e e this is the other night I just want remember Township office closed Mike confus calling the regular meeting of Wednesday May 22nd to order it is time is 7:02 p.m. please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance i al to flag the United States of America to the stands Nation indivisible andice Madam clerk roll call please council member brusher here council member Coy here council member Harris here council member Patel here council member P here council member pointer Pres counc council member schmuel here all right Madam clerk please read the adequate notice adequate notice that this meeting is required by the open public meeting Act of 1975 has been provided by the annual notice sent to The Home distri Room St Ledger Desi talk on December 12th 2023 in posted made Lobby mpal complex on that same date okay before we start I want to just uh make an announcement um we lost three individuals that mean a lot to the community uh we are deeply saddened by their loss uh who are the pillars of our community their dedication kindness and T's contribution to Edison Township uh has left an IND IND denable mark on us we want to send our thoughts and prayers to the families of waler who is a longtime resident and a member of or was member of open space uh Andrew din dinola uh she he was a JPS band director for 50 years and Jim maloni an EHS health physical education teacher and an athletic director uh once again I want to also take time to make some announcements um paper shredding events that's taking place on Sunday June 2nd uh the Memorial Day Parade which is taking place on Saturday May 25th and the farmers market will be starting on May 30th to October 24th at SES Park uh reminder uh Township offices will be closed on Monday May 27th for Memorial Day now moving on to number five approval of minutes motion uh may I have a motion to approve the minutes motion to approve and may I have a second second so that's motion by vice president and second by councilman Patel all in favor I all right moving on to number six unfinished business Madam clerk please read the ordinance this ordinance amends Edison Township Code to establish rates the township charges users of the Township water system I want to open this up to the public comments all right seeing none may I get a motion to close the public comments motion to close may I have a second second all right motion by Council vice president second by councilman pointer um now any Council comments actually may I have a motion to adopt motion council president I I think I missed on uh the approval minutes on January 24th I wasn't I wasn't here okay so can we Mark in this Mara what other Daye was it uh the April 25th meeting and and April 25th I will Mark you obain second on the motion to adopt council president who got the start of the motion motion to approve or adopt so motion by Council vice president second by councilman Coy any Council comments I see none uh Madam clerk roll call please council member brusher uh no council member Coyle yes council member Harris yes council member ptil no council member pointer yes council member schmuel yes council president Patel yes uh Madame clerk please read ordinance 2218 this ordinance amends Edison Township to revise and update the 2024 per gallon water rates to Township charges residential and non-residential users for the discharge of normal domestic sewage and the rates charge significant industrial users of the township sewer system all right opening this sub to the public comments U seeing none may I get a motion to close public motion to close and may I have a second second motion by Council vice president second by councilman pointer U all in favor I I and can I get a motion to adopt motion to adopt may have a second second motion by Council vice president second about councilman pointer any Council comments council president just as a uh point of information for anyone that may not have uh read the ordinance the increase for both the previous ordinance and this ordinance is a standard two 2.5% across the board just for General reference thank you council president thank you councilman pointer U seeing none can I get a roll call council member brusher no council member coil yes council member Harris yes council member PTI no council member pointer yes council member schuel yes council president Patel yes Madam clerk please read ordinance 2219 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget Appropriations limits to establish a cap Bank all right opening this up to public comments I seeing none may I get a motion to close the public motion to close I have a second second motion by Council vice president second by councilman pointer all in favor all may I have a motion to adopt motion to adopt I have a second second that's motion by Council vice president second by councilman pointer any Council comments council president councilman P Yeah question to Administration what's the limit we are setting percentage 2% 3% hello okay there you go this is a new one want I feel um are you referring to the budget cap Bank the cap Bank uh three and a half three and a half thank you any other Council comments right seeing none Madam cler roll call please council member brusher yes council member Coy yes council member Harris yes council member pil no council member pointer yes council member schmuel yes council president Patel yes Madam clerk please read ordinance 2222 ordinance adopting the Redevelopment plan John Street in Thomas Place block 692 e Lots 8B 9A 12 13 and 14 pursuant to the local Redevelopment Housing law njsa 48 colon 12 A-1 right opening this up to public portion uh seeing that may I get a motion to close the public portion motion to close have a second second motion by Council vice president second by councilman pointer um all in favor hi hi may I get a motion to adopt motion to adopt you have a second second motion by council wice president second M councilman pointer any Council comments seeing none Madam clerk roll call please council member brusher yes council member Coyle yes council member Harris yes council member ptil yes council member pointer yes council member shim shuel yes Council pres Patel yes Madam clerk please read ordinance 2223 an ordinance amending chapter 14 building and construction by amending section 14-7 electric vehicle charging stations in new and modified develop developments required right opening this up to the public portion uh seeing none may I have a motion to close the public portion motion to close may I have a second second all right that's motion by Council vice president second by councilman pointer all in favor all and may I have a motion to adopt motion to adopt and may I have a second second uh motion to adopt by councilman pel second by councilman pointer all right um any Council comments council president my PO pointer uh I'm happy to see this again on the agenda I hope that it has the support I think that is good for us to have the state guidelines also replicate replicated on our local books uh in particular to ensure that the 2 for one EV uh tradeoff is actually C at the 10% I think that is a good thing for us to have to make sure that that part is not missed out on any land use applications thank you council president thank you councilman pointer and I do hope that we do have the support because I do agree uh having some sort of limit uh allows us to control the parking situation going forward uh Madam clerk please roll call council member brusher yes council member coil yes council member Harris yes council member ptil yes council member app pointer yes council member schmuel yes council president Patel yes uh moving on to number seven new business proposed ordinance public hearing set down for Wednesday