okay perfect good evening ladies and gentlemen and Welcome to our February 5th 20 24 council meeting our first item on the agenda is a call to order and the rise for pledge of allegiance so please rise I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty Justice for All item number two on our agenda is the reading of the sunshine statement and roll call by our municipal clerk Mrs Lauren stats this meeting of the denell and burrow council is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law this meeting of February 5th 2024 was included in the list of meetings that was advertised on The Courier on January 8th 2024 and as a teleconference was noticed on the official denell and website on February 2nd of 2024 on the public bulleon board on North AV on February 2nd for and has remained continuously posted as required notice under the State statue mayor sento present council president Albertson pres Mrs Lance here Mr paulon here Mrs Rios here Mr Sigman here and Mr vandar here item number three on the agenda is the approval of our meeting minutes um we'll do this one by one uh first up is can I have a motion and a second on our regular meeting of January 16 2024 move Rios second Sigman any comments redactions or additions to the meeting minutes as they currently stand without hearing any we will take a roll call Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr pchan yes Mrs Ros yes Mr Sigman yes Mr vandermark yes uh number two is can I have a motion a second for our special meeting of January 29th 2024 mve Albertson second any comments additions or redactions as the meeting minutes for the 29th C we take a call Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr paulon Stay due to my ab Mrs Rios yes Mr Sigman yes Mr vanderark yes item number four is the mayor's appointments to boards commissions and authorities excuse me uh this is an appointment of Christopher brillante uh with the term expiration of December 31st 2024 it's an annual term um to the Dell downtown management organization uh Mr brillante is replacing uh Miss Ratner who served as a planning board member um so we thank her for her time on that and volunteerism and we thank uh Mr gante for stepping up to the plate and uh he's not here this evening he's not here this evening thank you and uh so his oath of Allegiance will be held at the clerk's office by Mrs St so thank you Mr brilliante okay uh item number five on our agenda was removed that'll be at a later date um item number six proclamations so this evening we have a proclamation uh recognizing Black History Month and we've asked Pastor Roy Carrol of the Living Hope Outreach Center Church to uh read the proclamation uh so Mr Carol if you wouldn't mind joining us [Laughter] on camera smile right good evening everyone tonight I would be reading the proclamation recognizing Black History Month whereas Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievement by African-Americans and a time for recognizing their Central role in the US history and whereas black history man grew out of the establishment in 1926 of negro history week by Carter G Woodson and the association for the study of africanamerican life and history and whereas the 2024 team for Black History Month focuses on africanamerican and the art which recognizes the many impact black Americans have had on Visual Arts music cultural uh movement and more and whereas the borrow of Dellin recognizes the contribution contributions of African-Americans to our borrow County State and Country and reinforce uh reinforces our commitment to be a community of opportunity and hope for every citizen and whereas the borrow of the nellin celebrate the rich cultural and ethnic diversity respecting each of our neighbors friends family members and business owners based on the content of their character and whereas our community is better because of the diversity of our population now therefore be it resolved that I mayor Jason S salento and the borough councel of dellan recogniz recognize and honor the national celebration of black history month during the month of February 2024 and encourage residents to celebrate during the month of February signed on the fifth day of February 2024 Jason F salento mayor borrow of dellan New Jersey mayor I read the proclamation and I thank you not only for supporting black history and all that black Americans do but supporting everyone all people God bless you God bless everyone P we uh provided this Proclamation read and we thank you for your service to our community um I'll just note Pastor Roy and his wife Mandel living have been great friends as the Buren um specifically during covid-19 you really opened up the church Community for testing food pantry and you continue to provide great service to the community so not only your okay okay next up is item number seven the introduction of ordinances um we have one ordinance to introduce this evening 202 24-1 ordinance to amend chapter 130 clothing bins can I have a motion in a second please move it sigment second okay roll call Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr Paul Chan yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Sigman yes and Mr vand dermont yes okay item number eight on the agenda is the adoption of ordinances we have two this evening uh first up is 20241 an ordinance of the Bureau of dellan uh repealing and replacing Chapter 3 of the dellan municipal code