uh [Music] good evening everyone today is Wednesday December 13th the time is now 7:06 p.m. please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance i al to the flag of the United States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all Madam clerk roll call please council member brusher here council member Coyle council member Harris council member Patel here council member PTI here council member po pointer pres Council membership Freeman here Madam cler adequate notice please adequate notice of this meeting is required by the open public meeting AC of 1975 has been provided by an annual notice sent to the home News Tribune Star Ledger Sentinel and Desi talk on December 1st 2022 and posted main lobby missal complex on that same date thank you I do not have any council president remarks for tonight uh so at this time we'll move to resolution of recognition M clerk please read whereas Krishnan Chari has been recognized as a local leader through the numerous community and professional efforts over the past several decades while residing in Edison Township Mr Char has also helped the local economy through his creation of Prima soft LLC and Engineering Services and Technology consulting company located Edison Township the company focuses on design engineering and integation of electric vehicles and advancing Health Care technology and cyber security applications whereas primis sof prba soft's efforts have been recognized by various organizations earning the 2022 sba's emerging leader award and entrepreneur of year 2023 by the Edison Chamber of Commerce Mr Char currently serves as the president of AR okay how do I say that shda Foundation thank you has founded in 2011 is a local 501 nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide educational resources and career Consulting to spouses and children of soldiers of the Indian descent whereas Mr Char is also the co-chair of American Tale ENT entrepreneurs Association a business focused nonprofits organization with the vision of creating and providing a platform for Network working exchanging business ideas seeking mentorship Investments making connections and creating an atmosphere for entrepreneurs thinking amongst NRI and Americans of tale Oran or origin now therefore F be resolved the municipal Council finds it fitting and proper to recognize Krishna Chari for his efforts and achievements which have a positive impact on many individuals thank you at this time I'd like to open it to the public for any comments on the resolution recognition sorry honorable council members please to the uh honorable council members of Edison just before starting um procedurally I apologize for interrupting I do request name and address if okay with you I am Major General Ms Cara retired from Indian on me I should say if you're uncomfortable stating anything further that's within your your rights I apologize for not expressing that earlier from a name and address my apologies okay yeah so I am General manjit sing Kara from Indian army retired and here I am in front of honorable council members of Edison and ladies and gentlemen it's a proud privilege to speak for my fellow veteran Miss maor Krishna was retired from Indian army a long time back came to us and for the last 24 years who was dedicated to developing his business and also for the development of the community around him very few officers of his kind of this kind have achieved this kind of an status where he is not only devoting his time to develop and acheve achiev such Heights in business development but also for working for the community working for the community back home in India to give something to them where he was born brought up and started his career and also working for the community here in us who are growing and who are developing their own business and also working for the children of veterans who are in need of any help going to school he is also a proud member and president of shha which is once again working for the widows uh who are in need of some help and the kind of dedication he has shown while I was here it really fills my heart with pride to be associated with such a wonderful ful person like major Krishna 24 years back I'm told he started his business from home and today he's at a stage where he's being honored as one of the best entrepreneurs in this wonderful town of Edison this town has lot of vibrancy thanks to the town and the environment around for giving him the platform to develop his business and also congratulations to his wife and his family for all the support they are giving giving him he brings Pride not only to his own family his friends and relatives but all of us around and it's a pleasure once again to speak here in front of you all thank you so much thank you for your comments anyone else that would like to speak on the resolution of recognition say n get a motion to close the uh public comment motion to close public comment second motion by councilman ptil second by councilman Patel all in favor I any opposed public comment is now uh closed at this time I'd like to open up for Council comments councel yes Council woman ship Freeman I I would like to applaud any man or or female who has the ability to be part of a army because I am 100% for veterans because those are the people that make us able to do the things that we do and I'm also very honored that with that knowledge and with you building your B business you also saw a fit to have a nonprofit organization and do things for other people other than yourself so I think that selfish is it's not for you not to be selfish for you to give to others upon that I applaud you sir thank you thank you uh councilwoman any other comments councilman Brer yeah yes um I I'd like to thank you um this is a wonderful story you know this is what I call the American story you know when you can come here um be successful right work hard at it and and give back I don't know what more as Americans we can ask you know for everybody that comes here so so thank you and I I think it's very deserving thank you councilman any other comments yes councilman Patel I want to say thank you major char you have being in the military as a selfless act and then coming here and doing more selfless things it's speaks to your character so thank you thank you councilman any other comments council president yes councilman Co major congratulations it's not the first award I've seen you uh receive and I'm sure many more uh thank your family for the support uh for your efforts and the sacrifice they have for the times you can't be around when you're out doing selfless things and and thank you to your family for raising you and instilling the the right qualities that a person to give back so thank you thank you councilman presuming you'll have comments after and for myself I'm just going to reciprocate what my Council colleagues had said um thank you for all of your efforts um abroad and here um both economic Community uh and your selflessness so for that I thank you at this time I'd like to ask for a motion to adopt motion to adopt second motion by councilman ptil second by councilwoman ship Freeman Madame clerk roll call please council member Brer yes council member Coy yes council member Patel yes council member ptil yes council member ship Freeman yes council president pointer yes at this time I like to ask uh councilman ptil to present the uh Proclamation or recognition yeah I would request my Council colleague uh councilman Joy ship to join me thank you thank you thank you for your contribution to the community because I'm I know you since long time and I felt this is an honor this is a perfect time to recognize some someone who is devoted to community serving the community and it's really a great success story of an immigrant Coming to America working hard creating the jobs creating the economy helping the economy and especially in Edison so what else you know can be expected so again thank you sir for your service to the society your service to the various communities also a service back home so you're not tied just at one place but your heart goes all along and that's a Humanity uh and I have the Deep respect for someone who serves the what we call as our karmi where we are uh contributing to the economy and jobi which is back home so you are balancing both the things at the same time and again congratulations to your family as well who is indeed supporting you all along with your success Journey again thank you and congratulations thank you sir thank you thank you so much thank you yes good evening chairman and council members uh Co Joe Coy and aay patle and others um I'm really honored and privileged to be staming standing against in this uh uh esteemed audience uh today and receiving this uh coveted uh recognition uh it gives me more more um uh pleasure to be receiving this uh in front of uh my own community and Township uh as one of the oldest towns in the New Jersey state in America as I read on the board um um and to be recognized um in this town where Thomas ala Edison did all his research it gives me goosebumps uh to be very very um honest and uh I'm really grateful to do the council the uh Edison Township for recognizing me my family and my colleagues and friends um General K who I have known and worked with for my uh organization called shadha Foundation where we uh kind of take um privilege in supporting the uh children and widows of uh Fallen soldiers and Martius um yes and uh we also have another charity called gift of future where we uh support the uh present military personnel from Fort Dixon New Jersey uh for back to school children uh program that we take care of their bags as they start the new year uh we've been doing this for many years uh apart from uh taking care of children back in India and then um a nonprofit called the American Tamil entrepreneur Association where we run uh entrepreneurship and bootstrapping for startups and arranging uh Venture funds for people who really want to uh come up with innovative ideas and uh want to start new businesses all this is um really a great honor that um probably I could do because of the support of the community and the people around and I'm really um blessed to be amongst