June 12th 2024 Madam clerk please read ordinance 2221 Bond ordinance providing for improvements to the solid waste collection District in by the township of Edison Middle six County appropriating 1,400,000 and authorizing the issuance of 1,400,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance the cost thereof all right may I have a motion to introduce coun president just a point of clarification if I can or a question rather um we have the budget pres presentation for June 13th it is my understanding that we cannot vote on a an approval of a bond until the budget is passed so would we set the hearing down for June 12th which is before the budget presentation or figured at the time when the budget would be for consideration that is a good point councel okay you can you can certainly introduce tonight um in order to adopt you do need to adopt the budget so the bond to your point would then come after the adoption of the budget so it' be the first meeting in July I just want to make sure from the if we're setting the date ad in July or the same night as the budget the budget's going to be done on the 26th be after the budget is adopted so it' be the first meeting in July okay so when is that oh well the meeting is until the end of July end of July can't adopt at the same time as the budget I can clarify that and get back to all so so so on the new business we don't know when the public heing is going to be set down for yet why don't we set it down for the date that the budget is figured to be before us and then if we have to push it back for any logistic reasons then we can notice at the next meeting then um just push it back at that point thank you for that councilman pointer j6e 26 the public hearing is going to be on the ads on those bonds but we'll clarify tomorrow if that has to be July okay thank you council president so may I get a motion to introduce for July I mean June 26 council president oh no go go for it councilman appointed uh thank you um I move this ordinance be passed on first reading published according to law for further consideration and public hearing set down for Wednesday June 26 2024 all right may I have a second second all right so that's motion by councilman poiner second by councilman shmel uh Council comments all right seeing done Madam CL roll call please council member brusher yes an introduction council member Quil yes Council Harris yes council member ptil yes for introduction council member pointer yes council member shimu yes council president Patel yes Madam clerk uh please read ordinance 0222 4 Bond ordinance provided for various Capital Improvements by the township appropriating 28,45 th000 therefore authorizing the finance the issuance of the bonds of 27 m512 250 bonds or notes to finance support thereof okay so just to clarify the business administration has verified that we can adopt the same night so we're good with June 26 on the same night okay so we should be good with June 26 uh may I get a motion to introduce council president I move this ordinance to be passed on first reading published according to law for further consideration and public hearing set down for Wednesday June 26th may I have a second second all right that's a introduction by Council vice president second by councilman pointer any Council comments councilor counc P yeah I have asked some clarification on this Bond especially uh the locations of the flashing lights the three were unknown and the clarification on the Clara Barton sidewalk uh have not received as of now uh I mean I understand I think we do have time till June 26 to get that information to you but I requested this today but anyway you know I can wait till June 26 thank you all right Madame clerk any other Council comments right see now Madam clerk gr call please council member brusher yes to introduce council member Quil yes council member Harris yes council member pel yes for council member pointer yes council member shum yes council president Patel yes okay moving on to number eight public comments uh this is only on the resolutions so any public comments on the resolutions okay Anonymous you will have to take off your mask unfortunately huh you will have to take off your mask to speak to address to the chair to the uh you can't talk unless I don't want them to violate sir I will ask you to sit down now or you can remove the mask one or the other if he choose if he chooses to can you please remot this man he obviously knows who I am so he's making a mockery coun pres I can't even understand what if they're going to make a you can sit down or you can be removed one of the options no I do not you can you can sit down your time will be forfeit so this is absolutely disgusting you can sit down sir absolutely disg two arms thank you you can sit down and stop talking officers if he does not stop talking you can remove him thank you okay anyone else that would like to speak from the public all right um no no one wants to speak so motion to close the public portion motion to close may I have a second second that's motion by Council vice president second by councilman pointer all in favor I all right uh to my Council colleagues anything that you would like to pull for a separate vote council president yes councilman resolution 267 and 268 one sec so ordinance 267 I mean resolution 267 and 268 anything else 261 2 267 and 268 and 261 and councilman brusher would like to P 261 261 okay so with that the consent agenda will be 245 to to 260 and then 262 to 266 and 269 to 271 may I have a motion to approve the consent agend consent agenda approve second second all right that's a motion by councilman Patel second by Council vice president Madam clerk roll call please council member brusher yes council member coil yes council member Harris yes council member ptil yes council member pointer yes council member Schell yes council president Patel yes all right councilman brusher for 261 yes um I I just like to say I'd like to thank the administration for getting me all the information um and my Council colleagues for supporting that um without having that you you couldn't make a sound decision and um I I I agree with the administration on this one thank you Council all right so Madam MC cler can we have a roll call on 261 you need a motion motion sorry motion motion to approve second all right motion by councilman Patel second by Council vice president Madam clerk roll call please that shocked me so much sorry council member BR yes council member Cole yes council member Aris yes council member pil yes council member pointer yes council member schmuel yes council president Patel yes all right um okay councilman Patel uh do you want to do this 267 and 268 together or separate no I will do it together but I have some questions I'm I'm perfectly fine to support but just need a clarification for 2 267 it is buying the uh sound system is that correct s correct and this will be owned by Edison Township correct that's exactly what why we need for all of the events I'm good with that and the second one is uh Event Services 2024 to Limitless entertainment I don't recall we approving or we engaging any event Services because I feel our recreation department does a wonderful job uh conducting the events is there any reason that we are hiring an event Services you just give me one minute I'll gr that for you are you if you want to send me an email I'm perfectly fine we can I will I will uh one question though that that I have for the attorney is that it is under the threshold so I'm wondering why it would have made it to the council just out of curiosity May council president I think under the bid spec may have been an oversight so I apologize for that number yes I was going to say because under the bid um it