[Music] good evening everyone and welcome to the East Brunswick Township council meeting for Monday November 27th 20123 will everyone please rise as we salute our nation with the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for a moment of personal reflection pledge alance to the the unit America to the stands indivisible andice thank you coun Clark please call roll and read our statement of adequate notice councilman ball here councilman wendal here councilwoman Winston here councilwoman zii here council president makoy here also present mayor Brad Cohen here administrator Joseph culo here and Township attorney Michael Baker here adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as required under chapter 231 Public Law 1975 by specifying the time date location and to the extent known the agenda by posting a copy on the bulletin board board located in the main lobby of the East Brunswick Municipal Building providing a copy to the home News Tribune and Sentinel newspapers posting a copy on the Township's website and by filing a copy in the office of the Township Clerk which will be entered into the minutes thank you Council I have before you resolution 23 hypen 325 adopting our meeting minutes from November 13th 2023 may I have a motion motion to adopt second second is there a need need for change or clarification on these minutes seeing none roll call please councilman bahal yes councilman Wendell yes councilwoman Winston yes councilwoman zii yes council president maoy yes at this time we will entertain our service award presentations this is an award given to Residents by our recreation parks and advisory board spearheaded by their president Mr David lonsky Mr lonsky the podium is yours with h with your Indulgence council president I'm going to uh ask if Mike Ryner our Recreation Department um director I think he wanted to address the uh you want to start no all right just me there you go thank you council president members of the council and uh the mayor esteemed dignitaries Tamar and Lauren we got both of you here this evening and of course Joe our our business administrator um I'm here tonight on behalf of our Mike uh Township attorney uh Mr Baker please forgive me you are forgiven is there anyone else I missed um all right the uh recreation parks Advisory Board is a group of volunteers from the community our uh representative Dana zii from the council serves um this year as our leaon and um Vicky Becker from the board of education is our liaison from the Board of Ed there's several members here in attendance that um I would like to come on up I think Rachel's here and and Ron you can come up and share the podium with me because this is really um an effort of our entire board um to recognize individuals and a business um as uh those that highlight the contributions um that residents and businesses make to our great Community um and I should mention that the rpab has and the recreation parks department has purchased and planted a tree within the Township's Park system bearing a plaque in honor of each of our recipients tonight this tradition coincides with the Department's mission to replant as many trees as possible with our our community uh both of this year's award trees are planted at the Great Oak Park uh in the township come on up you can join me up here um so without further Ado the first recipient that we're going to honor this evening is the individual Award winner Diana weiner Diana congratulations and what what I'm going to do is just highlight some of the things that she's done in our community because it would I'd be here all night if I tried to to uh address everything uh Diana is a lifelong resident of the township and an East Brunswick High School graduate she has been an active member of the community participating in our buddy baseball basketball and I'll remember this the St Barts Buffalo Challenger cheerleader remember that all right um Diana actually went to Florida um to perform uh with the team Y and had a great time right great experience uh Diana volunteered after aging out in a wck programs and continued to share her love of cheerleading she went out to cheer uh with the East brunic High School U team as a participant with the disability Deana has volunteered at East Brunswick day representing the daisy Recreation program a Rec program for children and adults with disabilities and annually at the East Brunswick Education Association B and Noble book fair and the East brunic Education Foundation Dance Off you remember those y yeah Diana is an active member of the daisy Recreation program participating in many of their programs and has a true love for our community she has embraced and her community Embraces her we love her too di has also volunteered at the daisy Association Tricky Tray and currently gives back to the daisy wreck program as an employee it is my pleasure to present Diana with the 2023 Friends of the recreation parks and Community Services award come on up congratulations yes of course I'll move my papers I could read the mic sorry it's okay you're good yeah thanks everyone for coming I'm glad to be here tonight thanks for the award you're quite welome oh okay here you go di you go congratulations now that's true love and enthusiasm for our Township thank you and thank you for everything that you do our next award recipient um is for a Civic organization Andor business and that awarde is uh Route 18 Lumber 18 Lumber you guys can come on up um the recreation department gave me about 19 Pages worth of things to say 18 M so again I'm just going to highlight some of the things so again U very grateful community we thank you um in 1965 John de brinsky senior and his brother Mark opened a little store on a big piece of property along Route 18 and began selling Lumber and giving advice to contractors residents and anyone else who needed it and I have to say my wife was there quite a bit asking a lot of questions so we really appreciate all that advice um what as always said 18 L apart is that they sell good quality supplies and their strong relationship with their customer the family business has helped build