you all I would also like to bring out that I've been in this uh great town for more than two decades almost 24 years my children both my children now married uh went to uh from Primary School uh in Woodbrook Woodbridge and then woodro Wilson and JP Stevens and they all uh are now um you know in the Wall Street working as hedge fund managers I I attribute all of that to the good education they got in the Edison town and it's one of the best uh high schools uh known in the state and in the country so uh thank you so much and I would like to also thank my wife Usha who's my uh partner in business in primasoft and uh my um um to say a big support and the Energizer Bunny of our family thank you so much uh uh I would like to uh end this uh if we could uh have the privilege of taking a picture thank you [Applause] sir than thank you at this time we're going to move on to the approval of minutes a close session of November 13th 2023 and B close session of November 29th or 27th 2013 uh with the note abstaining from the 13 I'm abstaining for November 13th and Marvel's not here for the second one so at this time can I get a uh motion on the minutes motion to approve second motion by councilman ptil second by councilman Patel all in favor I any opposed motion passes at this time we'll move on to the approval of volunteer firefighters uh to the rident engine company one Joseph A phoh Sheldon a leok and Joseph monio and to the O tree Volunteer Fire Company Catherine Katherine hridge can I get a motion on the volunteer firefighters motion to approve second motion by councilman ptil second by Council woman ship Freeman all in favor I any opposed motion passes this time we'll move on to the administrative agenda from Mayor Sam josi uh a appointment of man goer member of planing board and B appointment of Anthony masar V to the cultural arts committee Cate a motion on the administrative agenda council president yes uh councilman ptil I would like to pull P them separately uh because I will need to beign manohar goer because I know him personally oh my apologies no problem uh so let's start with a appointment of um and if I mispronounce I apologize mon go as a member of the planning board can I get a motion on motion to approve a I will second that uh all in favor I any opposed no therefore the motion passes uh B appointment of Anthony masaro and v n to the cultural arts committee can I get a motion to approve motion to approve second motion by councilman PTI second by councilman Patel all in favor I any oppos motion passes nine unfinished business ordinances for further consideration public hearing and final adoption yes uh councilman P I would like to move the motion to table this ordinance can I ask our legal to uh provide what the procedure would be absolutely uh you can certainly um sorry make a motion what what I would recommend is that there be a um a motion in second on the ordinance um and then at that point we can ex we can uh have a motion to table prior to a public comment so prior to correct if if a motion to table were successful there I think it would be uh unwise or not recommended to have the entire public comment this evening so there would be a motion for just a motion on motion to table yeah no uh oh we can do that right out the gate absolutely we can do a motion to table motion a second and a vote on the motion to table correct there will be no public hearing this evening councilwoman Harris is not here this is her baby so motion to table then second is there been a there's been a motion in a second correct so a motion by councilman ptil second by councilman Coyle this is a motion to table yes do you want to set it for a date for a date certain so the public is aware of when this will be heard so 27 we're going to have time I think council person is there a way that we can the committee can come back with via email in terms of the date absolutely you can do you can table you don't have to have a date now table just a motion to table we have which I'm I'm I'm okay with I think that's that's fair considering the um the noticing items that are going on so we have a motion by councilman ptil second by councilman Coyle this is to table the or hearing tonight with a to be determined date y uh to be established thank you uh Madam clerk roll call please council member Brasher yes council member coil yes council member ptil yes council member ptil yes Council membership Freeman yes Council pres pointer yes okay we will discuss offline procedure for reintroduction setting the the next hearing dat because Uncharted Territory on my end thank you at this time we'll move it to new business proposed ordinances for public hearing set down for Wednesday uh December 27th 2013 Madam clerk please read first ordinance an ordinance establishing the not to exceed salaries for certain officers department heads and employees of the township at this time trying to get a motion on the ordinance council president yes Council mcoy we were suggesting to amend this has that been amended yet can can I offer a the procedure on this what I recommend is that there be a motion and a second to introduce at that point it will be appropriate for a motion to amend okay we can go through what those amendments are then there'll be a vote on the Amendments then after we amend we'll vote on it as amended okay understood this is just for introduction so at this time can I get a motion on the ordinance council president yes uh councilman Patel I move this ordinance to be passed on first reading published according to the law for further consideration and public hearing set down for Wednesday December 27th uh 2023 not 203 thank you uh so motion to introduce by councilman Patel second second by councilman Coy at this time I'd like to motion to amend the ordinance by striking out the line items for business on this what no that's just a no it's now no we're going to get there yeah yeah abely yeah so at this time I'd like to uh motion to amend the ordinance by striking striking out the lines for business business administrator and director of Health can I get a motion on the amendment motion to amend second so a motion by councilman ptil second by councilman Patel this is to again amend the ordinance to remove business administrator and director of Health from the language and I recommend a roll call on the amendment yes absolutely at this time Madam clerk roll call please council member brusher yes council member qu yes council member Harris oh I'm sorry council member Patel yes council member ptil yes council member ship Freeman yes council president pointer yes so the now now we can vote on the introduction of the ordinance as amended yes uh prior to the roll call there's always afforded Council comment ments any Council comments know thank you council president listening to all the comments and taking the input from all the council colleagues and thank you for amending the ordinance I'm in fully support of amended ordinance thank you sir thank you any additional comments uh see none as amend right yes so this would be now the vote to introduce as amended correct so motion to introduce as amended that's been first first and second for Wednesday December 27th Madame clerk you got it you're good you're good sorry a lot of a lot moving Parts this motion motion to amend amend was okay second the the amendment motion was on myself second by councilman Patel council member brusher yes council member Quil yes council member Patel yes council member ptil yes council member ship Freeman yes council president pointer yes uh ordinance 2199 Madam clerk please read ordinance an ordinance amending chapter 36 zoning by creating a new 37-13 A-5 R/C Zone thank you at this time can get a motion on the ordinance president I this ordinance to be passed on first reading published according to law for further consideration and public hearing set down for Wednesday TW December 27th 2023 thank you is there a second I will uh second the motion at this time are there any Council comments counc president justst my place for a second we're doing o do RC okay thank you yes this is for the uh um yes for the establishment of the RC Zone thank any comments yes councilman brusher um you know I I I'd like to thank I guess everybody on the hard work um including the developer came to the table um and I think overall it's a win for the town it's a win for them win-win I think is a plus um and I appreciate the modifications that were made in this ordinance um it showed a willingness to work together on things so I'm happy to see that thank you president yes councilman co uh same thing I there's a lot of people in the room here today that state at meetings Ty ly and sacrifice time for their family and kids and I think this was a a fair compromise and also the time that others put into reworking this ordinance to make sure it fit what they felt the residents needed so thank you thank you councilman Coyle any other comments councilman Patel president I'm glad that we're moving this forward I think uh the risk mitigation of this there's a the risk mitigation on this particular cause I I wouldn't want to see 16 units and I'm glad uh we are only getting Eight houses and I think that's a compromise I can live with thank you thank you councilman Patel any other comments councilman ptil council president again thank you for changing this ordinance and here for introduction uh and hopefully once we have the master plan we won't be in the situation like this one of creating you know targeted Zone and go to the legal lawsuit and I'm I'm very hopeful that the master plan gets approved and we not we no longer need to do this type of ordinances also hoping that this ordinance is exclusively only for this purpose in the sense only for this particular project or only for this case which is a court settlement and will not be referred anywhere else thank you council president thank you any other comments see you now we have a a motion in a second to introduce hores Madam clerk Ro call please council member brusher yes council member Cole yes council member Patel yes council member P yes council member ship Freeman yes council president pointer yes at this time uh man cler please read ordinance