to abolish the denalan arts and culture commission and create the denan Arts inclusion and culture commission um can I have a motion a second from the council to open up the floor to the public move it Sigman second Rios at this time uh the floor is open to the public for any comments or questions or statements uh based solely on uh 2024 d01 please ask uh state your name and address without hearing any we will close that portion of the meeting I will open up the floor now to the mayor and Council for discussion Council anything to State on this questions okay uh following the passage of this there will be uh a memo sent out to to both the diversity and inclusion committee uh and the denell and arts and culture commission as well as the public at large for the opportunity to uh apply as a member of the denell and arts inclusion and culture commission so that's the process that's going to be followed hopefully by February maybe the first meeting in March um we'll have appointments to that commission so okay good to go okay let's take a roll call Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr paon yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Sigman yes and Mr vandar yes um item number two for adoption of ordinances is 2024 d03 ordinance to amend and supplement the revised General legislation of the burough of denell and chapter 269 traffic my eyes are going can I have a motion a second to open the floor to the public please MO second Albertson okay uh as noted at the last meeting this is an ordinance uh allowing for the double yellow line down North Washington Avenue on middle six Count's uh well North Washington Avenue is a County Road um so public if there's any comments or questions please state your name and address pertaining to thiser 130 Street so we're just going to turn that for you I forgot to turn it back thank you I'm Carl Peter Clapper I'm at 130 French Street Apartment 2 uh and my question about this is uh what are we going to do about The Pedestrian uh access and protection uh along the double striped line indicating a highway this is as you know is a very much of a uh a pedestrian layup to the burrow and uh like to see what uh Productions are going to be afforded to uh pedestrians uh we had had at one point some Flags near Washington Park uh and uh uh but those seem to have gone by the wayside and and uh and there's some difficulty in Crossing at uh uh fren Street in North Washington Street as well as a few other places along uh the uh extent of North Washington Avenue so I like to be some more uh pedestrian protections as much as can be afforded uh because that really is a serious problem thank you okay thank you um so hopefully this is the start to uh more serious consideration along North Washington Avenue um this we're starting with the yellow double the double yellow line uh clearly so we prevent cars from passing around which has caused concern for pedestrians as they're Crossing um as we know it is a county road so we have to work through that jurisdiction um we have worked with New Jersey Transit uh on their Transit friendly planning uh program uh they've given us some advice uh we're also re receiv received a $467,000 grant from the federal government to do a pedestrian traffic and walkability assessment and develop a plan for the burough which um intersections will be included um and we are looking at more locations such as along Washington Avenue where we can put some of those rapid Beacon lights so pedestrians can walk up push and they light up um is it this year most likely not um but we are in the process of looking into it and how we implement it with the county uh we had a productive conversation with the county today which is not relative to this ordinance so I'm not going to discuss it at this moment um but we are looking at how we make those improvements in the mayor's traffic and pedestrian safety task force um and I point that way because uh council member Sigman and uh Lance are our Liaisons to that committee so they're also working on ways to make improvements and make recommendations to this governing body so we hear you we agree with you Rome wasn't built in the day but we are moving in that that direction so thank you for sharing that concern um any other members of the public please state your name and address okay without hearing any we'll open the floor to the council for any comments or questions pertaining to 202 24-3 without hearing any we'll take a roll call please Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr Paul John yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Sigman yes Mr vandermark yes item number nine on our agenda are resolutions uh Mrs stats our municipal clerk will read through them and as usual she'll give a moment uh before we take the roll call for Council uh to ask questions so whenever you're ready resolution number 70 is to pay the bills move it Sigman second Rios Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr Fon yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Sigman yes and Mr vanderark yes resolution number 71 is to award a contract to Wells Fargo for the clerk's office police department and Construction office copier machines second Sigman Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr pchan yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Sigman yes and Mr vanderark yes resolution number 72 is authorizing the filing