and sustain one of East Brunswick's best known family run businesses in town by carrying all the supplies that residents need since it began 18 Lumber has been a place customers can get advice whether it's contractors or residents they do whatever they can to help our community with projects on how to install and use products that they sell for decades Route 18 Lumber has supported the East brunic Community East brunic recreation and parks department is very active in supporting our local Scout Troops who perform numerous Eagle spout Eagle Scout projects throughout the Township's Park system many of these projects include the scouts building benches picnic tables bird boxes bat boxes dog park Play Elements shade structures foot Bridges and I can go on most of the supplies in Lumber have been donated by 18 Lumber many Scouts visit 18 Lumber to see if they can donate some of their supplies to the scouts to assist them in their projects and ultimately they always come back saying that 18 Lumber comes through with a donation one recent project involving involved repairing and replacing several of the benches and kiosks at the Butterfly Park located within the Great Oak Park through the Scout's detailed paperwork work that is necessary for their approval a receipt was given to them from 18 Lumber with a value of about $500 worth of materials for their project every single piece of lumber was donated at no cost to the Scout this is just one small example of the dozens of projects that they have supported throughout the years without our within our community they consistently come through to support our youth and their Endeavors give back to the township 18 lber is a shining example of a small business giving back to their community and our community tfold and we are grateful for your longtime support you thank you congratulations Podium is yours you want to say something now's your chance go ahead Mark you never lost words well I certainly appreciate it this is uh just our way to try to get back to the community a little bit and you certainly doing it's greatly appre and I'd like to acknowledge my father over there John John and Jo hang on hang on the the de brinsky we need a team photo yeah please and family family please come on up Mike please I don't know if we're going to get that second part that I wanted but that's okay that's okay we make like [Music] two maybe oh squeeze in how about zor the center we go to the left to the left are you involved Okay jump in it won't be a picture with back without Ronnie every town needs a Ronnie me got bring your family [Music] up you got go over here okay behind we get everybody can [Music] get for me [Music] thanks than Cent just want toone the holiday celebration Please Mr rer uh thank you guys for uh that time for our honoring our community Awards uh just a uh brief message uh this Sunday December 3rd I believe uh we'll be having a winter uh holiday um fast Wonderland at the municipal complex it's kind of the first year we're doing this uh this year so it kind of coincides with our uh Christmas tree and uh manura lighting that we do every year and we decided to make it just one big long day so we uh we look forward to everybody coming out uh it's 11:30 to 6:00 p.m. here at the municipal complex there's lots to do for the kids uh there's an iceless skating rink um there is a trackless train around the the pond there's s'mores cookies with claws all kinds of fun activities going on so there is an event page on our website the township website if you go to the recreation parks Department's um website you can find it there there's a lot of more information on uh times how to register for certain activities where to park all that good stuff so we hope to see a lot of the community out this Sunday and no rain please Mr ryer before you before you leave the uh one of the one of the many things that's going on is the is the light lighting of the tree and the lighting of the manur do you have a time frame as to when that might be happening in case people can't make it for some ice skating and some uh train rides yes sir that'll be 5:00 p.m. 5:00 yep thank you thank you for your time okay ordinance for their ordinances for a second reading public hearing have you reading on that D during yeah during my report I'll do it on my report okay let's move on to our let's move on to our report section of the meeting mayor con thank you council president and before I go to my report I just wanted to um make mention as one of the as many of you know before I became mayor I was a member of the Township's Board of Education and one of the true Honors that you get as a board of education member is to hand out diplomas to the students that are graduating and we rotated among the nine of us that are that are on the board uh and as many of you know and I'm not a uh doing the job as mayor uh I'm a physician In Obstetrics and Gynecology and it was a true honor because there were multiple kids that would come across that stage that I would hand a diploma to who when they mentioned the name I didn't remember the first name but the last name um was clearly somebody that I had delivered so it's a huge honor when you get to do something like that and then tonight we just gave an honor to Diana and as her mother will attest uh um I was a resident at the time so I assisted with uh her delivery it is a uh it is always such a great warm feeling in your heart when you get to see the people that you have delivered known them obviously from the day they were born um really receive such a uh such a huge honor and uh and it just uh first of all makes me feel a little old but um but besides that and more importantly um that uh that that children that we deliver are our future we just had Girl Scouts here this evening just before uh the meeting started and they were learning about democracy and their their their question was what do you think is the most important part of your your job and the real answer to that question is doing exactly what I'm doing there teaching democracy which is in all of world history in its infancy uh and it needs to be um cared for