o 22000 in ordinance amending chapter 37 zoning by amending subsection 37-31 word usage definition thank you at this time TR to get a motion on the uh I move this ordinance to be passed on first reading published according to law for further consideration and public hearing set down for Wednesday December 27 2023 is there a second second so motion by councilman Patel second by councilman ptil any Council comments for myself um is a minor adjustment but a minor adjustment that could have a a positive impact for the township and I appreciate um my colleagues for hearing this out I appreciate uh Mr Big Nell for bringing this to my attention uh and I hope to have the Contin support thank you uh at this time can I get a roll call please council member brusher uh no council member coil no council member Patel yes council member PTI yes for introduction Council membership Freeman for introduction yes council president pointer yes ordinance 2201 Madam cour please read this is long an ordinance amending chapter 37 zoning by amending the following subsections 37-31 word usage definitions 37 32.2 RI restricted industrial district permitted uses 37331 light industrial district permitted uses 37 33-8 late industrial district prohibited uses at 37- 38.1 rrrd which is Ron River revitalization District permitted uses and 6 um 37- 38.8 r r Rd Ron River revitalization District prohibited uses thank you at this time can I get a motion on the ordinance table got a motion to table council president I was recognizing councilman Patel but um it's your call all right council president I move this ordinance to be passed on first reading publish according to law for further consideration and public hearing set down for Wednesday December 27 2023 motion to introduce by councilman Patel s second I will second for the motion to introduce at this time yeah I believe there was a there was a motion to T did I hear that correctly count councilman well I'll just roll call and we vote it down fine whatever put it up or vote it down usually so because I was going to recognize him yeah a motion to table can be made either prior to or the for or after it's been motioned and seconded I if he's withdrawing his motion I think it's mov I think we should call the rooll call because there is already first and second it's too late well there's still opportunity for Council comments yes um so I will open up for Council comments and take it from there I mean and short Council uh if I can go first yeah absolutely short I think I've belabored this uh ordinance and uh it's not an ordinance I support at all I think it needs uh time and I I think in the last few few hours of the day we brought out some stakeholders to have some discussions which were limited the scope of this has a lot of vague areas it's a very broad blanket over an area that feeds families and creates uh jobs and when it comes to jobs in America it's important so through jobs that don't require u a degree and uh it's truly important we look at this I think our our council president is is moving in the right direction for some opportunities but this is something I can't support today but I hope to look at it another time thank you for your comments councilman Co council president yes Council woman Freeman um before moving forward on this I still would like to see the master plan because you put all this stuff seems to be vague if I don't have a master plan to go along with it at all so and I appreciate I know about the use I know about us moving forward to the future and stuff but I can't I can't tell what we're doing it's like you know it's very vague thank you thank you Council Freeman any other comments yes councilman Patel I I appreciate the comments of the council colleagues I do understand the master plan is coming but the master plan is a policy guidance these are definitions that will help us help us with the cases that are going on currently at planning and zoning so it's important we Define certain use and if we don't have a good definitions it makes it ties our hands the planning and the zoning board so I hope we can move forward and make a decision on this thank you thank you councilman any other comments Council council president uh I heard the good debate on during Monday's meeting and earlier also I have said that Master Plan you know we were told it's coming in 100 days 6 months now here we are at the end of the two year and the reason you know I hashed on the master plan is that's going to be our Master document then that will derive all the different ordinances that we need to update and just doing one off potentially would push back the adoption of the master plan again I agree to disagree on many things here especially around the master plan that was our goal and regardless what ordinance we adopt here if the if the if we are targeting from some specific cases which fundamentally is wrong because that will be challenging a court and court is going to throw that off saying you don't have the master plan second thing is this was targeted this will be very well proven and will be on the back foot there again spending time and again coming here and settling the case so I would prefer to wait for a month get the master plan in order uh in good order adopt it and then probably get this slew of ordinances to change the zone that Master Plan recommends and then body should adopt again that's my personal opinion thank you council president thank you Council P councilman pel too legal does the master plan impact the definitions and U any future master plan how does the master plan impact this for my own understanding because from what I understand what we Define here it just helps us helps the businesses navigate our zoning better it has the potential to I I'm sorry I'm not sure I understand your question though as as regards that so would it be wiser to wait for the master plan or would it be okay if we move forward with this it's it's really a policy decision it's I don't see any legal any legal impediment to doing it either way it's merely what you think is best for moving the town and would the court throut this particular ordinance if we pass it no no I don't I don't see any no we wouldn't allow it to come forward if we thought there were legal issues with with moving forward thank you thank you for myself um in regards to the master plan it should be noted the master plan was fully revised in 2003 however there's been a reexamination plan in 2011 and a re-exam ation plan from 2021 therefore essentially in my viewpoint making the master plan as is um functioning now part of the process with it going to the planning board is that they would comment whether the language is conforming with the master plan if you are of the belief that the master plan May set additional guidelines in regards to this industry anyway I'm not sure what the difference is and then if the comparison is against the old master plan and the planning board finds that it's still appropriate I I just I failed to see where the differences actually lie on that in regards to discussing with stakeholders and I appreciate pardon me uh my Council colleague to my rights comments in regards uh yes we there was additional conversations that had happened and you'll notice that there was language that was adjusted in this to account for those stakeholders uh concerns this was uh disseminated out to everyone earlier today and the primary difference if I can just finish real quick is that the definition adjustment to the truck terminal to include Truck and Van terminal was removed from this ordinance additionally there were requests about having the language be a bit more um not Universal but uniform right so instead of saying Warehouse Distributing Warehouse D distributing distributing it would say warehouses comma distribution including Distribution Center comma excluding fulfillment center so that they would all be you would equally be able to see where they line up um so in regards to the stakeholders and taking their feedback I think that that's been done I feel that this ordinance is a fair compromise given all the concerns whe whether you're worried about the use aspect whether you're worried about the what the truck terminal definition would have done and if you're concerned about uh the conforming use aspect going forward so to me this is a good compromise giving all of the factors involved with this and I do hope for the support are there any additional comments yes um for a lot of things I I I get compromise um but for this one here do we necessarily need to compromise what you know where I'm going with it is you said we have a a compromise right but so you know that what I my objections were right like we talked about those Council McCoy has other objections what would be so bad about changing that to incorporate like our objections um so that it would be a compromise and and and then you'd probably bring me and him along you know for the vote um as opposed to the way that we did it and just put it up because I don't know who we comp who do we compromise with uh councilman Quil and I I can forward you the email that I sent him this morning where I reviewed Monday's meeting I took all of his questions and I addressed them uh I will absolutely forward to you after and if you know okay regardless but one of the issues that uh councilman coil had was in regards to the truck terminal definition the inclusion of Vans into that that's completely removed so I'm hoping that that helps address one of his concerns you had discussed about the uh concern about the use for a chemical Warehouse if if I'm Mis um but how the ordinance currently reads it already establishes as a prohibited use sort to say so I I thought that that dealt with that um in regards to the conforming use I understand the I understand but the warehouse definition aspect is is kind of new territory right the state offered guideline but within that there's some ambiguity with that um because of that ambiguity and some of the concerns that councilman Coy was concerned with about taking away economic utility I think that that last item uh it remains as as of right use is a compromise towards that that's just my personal opinion on it uh there could