mayor I like to call to order the regular meeting of the Elwood Park mayor and Council for March 21st 2024 to order at 7 7:06 p.m. on roll call we have council members Dennis here folo here gobec here peligre here Troy here council president Sheridan here mayor kti here we have a quorum thank you thank you you welcome ladies and gentlemen how are we tonight good it's going to be a great night here for us in OMW Park uh we have two major events uh we'll be celebrating a lady who is experiencing her 101 birthday and we also have a group of young ladies that have are making history here in Elwood Park so there's a lot of goodies uh for us this evening uh but first uh could everybody please rise for our prayer and flag salute and doing our prayer will be Pastor on thank you thank you for this day we thank you God for the mayor Chief slba and the counsel we thank you for your blessings upon our community we thank you that no harm or danger has come upon us and no Calamity and we are so proud and we so honor you about that we ask you father God keep on one Accord your presence is welcome here in your heavenly name and we all say amen amen to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all where as chapter 231 of the public laws of the state of New Jersey require at the commencement of every meeting a statement of compliance be read by the presiding officer now therefore be advised that the meeting requirements for this meeting have been met by publishing a special meeting notice in the record and Herald news and by posting such notice in the office of the barrel clerk as well as in a public place within the municipal building and also by notifying interested citizens said notice was posted and transmitted on January 6th 2024 and published on January 10 2024 first up we have approval of minutes we have October 26 2023 special meeting January 11th 2024 work session meeting January 11 2024 executive session January 18 2024 regular meeting and January 18 2024 special executive session motion to accept submit second okay on roll call we have council members Dennis yes pelo yes gobec yes pelen yes Choy yes council president Sheridan yes minutes approved at this time I'm going to turn the meeting over to Mayor klei to go um present our proclamation to Mrs Jerry Johnson okay like I had mentioned earlier on uh we'll be celebrating a young lady who has managed to be with us for 101 years pleas can you imagine that and from what I understand she's not with us this evening but we have family members could the family members just please stand please so we we could see now just imagine if it wasn't for this lady none of you would be here right now God bless her uh some interesting fact you may sit down uh some interesting facts on this lady uh she was born February 5th 1923 in Hamburg Germany on Monday February 5th 2024 Jerry is turning 101 she moved to El I'm sorry East Patterson in 1950 now named Elwood Park before my time continues to live in this town for the past 74 years uh Jerry worked as a secretary at the emwood Park High School in the 50s also was the executive secretary to the vice president of the Grand Union from 1961 to 1988 she served the as the treasur of the Ood Park Friends of the library board Jerry raised five children with her husband Samuel robetta Robert Loretta Henry and the twins Ellen and Karen she has 11 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren she could write a book for sure and she definitely has seen so much from the Great Depression World War II 9/11 the global pandemic and the world shutdown that followed that pandemic uh she's lived an ordinary life yet she is extraordinarily a great woman if we can have the family members come forth how about we just uh go down the line introduce yourself and state who you are cuz you all look pretty young to me I don't know who's who's a father who are you father yet I am oh you are unfortunately okay we'll start off with you then so I'm William TR so I am grandson grandson from my mother is you're her daughter how many how many daughters okay son wife okay little young oldest daughter you're the oldest daughter her oldest grandaughter okay and Andel John one of grand okay so who who would be the oldest here that one here we're in a white group if she was here and I asked her how could she tribute the success for so many years um was it having a glass of red wine was it eating vegetables uh Less meat what would you say that what was anybody else CH in on you hear that no doctors boy I tell you that's that's the old school right and better resistance could you send her over to my house Pete dropped it [Music] off you know we've done some of these before and uh you know to family come out like this and be behind her I think that shows a lot of character that obviously she brought into the family by being the person she is committed to family carrying on generation after generation so with that I'd like you to present this to her and tell her she can have the key to theion our doors always open we appreciate her and we're looking forward to it a year from now celebrating her again coun you want to get in this a l means she's do I got to come up at this time we have a presentation from the Elks okay moving along here it's call them forward the the the barrel of Elwood Park I just called for the the I can't hear you you're do the Elks Elks oh it's the Elks okay all right we have a presentation from the Elks and I think they're carrying some money which always makes us happy oh they need I'll it go straight over really I don't like them things okay what do we have would you like to uh open this sure then Terry go ahead yeah so back in November the Elks held a um light up the night for our veterans event it was a fundraiser and the proceeds are being donated to the Vietnam um Memorial or monument here in Elma Park so I'll Terry uh the other thing I want to say is I ened Kathy with this idea and we just ran with it and I thank you very much hand over to cash um there were over 60 Walkers that night we had light up balloons we walked um down wrinkle Winkle AER van rer yeah sorry wrong town uh crossborough field and back to the Elks where we had some um coffee and cake and everybody sat together and we made a profit of $450 just so you know this Monument we've been working on which is going to primarily be for Vietnam soldiers that came home and kind of like were disrespected so it took took to our attention that aspect and we all got on board and for the last four years this group amongst others but this group especially have been working diligently to make sure that we get the proper donations for the monument this way we could say to the taxpayers this Monument's not on your back it was on our back in terms of getting donations um which uh which is a feat it's very difficult when people are donating their time you can't tell them just jump get there and do it you got to sit back and pray and that's why we have he's here to make sure to make sure that everything goes right so is that enough we could say for this group how about a nice to something no okay we should be seeing some results in the next couple weeks there and hopefully we'll have our ceremony and be just a great moment for all of us maybe we'll get AIT a bottle of champagne sounds good for you guys thank you very [Applause] much okay now now we got the girls right you want me to introduce I'll okay okay last but not least uh we have a group of ladies here that you all see they're in the uniform a special night for them um uh we'd like to recognize the lady Crusaders basketball team for winning the 202 for njic American Division Championship March 21st 2002 Pam I'm proud to introduce to you the 2024 njic American Division championships it's our pleasure to recognize this great achievement at tonight's mayor and council meeting I'd like to invite uh coach Adam Johnson up to the podium to present the certificates to the [Applause] athletes thank you very much this name is yours great thank you so much and um I'll hand it to you sure pull out the girl I just want you to know the reason we don't do this because we can't pronounce the names we want everybody this names to be pronounced absolutely no problem as close as possible anyhow uh fasia [Applause] Slade uh Eliza Lima who's not here our manager uh Isabelle Garcia our team manager unable to be here tonight shake you can tell he's a coach huh Jaylen Smith congratulations Francesca [Applause] Bizarro Marina [Applause] Abu Paige Roberts congratulations Isabella Ramirez Tiara Duran not here tonight Brooke hesler Mahi [Applause] Patel GI Ramirez Diamond Harris drer they're not here these are my yeah