in a way that preserves it and the best way to preserve it is to teach our next Generation so these are the things that uh as you get to this point in your life you really find these opportunities to to teach and to um and to take stock of how far we've come and how lucky we really are to live here and uh so I congratulate Diana and your family on on on an award and you're giving back all these years to community you obviously feel very very um important to you and um and and honor that's well deserved so my [Applause] thoughts just uh left for each of the council members a copy of an article that uh Joe gave me earlier today from my Central Jersey talking about the township of Readington which will be hiring its own each person will be hiring their own garbage service next year because the issue with uh garbage and refu is a Statewide problem the costs have gone up so high uh in this town in particular a town that has about 4600 4700 people our Public Schools is double that size so we're obviously a much bigger town but in this town alone their bill for garbage going into next year in a new contract will go from 61600 000 if they were to take the contract to almost $2 million that is a 223% increase in the costs that's what most towns are facing because of the lack of of people to do the job the cost lawsuits for for workers comp because I hate to tell you but people get injured a lot more in a field like that than many others and so the costs have gone through the roof and um most towns are facing these type of decisions um we recently did the exact same thing here our five-year contract expires the end of December we went out earlier this year and uh tried to secure somebody through the open bidding process which were required required to do by law and um for the last two fiveyear cycles we had one person respond to that contract one company so you have no negotiating room with that one company and and and this is common throughout the state many don't get anybody responding for the business because they make far more money doing private hauling than they do doing it for a Township bidding process where we're obviously not going to pay as much as they would get if you each did it privately um our increase this year in a 5-year contract over the five years came to 30% or about 6% per year I think we'll take that over the 223% % per year contract that they have our contract also going into next year provides more service than we have right now right now as most of you know we only do twice a week pickup for the months between Memorial Day and Labor Day next year we will be and for the five-year contract it will be twice a week all year for the entire year so that's already more service than we have before so we are actually getting more service than what we had in the old contract the difference in the first year amounts to about $800,000 as opposed to a town much smaller than ours having this massive of an increase Which is far more common than what we got here the um problem in a town that gets such an increase is that increase is considered an outside of cap expense meaning that if your expenses go above 2% by law the township is required to go out and have the public vote on its budget but there are certain things that are excluded from the cap because you have no control as a Township in those expenses those examples would be health insurance which we have no control over the increase in health insurance pension costs we have no in control over that interest rates a town can't control that so if your costs go above 2% because of those reasons a town is allowed to go out and have a budget that's above 2% but garbage is not outside of the cap which means that for this town if they were to take that contract every year for every year of that contract they have to go to a referendum to approve the budget because it is an expense that will absolutely be well above a 2% increase per year in that Township just from the municipal portion of the budget alone so I think that while there may be you know a lot of talk about the the the refug contract that we have going into next year I think that we have a good relationship with the company they have a a great working relationship with the township um we will defend them when we think that they're right we will tell them when we think they're wrong um but it's a good relationship and I think part of that contributed to the fact that well I'm not thrilled with any increase none of us are um but the increase that we have and the increased services that we're going to be getting next year in that contract I think make it a pretty good deal in light of the fact that this article is more the norm of what's Happening across the state than what happened here um so I just wanted to make make that clear I was also going to mention about the winter wonderland but Mike took that uh the other thing I see in the social media sphere which I I always should turn off of reading um but this is the time of year that we predictably see more um crime in town in terms of people um stealing and especially when it comes to packages that are left on porches this is the time of year that we' always see an up uptick in that type of of of activity but crime in East Brunswick historic we've never had a year where there was no crime otherwise we wouldn't need police at all um we but our Prime statistics for this year are actually lower than in most years in the past what the difference is today is that everybody has ring systems or something like that and so we uh and social media allows everybody to know when anything happens we also have a police department that reports all that stuff to the public because it is public information you're entitled to know that by law and we want you to know that we're not trying to hide anything but the actual rates of crime crime there's only one area where we have seen an uptick in crime and that's going on throughout the entire State because it's a Statewide problem is in auto theft that is up and that's up throughout the state but in every other area of crime statistics and you don't need to believe