on to mayor council and professional comments mayor I'm sorry all in favor I I thank you nothing at this time Madame President we'll see everybody on Memorial there at the parade thank you thank you mayor councilman hun yes uh congratulations to the uh police officers on their promotions and the awards that they received today um wishing them safety out on their job and that's like as I said earlier their main concern is when they're out there to be safe congratulations to the eighth grade boys basketball team on their successful season 31 and 10 is a great season and um more games than the mayor and I would would would play in a given year so when we coached our boys so that congratulations to them and then have a h uh have a safe and healthy holiday weekend and that's all I have thank you councilman hunt councilman mazarella yes thank you Madame President it's uh finally getting nice outside and it's a good thing um but please ladies and gentlemen careful working outside it's getting warm stay hydrated um be careful walking around especially esally when it's getting um dark out uh and please don't forget to lock your vehicle and your residence doors at all times don't want to have any break-ins um our Police Department is doing outstanding job traveling through the night through uh through the entire Community but um if you see or hear something please just don't hesitate to call uh police department they're going to respond very quickly to ensure your safety till next month be well stay safe and God bless thank you thank you Council Mella Council man uh thank you Madame President um I also want to congratulate the uh Clark Police Department award recipients and a promotion of Josh Weber uh congratulations to um ray gun zarowski and his team the eighth grade travel basketball team um as most of you know I am the uh president president of the alj booster club and tomorrow night I will be honoring all our spring athlete award and letter winners um that's tomorrow night 700 p.m. at alj Auditorium uh come out and support our athletes they do a tremendous job and uh I can't wait to congratulate him tomorrow and uh wishing everybody a happy healthy and safe uh Memorial Day that concludes my comments for tonight thank you councilman nidy councilman OK Conor thank you congratulations to all those who received Awards tonight tonight congratulations to the promotion thanks to all the volunteers in the townships and of course thanks to all the Veterans for all your uh for all you've done for this country with Memorial Day coming and I'll switch it over to you and uh Monday Memorial Day hope to see everyone at the parade kicks off at 9:00 a.m. and we're usually over at alj high school around 10 10:15 when we do this ceremony so look forward to seeing everyone thank you thank you councilman tol thank you madam president uh dilia dilia hi I've got an answer for you the property was owned by St Agnes churchthe arch dasis of Newark they sold it to the county the county took it over the only thing that the county picked up later on was that white house that was right next to the entrance of St Agnes Church all that L shape was St Agnes land they were always talking about building a school and they built a semi portion with a gym and stuff and they modified and modernized back in the 90s so that's the answer to your question County owns all that that's County if they want to put new park there the only ones who going to stop them is you Us and how to do that pretty simple emails texts here we go County Freeholder is and the chairman is Kimberly m m o u d d her phone number is 908 527 4112 again 908 527 4112 that's Kimberly the chair Lady of the Union County Freeholder board county manager who is a very nice man as the mayor has said I've actually met him several times he's a nice guy guy edman Mr oatman's phone number is 9852775034 yelling about it it's good theatrics but at this point I've put a mechanism in place so you and I and everybody out there knows what's going on you could send it directly to the county your email I would ask you to send it through Jim so we can look at it we have a record of it we could go back and say mrman Mr Jones asked this Mrs Smith asked that Mrs Mill I said do you have an answer for it or when he comes to the meeting here to do that I you know look whether you like this project or not I don't think it's something to get hysterical about I mean they're not building a nuclear power plant here in Clark it's a reservoir drudging with some recreational activities Everyone's entitled to opinion can we please I know you're not a fan of email Brian you don't watch them or answer them but please let us do the process the way I laid out with the county manager it's easier for everyone thank you as long as we're communicating that's all that matters and how we communicate whatever Sentry we're in we'll get it done to those you are in you have the voice we're just one voice please be heard it's the way have democracy works for those we lost in the last month Ron hoen Mr hoen was the former Clark volunteer fire department longtime custodian of the Clark Library and he was a member of American Legion Post 328 to Sherry his daughter Ronnie Jr and Denise his wife and to all the grandkids our deepest condolences he was a friend who I saw every Sunday