they're not able to make it tonight let just give you that great thank you so much and uh just before I give you this total award to the to you and the school uh what makes what makes this group special uh sacrifice and toughness even one of our young ladies has a choir tonight that she's uh made it made it a point to be here tonight even though she's missing that and she's going to hit on out of here right after that so just unbelievable sacrifice toughness togetherness um um couldn't be proud of of them and then would you call like a perfect storm these all these different individuals coming together uh much like the wonderful life that uh this this young lady has had um it's accumulation of things over time so um in the five years I've been here each team has broken a record and set some history one after the other um and this is just a cumulation of some of the bigger and better things that we've been able to do um the division championship being just one of them yeah this should Inspire the the boys basketball team right well the boys team had an unbelievable year last year and they did very very well um you know and they were uh obviously this year they were a little rough but they had a great group of seniors just like we had this year so um so they kind of did it last year um but they've had more of a tradition of success than their ladies programs had so uh I think that's what makes it just a little bit more special and bigger and better for us I I got to get one of two of these ladies up here just who come forward I just want to ask a question anyone of is Marina come to the mic yes sir Marlene it is yes Marlene what would you attribute to great success of this team how would you contribute it what to wait how I contributed yes um honestly I owe it all to them I Rely everything on them I put all my success and everything we have accomplished on these girls we pull it together I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them they put me together so teamwork it up very nice anyone else else no our other speaker is uh unfortunately uh wasn't able to be here tonight she got sick she uh she doesn't stay away from the doctors on the medicine so uh she got sick right before we got here well we'll get that 101 year old lady absolutely talk to her the bar Rond Park mayor and Council would like to recognize lady Crusaders basketball team for winning the 2024 njic American Division Championship March 21st 2024 one more time we also got to acknowledge Mr ATI and his group of Trustees that they're board members obviously they had something to do with it the evolution of these young ladies as they came through the school system so how about a nice hand for these guys thank you thank you we stay picture hold up Council can we get a picture with the girls [Music] have to go down have to step [Music] down working that out with congratulations congratulations [Applause] ladies [Applause] I know yeah I'm still to say what I Hold On thank you for the of Market Street and that would be from M Boulevard easterly towards Midland Avenue U I Know Dan had a lot to do with it in the past and he brought us a check to this amount [Applause] and not only did he bring that with him he brought a message that we're going to get another $75,000 in fireman's grants to help their so to the mayor's point a couple years ago we went down a path in a journey of hopefully getting our two main roads Market Street and Boulevard with safety upgrades and more importantly lighting upgrades both athletically and for safety purposes as you can see we we made significant Headway on the boulevard that's all installed hopefully we'll be able to flip the switch soon the other section to Broadway we we have a million dollars of federal money for that that project should start in the next year this 732 covers um the um from the CVS on maret Street all the way to the saddle border safety upgrades lighting upgrade it's going to make the whole Market Street look gorgeous so it's great news the only thing I know can we cash this you it's boun okay at this time we're going to have uh Mr Fran Riner from DMR Architects come forward for a Redevelopment update good evening mayor council thank you for having me here this evening Fran Riner uh with DMR I'm a professional planner Lance licensed landscape architect and I'm here this evening to uh just kind of bring an update in terms of a process that the mayor and Council had started back in 2021 and uh to kind of tell you where you where we are in the process and to um be able to answer any questions so uh you have a map there of uh two pieces of property um block 1103 lot 7 and block 1103 lot3 this is the former Nursery site uh in March of 2021 the mayor and Council had authorized uh DMR to do an investigation study to determine if these two properties met the statutory criteria as an area needed Redevelopment and we had put together a report uh as a part of that process it requires uh a presentation in front of the planning board uh we made that presentation to the planning board on July 14th uh 2021 uh the planning board had provided recommendations back to the mayor and Council which had indicated that lot 7 um that they recommended that lot 7 uh be designated as an area needed Redevelopment and they uh chose not to vote on lot three uh the mayor and Council to my understanding never uh voted on on that designation so uh the the investigation study was kind of put on to the on the side and uh it's my understanding that it had never moved forward and was never adopted and so fast forward almost 3 years later there is a um there is a developer that is interested in the site uh and has asked um I believe has asked the mayor and Council to consider re-engaging and finishing the investigation study um and then going through the process the Redevelopment process so uh the Redevelopment process is typically a three-step process the first step is the investigation study uh it's adopted by the mayor and counsel and then the second step step would be uh Redevelopment plan uh again that would be mayor and Council initi initiated presented to the planning board and then adopted by the mayor and Council and then the third step in the process is a site plan application that goes in front of the planning board so um given the fact that the report is over almost three years old what I would suggest if the mayor and Council wants to move forward that we at minimum do a Refresh on it to make sure that the property is in is still in the conditions um that we had uh witnessed it in 2021 there is a couple of items in the Redevelopment law that have changed um we don't believe that's going to affect the designation but the the report should be brought up to date in terms of uh the most recent law that has uh that has been passed and so just a a point of clarification this is the town home site this is the the former uh Nursery site right that the developer has indicated they're interested in in constructing town homes so my memory is is that this Council put both accepted the study the the planning board came back with uh the larger parcel and then the council said both Parcels qualify and that it is that part is done that's my so if that's the case I was not able to find a resolution if that is the case I apologize I I was not able to find a resolution in my records um so if it if it is designated then then simply The Next Step would be for the mayor and councel to to move forward if they so choose if you so choose to uh request the Redevelopment plan be initiated and and what that would include is is uh putting together Redevelopment plan represents new Zoning for the property uh and then we would present that to the planning board the planning board would be uh charged with determining whether or not it is consistent with the Burrow's master plan and they would report back to the mayor and councel as to whether or not they thought it was consistent uh and then the mayor and Council can adopt it as an ordinance so I apologize for that I I believe we discussed this a few months ago and we looked at renderings and the general consensus was to move forward but there were some extra questions some council members had on some not like you know not directly about the you know like regarding you know whatever the population and all that stuff sure so I I just I think we did that part so my apologies if if that was adopted I didn't I didn't have a copy of the resolution so I wasn't sure if it had been done I thought it was uh tabled if it if it has been adopted then you you're actually at the step where you can just move forward with the Redevelopment plan so Francis exactly what's our next