was over the threshold but it's being awarded to two separate vendors um but I do have to ask a point of clarification because my understanding is that this is for the events themselves and the equipment and services at those events not necessarily the purchasing of that equipment I just want to get that clarification I'm personally okay with the event service aspect um I've done DJing for over a decade before so I know what goes into it I don't think the cost is absurd given the scale of it but considering the question that my colleague had mentioned before uh I would like that clarification okay the first clarification is this 5,972 are those equipments we are buying and will be owned by the Edison Township not by any vendor if we is this something that we can hold off to the next one or no um not to cover our events so um it is not let me just give me one minute take your time before these do a voice check apologize it should have been part of the backup from the clerk's office well the bid package is here and the the um Awards so if I'm looking at the bid bid package line item one Eid Saturday April 20th 2: to 8:00 p.m. papani Park lists the items line item tune juneth June 8th 1200 to 700 p.m. line itum 3 4th of July July 4th 3: to 10 p.m. line 4 house music in the park 2: to 10 p.m. line 5 fall family spectacular 1 to 900 p.m. with a multiple locations uh line item six Dali celebration 2 to 8 p.m. line itm 7 Christmas tree lighting 2 to 800 p.m. so I have not viewed this in my review of this as purchasing of equipment is for Event Services okay so they are rentals okay but in my opinion because I've I djed for over a decade the pricing I do not find to be absorbent it thank you council president I think it's not a question of the we are not this Township is not in the business of you know In the Event Services that's the reason my question came I mean CU all along 20 25 years or 30 years we never spend a Time on hiring any event Management Service regardless of what event we do because our Recreation Department is capable of doing those events and I'm shocked that this Township wants to spend close to $55,000 for a year on the event management my next question is going to be I'm very disappointed and I get it you know my council is an experience so I have the experience in all areas the cost doesn't equivalent equate there it's about the intent and it's about the business the services our job is to give the quality of services to the residents I would prefer to build more sidewalks you know uh put more flashing lights than spending on the event management but my next question is from where this money is coming is it coming from the the donation that we receive from the vendors or it is coming from the operating budget this is coming from uh trust so it typically is from um it could be between the operating account it could be from um any donations that we do receive so and just as a matter of clarification so all of these events um are very well attended um we do get a lot of great feedback from it so it's a matter of uh opinion um on anyone's end if that's something that you choose not to certainly we've gotten a lot of great feedback on the events that we've covered understood and the question is not about the event this is not the first time events are happening in this town this is happening all along and multiple people can come here and they can watch you know we we always had the uh our Recreation Department doing those events uh properly the if you said that it's coming from the the trust fund is that trust fund is also part of our budget or it is managed separately trust funds are managed separately but if you noted in the resolution that this particular item comes from the operating account okay so this is coming is there any reason it is not because this is coming from operating means it is coming from the taxpayers expense is there a reason it is not coming from the event trust account well all fund all funds that we've come before you are taxpayer money obviously so we did our due diligence we went through the bid project in order to get the lowest bidder and that's what's presented to you tonight question is not about the service to the taxpayer question is about is there a reason that this is not coming from trust fund by the way what is the balance on the event trust fund How much donation balance we have if you ran out of account I get it but get that to you tomorrow but uh this isn't any anything different we haven't done in the last couple of years and then it's I'm sorry you know if this was not caught you know it is surprising that we are using taxpayers money and not the the donations I don't know where those donations are going there will be there will be further questions during the budget time thank you council president thank you councilman any other council members right uh as for me I think that this events and there's quite a few of them there's e there's juneth 4th of July concerts house music in the park um the fall family SP cular and it covers a lot of lighting and Equipment specific equipments that you know would be needed to have a good event and I'm okay with the cost and as councilman pointer pointed out that you know he has done DJing work extensively and I have seen his music and I enjoy his music so I know he's really good at it so I'm okay with this cost as long as you know people are enjoying it and I think as far as all the events I have attended those events have been enjoyed by all our residents so as having said that may I have a motion to approve motion to approve may I have a second second all right that's a motion by Council vice president second by councilman poer that's r26 s and r268 one vote yeah council member brusher we're roll together we're doing them together together yes it was the same bid number yeah oh so it has to be the same resolution number no no no no there are there's two there's two resolution but we're doing it together so I can't vote Yes on one and no on another no we we motioned it together we motioned it together corre oh no council member Cole yes council member Harris yes council member pil no at the TA cost council member pointer yes council member schmell yes council president Patel yes all right moving on to number 10 oral petition and remarks uh going from the list the first person is Madu good evening council members my name is Madu sakti I'm the district one Committee Member and a resident for the almost 15 years in the Edison I I'm here uh to request U uh to so this is the second time I'm here for requesting volleyball for kids in our community uh we have observed significant interest in the volleyball among our youngsters residents spanning from elementary to high school despite the enthusiasm volleyball is not currently included in the school curriculum and our community lack lacks an indoor facility to nurture this sport last year when the volleyball was introduced one of the Middle School uh jams a single session over 90 kids 90 girls uh schoolo Middle School girls expressed interest we at only 20 were given a chance that is for two months period a similar situation occurred for the boys program so there was a there is a significant Gap that needs to be addressed uh I am prepared to dedicate my time and energy to teach our children and fundamentals of the volleyball so I see the benefit I suppose everybody does some of the benefits include fostering leadership skills encourages children to learn new tech techniques it promotes physical activity or digital engagement it brings recognization to Edison in the sports arena it cultivates Future Leaders among the Next Generation it reaches a large number of children in a short time frame so it this port has like 12 plus kids