be different right my only problem with the continued use is that if it's like a non-conforming use now and then they go to expand it you're expanding a non-conforming use yeah you know where where there's avenues that they could could partake um to to have that use changed you know and and that's where I was with it was like you know if you're going to do it then you just go through the process and you apply and um you know if you're a good neighbor it probably passes and I understand the point when I view it from like a logistic standpoint like if they wanted to expand on a non-conforming use then they would file for a D2 variance and that would go before The Zing board and I understand the the point with that do I feel that this modification is substantially detrimental personally I I do not but I understand your point that if that was not there there would be other avenues to achieve the same means but that's also why I think that it's not as detrimental as others may think okay thank you oh sorry any other comments thank you and before councilwoman Patel I had promised or I acknowledge councilwoman sh Freeman so didn't want to I was looking as a mute point but this is one thing I would like to stress and I heard my Council colleague saving it at the other end if the administration these meetings wouldn't be so long if they like we used to do Under the other mayor at least three people some of them not sure that they want to be involved in something if he meets with the people okay not just the yeser people if he me meets with the other people then these meetings will not be long what does it take to be diplomatic to go upstairs and talk to three people if they descent two of them descent maybe you can get other two to go along with you then you wouldn't be here for four hours that's all it takes all I ask for people to be is just diplomatic work together three people you know you do a good job at it I'm not complaining about you but I'm saying Administration they don't down who who works with who and that's why we stay here hours on in of debating a mute point some of this stuff could be taken care of ahead of time thank you sir thank you for your comments any other comments yes councilman Patel counc I just want to say if we don't do this if we don't pass this then what we have is what you know can continue so at least with this we have at least we stop the future uh development certain um this warehouses that could cause problems and I understand the use case can continue can expand but I think that that's what the point of councilman Coy that you know that is the issue of U Economic Development going forward thank you thank you any other additional comments uh seeing none there was a mo to introduce by councilman Patel I had second no additional comments Madam clerk roll call please Council M brusher no council member coil no council member Patel yes council member ble no council member ship Freeman no council president pointer yes therefore the uh ordinance does not get introduced at this time I'd like to open up to public comments on the resolutions only uh yes Mr Mick Fagen 42 Edgewood thank you um council member patile you had mentioned in Monday's meeting about standing on the seal and I hear you and I recognize that and as the first person talking in public comment can we move this thing up would that be okay resolution yeah this is I know but I'm trying to address not standing on the SE where we okay I'll Stand I'll continue to stand on the seal sorry I tried my comment is about um the resolution about sports Youth Sports in town right it's attracted a whole bunch of attention I I guess I still have two questions that I don't think have been answered I'm still not clear on the answers even though I thought I got answers last time the the question that I asked last time was was the formula followed and I thought I got an answer of yes but then in reading or in hearing Monday's meeting the answer is resoundingly no so the formula is not followed we are not adhering to fairness and how we decided to do this before somebody else is deciding favorites and who gets what not according to the formula Equity that has been laid out so I still got concerns because I'm seeing from what I heard in the meeting the cricket the Falcons is not a new sport anymore from what I understand it's been in town for many many years and they're still getting the new money because it didn't change from $99,000 it's been $99,000 for the last three meetings now so that needs to be changed and reduced so I would ask that you somebody motion to adjust that number so that the newness money comes out of it and then you add malom and just motion to add malom just motion to amend it and and make it three grand or whatever the their number should be according to the formula and then the other the last question that I had that it never did get answered is who is North Edison Athletic Association what are they are they football baseball soccer what are they wrestling I I don't I just don't even know who they are so could you answer the who they are council president um councilman BR well just in respect of his time any additional questions before no additional questions and I yeah I'm going to explain what kind of happened um we received emails and calls from like I think it was like Call to Arms or something from the Edison Jets um because they felt that their $110,000 they needed that um right away I guess they have bills to pay or something um unfortunately no one from the Jets actually reached out to us after the meeting like I would have thought people from their executive board like most other places what they do is they reach out to the people right but but they didn't do that in fact my assessment is I believe whoever wrote that and put it on Facebook got it from the mayor right because what everybody in the town has seen was was we awarded the Jets $15 million right for a sports complex and I'm I'm great with that but we haven't done that for the other the other sports you know we did was we we paved a little bit for Edison boy baseball we paved a little Street for North Edison um we really haven't done anything for anything anybody else but you know beyond that right because it would have been great if they would have reached out to this Council and and they would have asked us and what I said at the last meeting was you asked if there was a problem with the formula and whether it was fair my colleagues asked if it was fair we were told that it it was calculated correctly that was not a mistake it was that we whoever checked it checked it going this way and the numbers equaled up at the bottom what no one actually did was to apply the formula to see if that was correct so at the last meeting what I ended up pointing out was we can say the malom everybody agrees they should get a couple thousand dollars um I I didn't talk to One president of one League that disagreed with that you know if you can keep kids off the street and Couple Grand awesome so everybody body was on board with that but then what happened was when I did the calculations we found out that the soccer league in Edison is short $119,000 right so that there was kind of a big issue um I mean I I was hoping that you know the leagues would come together and say Hey listen you know we're a baseball league we're a football league but we want you to fund the soccer because we're for all the children in the town that's what I thought I I would expect to see like all the leagues here that's what I thought they were going to come here um today to do and say why isn't our mayor funding it fairly and I sent emails to everybody and I told them I I we tabled it so the mayor didn't have to look bad and he could have fixed it right but when the Jets set this call to arms right I mean I hate to tell you then the truth is yes the mayor doesn't want to fund everybody fairly um so us as a body right we we agreed you put it back up um I told the sports people that contacted me yes I'll approve this we spoke to the business administrator she did acknowledge that they found an error in calculations and I believe moving forward right that this money is what's in the budget now so they're like this is what was kind of in our budget so I think we're going to get together we're going to go through this we're going to make sure that the numbers are correct moving forward and I think the goal is to try and do like a funding in the spring and a funding in the fall so they get like half their money and half their money type thing um we could do something like that Sonia sure we can work on something like that so so that way you know well well they might be short change this year right we can correct this problem moving forward and and I could tell you that with the way it's calculated we also have issues because some leagues right like let's say that that um Nick Fagan right plays spring baseball but Nick Fagan also plays fall baseball some leagues list Nick Fagan as one and some leagues list them as two but they're supposed to be listed as two because it goes by how many games they play right so some leagues don't even know and I spoke to a couple leagues about this and what they told me was they didn't know this so I explained that it goes by the games so if you do a set of 12 games and then you do a set 12 games those students should be counted the same um so with the Ba's assistants we're going to work on this um we hope to have it done by the spring so and the the thing about doing like half in the spring and half in the fall is the people that got Short Change they don't have to wait till next DEC December you know what I mean they can get a portion of that U moving forward so I I mean I appreciate the administration reaching out to try and fix this um thank you Sonia um but that's kind of where we are and when we get to this uh which one did you ask about uh the Shamrocks I they're not called Shamrocks on here they're called North Athletic Association in the document they were Shamrock they're they're slowly fizzling out um it's it's been a slowly dying organization um like football I talk about football my kids all played um up in the Shamrock I played as a shamrock