step so uh if we we'll we'll just pull the resolution affirming that it's been designated and then uh The Next Step would be that the mayor and Council through a resolution would request a Redevelopment plan be be carried out for the properties uh and then and that would def refer it over to the planning board where we would put together the Redevelopment plan and present it to the planning board at a at a future meeting was this developer the one that was considering doing uh tow houses there so the the previous developer was looking at um duplexes so um my understanding and have spoken with the the potential developers they looking at tow houses okay okay Council any questions on this matter I have a question microphone please I have a question do so the developers Tak in lot three and lot 7 yes so lot three and lot 7 are owned by the same owners so so my understanding they're in a contract to purchase both of those properties thank you I do know we got to move along on this so this is a an isore in our town a lot of uh complaints about varmints and critters uh that are habitating the area so uh let's move along with this this process okay Council any further discussion good seeing you Francis thank you i' like now at this point I'd like uh for the council to make comments on the the awards we gave away this evening dos there's no one here reps the department we can have them just do that no I want to do Express May's no one left yeah yeah would the would the council refer prefer to uh do do it at their Council reports I think we should did at the end to the council reports okay okay okay check that next on the agenda we have ordinances on first reading we have resolution r-115 d24 introduce ordinance number 24-5 on first reading be resolved that an ordinance entitled an ordinance amending section 7-1 parking time limited on certain streets to further limit parking time on Market Street be passed and adopted on first reading and be resolved that a final hearing on said ordinance will be heard in the municipal building on Thursday April 18th 2024 at 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter at same can be heard at which time any person's interested in said ordinance can be heard be it further resolved that the buau clerk B and she is hereby authorized to advertise in illegal newspaper a notice of introduction and final hearing as required by law we need a motion Mo second any discussion Michael would you like to weigh in on this yes mayor um this is being passed for some of the businesses along Market Street who who have come to us uh with concerns and complaints that you know people park in front of their businesses establishments and take up their customer parking and it's bad for their business so we agreed and we are having some 20 minute and 30-minute parking uh restrictions in those areas so basically this is going to help the business sector correct very good any further discussion pull the rooll please first by pelic Green second by for solo on roll call we have Council members Dennis yes P solo yes gobec yes pelen yes Choy yes council president Sheridan yes motion carries resolution r-16 d24 introduce ordinance number 24-6 on first reading be it resolved that an ordinance entitled in ordinance amending section 7-21 multiway stop intersections to add intersections on Summit Avenue be passed and adopted on first reading and be resolved that'll final hearing on said ordinance will be heard in the municipal building on Thursday April 18th 2024 at 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as same can be heard at which time any person's interested in said ordinance can be heard be it further resolved that the burough clerk B and she is hereby authorized to advertise in a legal newspaper a notice of introduction and final hearing as required by law may I have a a motion on the ordinance second Michael would you care to break this down yes mayor this is Summit Avenue which um resident had come to the meeting and also has called several residents complaining there's an excessive flow of traffic there there's the Dunkin Donuts you have uh new uh uh Orthopedic business and other establishments that have increased traffic flow in this area mostly a residential area and poor visibility on the corners so we're just trying to make the area a little bit more safer any further discussion Coler R please first by pel Green second by P solo on roll call behalf council members Dennis yes poolo yes GOC yes pelen yes choicy yes council president Sheridan yes motion carries resolution r-117 d24 introduce ordinance number 24-7 on first reading be resolve that an ordinance entitled an ordinance adopting and amending section 7-16 routs for trucks over 4 tons and 7-17 vehicles over were designated weight excluded from certain streets be passed and adopted on first reading and be it further resolved that and be it resolved that a final hearing on said ordinance will be heard in the municipal building on Thursday April 18th 2024 at 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as same can be heard at which time any person's interest in a said ordinance can be heard be it further resolved that The Bu clerk being and she is hereby authorized to advertise in a legal newspaper a notice of introduction and final hearing as required by law motion on the ordinance so MO second Michael keeping you busy tonight yes mayor this is for Van rer Avenue um about to be resurfaced um the road was a County Road for many years county has turned it over to the burrow and is paying for the the upgrades um we have identified that a lot of trucks large trucks um travel on that road uh we want to keep the road new we want to keep the resident safe it's very narrow and we want to exclude um larger vehicles from that roadway any further discussion on this matter if not call the rooll please first by peline second by folo on roll call we have council members Dennis yes folo yes goabc yes Pelin yes choicee yes council president Sheridan yes motion carries moving on to our consent agenda we have resolutions r-11 18-24 approval the payroll r-19 24 approval of bills list R-1 120-24 approval of transfers r-121 d24 approve fire department standby compensation R-1 22-24 authorized current estimate number two change order number one final FY 2022 njd ma grow Street improvements r-113 d24 resolution authorizing tax exemption for disabled veteran 83 Hamilton Avenue AKA block 320 lot 3 r-124 d24 resol to refund fees r-125 d24 resolution to refund overpayment exemp veteran R-1 12624 resolution to redeem third party tax lean R-1 12724 appoint part-time keyboard and clerk 1 Cynthia Peterson finance department r128 d24 Amendment to the 2023 fire department clothing allowance r-229 d24 award Court collection firm tax serve Capital Services New Jersey LLC r d130 d24 approving the spending plan component of the third round housing element and fair share plan of the bur of mwood Park R d131 d24 expressing the burrow council's intent to provide the funds necessary to safe to satisfy the Burrow's affordable housing obligations R-1 32-24 Award of contract for fire department consultant Services r- 13324 resolution to refund tax exempt disabled veteran R134 d24 support 499 Main Avenue LLC brownfields Redevelopment incentive program application r135 d24 approve handicap parking space kit Avenue r136 d24 appointment of rent leveling board member r137 d24 resolution to approve the consent agenda motion on the consent agenda Some Mo second any discussion yes yes mayor and I apologize I only caught it as I was reviewing everything here 13424 I guess a question for for the attorney maybe um I know this started with the attorney of this whatever um applicant writing a resolution for us I see it's been cleaned up with new language but my concern is the third wear ass Clause still says the bur of el park has adopted a Redevelopment plan I don't I don't I don't think that's a true statement we never adopted anything in relation to this site it's not in relation to the site but you do have a Redevelopment plan in general so I don't think we have a master plan a townwide master plan but my understanding of the term Redevelopment plan is just like Mr rer you know site specific here's a lot here's what we're going to do with it whatever the zoning changes so you know that's the only thing I I I notice I mean whatever if I don't think it has any substantive impact given the the language Below in terms of that um okay I think it's consistent with what what it was drafted in the manner to be consistent with what was discussed at the prior council meeting I remember it was two Council meetings ago when this was presented and