me because it's public knowledge you could pull that off of the internet our crime statistics have not changed appreciably in 20 years so you may be reading more about things you may be seeing people Park things on social media so we know about it but the actual rate of crime has not changed the increase that we typically this see this time of year is probably going to repeat itself again because it's done so for the last 20 years I can't imagine why it would be any different this year so we just need everybody to be diligent we have police that are here to protect us most of the time they're either in uniform many times they're not so they're there even though you might not necessarily see them we also have and rely on the public um for as much as um people may now know about what's going on but these ring systems have been enormously helpful to Public Safety because many times they've used those tapes to apprehend people that might have gone um unapprehended previously so it's enormously helpful um if you see cars or place or people in places in uh your property or around uh the streets that you know don't belong there or you're just not sure call police um we we we want to be proactive in all of these uh things and we want to keep crime to an absolute minimum but there's never been a year that it's been zero so let's be realistic about that and and do what we can to keep everybody safe and that can't all be the police we also have to rely on each other to look out for our neighbors and for ourself and to report things that we we think are just um doesn't sit right just report it the police would rather investigate something that turns out to be nothing than to have had an opportunity to apprehend somebody and we didn't do it because somebody was afraid to call the police we don't want that so I just wanted to make those things clear as we head uh into the holiday season and I wish all of you uh a very happy and healthy holiday season I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I look forward to um Christmas and and all the holidays and new years to come so that's my report that mayor our business administrator Mr Chris Gul yeah and one way the community can help us with the auto crime throughout the state is take your keys in the house don't leave your key farb in the car and lock your car lock it um number of burges in surrounding communities you'll read about them somebody just left their key far in the car so they come up to the car they open the door oh the door opened maybe the key far's in there they jump at the car hit the button W it starts bye so please follow up on that um that's one thing that everybody should be able to do one great thing with the newer cars you get the apps on your phone I know me I have it already set 9:00 at night I see the app come on locks my car probably locked it already but please if you could do that as well just one thing tonight council president I'd like to welcome a new member to the East Brunswick family Caitlyn and Caitlyn who runs the daisy rep uh Recreation program gave birth um this week to Kira uh will is a supervisor in the Parks and Recreation Department and so we'd like to welcome to the world our newest member of the East Brunswick family and Caitlyn uh her her her mom Caitlyn and and brother Owen big brother Owen so we're delighted and um extremely happy uh that we uh have this new little one in the world and it's a fabulous thing we got to experience with her through her pregnancy and it was a lot of fun just to see her at events as she developed and she's a wonderful employee and we wish uh the new board baby all the luck and success and health that they deserved thank you Mr Chris G and I'm sure they're watching from home right now and appreciate I doubt more important changing diapers and uh hoping the baby goes to sleep there you go um our attorney Mr Baker thank you council president just one item uh at the council meeting our last council meeting on the 13th uh it uh group of ordinances 2328 through 2336 were introduced in first reading we were going to have the hearing on those tonight instead the hearing on those matters will be on December 11th so if anyone is here for those ordinances that were voted on at the last meeting the hearing will be December 11th that's all thank you Mr Baker I clerk Miss laul I have nothing to report council members uh committee or board reports councilwoman zamii just very quickly um so Mr Ryner spoke about the winter wonderland there's one thing I wanted to add on that we're also hosting a Giving Tree for um cold weather accessories so if you can bring a hat or gloves or mittens scarves to donate that would be awesome and I also want to um congratulate our Crystal Spring staff um our staff received the prestigious silver International aquatic safety award for 2023 the award is given based on a series of unannounced evaluations during the season and our team did absolutely amazing so thank you to Mr Ryner thank you to John Ro the management team and all of the Crystal Spring staff for their commitment um for professional Excellence it's something to be very proud of in our town another thing to be very proud of thank you coun zamii um at this point I will entertain comments from the public Miss laul will you please read our public comment statement the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments in accordance with njsa 10 col 4-2a and the East Brunswick rules of council the council asks the public to limit their comments to 5 minutes or less at the conclusion of the statements or questions from a member of the public the council president at his discretion may choose to respond not respond or ask the administration to respond thank you is there anyone wishing to address the council president please good evening my name is Marissa Patron and I'm a resident here in East Brunswick at 51 Hillsdale Road I'm a critical care nurse at Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health in New Brunswick I'm here to request that you as Municipal leaders pass a resolution in support of Bill a 4536 and s304 which establishes minimum registered