when I was a kid uh the problem is my grandson can't play as a as a um Shamrock or or play football his parents will not allow him to play football because of head injuries right and and that's really hurt the whole football program um throughout the United States um so it's just direction we're going in I I think they're going to I don't know that they're going to be existing next year but you know we'll see what their applications show um how many children play you know how many fields they they work with and you know we'll see where that goes I appreciate the answer that it's north czen football shamrox thank you thank you uh and just to address the um the numbers perspective I admitted on Monday that when I did the comparison of the res olution versus The Matrix the last item that was the number that I had focused on so when I made the comment that it equaled out I was looking at the total comment in comparison with the resolution thank you Council council president I would like it known to everybody that's sitting in there I did go up to the mayor's office and I asked him what was the problem adding a couple of thousand dollars I said because you spend money and stuff to build a field doesn't mean you own people and every time you have a hissy fit you call them up and tell them all this craziness to divide this town I I don't like it that's where you get with the north against the South and you P Money against back and forth to me that's highly highly disgusting and I think it's a shame that people would have to come out there's no way in the world if you don't know my background I've been teaching for 40 I taught for 40 years middle school and high school I volunteered in this town coach the kids uh basketball cheerleading I was in all of that so there's no way in the world that would ever think about having kids just be on the street because the world is getting so bad now that if we can get children to get involved in sports I'm happy the more you get the merrier I am I feel good about it I just don't like the fact that we play games back and forth we had no intention of not funding the leagues at all so if people call the arms and say my name for crazy stuff no I'm not that person actually my whole life is been doing volunteer work for the positions you sit in now I've sat in those positions and I've worked very hard gave up time and you know there's no pay in it the only pay you get from that we are straining away from the resolution which this is a part of so please any additional comments please maintain it to the questions that were addressed in regards to the resolution thank you any other responses pertaining to the questions that were posed by Mr Fagen public speak uh anyone else yes hi good evening everyone my name is Dan boslett 5B Center Street Edison New Jersey and I'm the president of the Edison Jets thank you I have been for two years of vice president for seven and been involved with the league for about 15 years uh there was no Call to Arms from the Addison Jets there was emails sent we saw that the funding was um voted down at the last meeting I have colleagues from other leagues here that were under the same impression that we were not going to get any money if if it was not approved by the end of this year that next year we would get nothing okay that puts a nonprofit in a scramble if we were prepared for it maybe we could do extra fundraising get our ducks in a row okay is not the case we need this money to survive we cannot survive without this money none of our leagues can I'm not going to speak for others in my opinion they probably cannot because I've been involved with those other leagues I know what the money does I know where it goes I know where it comes from I know what it supports as far as the Edison jets go yes we have been fortunate we are getting a lot of money for facilities facil are great but when you don't have cash you cannot pay for what you need to pay for we need insurance we need to play for pay for referees we have league fees we are I believe the only league in town that is a zero cost to our membership zero if you do your work Bond and you return your uniform it doesn't cost you anything so we don't have a lot of cash flow and we are very extremely grateful for what we are what we have and what we will be getting if everything goes as planned but it doesn't change the fact that I can't take grass off that field and turn it into cash so the cash that we get from the town is extremely important as far as the Shamrocks go um they have not had a team in five years where that check is going to I don't know but if you have a check going to the shamrocks and you want money to go to this other I'm sorry what was the the pole yoga Mal take it from the Shamrocks they haven't existed for five years whoever's getting that check is stealing from the town I know they fell off our schedule about five years ago they were taken over by the Wolfpack who practiced at Edison High School they got a check for absolutely no reason and continued to get a check they were there for one year if you check your record they got a check for three years mostly not Edison residents so this can all be solved if you take the North Edison Athletic Association AKA Shamrocks give their share to I'm sorry I still can't remember name of it I agree it's important the matrices matrixes should be checked out I'm not sure how many are in this new program or athletic thing but I do understand the fact that you can't just fund everybody just because they come and say we're starting this program we need money you can't just fund everybody and that's that's an important point I think for you guys to to take into consideration I'm here tonight asking that this gets approved um I have spoken to many of you outside of here I've taken pictures with you and I've always been assured that we would never hurt the kids when I heard that it was voted down I was disappointed and we were angered because it's something we rely on and I just I I hope it goes the correct way thank you for your time council president thank you for your comments um yes Council if it's I've asked for if it's in regards to a question um yes this whole funding thing is is going to go I I don't believe uh that BOS is against funding CH children's Sports we we do disagree though he he you know he does believe we can't fund All Children's Sports I believe that we should okay but the the big Crux of this right was that we didn't get a phone call um I mean I even put my my phone number on your your site as a point of order I've I've asked for comments back to be in regards to a question so was there a question POS that you were addressing um no just disappointed in the organization for not reaching out that's all understood and obviously at the time of vote if there are additional comments we can make comment on it thank you anyone else in regards to uh com comments on the resolutions only see none can I get a motion to close the motion seconded motion by councilman Cole second by councilman fatil all in favor I I any opposed public comment is now closed uh proposed resolutions anything to pull for a separate vote starting from my right councilman Brasher uh none thank you thank you councilman coil none thank you councilman Patel no thank you councilman ptil 721 721 thank you and councilwoman Shi Freeman oh I'm so the only one that would be pulled for a separate vote is 721 which means that the consent agenda would maintain 678 through 720 and 722 through 725 at this time can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda motion to approve the consent agenda second so motion by councilman Patel second by councilman patile Madam clerk roll call please council member brusher yes council member coil yes council member Patel yes council member ptil yes council member ship Freeman yes yes council president pointer yes uh councilman ptil 721 thank you council president the reason I pulled this one so that you know we can have the healthy comments because when councilman Brer was trying to respond he was not allowed so I I just want to make the comment that I don't think any and I said this probably twice on during the council meeting none of these council members have any intent to stop any funding but when the politics gets involved and someone tries to make the call say hey why you are taking my fund out or why you stopping that's insane please watch the complete council meeting don't just listen have the story have big things and try to make the calls uh that you know this council is not supportive in fact we said that this is not enough funding we wanted to increase the funding so if you look at the calculation that was done during the work session it's an inappropriate we were told that this is correct now that we know the facts this is not correct in in fact all of you should be getting more funding rather than less funding and we are there to fight for you rather than introducing a politics and going against some of the council member which is insane so my request is all the leagues please focus on expanding and training your youths keep them away from the politics that's my first thing second thing is about the malakam I have said this enough time is changing we need to include more Sports we need to be all included you so the intent was never to take money from any league and allocate to another League never we are a town with total combined Board of Ed and the township half a billion budget it's not small how much money we spend this town just the township 170 million what we are asking here $250,000 for youths I would say increase it to half a million dollar and get more youth to play the sport rather than cutting Corners we are there to support that but let's St the politics so council president I'm in full support of this but again I'm very disappointed with the mayor and with the administration not listening to this Council not adjusting the formula not giving the fair share to the all the use they deserve and all inclusive with that I will end my comment thank you council president council president counc president I iiz Council um I don't like the the fact that people's talked about when adding new sports because you