and was tabled because we were concerned about the language they had so I mean I think that the key takeaways are still that um uh not withstanding that there's a plan that that there's no approvals being granted to this particular project as part of this and they still have to follow through anything um so I I understand your concern with the wees but I think the substance of it is still covers the buau while also giving the um applicant what they need for moving forward with what I understand has become a rather onerous process to move through with the uh NG um Development Authority fair enough thank you anyone else has a a question uh I guess this will be the mik r131 d24 expressing the Barrow's Council intent to provide the funds necessary to satisfy the Barrel's affordable housing obligation my question is we have we satisfied our obligations through the different rounds at this function I'm sorry mayor was that question to me yes we're good until 2025 this is to get out ahead of the next round of this um because it happens so quickly and we are working with a special attorney and we are working with a representative from DMR architects who uh represents the burrow in this in this matter yeah this is an important uh aspect of U what the state is requiring and what they have been requiring because it's been all mixed up over the last 10 years I I've heard about 17 different plans but they seem to have put it together now and organized it a little better to where uh we understand it but I just want the public to know that we're way ahead we're way ahead on this one we're not behind I was reading in the paper today how some towns are not even fulfilling their first or their second requirement but we're um as of tonight and the attorney can bear me out and our ba can bear me out uh we're in very good shape when it comes to uh our share affordable housing am I correct guys yes mayor we are mayor can I just add to that just for the public every action the council takes with respect to any affordable housing or or aspects around that this is more like money and financing is to make sure we're compliant with a court settlement from about 8 years ago so we are we are legally required to do certain things because of a settlement that pre councils did with fair share housing with different entities so just wanted to add that bottom line we're in good shape right okay uh any more discussion on that if not we need to call the rooll yes first by P Green second by for solo on roll call we have council members Dennis no to R 130-24 um and no to r- 13624 yes toest okay for solo I'm going to recuse on 121 128 132 and 136 yes to the rest colc yes hreen yes choicy I'm going to re cues on R-1 12824 R d132 d24 and r-121 d24 yes to the rest okay council president Sheridan yes motion carries any further discussion I called it you called the roll y for departmental reports we have the zoning board meeting minutes from January 24th 2024 and the Board of Health meeting minutes from January 8th 2024 I have a motion to accept the departmental reports someone any discussion all in favor hey mayor that concludes my portion of the meeting I will turn it over to you for Council reports thank you my lady uh we'll start off with uh our favorite lady at the end there councilwoman Dennis okay it's working sorry thank you mayor uh first off I just wanted to unfortunately we couldn't meet Miss Jerry Johnson this evening but it was a pleasure meeting her family and hearing her life story um all I understood was that I have to laugh drink wine and not go to doctors anymore so I'm going to take that into consideration um and I mean they're not here but they're very blessed to have such a large family and and have such history in their family so I wish her well and I wish her so many more years to come um thank you to to their generous donation to the veterans memorial we really appreciate their nonstop uh fundraising for this project um and every donation that they've made is very appreciated uh for lady Crusaders team they all ran out we know that they have um other obligations and choir and stuff like that but you know it was an honor to watch them play and one of the things that I saw that made that team successful was how much they worked together um they listen to their coach um he's on the sideline screaming shooter not shooter they know who to regard and who to leave alone um it was fun watching them over the season and it was nice to see them win this title that they so well deserved and they worked so hard for um and and to acknowledge them during women's history month is is very special because there are Trailblazers and I hope that they know that and they continue to keep blazing their trails along their way and hopefully the seniors do such in college since they're all going to be graduating soon um just really quickly because a lot of stuff here hav't met forever um the Ramadan celebration that was headed off by uh our chaplain was phenomenal we really appreciate him coming to do that um thank you to Congressman Pell for his generous support for our maret Street Market Street revalorization project um thank you to assemblyman Wimberly for his continued work for our schools he secured an additional $6 million in funding recently so we really appreciate that um and EP we have uh Cherry Hill Park equipment finally arrived and I'm so excited for that project to come to life that we've been working on for so long so hopefully it'll be installed soon and you can unveil it to the public um the EAS egg hunt held at St Leo was phenomenal so many kids came out and we had such positive feedback from our residents from how the event was set up um the amount of eggs and of course how great the bunny was so really appreciate our community policing and our recenter coming together and creating that event and thank you to St Leos for allowing us to use their property as our rec center is under our rec field is under construction um congratulations to the recreation championship teams this season ruter TCU and nicks all won championships for their grade levels it was a great great series and we really appreciate them for working so hard and congratulating them their travel team start this week so we're wishing them luck while the uh All Stars in EP are going to be going against some really tough teams this season so we're wishing them a lot of luck um bowling with the blue was fantastic both of the kids Chief thank you for you and your team for putting that together so many kids came out um and same kids took applications for your junior Police Academy and hopefully we have a really big turnout like we did did last year um tonight I was invited to speak to a group of young ladies about anti-bullying for the Girl Scouts and unfortunately I couldn't attend because of a conflict schedule of course but the community policing team went out and I just got a picture about how great it went and I really appreciate them again for stepping in on my behalf um just want to thank the Board of Health for the efforts on planning the next senior's event i' met with them recently I'm looking forward to work with them to host another successful event in October um and the last I went to a recreation Advisory board meeting uh this past Monday and there was a large turnout for the big topic was field use um one thing that we didn't mention at that meeting was like it was nice to see the increase in participation in all of our youth sports and EP um the burrow planned the best that they could and didn't anticipate the amount of increase in players and while we can go back and forth about planning you know we did everything that we could to make sure these programs were not affected it is nice to see our programs growing and I just personally wanted to thank Chief fno and Council and for solo for all of their help trying to secure fields for these programs you know you guys worked really hard calling around and calling people trying to help this program out I know that they're okay for now but we'll continue working with the at aarrow and we wish them a very successful season other than that progress mayor thank you councilwoman councilman for solo how do I follow that that was long uh in football you pun so I just want to start off by thanking the Elks uh their generosity is always is appreciated and this um Monument is going to be very something very special for this town especially for the Vietnam veterans that live here I also want to say Happy Belated Birthday to miss uh Miss Johnson uh she really had a remarkable life and she's been a jewel in our town a true matriarch uh so just wanted to thank her and her family for um writing