at a time and with with the resources not available in Edison in in in the community we don't have a community center which does Sports as a thing compared to other communities so I want to spend time I reached out to the council two weeks ago a month ago and I reached out to our Recreation Department I really appreciate giving me the support to move forward um we have lot of enthusiasm among Edison so giving the opportunity we will make Edison better place for in the sports I sincerely request please support me in this journey I want to make this make a difference to the community so I appreciate you anything you can do kids are not not able to participate anywhere we when they participate with other with other Township they're lacking behind especially with volleyball so this is an easy sport but it cannot be played on the ground to be taught because of the injuries so we need an indoor facility where we can teach them and it doing that our schools can participate in the international sport as well uh Even in our high school we are not progressing so starting Elementary level and teaching them will put us in a better shape I sincerely thank you I appreciate all your support in this matter thanks thank you Madu uh any Council comments on that yes council president um to the business administrator um I I know that uh Ken's firm is working on on funding for um our youth sports in the town um will we have that before we receive the budget because I don't know that we um allocated additional funds in the budget for the Youth Sports and at the end of the day I'd like to get everything encompassed you know in this budget um I I don't think it's that impossible to do because the budget's June 13th I think right the presentation presentation but the adoption would be the second meeting in June so we should have it beforehand okay um but uh like we've said to the gentleman before um we met with them we are looking at the request and we we will get back to him yes I I mean where I'm going with it is since we're doing the budget um we're going to revise some of the other ones potentially correct um that that that could be an adjustment done to the budget itself um before we actually adopt it that that would be it if we can do that thank you thank you councilman pressure any other Council members president and I think this is exactly what I said on Monday that we need to be all inclusive to make sure that we are supporting all the sports and if you're doing the funding formula calculation this is the right time to set aside uh some of the new request and we heard him probably twice on this uh Das here it's a wonderful program and and I'm in fully support of youths funding uh especially uh there will be more probably discussions I'm not part of that funding formula but hopefully we get that before the budget uh presentation thank you council president thank you Council P any other council members all right uh as uh for me I know we are building new volleyball courts uh right Sonia yes okay and I know Madu you were looking for schools to have indoor facility and start unfortunately that's not a purview of the council that would be something that the Boe would essentially Implement is this time up or does he still have time oh no he had one minute council president yes one let me just finish my conversation uh but I would love kids to uh you know be trained in volleyball courts and in anything but I think unfortunately starting at elementary school that would be something that the Boe will Implement in that curriculum but what we can do as a Township is a you know uh support any Community uh volleyball teams or build more volleyball courts outside agreed uh what I'm asking here is um the outside that you put have outside it is open for all the public so we are not teaching them they they come there they are not fine tuned so we want a fine tuning which we we have to support through a proper program so I'm requesting so that we have indoor prog indoor facilities where we can have the trained training uh provided to them so when we when we see outdoor we have adults coming in and the kids are not getting the opportunity so the training fa training is not happening there so we want to give a training your your time is off un so I understand what you're trying to say you want some indoor opportunities we can take this offline but I do have some ideas that we can discuss uh councilman Coy council president I'm open to reaching out uh with Miss Harris to board member um Bureau Patel perhaps we can have a a separate phone call together to see what they already have in the past and what you're trying to connect and if the ba agrees maybe we can Loop in Recreation to get answers to what you're trying to accomplish and then find a remedy I don't you know whether you're organizational driven or but we will listen and figure it out I think it's a great idea thanks for putting the time in thank you sir and I think there is an opportunity to rent out indoor volleyball courts through the school and maybe that could be an approach that could be used with the sports building that's a great opportunity that we'd like to share with the volleyball folks is um use that space for volleyball as well okay so we can we will have more opportunities to expand just I want to make one point here I think you know he's trying to build the leagues and the competitions Etc it's not a recreation Recreation it will be more of the leagues the way we have the football the soccer Cricket those are the leagues I think the badminton you know the leagues not necessarily will be just within a few kids but there will be across the the Edison town and eventually across different township we can take this offline but I do think there is a leak there was one that I know but I we can take this offline uh moving on Joe bass off Joel bass off 17 Beach Lane so at the Monday work session I asked several questions and I'm back because several of those questions weren't answered and several of the answers that I did get we're we're just plain wrong so I need to follow up uh one no one explained why the budget is a month late according to local Finance notice 23 uh 20 23-22 the 2024 budget was supposed to have been introduced by April 10th and adopted by May 8th so the question is why did Edison miss the deadline for introducing the budget does that Expos the township to possible liability with the division of local finance and from what I've just heard today there are consequences to that since uh we found out we can't uh even uh approve a bond ordinance until we have a budget so it's delaying a bond that that some people uh feel that Edison needs uh two regarding the updated Warehouse definitions I was told quote we're working on it but no time frame for completion was given so my question is who's working on the ordinance what's the reason for the hold up and when will it be roduced and voted on three I was told that the recording of the March 11th work session was restored to the Edison YouTube channel I checked it's not there so why is that and when will it be put back up four uh regarding Bond ordinance 2224 uh specifically the Amboy Avenue Improvement projects the business administrator said there is no Road resurfacing but in the ordinance it's explicitly says Road resurfacing uh so why is Edison proposing to resurface a County Road or in the alternative should that language be stricken five regarding not having a public Advocate um the council president said we are loaded up in terms of tools to fight overdevelopment but in the case of 1039 Amboy Avenue the planning board failed to use the tools available to it specifically expert witnesses to refute the testimony of the developer planner so now as a result instead of