because he told it like it is and said hey you what what are you guys doing and Ronnie would say it like it is I'm going to miss Ronnie Anthony Tony aello a o c l l anthon Tony anello was the Barber on Westfield Avenue across from where the Town Hardware Ace hardw was then Town Hardware but he was the barber for many years and he just retired a couple years ago and now he's gone his father was Angelo the barber who lived who had his shop on Lincoln Boulevard so again to uh the family we're very sorry for your loss Joan mared Donovan loving mother of Peg Ferrara and mother-in-law of Marty Ferrar who used to sit in his seat to the Ferrar family I'm very sorry for your loss I'm just going to end this with this is your town you want things done you have objection something doesn't seem right to you then be heard we're very simple we're here because of you I thank you for your time tonight I'm sorry I've taken up too much time and we'll see you again wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season until all the graduates all the best Mr ol do you have any comments um yes uh I want to commend the police department and all the hard work in the awards uh we really do appreciate it um I spent a lot of time with the police department making sure that you know they have all of the resources that they need and you know it it's showing on the job that they're doing uh do want to make two more quick comments um as part of the award ceremony uh Gina maretta you know she's been here for two years doing an unbelievable job send her an email I get the information back in moments it's on top of it uh doing an excellent job and again two years in the job it's it's you know makes my life significantly easier and the other unsung hero Debbie D'Angelo who I probably know for about 35 years now from back on my ambulance Squad days again you know you you don't realize all the work that's done behind the scenes and um you know it was great that they got the awards this evening thank you thank you for adding that um Madame clerk we have an upcoming election do you have any comments uh not necessarily about election yet but I do have a couple of additional comments about the open public records reform um as you know it has passed both houses it currently sits on the governor's desk uh the governor does have the ability to veto it if he does nothing it becomes law within 45 days what the people may not know is anytime they do any transaction with the township of Clark their name and address is now a public record uh there there are no safeguards for residents currently the only thing we can protect is your phone number we can assume it's unlisted uh we protect your banking information and your Social Security number um everything else is out there so we still are working on that tax appeal request from 1980 to present it has tied up my office more than one full day so far uh it has tied up the Chief Financial Officer um Mark Dugan's office is working on it uh we had to ask for an extension so our work is delayed because of it the other thing that the law would hopefully prevent is um company who do uh they um they are data Brokers and they request information so that they can sell it to a third party uh that also includes names and addresses the only protected class are Law Enforcement Officers judges and their families none of the rest of the residents are protected in any way they also request all tax leans and Sewer leans and there are companies out there who will pray on people who can't afford to pay their bills and they call them up and Hound them and tell them that they have to use their company in order to clear their lean which is not true uh so these are the types of things that hopefully the law will um make a difference um we are happy to give out regular public documents we have seven business days to do it we try to clear them as quickly as possible if we can get the documents in my office in the same day we satisfi it in the same day if it takes sometimes it takes the whole seven days but um for the most part we get it out we're happy to do that for you the anonymous requests uh are very cumbersome and I don't know what people are afraid of why they don't give their name but if they actually would give their name to us some of these requests could be narrowed down so as not to tie up all of these offices and we would be happy to give you the information so just a caution to the residents if this does not pass just understand if you license your dog or you need to deal with Town Hall for any reason your name and your address is a public record thank you madam president I just like to say any uh that was spectacular the way you explained that thank you so very much and I think you know and that'll be made about us being transparent or not we've been transparent with everything we are legally able to give by law we have been uh I just this gotta game the political game and the gotcha game I think people should grow up and act like adults and spend their time with their family their job or their Hobbies or whatever else they want to do because it's the gotta game you know a tax appeal from 1980 going forward has tied your office up has tied the office it's a ridiculous ridiculous number one I'm 63 I was 20 years old then maybe this person wasn't even