to us and letting us appreciate her in her life congratulations to Our Lady Crusaders thank you to the coaches who not only dedicate their time to the sport but also the time to teach our students about teamwork discipline and Leadership which are great life tools so congratulations to them and I also want to say that we are having a youth committee meeting this year to discuss the Memorial Day uh parade and and different events that we do on March 27th at 700 p.m here in the multi-purpose room progress mayor thank you councilman councilman GOC thank you mayor I want to thank the Elks for their generosity they prove time and again that they're one of the more generous organizations in town so uh thank you to them congratulations to the lady Crusaders um I personally don't remember ever hearing the lady Crusaders having such a tremendous successful season um so it's it's great I hope it's a tradition that continues um I want to commend everyone that was involved with the Ramadan festivities um great event um I'm glad that we we we we do all these things um there are neighboring communities who still refuse to do it um so we're definitely on the right side of that um there was there an interesting article in the Bergen Record today at least it was online maybe it wasn't in the paper yet about the route 80 widening project um and in that article it said that um that essentially the bottom line is there'd be a widening of rout 80 but that sound barriers are included for elmood Park um and and that's good news we kind of heard that indirectly a couple months ago but now we see it live in print so that's the good news the bad news is the project starts in 2027 and it will take 10 years and they're starting in TOA and going east towards hackin saac which I don't think would make much of a difference because I think we're in the middle of we're in the middle of that anyway so but you know that's good news um school funding was mentioned um the school district many school districts received uh significant increases in school aid elud Park was one of them 6 million um and that is is great news um and um you know I'm looking forward to the the school board doing good things with that there's a lot of great things that can be done for that kind of money but it it has to be said and and I'm not looking to be political here but um Governor Murphy I believe um is the most Pro public education governor in our state's history and the reason we're getting six million is because in this budget he committed to fully fund every school district based on the state formula without that kind of commitment without that push the increase would have been a million or 2 million or something like that um but to to re to receive 6 million in one shot is tremendous so I have to you know commend the governor our our state delegation um and everyone in between um because that is truly positive tremendous news uh for this town uh with that mayor progress can't argue with that Daniel councilman councilwoman peline yes good evening everyone my board of health update the next rabies clinics for dogs and cats will be held on May 15th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Firehouse number 4 on M Boulevard save the date for the fourth annual EM park celebrate seniors event Saturday October 5th from 11:00 a.m. to 300 p.m. location Market Street from mola Boulevard to Pine Street and their next boort of Health meeting will be held on April 8th at 700 p.m. and the Public's always welcome to attend my police update on March 15th the adult bowling with our Police Department was great many of our residents participated in this fun event thank you to Alwood Park BD for always bringing our community together this Saturday March 23rd our El Park PD takes on the Elwood Park recreation staff and their annual staff basketball team uh game Sorry the game will be held at the Elwood Park Memorial High School doors open at 4M game starts at 5:00 p.m admission is free applicants applications are now available for this year's junior Police Academy you can pick up applications at the police dispatch desk or go online at ww W Alwood Park nj. us this year's Academy will be held on August 5th to August 16th ages 9 to6 can sign up for this program Council Corner was held on March 16th it was a very informative meeting with our residents a big thank you to Chief belno Sergeant Woods Pastor Ron and Scott cars our DPW superintendent for their participation on Saturday also thank you to my colleagues council president Sheridan and councilwoman tryy for being part of the discussion also Saturday the Easter egg was great the weather was beautiful and the children were having so much fun collecting all the eggs and thank you to our rec team our Elwood Park PD and of course the Easter Bunny for making a great event for our children now tonight this was very interesting to me Mrs Jerry Johnson of course that wasn't here when her family in the row stood up I realized that I went to school with two of her daughters the Twins and I couldn't believe this because I knew them very very well and I never put two and two together when we got the you know briefing on the resident and when I saw them it just warmed my heart because they were always such nice nice girls and to see that that was their mom just was just amazing to me so we're happy that we can honor Jerry Johnson and her entire family and one of the things that they left on by my seat was in the bio about the family today they said that they think her mom might have been a reader to one of the council members well it wasn't one of us but it was my daughter and so here's a picture that they gave me with my daughter listening to Mrs Jerry Johnson reading to her at the library is that yes at the library so it just went way back and it just really touched my heart to see that fan family so I just had to mention that also we want to thank our lady Crusaders basketball team for winning the division we all know how hard it is to win something like that and as it's been said several times tonight teamwork teamwork teamwork makes a difference when you trust your team when you trust your coaches and you give it all you got this is the results and we're very very proud they proud to their pride to their team as well as our whole community and we're just so very proud of them and then last one is the Elks um me and my husband just became an elk this year and really being in there and being at their meetings we see firsthand what these what this organization does they're always giving giving and giving they really care about our community they care about our veterans and they're always there to help anyone in need so I'm really proud of them and I thank them for their generous donation tonight in progress mayor how was the initiation I I'm an elk also and I remember it was pretty U inundating well it's secret so I can't talk about it ah okay she passed the test right there you go the test r one other thing and I know you'd want to mention it is the chamber where we're at with the chamber I'm going to ask you to mention it because you were there but I'll say a few words um they've been working on the new Chamber of Commerce we've been doing it for months Andrew talano has been the lead with this and they had a little kick off with um just some businesses there the other night I couldn't make it I had a little minor surgery so I couldn't be there the mayor was there so he may want to stay a few words but it is happening we have gotten a new chamber um they're going to do a bigger kickoff celebration and invite many businesses so yes we didn't have a chamber for a while but we are going to have one now and I'm really really excited about it mayor I don't know if you want to add to that what could I say I went to the meeting um I didn't get yelled at which is always great the meeting was uh kind of short and sweet they were basically just going over the fundamentals of the organization and passing passing their resolution on that and also the bylaws and I expressed that uh you would not be with them that evening but it is a great organization to get restarted uh communicating with the the business sector in this town is very important we all know that so I could see this eventually being very very beneficial to This Town Council one chy first I'd like to wish uh Jerry Johnson a happy birthday I'm sorry her uh family is not getting to hear this but what an incredible Milestone to reach 101 years old Jerry must have so many stories and wisdom that she can share with us I can only imagine the wealth of knowledge and experiences Jerry has accumulated over the past Century it's important to take