the developer coming back with a scaled back proposal the planning board is facing a lawsuit that it might very well lose so since the planning board failed to use the tools available to it and now is being sued by the developer and has the expense of litigating that lawsuit my question was and it still is how are we better off off for not having a public Advocate uh what's the advantage to Edison now that we see that our boards are not using the tools what's the advantage to Edison not having the public Advocate it's a simple straightforward question and I'm still waiting for an answer to that uh six regarding the repeal of ordinance 01936 of 2016 which allows the four-story buildings on Amboy Avenue um anyone who says that the repeal of that ordinance would expose the township or the council to Legal liability is wrong that's just a pretext to do nothing and to allow a developer to put up another four-story building the New Jersey local Redevelopment Housing law is clear it says when the governing body refers a proposed amendment to the planning board the planning board by law has a 45-day deadline to make a recommendation to the governing body if the planning board fails to transmit its report within 45 days then the governing body is relieved from the requirement to consider a report or recommendation from the planning board so that's what it says in New Jersey statutes 40a colon 12 a-7 subsection e you can pull it up on your devices read it for yourself um so my question is if the four-story commercial Corridor overlay allowing the four stories is repealed who would have the standing to Sue and what would be the cause of action can any case law be cited for that or is the threat of litigation just being used as a pretext to do nothing and to give a developer more time to submit a development application also at the meeting a member of the council seem to chide um public objectors over the fact that that members of the public have not reached out to the business community on Amboy Avenue to see how they feel about four-story buildings well first of all I'm not sure how it's the responsibility of residents or members of the public to solicit opinions from businessmen who are perfectly capable of communicating with the council uh secondly it makes you wonder who in the business community on Amboy Avenue would be any more enthusiastic about four-story buildings than the residents are what business people would want a four-story building towering over their business taking up their parking spaces and maybe pricing them out of the premises that they're leasing for their business who would want that so I would challenge any member of the council who thinks that somehow the the business Community has to be reached out to uh tell us what members of the business Community would want that just as I would challenge anyone to say who among the people who live in claraa Barton would want to see another four-story building so those are the questions that remain open from Monday night and I'd like to see if I can get answers tonight okay thank you Joel anyone that would like to take it counc president I have no problem answering a question but if some mons go first fine I would wait can I go I just want to respond to that last question Council M first yes thank you council president if you have a four- story building you have more people if you have more people you have more patrons to go to a business so I I would assume a laundromat would want a a taller building that's that's just good business have you asked them oh one sec do you want us to answer them or do you want to go back and forth because we can't we're not going to go back and forth well if my if my time's not done I think I can continue right you can continue but then you might not get answers to everything because I will have to try to because we have a lot to go through we have like you don't have a time limit I have the time limit so you I'm I'm happy for the council members to take all the time they need to answer my questions pause this time for a little bit I'm sorry for taking up your time no that's okay continue that's okay um U you can unpause go ahead do you want to continue no okay all right anybody else that would like to speak council president councilman Coy Joe I do appreciate the time you put in and and all the different cases you come to uh in your opinion on all different matters and that's wonderful that you take the time being an attorney from your family and that's very nice of you uh you know we just disagree you have a belief and opinion of one thing you say the words towering eight more feet higher it's towering over 3 feet it's a really strong word to use 8 feet more is towering over 8 feet less whatever you want to choose to do I'm open to work with you to business to business if you want to me to to say they shouldn't be included to say that no one has reached out to them or to say that it's their responsibility when they're working you know 90 hours a week to take action in the community I could tell you those who purchased the property on the Block bought it with the intent to understand that this was the opportunity some bought and some inherited that opportunity so I mean you're in a conflict of someone who's an investor and someone who's a resident and you don't want to listen to both sides and that's fine you're you're welcome to that but to say that in your opinion that investment development does not help a downtown would be wrong it's factually wrong I mean there's studies out there and I'm open to sit with you like I said before I'm open for a healthy debate you completely disagree and I'm willing to work with you to see where we have a common road but we haven't spoke to the business Community we haven't spoken to the young professionals and it's wonderful what you've done so far with a few residents to bring people together was wonderful but this is no different than the second question I answer which is your public Advocate your public Advocate is for those who don't want it in their backyard and there's a group people who may not want to pay to fight that so how again if you were going to be on nway Avenue perfect case and I'm not looking to go back and forth so I'm just looking to answer the question you asked me and I'll stop but to comment on what you've asked so far if someone was to come to the public Advocate tomorrow morning and say listen I disagree with this building on ambo Avenue that's 8T higher than it should be and doesn't have the proper sidewalk to go go down a block that a sidewalk to Nowhere a sidewalk that I in my opinion would not want to meet the other residents across their front Lawns they just wouldn't want it that's what I believe okay and we can go door too on that no one wants a sidewalk in front of their house that's just I believe okay but if you want to go toe-to-toe with that I'm open to it but what about the person who may agree to have it what about the person who owns a business on the block how do you include that person in the public advocate that person's for it you're against it do you do you do a straw poll of how many people come out I mean what is it what about the business guy who can't speak for himself that if he gets involved on the internet he gets bashed and before you know people are beating him up over what he serves I mean business people don't post science in front of their place they don't get involved in the politics of the community because they want to be good neighbors doesn't mean they don't want to participate and that's a fact I mean you won't see them put you know a political sign in front of the place they want to stay neutral I've spoken to four businesses on the Block Joe I love the four stories I love the