professional nurse staffing standards for hospitals Ambulatory Surgery facilities and certain DHS facilities what is safe Staffing or Staffing standards it is appropriate and enforcable nurse-to-patient ratios that are evidence-based which keep nurses and patients safe other states have mandated ratios for example one nurse to two patients in the ICU one nurse to three patients in the step down also known as Intermediate Care one nurse to four patients in the emergency room and one nurse to five patients on a typical Hospital unit to an outsider's perspective Robert with Johnson presents itself as a Utopia they publicize their ratios as safe however not everything is as it appears while R wj's guidelines exceed what this legislation would mandate they frequently fall short on their own policies this is because there are no penalties when Staffing does not mean meet their own set of guidelines Robert Wood Johnson safe Staffing ratios is just a buzzword hospitals should not be able to absolve themselves of their responsibilities while getting paid for substandard care I I have dedicated close to 10 years of my career to this institution I move from New York to New Jersey away from my family and friends to commit to this hospital I was actively a part of the Shar governance committee for my unit which includes staff members discussing and developing new ideas that may affect our unit to promote patient safety and improve outcomes in 2021 I helped Implement a CI prevention initiative which not only decreased patient morbidity mortality and length of stay but it help save the hospital money I willingly came in in the middle of my maternity leave to present this cot prevention initiative to help this institution gain magnet recognition I not disclosing this in efforts to brag but to help you understand that I represent s only one of the 1700 nurses on strike one 1,700 nurses on strike for over 100 days and Hospital Executives have spent over $150 million on replacement nurses rather than meet our key demands for safe Staffing this money could have gone to the hiring of more nurses so that the hospital can meet these safe Staffing ratios a licensed replacement nurse can walk into this facility and take care of our patients but the question is are they a Robert Wood nurse and the answer is no a Robert Wood nurse understands our patient population our community a Robert Wood nurse dedicates time to improving patient outcomes by partaking in committees unit projects and formulating safe evidence-based Hospital policies this is the value of a robertw Johnson nurse over a replacement nurse studies show repeatedly that understaffing compromises patient care and safety understaffing in hospitals is an urgent Public Health crisis that impacts impacts any Resident who may spend time in a hospital two states have mandated safe ratios similar to the bill we are proposing to you all California and Oregon what makes patients in those States sicker than New Jersey the answer is nothing so why do those States care more about the well-being of their residents than New Jersey New Jersey deserves safe Staffing you and your loved ones all deserve safe Staffing I'm here today to ask you to put a resolution on the agenda and vote on it at the next council meeting in support of legislation that needs to move forward in our state legislator this resolution would demonstrate your commitment to our community's public health and advocate for legislation that would address this serious concern that impacts all of us this is a bipartisan issue whether or not you or your loved ones get sick and spend time in a hospital it is not determined by your political affiliation we need our legislators to co-sponsor this bill this resolution will demonstrate your support and encourage any of our legislators in our district who are not yet co-sponsors to take a closer look at this bill this bill allows nurses to provide more direct patient care and to be able to individualize care for each of our patients during covid-19 we cared for the residents of this community we were called Heroes and supported by all to preserve whatever safety we can we sacrifice our needs and dignity first for our patients leaving us with moral injury will you as Municipal leaders of our communities pass this resolution in support of State leg legislation a 4536 s304 we look forward to working with you to answer answer any questions about the bill or resolution and provide any additional information you might need thank you for your consideration anyone else wishing to address the council president please good evening Council my name is Christian Kane and I'm a nurse and resident here in East Brunswick on shentan Road 7 Shetland road today is day 116 of the nurse's strike and Robert Wood Johnson has spent over 150 million on strike Breakers instead of agreeing to minimum Staffing ratios we are still seeking a fair contract that ensures safe and sustainable conditions that we as nurses need to achieve the highquality care our communities deserve while Robert Wood Johnson continues to choose profits over patients we as members of this community are here to request that you as Leaders here in East Brunswick pass a resolution in support of Bill A45 36 s304 which would establish minimum Staffing standards for nurses in New Jersey in a video statement made by Hospital president Alan Lee on August 6th he claims that our staffing levels already exceeded what is outlined in this legislation the truth is that while Robert W Johnson's policies and guidelines do exceed this legislation they frequently fail to meet their own standards in the same video associate CMO Anthony alab belli admits that quote if we do not have enough nurses we cannot deliver the complex High Acuity care that our institution is known for coincidentally the hospital's Leap Frog grade has slipped from an A to a b this past year this independent advocacy group goes on to show that it's not just Robert Wood Johnson there has been a significant increase in healthcare Associated infections a decline in patient experience and worsened Hospital safety across the state