the time to acknowledge and celebrate our elders as they are living history and a source of inspiration for all of us they've seen so much change and growth in our community and their stories can provide valuable perspectives for us happy birthday Jerry uh I would like to thank the Elks their generous contribution towards completing the Vietnam Monument is a testament to their unwavering support to our veterans the light up the night for our Veet was a beautiful event to come together to visually demonstrate our appreciation for their service and their sacrifice I would also like to thank the Elks for all they do for our community and for their support for our veterans and gold star families the donations to the rap and people's Pantry to the local church pantries to the wonderful work they do with the special needs Community Elks care elk share we're so blessed to have them in our community now congratulations to the ladies Crusaders on this incredible achievement your P perseverance and teamwork have paid off and you make your school and Community proud keep up the great work and continue to strive for excellence both on and off the court your success is well deserved and I have no doubt that you'll continue to achieve great things in the future I'd also like to recognize the coaches and team managers your dedication and commitment to these athletes is is reflected in their success congratulations to all play like a girl and go Crusaders thank you councilwoman I'm I'm not done with my reports yet oh okay that was just my my commentary I was listening and I there was a long pause so I figured that was it no no okay no um I attended The recre Advisory board meeting on Monday March 18th and as councilwoman Dennis um said there was a number of parents they're expressing concern over field availability I think we've made some progress since that meeting and we'll be reporting on that um the next meeting will be 4:15 um the wck and PD basketball game uh councilwoman peline already mentioned so I'm going to skip that one the spring mini camp registration closes on 3:26 the camp will run from April 1st to the 5th and the cost per child is 225 the gym hours to accommodate the spring travel League um have changed effective uh 312 and they're posted on the Rex Facebook page if you'd like to see them the exercise equipment for Cherry Hill was delivered on March 11th they plan to begin pouring the concrete next week and it'll need about a week to pour to cure before they're um able to begin installation and they estimate it to be complete in about 3 to 4 weeks the muscal light for English op field are scheduled to deliver next week opening day for softball season will be held on April 13th at this time it looks like it's going to be at the high school but I believe they need to work out the details the turf project uh is expected to be complete miday the Board of Ed meeting was held on Tuesday March 19th they open the bid for the Expansion Project they'll be having a very brief special meeting to award the bid on M Monday March 25th at 5:30 the also approved the use of the high school facilities for opening Day festivities and additionally they've made more time available for the Little League from what I understand uh weekdays from 6: to 8 as daylight permits and Saturdays from 1: to 5: I want to extend my gratitude to the board of ed for their collaborative efforts and working with us to accomplish our little league te to accommodate our little league teams during the turf construction project their willingness to work together with the to offer Solutions demonstrates a true commitment to supporting our community's youth and ensuring that they have the opportunity to continue to play ball and finally a big shout out to Chief fno for going above and beyond to help our little league teams during this challenging Time by working with Loi to secure playing time at Kennedy Park I'd also like to thank the burrow of loai their generosity and cooperation in providing access to their fields shows a genuine dedication to the well-being and enjoyment of all young athletes thank you Chief LNO for your partnership and your support that's it thank you got a problem just call Mike hey that's a nice slogan Mike thank you councilwoman council president shevan thank you mayor in a mic please so we can hear you that's on um this is great because um saved the best for last and I don't have that much to say um everything was basically brought up Ramadan was great uh not all our chaplain showed up but we all had a great time the fire department was absolutely fantastic they only had like an hour and a half notice to get everybody there I don't know how that happened but I'll make sure that don't happen again um the Easter EG cot was it worked out really good I was a little nervous but it all worked out the kids had a great time thank you to the police chief his police department is always topnotch I mean it was actually a good day um we had our first parade meeting everybody agreed for once and we're ready to get it started and we're ready to move forward uh the Johnson family I remember going to high school with them uh the woman is just a fantastic woman they got a great family um happy birthday the girls basketball team um congratulations to them great job and as far as the Elks go um we're just great it's great to have them in our neighborhood in our town they always come up to the plate to help us out I mean it's just a wonderful organization uh also I have the homeowners um um they're going to have handson CPR it'll be held on Wednesday uh March 27th from 7 to 8:00 over at the uh Elward Park Senior Activity Center uh please sign up with um Linda gambini 2011 982 4919 uh and that is Wednesday the 27th is that their bus trip to uh no that's the CPR class do we know when their bus trip bus trip was Friday was last Friday no was last this Friday this Friday this Friday yes this Friday bus trip from the homeowners right Linda yeah she didn't tell me do you have it filled yet Linda is the bus filled yet all right um I I think there's been a lot said today and gratitude for everything that's went on and I won't longate that mayor mayor you want to again I wanted to make sure I went before you cuz there was three things that we forgotten but I want you to go last so can I just go that Red Bull up here is I told you I was going to kick in eventually go ahead uh just three things we didn't cover um April 27th we're having a Spring Festival on Market Street so encourage everyone to save the date and come out for that um I recently saw a residence assistance program has a brand new bin on the corner of Gilbert and spidell where they' be collecting household goods and clothing items not household goods clothing items and shoes and then they have one on river river and Martha okay so River and Martha and Gilbert and spidel okay one g i announced this at a meeting already but yes thank you for reinforcing no problem I passed by it earlier so I thought we should men with that and then at the board of ed meeting we didn't mention that um they recently passed their budget for the 2024 2025 School season tax season school year excuse me and they announced that there was going to be a 0% tax increase on the homeowners so just wanted to make that announcement thank thank you mayor okay um everything's been pretty much covered I I did have one question though Michael maybe you can answer it The Sound walls if when they do go up well we kind of know they're going to go up where would they be going up do we do we know they would be on I'm not sure if it's both sides to be honest with you but they would be on Route 80 from border to border from our western border to our eastern border I hope they put them on both sides uh councilman gbec do are you familiar with uh the sound barriers are they going to be on both sides of Route 80 I don't know the the article didn't state it just said that several Patterson elmood part was like five towns would get sound barriers guess I'll find out on the north side of Route 80 it would only seem logical for it to be on both sides both sides yeah but I can't speak to that yeah I'll find out there's some something to look forward to okay uh with that it's been a very busy night council great reports too across the board tenia you have anything else you want to say okay all right all right here we go may I have a motion to open the floor to the public second all in favor thank you anyone from the public here to speak on any subject whatsoever Mike fno 182 Marcus security Yes dear hi guys Jessica Steinfeld 47 ACR manav so on behalf of the Elm Park Little League I just want to thank you