opportunity I don't want to get involved because then they'll be beating me up on Facebook that's an a factual statement from people I've spoken to whether you disagree or disagree it's up to you I'm just saying where do you find your ODS on a public advocate for those in any neighborhood forget about CL Bart talking about 35 square miles where do you get the part that it's the people who don't want it from the people may want it where do you define that when there's two sides who do you pick that's the the the the question later on and that's you know that's why I don't believe the public advoc is a good idea I'll I'll never support it I think we've placed great people in good places they've been there for a reason it's been working and I think we have Professionals in those areas both on zoning and planning have done a great job that's that's I only have the two to discuss with you and offline I'm always willing to have a fair debate on things my challenge with you is you make an opinion statement you say the entire public you speak for the public I have a challenge with that if you say you're speaking for your neighborhood in your street I understand but every time I hear from you it's you speak for the public I don't know what public you speak for and I'm confused because you never talk about the people who may want something I'm at my dinner table my son disagrees with me just because he's at my dinner table doesn't mean he going to agree with me I mean we're just not making Common Sense out of listening to everybody and I'm open to that until we have a factual understanding I'm just going to I'm going to just listen to you and disagree we have some factual input from others and to weigh this opportunity thank you for being here thank you Council Co anybody else that would like to speak council president councilman P I just want to make one remark here because we we have the history and I share uh you know some of those commonalities with my Council K councilman Co here if you remember and you can watch 2018 council meeting 1039 Ember Avenue I was the council president I pulled that resolution because I never supported not it was not about the for story but it was about the redeveloper violating the local laws that includes failure to widen little Avenue because there 300 plus citizens live there and cman KY when I tabled it you are the one who supported to table back then correct cor 979 I think we're going kind of off but it was more about what are we answering here I'm kind of confused no I'm I'm going to just you know not defend him but it's about the Clara Buton right we we had and again I was the one who supported back then you know when we we put that in Redevelopment Zone but the fact doesn't change if somebody had bought the property hoping the I think we're going off on a tangent here but if you have any answers for Mr Bass off absolutely because that's where you know my counil countered and I want to make sure that you know it is not about he speaking for few residents it is his opinion I get that it is councilman's opinion I get that but there is a factual data behind the scene and people needs to be aware what happened in the past what is happening now it is not about we making people Rich here there were people on the council chambers who who oppose this but again I'll rest my case there okay but again thank you for your service thank you coun P anybody else yes one second does uh let Council vice president go go ahead yes um Joel to your question about the CH I didn't say Edison YouTube channel this is I I have pulled it up here it's on it's on YouTube if you put an Edison council meeting 31124 it's right there it comes up right right there okay okay okay uh anybody else C president councilman brusher yes um to the attorney um and and this has come up multiple times and and the attorney's told us about the budget right that it's okay um I and it's not just this Administration to be quite honest with you the past administration we we got budgets in July or August okay and and I questioned them also and they told me like you did but what I'm asking is because I I I was reading it and nowhere in there do I see how this could be extended could you produce like a documentation that we could read that that's actually I was waiting for the council to finish speaking so that I could address a couple of those issues and I was going to invite Mr Bass off to email the firm I will sit down with Mr renon I'll produce something for the council and for Mr bof um his position has been and and continues to be that it is been introduced on time each year uh I believe the administration's position has been that it's been introduced on time each year there's a fundamental disagreement here um with Mr Bass off's position that it's late or has has been late for two months no no and I'll tell you why because I I probably read the same thing and and I went through this with the past administration but what I'm asking you for is for the documentation not a like like when we were talking about the thing about the Corum and all of that right but yeah no no you you you you gave us like a legal opinion right and and that's great but that's not what I'm asking for I'm not asking for your opinion I'm asking for the like the actual verbage which you then sent me the documentation on that other case you know at that time which was I think he said he will send it to you the doc okay I will'll send it to you and if it's not what you're looking for reach out to me and we'll we'll we'll talk about it uh and we'll figure out if if there's something more that we can do all right and M Mr bassoff send send me what your your specific objection is so that I can make sure that I'm addressing specifically what it is that you're objecting to um what you're what you basing your opinion on so that way we can get you as clear of an answer as possible as concise an answer as possible um the other thing that I I wanted to address very quickly is um this is only part of Mr Bass off's uh statement um with respect to the planning board and the litigation that they are currently involved in uh I can only caution the council that if it is an active litigation against the township even though it's against the planning board not this body that uh speaking about it or making any implication that believe that the planning board failed to act acted inappropriately or did something wrong um is is it may be how you feel it may be your opinion it may be something that that you're not entirely advised of and don't have all of the facts behind but it would not be in the best interest of the township to discuss that publicly while litigation is ongoing okay noted uh councilman pointer thank you council president uh just to address a couple of the items Warehouse definition um the reason why I was okay with what I put up last year was because I had had and I'm not saying this to pick on you but you uh argued against it that it was too loose right I had others that said that it was too strict which to me is the compromise as to what should be gone through but considering that I'm not getting any budging on either way I'm kind of at a standstill with where I'm at uh Amboy Avenue County Road yes but the township is responsible from the turnpike overpass to the route one overpass so the resurfacing could play a role into that because we have that responsibility from the township perspective uh on the public Advocate aspect um you may comment of the litigation I understand not to go into specifics especially giving given my role but um regardless of any challenge which would occur on any application if there were to be additional testimony it's probably going to be challenges regardless that expense to me is going