New Jersey has dropped from the number one ranking to 13th this is the result of fighting against evidence-based legislation for the past 20 years the need for explicit nurse to Patient ratios is to ensure Staffing minimums when acting as charge nurse we create Staffing assignments for the oncoming shift our current standards do not account for changes in patient senses over the course of a shift my colleagues and I can attest that we frequently need to beg the nursing office for additional staff they will frequently staff us at our current census completely disregarding that we will have admissions from scheduled o cases when confronted about this supervisors have said to me that quote Staffing is decided at 5:00 a.m. and not 12:00 p.m. a nurse coming in may start out with six patients discharge two and then admit two more they will have had eight patients that day that all require their own assessments education and nursing care all of these things must be performed and documented accurately at all times one of our Union siblings put it best when she compared nursing to juggling juggling objects while walking a tight rope some of them are heavier than others and as you add more of them the chances that you drop one increases on days that I have an unsafe assignment it is a daunting task to do everything while walking that tight RPP we are simply not provided the tools that we need to succeed on a regular basis feeling like you failed to provide safe and dignified care despite going above and beyond is crushing when a unit is poorly staffed achieving safety comes at the cost of human dignity nurses sacrifice their own dignity on a daily basis by skipping breaks and staying late patients laying in dirty beds waiting for medications or even to be fed are paying for it too burnout isn't a strong enough word these shifts cause us moral injury if all of this weren't enough we have to worry about making a mistake due to circumstances beyond our control and being convicted of homicide as redond Vault was last year the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation testified that the medical center itself had a quote heavy burden of responsibility yet the nurse was the only one punished under the current system hospitals get to absolve themselves of their responsibility to ensure safety while getting reimbursed for delivering sub standard care that is why we are here to urge you to pass and add a resolution to your uh agenda for the next session by doing so you will be empowering nurses patients and the New Jersey Department of Health to secure the future of Quality Healthcare in New Jersey state senator Dagan and has already co-sponsored this bill but assemblyman Stanley and Cara binak have yet to follow suit will you as Municipal leaders of our community add this resolution in in support of State legislation a453 6304 to your agenda thank [Applause] you anyone else wishing to address the council president [Music] please hi I'm Troy shinb I live at 5 Tall Oaks just just down the street um you spell your last name sir oh I'm sorry s h i n b r o t thank you and uh me and my wife have lived there for uh 25 odd years so we've had many occasions to to visit Robert Wood Johnson my mother recently died um and and she was at Robert Wood Johnson many times and we are extremely grateful for the career nurses and the career uh health professionals who were at Robert Wood Johnson but it was very clear whenever some nurse was was taking care of her that they had multiple things that they had to juggle at the same time and they were often called away and it was clear to me as a non-health professional that they were overstressed it surprises me that at this time 10 what is it 10 115 days after sorry 116 days 116 days after the the the nurses you know went on strike which is something that nobody wants to do uh it it surprises me that the hospital is continuing to spend over a million doll a day no a day million no this gentleman has the floor please Sor thank you my understanding is more than more than a million dollars a day on replacement workers and they seem willing to continue to do this as long as it takes to break the strike I don't know how many of you remember during the the the covid situation that these same nurses were risking their lives they were risking their lives for us as New Brunswick and and East Brunswick and South Brunswick and North Brunswick residents to care for us and the idea that the hospital is willing to just just peel off bills as long as it takes to destroy the strike of these people who are risking their lives for us is just appalling and so I I want to join our our our colleagues and friends who are nurses and ask you to put on the agenda uh the the the state safe Staffing bills thank you anyone else wishing to address the council president yes I'm Kathy Scarboro also on Tall Oaks Drive and I pretty much just want to support the um the idea of a resolution and the work that the nurses do and I I just wanted to comment that this strike is really kind of unique in that the main issue is the Staffing and the idea that people would compromise their economic um situation for more than three months over an issue like Staffing really says to me that this is something that um every Township should be taking excuse me should be taking note of and um passing these resolutions to encourage our state legislators to um pass those bills thank [Applause] you anyone else wishing to address the council president hi Kevin seon ten colan Road just a clarification question potentially for Mr Baker what were the ordinances that address to chair addressed to you but maybe somebody else or if you know what are the ordinances being moved uh until the next meeting there were all the ordinances on last week's me last meeting I know the one you were concerned with involving the Redevelopment plan that'll be at the next meeting okay thank you so much you're welcome anyone else wishing to address the council president good evening honorable councilman my name is David tole I am a staff nurse at Robert Robert David do you spell your last name please that's t o