and settlement of tax appeals move it Sigman second Rios Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr paon yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Sigman yes and Mr vanderark yes resolution number 73 is to approve Barber Shop nail salons beauty shop licenses for denan establishment move it Sigman second Alber Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr paulon yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Sigman yes and Mr vanderark yes resolution number 74 is to refund all monies that are associated with the escro accounts of Ricky and Sylvia Switzer for 545 4th Street moit riio second Sigman Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mr paulon yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Sigman yes Mr vandermark yes okay next up are is uh item number 10 on our agenda which is Council reports council president Albertson anything to report this evening yes um on this day in 1943 uh George Washington Carver died in tuxe Alabama he was born into slavery around 1860 in Missouri he was one of America's most Innovative and creative scientists and inventors on July 14th 1955 a monument and National Park were dedicated to George Washington Carver in Diamond Missouri this was the first national park named in honor of an African-American with fire department thank you uh chief for your statistics so they um had a pretty eventful week month excuse me the there we had a total of 22 um activities different activities many of them are C of CO detectors uh checking on uh house calls and um oh go and other related activities sorry um the dellan senior Club is hosting a program on Medicare fraud on February 16th at 11:15 a. it's an excellent inform informative presentation and we invite any seniors from dellan to join us um it's put on by the um Medicare for Department from the state and is very good so we would like to invite anybody to come and that's all I have today okay thank you council president council member Rios yes have a couple Pages um February is Library Lovers Month and we have a lot going on out of towns hatr are invited to purchase a library card at a reduced rate of $10 all month long library cards are free to denel and residents who are in who are encouraged to visit the library and register for a new card or renew your card which expires every 3 years would you like to learn more about the process of becoming a foster parent on February 12th at 5:00 p.m. representatives of the Department of Children and Families will offer a presentation for fostering and adoption join us for the Starbucks pink Drink dupe on February 26 at 3:30 for youths 9 and up registration is required uh celebrate Lunar New Year with a lantern Craft on Tuesday February 6th at 3:30 for children ages 6 to 11 and a special Saturday Story Time on February 10th at 11:00 a.m. ideal for children's ages five and below throughout the rest of the month we will have a special we will have special program celebrating Valentine's Day and honoring Black History Month to stop so stop by the library in person or online for more information Board of Ed next meeting will be February 20th all meetings will start at 7M and go immediately into executive session public sessions will begin approximately at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise specified meetings are held in person at Lincoln Middle School cafeteria and are streamed live on YouTube this past meeting they had a presentation to review the year 2023 audit the Board of Ed is looking to update their long range facility plan their tenative budget presentation will be March 12th and their public budget hearing will be April 16th the 349 page minutes to this meeting are available for review online for more information Lo log on to their website at denell and schools.org uh February 5th let's see recreation basketball we are up to 89 players total and we have five weeks in and we are five weeks in we have one more Saturday left to for players grades five through six this past Monday our fifth and sixth grade players begin their full court games winter flag football we have a few snow rain outs so the program will be extended it will still consist of eight weeks we are up to 33 players adult pickle ball program pickle ball has been extended through March it is it was originally supposed to end in February but due to its popularity it has been extended pickle ball nights are Tuesday and Wednesday at dellan high school from 7:30 to 9:30 right now we have 111 adults signed up for this program registration is free for dellan residents and only $15 for non-residents spring Open soccer it is a free program Open to denel and residents only registration is open depending on how many volunteer coaches we will determine how many kids can be let into the program we are in need of coaches this program is low commitment and run strictly by volunteers spring Sports registration is now open for I'm tired okay hold on all right spring Sports uh registration is now open for spring programs such as youth tennis track baseball softball registration deadlines for baseball and softball are March 8th registration deadlines for tennis is March 27 second summer camp registration is now open summer camp for those for kids age is 5 to 12 and begins on Monday June 17th it is a nine-week program this year and ends August 16th the summer camp lasts from 8:00 a. to 3 p.m. and consists