guys for all your effort in helping us find a field I don't know how you guys did it I asked all the same people and was told no so I don't know what you guys did or how you did it I don't know if I care but thank you honestly it really helped us so much um we're going to be able to have a great season we're going to have practice IES so thank you truly thank you but uh oh here comes the of course I have to complain right so I'm just here because you can see how much work this was for us to get practice this year so we're talking still about phase two and getting rid of the softball field I know I mean I wrote a whole speech and I'm kind of going off but there's so many kids in all of our programs I don't know if you guys are familiar with the way the rec center layout is be have field one which is pretty much the middle you have field 2 which is the grass area closest to Marcus Street and then you have field three which is the grass in between Pine and where the little league fence is in order to have either a baseball game or a softball field softball game you have to block off field one and field three so nobody can use one or three during a game time so anytime baseball or softball would want to use the field soccer can't so you have EP United you have wck and through you have softball and you have baseball all trying to use the same spot it's impossible little league has 15 teams this year I believe girls softball is nine I could be wrong wck and crew at nine teams this year I don't know about EP United but we're pretty much all in one spot and it's I don't know how we're going to move forward with finding spots just kind of asking that before you guys decide to get rid of this field that maybe we have a solution on how we're going to move forward with all these kids I mean it just seems that every year I'm getting more and more kids every organization this year's went up and this is only for spring now you talk fall you have fall ball I can you know tell you the bombers had 213 kids in their organization this year they also use field one field two and field three for the football and cheer organization and then you have soccer again who also is on the fall so even though fall doesn't really have softball you do have softball girls that play fall ball which are going to have to go to Pine yeah so you're again I don't know how we're going to put a whole organization into this field so I'm just asking that before we completely take out that girl softball field that we just think about the increase of kids that are joining these Pro these programs that's it and again thank you so much let let me uh say this the council's going to revisit removing that field actually when we go into executive this evening and uh as far as how that happened rectifying the the practice fields and Loi Etc Neil called me I called the fixer and the fixer within 24 hours had that whole thing resolved I thought it was my crazy parents much the fixer I say that in a a kind way I don't mean that in a negative like he fixes games or anything like that he fixes he fixes situations that's what he does and you know what let's let's swell his head a little really thank you anything else I well yeah so like I said I just asked that we think about how it's going to impact everything we will thank you thank you anyone else care to [Applause] speak yes Jeff Jeffrey frch 35 Hillman Drive um this evening I came here at 5:30 came here early had my wife drop me off CU she was going to another place um what was the meeting why was it a closed session meeting when it had been advertised as just a special meeting Jeff it it wasn't like we're trying to hide anything it was just a discussion well I'm not saying that yeah but was it supposed to be advertised as a close session this week is it's been very very difficult with everything going on meetings canceled meetings put on the agenda somehow I guess we got it a little screwed up uh but it wasn't it wasn't meant and no intent to so I apologize apologize all you want you don't make mistakes like that we'll try to prevent it going forward thank you anyone else care to speak from the public how you doing Council uh Dan from Jan Court uh I coach El Park softball I coach K through2 fifth and sixth also help out with Little League thank you Jess for everything you just said about softball keeping the field we desperately need to keep that field we had an increase from about 50 girls playing this year already you guys are adding new apartment complexes town houses there will be more kids coming playing we desperately need the fields to stay I don't know how you guys have wck programs without these fields you're basically if you do tear down the opall field you're going to diminish the program thank you we will definitely take that into consideration thank you anyone else care to speak good evening Doug good evening good evening Doug de Mato 262 Lincoln Avenue real quick burfield really how much thought process did we think about this field before we started it seemed like a big rush rush rush rush we stopped we rushed we stopped and any anything as far as all these contingencies that we're doing you guys did a great job getting extra fields we shouldn't have to be doing that right now that should have been planned out last year when you started the field they shouldn't be going crazy looking for us helping them out at the last second High School helping them out I thought you have a tough time accepting that High School helped out with getting the fields that I don't think were well planned with the with the council here last year you're rushing to get this field done I don't know why you know now now you hear we're looking to put a pond or something in that field when we have people crying out for space for Fields um I don't get it we didn't have the funding at first and then we're rushing to get it done the last Workshop meeting I was at we had how many change orders that you guys approved with no dollar amounts to it did we ever find out how much that change order was for all those different the engineer had that time I don't know what he came with and then we said we get back to you and I never heard an answer back as far as what the change order cost us so it it just seems like we're we're spending spending spending and we're not thinking about the whole process and now you want to add a pond or you want to do something else to it and then you come to us now I'm talking as a board member before I'm talking as a resident now as a board member we're trying to help out as much as we can but this is like the last second now before the season starts we're looking for Fields when as a council you should have thought about this prior to this this thing starting and and we'll do whatever we can do and we've been doing whatever we can do as a school to help out wherever we can and now we're looking to do the concert now guys how much more do we do as far as a school with the limited resources we have as far as Fields go we can't do fireworks it's not as easy as we could you know before before we had the the turf and now we can't do the fireworks now on burough field which was a great event you I enjoy going to the to the concerts so it just seems like we're rushing to get it done I don't know why all of a sudden you guys had to get it done I don't know what's up with it but it seems like there's more what done it seems like more of a hidden agenda that we had to rush to get this project done get what done B field we applied for a grant open space Grant probably over 3 years ago this is the process is over and the money came in and then then the budget whatever we bid it several times and the bids came in astronomical but it was it was a hidden it was a hidden project that we didn't even know was going on the project wasn't even posted anywhere we had to I had to ask the chief to pull it out of the back room one day to to show us what the FI look like it just seems like everything's like hush hush and we're rushing to get it done and we're not thinking about the whole the whole town process and we have so many events going on with sports and everything else let me ask you Mr Deo you guys are are planning to do a large expansion of the schools right correct right I have yet to see a rendering of that we haven't we haven't completed it yet okay and then and then the budget came back for the first bit and it was too much so we as we as a conservative board we we changed it again we went out for rebid and now we we got we got a lower bid which it's great talking we're talking a multi- multi-million dollar project right sure sure and and like you said you put it out to everything