alive at that time God only knows what was a tax appeal in 1980 a house in 1980 in Clark a Cape Cod house is probably selling for 70 or $80,000 so what in hell were the taxes on it three2 or $3,000 so an appeal might have been $100 or $200 then right you know it just doesn't the gotta game is Just or to learn or to use it as a political uh sounding board is what the problem I'm against anything else I know you as this clerk well and I know the diligence you chase these opras down because you don't want to personally be fined if you don't do it she could personally be fined yes and we would never ask her not to do that uh to slow down a process she's been as diligent as any clerk I believe in the state in trying to answer these requests be adults ask for the stuff that you need to ask for play the gotcha game somewhere else thank you thank you both for those comments Madame clerk just to clarify on the anonymous requests that are made when you say if we knew how to ask get in touch with people you're referring to clarification of the request correct okay I just want to make sure that that's clear to everyone we don't necessarily need to know their name but because we don't have that sometimes the requests are very vague and you don't know exactly what they want and we can only produce records that we have correct um I'll start with the lack of transparency since you mentioned that because that my antenna went up on that I think that being a member of this body we've done everything possible to be transparent for example these meetings are televised and we were on the bleeding edge of tele izing our meetings we had a cameraman who would come physically to the meetings we were the ones who pushed the Board of Education to put their meetings on TV because most people came to our meetings and talked about the Board of Education because of all the problems over there so we were the ones that pushed them to do that um the meetings are online everything's available don't know of any any incidents of that have come up regarding lack of transparency I will say the May the mayor mentioned the previous ad Administration in the previous administration he talked about the fact that they didn't have information given to the council members themselves they couldn't get information in addition they would present new agenda items at the meeting they would give you a pack of paper about as thick as what councilman tol presented and would expect you to vote on it that night um we passed legislation that said you cannot add items to an agenda without a a 100% vote of this Council you cannot add items because the public needs to know what we're discussing at these meetings I don't know mayor if you want to add a comment on that yeah that was I put in the 48 hour rule that years ago when I was a member of the governing body we'd get a stack of papers dropped on our desk at 5: to 8 back then the meetings were at 8 and they'd say uh read it we're voting on it tonight and you know you're trying to get through it as quickly and you think you digest it enough and then you know you go home and you reflect back on it and you do a little more homework and you go back and you s never happened to me but it happened to one or two Council people when the mayor they would question the mayor at the next meeting he'd say didn't you vote on it and they'd say yeah do you always vote on what you don't understand you know that kind of gamesmanship was always going on so we put the 48 hour rule in without getting the information 48 hours prior to the meeting you need a super majority vote of the council because back in those days everything was split 4 to three one party or the other so you always needed one from the other party to add it to the agenda and that knocked that nonsense off quickly and by the way I was supported then with a 7 to0 vote with four Republicans and three Democrats on the council a 7 to0 vote I think what it Sal to the wound but it was always a shady item that was being added something that yeah it was always it was it was intentionally done one of the problems of course and I hear the nonsense I hear out there today they should live through the 90s they should have lived through the 9s thank you um on a more positive note um thank you very much the two captains this evening for a great presentation great to hear about all the great things the officers are doing especially the life saving of this three-year-old seven-year-old Etc we see the AED machines but really it makes a difference when you hear the lives that have been saved um by those actions uh good luck to um our new detective Traffic Safety detective Josh Weber fantastic resume um great great candidate and lots of luck um boys uh who were recognized this evening great job uh it's great we have a fantastic tournament as we've discussed over the different meetings the past few months so it's nice to have one of the teams that that wins is is a HomeTown team uh as far as the gun violence awareness if you have firearms at home please make sure they're locked up they're safe um we heard about some of the accidents that happened here uh unintentionally so um please be mindful of that and uh that concludes my comments this evening could I have a motion to adjourn so moov have a second all in favor thank you [Applause]