of different sports outdoor activities crafts field trips scavenger hunts walking trips and more space is limited so register early senior citizens the senior citizens had pizza this F past Friday for their first Friday Pizza day of the year all seniors are welcome to join it is a the first Friday of every month at the senior center at Columbia Park and then one shout out to Living Hope Outreach Center has an ongoing food pantry every second Saturday of the month at 11m and their address is 2011 Whittier Avenue and that's all yes 11: p.m I'm sorry 11: am I said 11m yeah a party at night 11:00 am that's all for me thank you council member council member vaner Mark yes uh the police report the police department was busy the month of January with 13 arrests 233 motor vehicle stops and 277 summons is being issued and that would be my report okay thank you council member council member Lance yes um so for buildings and grounds report FAL has continued to make important upgrades to its electrical system as previously reported portable heaters have been temporarily installed throughout the building while the HVAC system is being repaired uh to accommodate the heating and cooling system some Outlets have been converted and the burrow is currently seeking estimates to install mini splits hpac in the second floor of burrow Hall and the tax office improving the security of the building is a top priority and the burrow continues to be in the planning phase of identifying areas of additional need for security implementing additional measure measures such as installing more cameras a buzzen system and additional lighting throughout the premises are being considered at this time moreover the senior center will be undergoing some renovations to enhance heat and cooling efficiency which will involve dropping the ceiling and carrying out necess necessary improvements to the original installation that's all okay thank you council member Sigman uh yes thank you I uh do not have a report for tonight but I do want to highly encourage other parents out there to uh help out and coach soccer uh it is very fun and we have a wonderful time doing it and the kids love it uh even if you're not great at soccer uh you can still be a great soccer coach for these kids so please volunteer okay great thank you council member Joe Paul John now it is oh gosh give this guy a microphone it's not a comedy club just so you know has been cleaning to downtown daily as well as all our barough properties and Parks what another crazy busy month for our they continue to pick up of the Christmas trees throughout the town uh in the month of January are they still picking up trees trees are cut but you can still drop them off correct so get a friend with a pickup truck we have one coordinated or call councilman Paul John he's got a he's got a truck clear all the K faing LDS throughout the barel repair section the 300 block of Madison app on January 2nd we saw the roads and bur properties and anticipation of that monster snowstorm which been a result in much snow but I have to say they did have the pre treat truck I did see out through town as well as the clouds out early salting very often and like I mentioned earlyer so storm wasn't as bad but your was at least in my neck of the woods take sidewalk next time uh like I said this with this weather the flows also bring Pooles has busy filling those throughout the bur as well they also walk the streams to make sure that blockages and they work green mosquito commission remove trees across the green block to one of those block thank youw and Alex and everybody for their efforts the rescue squad they held their installation dinner past Saturday February 3rd the mayor and I were in attendance so congratulations to Paul the award recipients and bad honores all those took took the to serve tiet AET special congratulations and thanks to Chief je bestest who has served 25 years uh the Resurgence of the squad is in full course and this year is going to be a huge year for that uh especially with the on the horizon a brand new building so please check out their website theel rescue.org for all new information sign up and volunteer we're done and lastly parsa attended par attended to CL Place PR construction meeting with the mayor and Alex Miller last week Parts confirmed that they would be involved with in overseeing the sewer main replacement of the project the mayor will provide more details in regards to that that is on okay thank you council member and yes uh congratulations to all the officers at the rescue squad it was a great time to be there and congratulations to Chief Jeff best for 25 years of service uh we did present him a proclamation at the event um so uh New Jersey American Water uh we've been informed that they will be coming into town to work work on Penfield place in Maple a uh for water main replacement um they'll do Penfield from Washington AV to uh Maple a um the project will include a replacement of water mains and a new water service for each property um new fire hydrant and a newly paved Street uh so as with other New Jersey American Water projects uh the burrow will be be repairing some sections of severe LEF damage Curbing and after the project enhanced striping so the project is we're projecting it to start this spring correct yes okay Klein Place uh last week uh we met on a preconstruction meeting uh with our engineer uh CME