to be incurred um one item in regards to a comment made on Monday in regards to the public Advocate referendum there was a mention about basing it off of the orell ordinance what disturbs me and really just disappoint disappoints me is that what was presented before this Council for consideration and I know you know because you Reddit both both versions uh they are not Apples to Apples they are apples and oranges so I'm a little disappointed to hear that what may be put forth is actually was not what was brought forth before this Council actually I drafted an ordinance that was probably more in line with that and it was just tossed out the back so I'm a little confused by that um in regards to the four-story Amboy Avenue you reference subsection E I would recommend rereading the resolution and uh just you'll note that you're referencing the wrong subsection that the resolution referenced um and while I may have differ uh development philosophies than my colleague on the opposite side I can personally vouch that I have had similar correspondences of not in opposition of the four from the business Community uh I will not go into names because that's within their right to have that type of privacy but to what my colleague said he's not making it up so uh that would be a council president thank you Council pointer any other council members all right as for me I think a lot of the questions were answered uh the budget the lawyer uh legal council will get back to us uh the definition as councilman pointer pointed out uh there is needs to be work done that where we can get the essentially an agreement as to what should be moved forward and that's where we stand and I don't have a timeline as to when that will happen but when it does happen I will put it back up it is not something that we have forgotten about uh the Youtube uh councilman Vice Council vice president pointed that out R Ser councilman pointer pointed out uh as for the public Advocate I can't see uh I will reiterate what I've been re saying over and over again which is that it is just increase in bureaucracy it doesn't get us anything if our ordinances are not clearly defined no matter how well you can argue that it does not matter you are going to lose that case if we don't as a body Define our rules better and if we can define those rules better and if we give the tools which we already did to the boards to fight those cases so they have a clear understanding then they can do this better and the whole argument that the public Advocate will fight for the public is clearly wrong in my opinion because everyone sitting here is a public Advocate and we are the one who will be deciding who will become uh the public advocate so it it's kind of a you're saying we're not doing a good job but you know when we H when we get someone new they will do a better job doesn't make sense to me personally and I agree with uh many of what council members have said that the business Community would love for stories but at the end of the day I want give What the clar buron residents want but at the same time I'm not rushing a decision simply because they want it now I am okay to wait and get it done right and I'll will leave it at that thank you Joel [Music] okay um anyone else Octor Nasser Pleasant Avenue so forgive me I'm a little tired I only got three hours of sleep because reviewing tapes and doing a lot of research within one night of talking at the council meeting I went viral I woke up on Tuesday morning with multiple messages and tags on Facebook for the last six years I have kept my professional life separate from my advocacy road side and I will continue to do so when I come up here I'm speaking as an Edison resident the public remarks portion of a meeting is a time for residents to say whatever they constitutionally want so long as it legally fits the the Quorum just two weeks ago the council had lengthy discussion on the Chrome and what is allowed to be said I made a little mantra for what you can say and what you can't say so at an open meeting if you can curse then you can converse council president would you please revisit the breach of the Quorum and educate the council members on how to speak to Residents and when council members are allowed to speak for anyone other than the council president to interrupt me or to try to silence or try to censor my first amendment for fored by the open meetings act and js10 4-12 that is an interruption is at minimum a breach of decorum unprofessional and possibly illegal I am thankful that the council president our lawyer stepped in immediately so let's keep it professional and let's start talking about the facts fact I never stated that the discussion items are the only measure of what any council member does I recommend that anyone stating otherwise rewatch the tape fact number two Clara Barn residents and myself have been on record and have questioned four story development Clara Barn since 2016 when councilman Cole has consistently supported four stories despite our resistance to four Stories the council went ahead with the plan fun fact number one four Council people that served from 2015 to 2019 did not get reelected fun fact number two one of the council people at that time that um had the ordinance pass is now on the planning board everything that matters to Clare B is in the hands of the planning board that's the resolution and the master plan fact number three during the planning board meetings the chair admitted that for some reason or another the four-story building resolutions and um development has not spurred the development that they thought it would from the study did you know that this resolution did not occur until four council members voted to send a 4 to3 resolution to the planning board it's quite strange did you know that for two years that the public comment portion had claror people talking about how they did not want the four-story building height and they did that in big numbers but the four story language does exist it's very strange fact number four the J the Jade Dynasty is going for a premium with the four story allowance if councilman Coy is involved in any capacity with the sale of this property this poses an ethical issue another fact I have received feedback from residents in clar bar asking if anyone has asked councilman coil to recuse himself from any vote on the four story buildings because of his involvement in Jade Dynasty and that brings me to asking the council to repeal the commercial Corridor orlay so zone so that we can remove any possibility of any four store development I would like someone on the council to introduce an ordinance at the next council meeting to repeal the commercial Corridor overlay the study that the planning board is now doing should have been done two years ago things aren't adding up it seems that someone is trying to stop the repeal of the ordinance but who someone is looking to benefit at the expense of the residents of the Clara BN as things now stand if a developer submits an application for a four-story building there's nothing we can do to stop it is that what you're waiting for councilman Coyle you always ask for the truth so I need to correct statements that you made on Monday's meeting you might not like it but it's the truth you mentioned that the mayor met with the community four times that statement is wrong on many levels the mayor did not meet with the community he met with a few representatives from the community on three occasions on which you attended two meetings during those meetings we shared a data from over 100 Clara Barn residents not the 40 that you claimed you can win or lose an election by just one vote one voice and we had 100 times more voices we came up with many things together