guys wasn't um around at the time Title 9 Title 9 introduced new sports introduced women being included in a whole lot of things people don't know about that because they don't go back and they don't learn the history but I'm with my other colleagues I'm just I'm just not a politician I don't try to play games I don't pit people against each other when you're saying people came here to this counter and and for the 11 million my colleague and all of us we were like 100% we're 100% in the the thing that we're guilty of we're just guilty of wanting the whole town to be fair so call me guilty for wanting all children to have the same opportunities that's what I grew up fighting for thank you thank you councilwoman sh Freeman councilman coil Council pressure want to go before me so I wait no I just wanted your minutes okay fine no right all that I I I wanted to say I mean I I kind of said it and like I said I I really hope that when you guys hear any news or rumors or whatever it is um you guys are leaders for for your youth sports right and the first thing you do isn't go pick up a picket sign your first thing to do is to make a phone call and say is this true why is this true because to be quite honest with you if your children were playing soccer and then you found out that this Council wanted them funded fairly or your children were the Malachi you know you would want us defending you but instead what you were concerned about was just yours you know where if you would have picked up the phone call you guys would have all just sent your email to the mayor and said hey why won't you fund all the youth sports because the council wants to fund everybody and you know like I said um some of you have known I've met um most of you know that you have my number um I know I put my number on your Facebook thing right so so each and every one of you that belong to the Jets will have my number so when you have issues in the future um the one that went through and did this funding formula and changed it so a lot of these youth sports s could get more funding was myself I did this under the Lany Administration okay and then to hear like why I won't fund children is just it's appalling to me it's hurtful you know when I heard that Edison High didn't have a high school uh baseball field and they had to play on on the Edison Boys Baseball Field I was on the board of ed then what did we do we funded that for like a million four and gave them a turf field I mean it's red I don't like the red but but still so if anything I I'd say the people up on this Das care quite a bit about the children here in Edison and and I think we've shown that over and over and over again and as leaders of the organization I would just ask you to reach out to us the next time you hear rumors or or things start going through um it's kind of you know it's what it it's how leaders do that when we don't do that and we don't have those discussions s we teach our children the wrong thing right and that's how we end up with things where we have Israel and Palestine when people aren't speaking and people aren't working together that's what you end up happening so you know I appreciate you advocating um you know for for the groups um and like I said I think with the assistance of the administration um some people are going to be happier you know knowing that the funding is going to be um and for now you know I I hope I believe we're probably going to pass this so you can get your check for this year um and hopefully it gets better moving forward um but again thank you for coming down and um you know expressing your concerns thank you councilman Brer councilman cor council president um I'm looking forward to voting yes for this I enjoy the enthusiasm of all the coaches and I'm familiar with coach Keith and Coach boss coach C and many others uh this was a simple just misunderstanding and then what and I don't I understand how they could Panic um but uh usually we do this in August and it comes up in September so if we debated that would go into October and then boom November we pass it we got it November through just challenges of and then we debated in November and then it came in December and it was our motion to table it but someone called the vote so uh and we wanted to see if we can recalculate one more time but I know for myself um it'd be a lot ofy chance that this Council anyone in this Council would not vote Yes I mean I that's I'm pretty confident and I think that we would come together for a special meeting if we had to and I'd even come in during the holiday if I had to to make sure you know athletic sports are funded um so it's a lesson learned for us you know uh because the the pedal could panic but I was surprised in the letter I just I didn't you know it took a lot of time to write a letter when I could have got a phone call but again being December 5th December 10th people get nervous uh it's not easy to control an entire organization and what their feelings are and I understand that but I'm 100% there all the time thank you thank you councilman toy any other yes councilman Patel Sonia I want to follow up on the malom I know they applied are they getting money this year we just recently met with them we're waiting for some paperwork so soon as we get it um we'll meet with them again if we need to but we did meet with them and we're just waiting for some some uh paperwork okay but it's still possible at the last meeting that they could it if it's the will of the council to put on a resolution to do funding then we'd certainly assist with that okay thank you thank you uh any other comments see none uh is there a motion to approve second second so motion by councilman PTI second by councilman Patel mam clerk R call please council member brusher yes council member Cole yes council member Patel yes council member P yes council member ship Freeman yes council president pointer yes motion passes at this time i' like to open up for oral petitions and remarks we have no one from the list so if anyone would like to speak yes Mr DM oh good evening thank you Joshua cudr appearing from the law firm of ss cus and gross on behalf of heler industrial parks Inc I want to make a comment on proposed ordinance 221-223 that was actually voted down earlier sure so good evening Council um I will be brief in light of the the time and I do appreciate um the council's deliberation on this ordinance I'm happy to hear that certain stakeholders were engaged in certain amendments were made I just want to say heler is another stakeholder and we certainly have an interest in this so going forward if there are further attempts and and modifications to warehousing within the township certainly would love to be at the table I did have a bunch of prepared remarks but I won't go through all of them but I did just want to say Obviously heler is the owner of uh heler industrial park right here in Edison 600 acres of property okay that was converted um in the 70s from a century old uh sand mine into a modern 8.5 million foot Logistics facility and warehousing facility um ter has operated in the township for over 50 years its facilities employ substantial numbers of local residents and generates thousands of jobs um generates tens of millions of dollars in property taxes annually and they are the third largest property uh taxpayer in the township um I have the opportunity to represent many developers in my work I'm a land use attorney it's what I do every night um but heler is different and they stand apart for this reason they build and manage all of their own facilities in each project is viewed as a long-term investment for those on the council who know heler they invest where they work um the community is a key component they have their office here in Edison I'm sure everyone's familiar with the work that they do with the John Keeny child care center it's a non-for-profit corpor uh entity and it provides affordable quality child care to childrens's of employees and residents in this Township and heler actually subsidizes the students tuition for that entity so um you know I think there was thought put into the proposed ordinance but when you look at the actual impact on warehousing uses today it's indecipherable a warehouse SE in the 1970s versus a logistics facility today it's the Natural Evolution of the business so it may seem like a definitional change but it's a very hard thing to enforce consistently across a Zone it's very difficult when you're looking at financing a project keeping jobs keeping tax dollars coming into a municipality so just want to thank you guys again for your deliberations and just remember hel's a neighbor and we'll certainly be appearing before the planning board on the master plan and we want to be involved in the process so thank you all and have a great holiday season happy New Year thank you thank you for your uh comments I'm I'm going to encourage all members of council uh not to engage with uh uh the attorney who just spoke uh they reference that they are good neighbors they're currently suing the township so I would recommend that we make no comment thank you the the litigation that's pending and I appreciate the comment is nothing your time is El lapsed sir your time I appreciate that but to clarify the record appreciate the opportunity thank you for the child care thank you um was there any question that is left to be addressed I once again I'm going to strongly recommend that you not engage on the advice of of your Township attorney as I'm here here this evening I'm advising you not to engage council president thank you uh yes ma'am good evening uh how are you um Lisa lamelo from the law firm of Murphy schi and wils um also speaking on the uh on the ordinance I was table tonight um I represent prolagus who is a u another stakeholder here so uh to your comments uh previously uh the impact of this small definitional change uh would be huge on a company like prolagus prolagus happens to be the second largest taxpayer in the state of New Jersey and 10% of its portfolio by square footage is in Edison New Jersey um I noticed that uh uh council member ship Freeman uh is is not here at the moment but to her comments of sitting and discussing