c o l sir I am a staff Mur of Robert Wood Johnson in your bronswick for more than 13 years I'm currently residing at elmc court Whispering Woods Community since 2017 tonight we are representing the the 1700 nurses whom have been on strike for over 100 days now we are fighting for a contract which includes appropriate and enforceable nurse to Patient ratios we are also organizing nurses and communities all across our state to work together in hope of getting the staff the safe Staffing bills the s304 D4 a453 6 to be passed why are these bills matter because all patient patient deserves the right quality patient care student have Pro study have proven that less nursing staff leads to poor outcomes such as infection or bed sore longer hospital stays nurses leaving profession altogether due to continuous stress burnout and lack of support why does safe stopping matter to every resident of our community at any given time time we are going to be a patient all of us you me your spouses your own children and other people that you cared for we don't want to wait for that time until we become that patient waiting in the ER for a number of hours because you're the fifth or the sixth patient just to be attended by already all overwhelmed nurses Studies have showed that for every one additional no patient in nurses of workload increases the likelihood of patients death by 7% within 30 days of admission nurse staffing shortages are a factor in one out of every four unexpected hospital deaths or injuries caused by medical errors you don't want to be a part of that data especially your loved ones we don't want to be part of that too this is why we're here out outside the street day and night 247 for over 100 days and continuing from burning heat of the summer to the Bone chilling winter risking our own health our profession sacrificing quality time intended for our families because we continue to fight for the health and safety of our communities this community your honorable councilman with will you as the municipal leaders of the of our communities pass this resolution in support of State legislation a453 6- s304 let us all together reach out to our elected State Legislature and respectfully fresher them to pass these safe stopping bills more communities have already took part in this fight passing their own resolution in support of this bill Maplewood Highland Park Clifton to name a few and more to come the state of California and Oregon was able to make it happen and Pennsylvania is now almost there this is the right time make this your legacy together let us make this unprecedented history for our state of New Jersey thank [Applause] you uh with regard to the last eight people who have come to the podium and presented to me their thoughts instead of I don't want to compromise anything if you want to continue to talk we'll we'll we'll give you your five minutes but uh with regard to what we can do this is under my guidance I will need to need to see the safe Staffing bill I will need to share this safe Staffing bill with my fellow colleagues I will need someone a representative from one of you to give me your name your address your phone number so that I can contact you with regard to whether we are or are not I don't want it to be simply you coming to the next meeting and looking at the agenda and not seeing it there transparency is the guideline to East Brunswick governance so once again I will need this meeting will continue you're going to have to hang around so that someone can give me the contact information so that we can so that we up here can move forward does anyone else want to address the council president Tom just one second with regard to uh the the safe Staffing bill evening my name is Jennifer qua I live at T for simman court I didn't prepare anything but I just want to put into perspective like in the everyday sense the importance of what we're fighting for here at the heart of this strike is safety and safety is important for everyone safety is the imperative that we all rely on to get through everyday life that is the reason for water utilities is that is the reason for police force like this is why safety is an important thing for everyone to feel secure and to be able to be healthy it's the basis of everything so what we're fighting for is a very basic thing we're asking for a safety measure that's good for literally everyone it ensures that every person that comes vulnerable sick to the hospital that needs care gets adequate time adequate attention gets the care they need and deserve so that nothing is missed and it's just another measure that ensures human life is protected and I think that's something we can all appreciate so I'm just trying to make it more an easy practical thing for you to wrap around I know it's a lot of talk about A4 536 and s34 which is very important to pass but in your everyday sense at any point we can become a patient of of the hospital of any health care facility and you want to be able to know that you're getting the time and attention you need that your loved ones need so that your life matters and is preserved and I think you know when I look at the Seal of the township it says plan purpose and progress that's what we're trying to do here we're trying to create the plan to ensure safety for all and that is our purpose for this strike to ensure that anyone that goes to care anywhere across the state of New Jersey is given accessibility to Safe Care everyone deserves to have their life preserved so that's all I wanted to add to that thank [Applause] you don't I mean council president mayor on a personal note Robert Wood Johnson saved my life 27 and a half years ago with quadruple bypass so they got my vote Tom we need your name name excuse me your last name inran Tom inran Deerfield Road thanks uh there's another local question I have here is um if you go down right is Lane make a right on Sommer Hill Road two blocks on the left there's a pole that's split in half it's been like that for I've seen a few weeks so maybe with the ice and snows going get worse could you look into that we have Mr culo I personally called