Associates Parson the contractor which is Crossroads construction um some notes from the meeting uh the project is expected to start by the end of March and is expected to be about five months long notices will go out about a week prior to the start date phase one will be replacing the sewer main from West 4th Street to the manhole south of Kennedy Court phase two is the installation of new storm water system from West Fourth Street to clein place uh to the Klein Place Pearl Place intersection uh the new storm water system will have nine additional catch basins along Cline place and each home will have a new storm water cleanout installed uh any existing pump some pumps exposed to the street will be tied into this new new water uh system um we're able to do that because of the extra funding through the grant uh phase three will be the on the street so that'll probably be happening in the last month of the project uh palaski Culvert uh the project is progressing well the contractor has started installing the concrete footings and forming the walls for the culverts uh entrance entrance and exit uh Lincoln Avenue uh the remaining work has been completed and uh we are pro uh CME is processing the close out with the NJ doot contractor um we're submitting the paperwork uh they're submitting the close out paperwork to us this week denell and station development project um prism the final Co reports issued to the construction official for apartment buildings Clubhouse and the two occupied spaces in the retail building uh CME continues to work with the redeveloper relative to remaining work associated with the off-site sanitary sewage improvements to achieve final acceptance 635 Bound Brook Road uh CME is processing the required documents associated with the application for funding through the hdsr program uh for the strip joint location uh remediation uh 635 Bound Brook Road future site of the rescue squad uh the Washington Avenue street lighting project uh CME is addressing the review comments received from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to advance the project to bidding uh the draft licing uh lighting lease agreement has been provided by PSG is in under review currently uh Second Street uh designed of improvement to Second Street phase one and the north well also the way finding and North Avenue wave finding signage uh will commence upon authorization from the burrow so that's to start soon too and then I will note as I said uh earlier um today we had a discussion with middlex County uh their engineering and government Affairs uh we discussed New Market in Walnut Prospect in Walnut New Market in Washington and well South Washington New Market in Grove Street so I'll just go one by one uh New Market and walnut uh Street they did determine does require a traffic signal a full stop traffic signal um because that's a Four County leg all four legs are County and when I say legs they're the corners of each section of the road um is County so they'll basic they'll be funding it uh we just have to give them all the the easements in the right of way so that should be coming down the pipeline too uh they did remind us although we'll give approvals sometimes it takes a little longer than one would hope as we're finding out with the do and some of the other projects they they said they'll do for us um but we'll get the agreements in place uh they noted that Prospect in Walnut is uh does not warrant a traffic light signal um we did ask that they consider uh some other traffic cing measures for that location um because two of the four legs are County and the other two are municipal um we did send over to them the transit friendly uh planning report that was created that gave those recommendations that the traffic task force uh worked on um New Market and uh South Washington uh we spoke about them looking at uh restudying that light to better regulated it because a new market when you make a left when it turns green it's unfortunately the people crossing are like playing Frogger uh so they're going to look into that um and then New Market in Grove Street um we talked about other traffic coming measures again we sent them the transit friendly report them to take their recommendations into consideration because that those are that's a heavy interest section um we did remind them that we have a $170,000 Grant from uh the local aid from the state um that would help uh with the rapid Beacon lights at that intersection so we're looking to work collaboratively and creatively together to put something over there um so that's I just want to give you an update on that conversation and uh well that's it for me this evening um department heads yes Homer Mosley how are you just want to remind people that we're having the um the senior Workshop just one moment we're having a little technical difficulty hearing you okay you go again okay can you hear me now much better yep okay Homer Mosley OEM uh just wanted to remind those folks that have signed up for the senior workshop on Saturday at the senior center starting at 8:30 the session will run to 12:30 also that we uh OEM and uh C have been invited to uh the nails uh residence event uh we're going to be giving information out regarding um preparedness and that date is um February the 22nd or Thursday it's going to run from 4: to 6:00 uh p.m. so we're uh very delighted that we're one of the few uh invitees