with stakeholders uh pronging just as a stakeholder uh had no input on the ordinance that was taed the extent that uh any input or discussion of the impacts on the actual businesses that are affected by this ordinance uh is is desired by this board uh Pro would be happy to engage in those conversations and thank you for your time thank you uh once again uh I'm going to recommend to members of the governing body that they not engage with Council thank you question for you David are we in litigation with this other company now uh none that I'm aware of however um being that they have retain Council and are actively monitoring any attempt this Council makes to amend this uh zoning ordinance I would strongly recommend that you not engage with them in it back and forth if there's any additional conversation you'd like to have I would happily do that in a Clos session to to further explain okay I you know what I I guess next meeting I'd like to have a closed session because to me right it's it's dialogue just like we were talking about the sports thing right if we don't have dialogue we spend a lot of money on the lawyers um so I'd like to kind of talk that through if we could absolutely and I would I would welcome that opportunity to talk more with you all right thank you thank you so for next meeting then uh to our clerk if we can just note that there will be a closed session at the next meeting to uh discuss thank president and we just while we're on that side no council president and I would hope that we can come together and have a long discussion with stakeholders and residents to properly understand anything we choose that we're moving forward that would have a great impact on jobs um I mean as I look at this I know we disagree in many areas but uh the repercussions of this are foreseen and unforeseen and I'm more concerned of what I un foresee what would happen so I really the fact that uh we can look at other people I don't want to say who but every everyone uh being involved um at this table big ordinance big change and uh I'm happy it was not voted in tonight I'm open to definitely look at it and to sit with you next year at any time thank you thank you for your comments anyone else that would like to speak yes sumone barbar 85 Pleasant Avenue thank you um I'd also like to talk about um ordinance 2201 um I think I think we all have been witnessed to people coming here saying how overdevelopment and warehousing is impacting them and their neighborhoods um and I appreciate the you know counterveiling arguments that it impacts businesses but um I for one uh would urge you to relook at this ordinance I feel like I feel like it's done a a really decent job of attempting to Define warehousing and um permitted usage and truly any uh words in an ordinance that are explicit like that helps the residences I think right now it's a bit of a free and I know we're waiting on the master plan but that's a bit like waiting for Gau and the master plan is not an ordinance it's guidelines and anything in that Master Plan has to be backed up by an ordinance and I was told this by the planning board um on a question I raised there about Amboy Avenue uh which will come up again at the next meeting but I really urge you to um not overthink this I mean residences are impacted by warehousing um it's really important to get the right words and I'm not saying that you know um there's not some work to be done here but the perfect is the enemy of the good we go around and around with this we need ordinances like this that expressly State um what can and cannot happen with regard to development so thank you for listening and thanks for bringing this to the table I think it's well done thank you for your com comments anyone else that would like yes Mr dammer Anthony excuse me Anthony Damon 25 Wy um council president I believe it was a November 30th meeting uh I came here to these Chambers and uh made the case for uh these salaries and uh regarding the ba and the health uh Health director and I want to thank this Council for amending that that resolution um I think it was the right thing to do and uh your Council deserves credit um for uh for doing the due diligence and uh doing the right thing so uh I congratulate this Council um has there been any um feedback on the live stream uh to multiple platforms yet have you have you looked into that I know it's probably not on the top of the list for many reasons but uh just something to uh just to keep in mind um I got some info on that too we could talk off uh um after the meeting um and uh just in case I I I don't have I don't come to the uh I believe there's one more council meeting at the end of the year correct um I I just want to um thank uh councilwoman Joy Shi Freeman for her service um to this community um absolutely I uh I remember your first year that you got on councilwoman uh right became council president and uh just did an outstanding job you really did uh and um you know your your service to this community not only you your family uh you're an you were obviously in education but you have a family in law enforcement as well and you guys have done a lot for this community and uh this Council will surely miss you and um I know it's not the last we'll hear from you but um but thank you again though councilwoman and uh look forward to uh speaking in the future so thank you council president thank you anyone else that would like to speak yes uh Nick Fagan 42 Edgewood thank you thank you council president um couple comments um following up on last meeting or two meetings ago uh we had asked the business administrator about planfield road construction and how that project is going or how long that project will last um if we could get an update on if she was able to get any updates from either utility companies or the county or whoever knows how long that project is going and how long that project will plan to go uh Beyond uh council president I appreciate the Deer uh work that was done uh and I look forward to that meeting uh talk about deer control um thank you for your work in going and touring those uh with the the chief and others um and then finally uh or not finally sorry uh I was also looking for an update on the billboard resolution oh he's not here uh but there is work right in a billboard subcommittee and there are billboard cases coming up and um so it's looking for an update as to how the legislation is going there and when it is planned to come to the council for for adoption um finally today's uh adoption of the RC Zone to settle the case of 222 planfield Road and Charlie Browns commonly known as has been the the culmination of oh about a 31 32 month sag and we're not fully finished yet there right there's more to go but it's been about 3 years and so um I wanted to say a couple thank yous to some folks that have been involved in in that case um because I think that we've while we're not ecstatic about the the resolution I think that's the sign of a good compromise right nobody's real happy on any side so it's a decent compromise so I wanted to say thanks to Ron laugher and the Silver Lake team for his uh lessons and guidance in ml law over the years um and the Neighbors in the north side will continue to return the favor in support of Silver Lake neighbors as it's an active case that is still far from settled um wanted to also thank Lori Jordan as the chief Communicator of the team um thank you for keeping us as a team on message and getting the word out her spirit is contagious um and Council and Edison Council Members you guys thank you from for defending our neighborhood from outrageous plans um we really do appreciate your actions over the last oh you've been involved for about a year now right um so we appreciate your steadfast support of our neighborhoods and our residential neighbors and finally to Joel bassoff um who you've heard from a lot right he's at the uh uh The JCC event tonight um but for without his diligence and tireless work to support to secure the appeal through you guys in the council we wouldn't be celebrating this win for the community so thank you to all those people thank you to you and and and I'm hoping this brings this to a successful resolution for the town thank you thank you uh to our business administrator can you provide an update to the question on planfield road um as I reported at the last meeting I've been getting weekly updates in terms of what's been completed but the project is looking to be finished by the end of the month obviously pending weather um my understanding is now has seeped into mouin so um while I know there's still some detouring however it's ongoing and hopefully the end of the month but if anything changes I'll let everyone know thank you and in regards to the uh billboard subcommittee there is a draft ordinance is being reviewed by planning in regards to the design standards just to see a if uh how applicable good bad suggestions so that's kind of where we're at right now uh any other council president yes counc woman Shan yeah why you oh why you checking on plf Avenue why don't you just check on Woodbridge Avenue because they're all by the same the county and Woodbridge Avenue is the screen you can't it's like the traffic in front in my house I have to beg somebody can you know can you can you get out from there you I mean that's I think that's going to last another oh certainly check that out for me wbd Avenue yes wdge Avenue in Main Street the way it thank you thank you anyone else that would like to uh speak ma'am sir sir I do appreciate the courtesy though you're welcome Russ azarello Skyla drive thank uh first off we're gonna ladies first I say a councilwoman Joy sh Freeman congratulations and thank you for serving the Edison Community uh not only as a council member but also for working with and teaching teaching Our Youth and students caring about theth helpless pets and a mess with the animal shelter caring about and advocating for the Edison senior citizens and the lack of services and neglect from the administration and for your concern for all the residents of Edison Township uh through their complaints of higher taxes wasteful spending overbuilding high traffic and so on and so on I'm glad