but of note 100% of the respondents stated that they do not want four stories this Echoes what residents said in 2016 with the higher GRL public meeting where every resident but you said no to four stories at this meeting and others you keep not notating that there are the same few people that keep bringing up the comments to reduce for the building Heights however we few represent the many and have the D to support that the mayor accepts this data and he wants to work with us to get three stories you say that we won't listen to the business people we never ask what they want this is a false claim I do not I do care about the businesses and I did speak to them you stated as a group that we do not want change but that's inaccurate as well we do want development but we want everything but four stories you're an elected official elected by Edison residents not Edison owners business owners you are correct that is important to have business on Envoy Avenue we are aligned to do everything that we can to help business owners but there is no data to shows that four stories mean success the next time that you speak I would appreciate if you would verify your facts and not make false claims to misrepresent what clar barn wants that's thank you love there anybody else that would like to speak uh if you can speak without a mask if you are going to keep a mask on then I would have to ask you to sit down and I I I would like your time will be forfeited if you continue they they told me outside if if if I present my faith I I'll be allowed to speak uh you can sit down I I presented my face I mean they literally told me that you're given a lot of leeway with respect to how you address the council sir however it will not be permitted for you to speak to the council wearing a mask during your presentation you can either choose to remove the mask or you can listen to the council president and have a SE let me know what can you I'm about to leave right now can can you let me know what law that is what what law there is you've been advised what the council president's ruling on it is have a seat or remove the mask sir I'm about I'm about to move away so why are you guys escalating respect take the m president he's upsetting going onup he been before numerous times it's time go okay yes night good night he's had ample opportunity to comply and he has that's not true good night that's your false perception okay anybody else I advise you not to engage with him forther you can come you can come on um Anthony Damron 25 Wy um well let me just start by saying um I I want to thank the Edison police department um you know there was a home breaking um uh robbery um two houses down for me and clar Barton couple weeks ago and um a lot of residents were uh obviously very concerned and um sound detectives did their job that they got the guys so um I'm very pleased a lot of people are at ease so um uh Chief want to thank your officers they did a great job they uh clearly did did their due diligence um I saw that um there there we adding about $4 million in new salaries um from compared to last year I'd like to know I what these new uh positions are um and you know with the with the incredible rise in crime uh you know I I would like I wish that money was spent on the patrol units in in in the depart Police Department um you know we've I'd like to know also how long we were under staff for um in in the patrol I know they hired some uh they got new hires now but um in my opinion the only way to deter this is to is to add to the police department add more guys so out of the $4 million in new salaries I mean again what these new positions are um in inside the township and how many of them are uh adding to the uh to the police department um uh also will will the May mayor uh I guess during his budget presentation will he uh will he make any guarantees that he won't sell off the water um at some point in time um you know there's a the debt that we're adding on to this uh in in the township is is just incredible uh now bonding out for another 20 something million dollars um I'd like to know if he was you know going to guarantee that he's go not going to sell off the water and uh take that money and and to pay some of these debts so um maybe he'll take a stand I I'd like to see that um I also like for him to explain a lot of this stuff himself I like for him to go through himself a lot of the stuff that he's asking for um in these bonds and and just in general in the spending because um I like to see his explanation uh and I hope that he uh takes the time to do that during his budget presentation and not just hear from the business administrator um you know as far as you know Clare Barton um you know as people speaking of business owners I mean listen the the business owners should in my opinion should come together and create a a Amboy ad Business Association and because their strength and numbers there so uh you know if they came together they would have a voice uh and I I would recommend that business owners in on Amboy Avenue get together and uh try to create a an association um maybe they'll have a a board uh maybe a couple council members um the liaison something like that and uh and start having more of a voice um you could also put residents on that board um but start thinking a little outside the box um you know we we've had the same people over and over again come up with different solutions to to to a lot of these problems and honestly not much um you know we we still have a lot of fighting um a lot of ethical at at the very least a lot of questionable things that are going on um regarding uh individuals um and and and you know their their position on on outside the council so um I'll leave it at that so um also um where did I put it um I guess that's it I lost it yeah that's it for now thank you Council thank you D any Council comments council president just in regards to the uh salary expense um this comment does not stipulate all of the salaries but in many of our Union contracts there is the 3% increase on an annual basis uh so that will attribute to some of the increase because we are contractually obligated to do so I do know in some of the contracts there were additional items that would increase those those expenses uh this upcoming year um based on when the budget is to be approved obviously we would not have those uh salaried expenses up until that point and potentially forward so I'm viewing it as next year where we will have additional recreational uh opportunities whether it be the sports building whether it be the splash park whether it be the to Health Center uh where there will be additional uh resources needed to man those locations I understand the question in regards to it but I believe that we will find out that they are um they're deserved so to say thank you council president thank you councilman pointer any other council members and uh as for the police department as far as I'm aware we have the highest number of police now than we ever do so we are increasing and we're increasing the public safety aspect in Rel in relationship too any other members of the public that would like to speak yes I just wanted to give thank you for your wonderful job all as always you I'm proud of you our and police thank you thank you uh any other members of the public all right seeing none can I get a motion to close the motion to close the public portion second all right motion by councilman Coy second by Council vice president all in favor and can I get a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn and may I have a second second second motion by Council vice president second by councilman pointer all in favor this meeting has ended at 8:16 pm. thanks man have a great day for