that will be uh providing information to the to the residents of the nail that's my report thank you Mr Mosley uh any other departments want to take a some Alex Thunder here but uh the firehouse is shaping out anybody that's driven by Brick going up quick uh they're they're telling us we're trying to hold them to it the week of March 1st will might be able to be back into the day so that's wow nice so we're almost two and a half years after the fire so it's it's shape that I'm nice inside I do tours every day and Alex has been very helpful Jeremy louder has been very helpful we've been trying to keep on top of the contractor so I said at our fire company meeting I hope to brought it back to everybody uh thank you for everything you've done definitely supporting us make sure that that's out there everybody knows that it's definitely noticed had a month to be heavily involved in everything you've done it's definely well I think the thanks is really to you guys and gals for the volunteerism that you doing the sacrifice you make and the families your families for the sacrifice that they make letting you run into the fire so you're welcome on our behalf but we do because we want to thank you so good work to you you and your team did you have anything anything from legal no no report no report okay clerk you're good how's it going your first full [Laughter] month okay anything from uh police okay so that brings us to our public comments on item number 12 on our agenda uh so uh public uh if you can state your name and address we here to listen to your concerns hopefully answer any questions you may have just state your name and address Peter claer 130 Front Street Apartment 2 L uh I am uh again you noticing the uh the question of pedestrian safety we already mentioned about North Washington Avenue but there have been a number of incidents uh over the late fall in winter last year uh along uh uh North Avenue and uh there's a a real problem with uh asserting The Pedestrian crossings that exist and of enabling more pedestrian Crossings as you're heading uh guess it'll be East uh towards uh towards planfield uh and there are a number of uh of uh obstructions by various uh businesses of sidewalks and not too sure exactly how much of that is Stell and how much of that is planfield uh in the easterly direction but there are uh some issues in terms of being able to uh walk uh as you're heading uh uh West towards uh middle sex and uh and there are numerous places that could bear having uh more pedestrian Crossings so just want to I'll put that out there okay Mr clber I appreciate again your comment uh but uh so regarding uh Route 28 uh there's a few Redevelopment agreements we entered into where they they're going to be donating funds for uh pedestrian traffic safety along the Route 28 Corridor specifically Sanford and Route 28 uh Lincoln in Route 28 Prospect in Route 28 and I believe Jackson in 28 uh where they'll be installing we'll be installing rapid Beacon lights we've already given the approval to NJ doot uh they've seem to be taking their sweet time on it um they'll also be coming in we I've been told since 2020 they've been coming in to uh redo curbage and ada8 compliant ramps um we're hoping being now in ld21 they can put a little pressure onto that legislative district 20 they can put a little uh more pressure on for us um so those are still ongoing conversations regarding that um but like I said the Agreements are in place for the rapid Beacon lights and we're hoping through the assessment that our engineer will be guiding us through for the safe routes for all Grant um that's exactly what they'll be assessing what are the areas and needs that need Improvement and then we can build a a plan for implementing um so we're with you qus um eastbound or westbound it sort of deteriorates uh as you're uh heading towards plan field of course plan field gets much worse uh I've been moving stuff by hand Tru uh from places one storage facility to the other uh and I had to replace wheels that and there's also the quality of the sidewalks on uh North Washington Avenue uh once you head into re you um have sections that are overgrown overgrown with with bushes or trees or whatever and people clean their their garbage cans or recycling strarting the sidewalk and just so I note that you're stating it that's on the Greenbrook side and that's on while we're heading greenook so okay uh Mr Miller our business administrator will take a look uh with property maintenance and see uh if they notice anything that can you know they can be spoken to about okay thank you any other members of the public please state your name and address welcome back it's good to see you I get some news you it's to they don't have like the local papers that they used to have do you not get the denel report anymore get that yeah I Lily we get that so I see you have two new people up there now y yep so well welcome back it's good to see you okay so without any other public comments uh we will close that portion of the meeting uh we do not have any executive uh discussions this evening and there's no further uh Council discussions so uh without further Ado uh can I have a motion in a second to adjourn this meeting second Sigman all in favor all any Nays okay uh thank you everybody for joining us this evening our next council meeting will be Tuesday February 20th uh 2024 at 7 p.m. have a good night