to have met you this year and became friends wish you all the best and continued success going forward thank you you're welcome and to my friends on the council M councilman prer councilman Coyle who just left but I shook hands with him councilman ptil uh congratulations on your election uh let's see I wish you all I wish you and all all the residents of Edison all the best and hope that 2024 is more successful for all please keep in mind the election was not a runaway train and should be a wakeup call and a reminder that you though you didn't earn all the votes but by starting tonight rolling up your sleeves through your commitment for the Edison residents by listening to their concerns complaints and by voting a good conscience not by a d next to their name an R next to their name or an i next to their name but by voting a good good conscience you have you now have a chance to possibly win them over good luck to each and every one of you next year and to uh everyone especially good luck Edison now this is a personal note and I'm going to request my friends on a council and anyone with a conscience and a heart to listen in as well this past Sunday was not only the Second Sunday of the month but it was also the Compassionate Friends worldwide candle lighting ceremony which started at 700 p.m. by lighting candles to honor and lovingly remember our deceased Sons daughters Brothers brothers sisters nieces and nephews and grandchildren I propose tonight and respectfully request the council members your consideration support and vote by adopting a resolution acknowledging in Edison the Second Sunday of each month of December every year to be known as the Compassionate Friends worldwide candle lighting ceremony day in Edison I'm sure you all know someone who has lost a child and unimaginably has to live with the NeverEnding grief and pain but there's strength in numbers and by grieving with others and not alone it can make a world of difference and a big step towards healing if you haven't lost a son or daughter you're very lucky and but if you don't know somebody that has you do now because I lost my son in 2008 he was uh 18 week sh of turning 19 Edison didn't just lose my son there's many sons and daughters that have been lost in Edison and I think it would be not I think it would also be a great deal if one day in Edison that there could be a neutral site where M families you know grandparents parents brothers sisters could go to a pavilion or a gazebo and like a candle on the second Sunday of in December every year but not only in December but all throughout the whole year to go and reflect pray and think of our sons and daughters brothers sisters nieces nephews grandchildren and uh I'm going to keep it on a good note I think I did pretty good for tonight there's other things I want to say but I wanted to acknowledge Council woman Joy ship freem thank you Council AJ Richard and Joe but this means a lot to me i' like your careful consideration and uh I like to move this forward with your help thank you thank you C coms if I I think I know where you're going with this because I sent you one I sent the resolution also woman ship Freeman did just send about that so we will look into uh proceeding with that I sent it council president that would be an an ordinance no just a resolution a resolution thank you thank you whatever you could do thank you appreciate thank you for your comments anyone else that would like to uh anyone that anyone else I would like to speak ma'am that's it one first of all U is a chairman pointer is a president pointer uh president Council president pointer johnine okay I didn't know how to really address you okay thank you and I will ask name and address from a formality standpoint first I haven't been active here but the last time I showed up you had admonished me and rightly so that uh I couldn't ask questions first and and and then make a comment from a a record standpoint I have to ask name and address if you decide would like am I allowed to not give my address if you feel uncomfortable that's perfectly within right and I recognize you please okay it's G bble but I'm in the bottom Town um uh section you um um I wanted to make a comment I've been trying to make contact with the um I'm assuming it's a chairman of the like zoning board I had talked with like Sonia uh and also Mary the mayor's assistant to see how I can make contact I was told that I would get an email response I didn't get any and um I was wondering if I could be advised how I could make contact I I I do understand it it is my understanding that uh written uh petitions are not acceptable I I don't know if if emails are I really like don't know if a resident is allowed to try to uh provide any information or receive any information short of uh showing up at a meeting so I would appreciate any advice on that uh I have another comment on the like Warehouse issue on the like definitions that's really very important because uh whether something is definitionally a warehouse a distribution center or a fulfillment uh operation impacts the expert testimony that is requisite when an applicant is providing a like traffic study and until such a definition is formalized by Edison's Township's Council I wonder if the expert testimony in an ongoing application that hasn't been finally voted on is actually rendered moot because that like traffic study is based on a supposed definition that might not be valid in the upcoming weeks uh fourthly of all was wondering uh uh I am basically wondering about the procedure in any of the meetings of any of the boards I thought that the comments are like limited in time but there is also the uh possibility of asking questions of the expert Witnesses and I was wondering if you could give me any uh information or advice on the procedure by which a resident can end up questioning uh the expert witness is there a time limit of such is it concurrent with the comments or can the like questioning come first and then the like limitation happens uh at the comment uh like session and lastly I would just like to make a point I I understand that there was a tabling of the public Advocate uh ordinance and uh I respect that but I remember last time uh a chairman a pointer when I had asked about a possibility of an adj German of a zoning board you had told me that the zoning that the zoning board is basically independent and that no one in the township Council can uh like make a like rule or do anything of that nature because the like zoning board is essentially independent and I would just like to put this in your mind because uh I know that one of the basic and um objections to a public Advocate is that a Township cannot like appear in court on one side and a public Advocate on the other that point is well actually taken and it's extremely valid and I respect it and I see it legally but if the township is not independent of the like zoning board then why can't anyone in the township Council intervene on a zoning board matter in a procedural situation okay that's it do I sit down or do you answer me here do you have any other questions you have six minutes I'll absolutely address all all the questions that you had asked but out of courtesy do you have I asked everything shall I sit down though thank you uh a lot of bit to unpack for municipal land use law uh courtesy um to your last question council members and from the the zoning board case law has established that because we appoint those board members that we as individual council members cannot appear in front of the board because that would be viewed as a conflict of interest uh there's been case law that has established that I are also the fact is that you are the pet body those zoning board decisions that's more of the reason why right that's because you have to have an impartiality to your positions because you will could have potential to hear appeals because if it got appealed comes here then has which otherwise we're just residents and we're allowed to speak correct yeah to the conflict aspect but um going circling back contacting the chairman of the zoning board if it's particular to a specific application the applicant has has the right to hear comment or testimony about an application and present um any comment or any counter there so they are afforded that opportunity and therefore uh zoning members or planning board members for that fact cannot take any additional comment that's not presented at the hearing outside of standard app items that are in the application in consideration so while the intent is well from a legal stand some point they are not allowed to take that into consideration um current applications and when things would what may affect my understanding is that when an application is made the zoning ordinance that was established at the time of the application is what takes precedent so if there were an application before the board now and then we approve the warehouse definition aspect that application would be subject to the zoning regulations that are established here now today uh that is my understanding uh board meeting procedures that's up to how they set up how they they autonomous boards so they have jurisdiction over that um I know that uh chairman selki on the planning board allows for a five minute comment I know that chairman Comba in the zoning board he offers the opportunity for residents to ask questions first uh to both the applicants professionals the board's professionals prior to timing starting on the comment and then once the questions are then it proceeds but to your direct question they're autonomous and therefore they set their own guidelines in that respect um there may have been one more I might be missing but I I'll absolutely stay afterwards to further discuss any uh anything to add on anyone else that would like to uh speak first time speakers any rebuttal car a motion to close the public portion motion to close the public portion second motion by councilman ptil second by councilman all in favor I I public portion is now closed can get a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second motion by councilman ptil second by councilman Patel all in favor I any oppos this me stand adjourned