him a couple of times and it's a I do believe a county situation or count down there electrical it's it's a heavy p a Transformer on the top too yep and the other thing is when does leaf pick up because it was supposed to be two weeks ago on my block and it was yet to be picked up it's taken up three spots in my house with all the leaves I have well the most recent post by the township uh website showed a a new map and with there dates there too with regard to what's going on so well I said the 13th and the 27th is supposed to be today and I think December 11th but it's going to be picked that's for the I'm sorry Council may I Mr Chris G that date is AR ranged we had nine trucks out today picking up leaves cuz they all fell at once they all waited for Thanksgiving they all fell down and so we had nine trucks with two Grabbers picking them up and the uh trucks couldn't keep up with the that's how many leaves are on the ground I I see and people don't follow the rules on where they should put the leaves I see my friend over there from tall Lake saying yes okay so it's causing a safety problem because leaves when they get wet are as as slippery as ice so that's why we're going to bag leaves next year you bag them and we can move through the town a little bit faster but we're now we're going as fast as we safely can and with the storm of yesterday all the water that came down all the leaves that were in the roadway now filled catch basins so instead of the other team of people being able to pick up leaves guess what they did they cleared catch Bas Okay saw so another reason why we W going to bags is so that doesn't happen Okay so now I have a whole team that could be picking up leaves at your house that are clearing basins because all the leaves just filled it up because people didn't follow the rules they're out there in force uh they're going as quickly as they safely can that's the bottom line Mr ingr they're coming eventually I just didn't know I kept it on my lawn until day there supposed to pick it up but now it's still on the street and pick up three car you're one of those guys put him in the street right there and uh that's and make them an off of the can of refuse thank you Mr Ang okay thank you now let's move on to our consent agenda I um I'm sure that you know before we go to our consent agenda how about if we take a two-minute recess in case a majority of uh our professionals do want to exit if you want to hang around we still have another 20 minutes of meeting congratulations okay they're going to stay good governance in action question sir all right let's move on thank you sir let's move on to our consent agenda does anyone need any resolutions to be separated yes I do seeing none may have a motion for resolution 23 High 326 through resolution 23 hyphen 34 motion adopt do I hear a second second any discussion roll call please councilman bahal yes councilman Wendell yes councilwoman Winston yes councilwoman zii yes and council president maoy yes thank you we don't have any ordinances for introduction there are no new resolutions for discussion for the good of the cause me um just a note that tomorrow from 7: to 9: at East Brunswick High School there'll be a special presentation on the potential building of a new high school or rebuild of a high school it is a golden opportunity to come out to learn what is being discussed and planned and more more importantly it's a golden opportunity for the public to get provide some feedback as well so there'll be two different sessions one will be an explanation in the auditorium and the second will be in the cafeteria where there'll be a community feedback um piece to that and I strongly encourage people to go to be a part of government okay one of my I just a question okay do you know if there's going to be more than one meeting and opportunities for the public to have interactions with the school board or Administration on this project I do not I I'm I'm notw that was not clear with regard to a secondary meeting that's why councilwoman zamii announcing this it's very important if you're an East brunic resident that you attend this meeting tomorrow ultimately at the end of the day the decision on what gets done whether the decision is to do nothing the decision could be to do a renovation the consider the decision could be to do a brand new school in its entirety all of those have totally different price tags associated with it and at the end of the day it goes out to referendum for residents to vote on so um you know what we want is to make sure that while you make that extraordinarily important decision that you have all the information that you need to make that so um as many opportunities to learn about what's going on would be encouraging and we strongly encourage as many of you to go out and learn about that uh so that you can make an educated decision it will be your decision not the Board of Ed not the township Council but the public and that public word is a referendum and that would be something that again that's the governing body on the other side of Route 18 I usually use Route 18 for the division between the two governing bodies on this side of Route 18 uh we have no say whatsoever how however it's a referendum that will definitely have lasting impacts one of my favorite monthly readings is the New Jersey municipalities magazine that just demonstrates the level of nerd that I am I use the word nerd with reverence because I take my job very serious so as I'm thumbing through before I begin to read the magazine I come to page 20 and there's the the the right side of affordable housing the success of East Brunswick's community housing Corporation and it's written by our esteemed mayor Brad Cohen and it's an article about the history of affordable housing here in East Brunswick and how it gets moved through the through the system in Trenton so congratulations on an outstanding article mayor and uh continued good work with regard to that anything else with regard to go to the cause motion for second second all in favor say I I they eyes have it good evening [Applause] [Music] [Music] okay [Music] o