again you bring up the the the the turf project right I've yet to see a rendering of what this multi- multi-million dollar School expension look like once it's all finalized next week you have no problem with it but we haven't finalized yet we're not rushing to get the project done right so we could have we could have just took the bid that was too much money last time and said you know what let's let's go with it so once you once you award a a bid that's when you're going to put out a rendering and show the community what's going it'll be Tuesday when we award the bid okay and and I think we awarded the bid sometime mid to late last year so I I'm just I'm missing the point of like that like this was some kind of secret well first of all there's nothing posted anywhere when we did when we did any type of turf field at our high school we posted everything we had no problem showing anything we had to ask the chief to pull it out behind the the desk last week for two weeks ago so my point is listen it's great that we do burfield it's going to look beautiful get me WR it's going to look beautiful but I don't think we thought the whole process out I really don't well for whatever reason you had to get it done let's get it done Fair let's get it done why I'm not sure why get done what what do you suggest that we we wait a whole another season the point is if you want to get it done with all the programs going through the wreck we should have say hey softball Little League where are we going to put these things work together because now we're working together great the chief's working with us everybody's working together now right with a week before the opening season when that's my point when there when there was a meeting um I want to say last fall at the rec center there was a representative from maybe this was a year ago but this project was planned to be done in between seasons corre and we were I believe towards the end of last year on track to do that we were because we had completion dates of March early April that was the original plan so to your point I I I totally disagree we actually tried to do this in the least impactful way possible to do this between the months of November and March it didn't work out as many construction projects do but I like like it's I think the truth is the opp anybody I spoke through anybody I spoke through through the town had no idea about the project being done nothing like when and I when I started when bfield started nobody knew which section of the turf was being done in the field was it being over there was it being by Pine Street was it was it a little leak nobody had any idea and I spoke to a lot of different people but you mean like nobody like like like people heads of the organizationand general just general Joe Blow anywhere I understand nobody knew we I mean because nothing's posted by the we pave 12 streets a year we do so many projects a year so like I I I I mean I get your but a big project like bfield you could have put a poster by the wreck somewhere saying this how this how it's going to look so everybody knows okay even posted up here so my point is that there's no reason there's no reason to rush there was my point so you you want to we have all these fields going on just talk to the school talk to everybody let's have a meeting let's get everything squared away it just seems like you rushed it and you didn't think about everybody else who you're hurting may I may or may I say something me again hi um Mr Deo I just wanted to to mention something um this project was started in conversation with all the organizations a year ago because it should have happened last year and every organization came together and they were aware of what was going to happen um and then it got delayed a whole year um the only thing that we couldn't plan for was the increase of participation in the programs that was great on the programs doing that but when this program started when the field project started there was one babe roof team that was using the field and the idea with some of the organization was that they would be able to utilize the high school field and this is the first time that I've ever heard of or anyone else ever heard of that the board of vet would deny a permit um and then just deny a permit for what for the field use so it's the first time that any organization from the burrow but it's it's it's right now it happened right now it wasn't even when you talk about the plan if you would have spoke to us months ago we would have told you months ago things couldn't work out months ago the message that we got don't put on us because you're poor planning hold on a second the message that we got about a month ago from the organization was that their permit was denied because that's the time they normally will put in their permit requests and from that moment on we have been trying to help them with various emails to miss ATI other towns they've been going to their own League meetings trying to get field requests because again it was not anticipated that the board of V would come back and say no and then I believe it was yesterday that they were told they can have the field um for the same amount of time that they actually originally asked for the original permit request was Monday through Friday 6 to close and maybe sometime on Saturday um I'm not sure why originally it was denied and then yesterday it was approved I don't even care about that I'm happy that they got it part of the reason is we we have school events to take care of first I understand to make sure they're taking care of first and I believe we spoke to them about that at our meeting saying we have no problem taking care of your permits take care in the field but it's going to have to be on a day-to-day we to be kind of basic not the issue with that December for May but the issue with that was that like they've mentioned they run on a volunteer basis so volunteers and parents can't really go week to week and that was the biggest concern why we stepped in poor planning on your part but we didn't poor plan they when they submitted their permit two two programs with the with the wrestlers and and uh another event they came to us because direct turned them down we don't have mats at the to to have a wrestling program and we've never hosted a wrestling program in our wreck because we don't have that they've always gone to the schools and then they came back saying hey oh my gosh now we got this bill we can't afford and we've never been charged this against there's like new things happening and you know people are working course the custodians correct right there's new things happening and people are working through it and also field use like we said they went from one team to two teams that's fantastic um but they didn't anticipate the board saying they it couldn't be accommodated so when they did get that a month ago everybody all the time the email that we got and that our organization got they were denied flat out and then the question was I'll take any time any day and they said no right you had to work wait for you guys to get your stuff first so even though we tried to hit every portion that we could sometimes things fall through when we're trying it wasn't anything done maliciously it's like if someone wasn't aware of our if someone wasn't of our turf project that's unfortunate because we've been talking about it for three years at the council meetings and if they kind of come and attend they would hear these things if they read our minutes online or agendas online they would see that it's been a project for a very long time and it's kind of like if you don't go to Board of Ed meeting you don't know that there's an expansion project so we're doing everything we can to get information out there been out there our Expansion Project has been out there for quite some time right we're doing everything the same way we're doing what we can and we just want to make sure that our kids are not affected by the things that the adults are doing so at the end of the day I think that we're f move along let me say this two things number one I've spent uh majority of my life in construction and let me tell you I wake up in the morning 6 o' the first thing I would do is put the weather report on and that actually dictated my day my week so on and so on this project when it first got started in between received at least 10 inches of rain I get that I get that now the weekends have been clear and sunny how come they're not working on the weekends let let me finish on this here Doug when you're dealing with a Mass area surface like that and you get 10 Ines of rain it may look like that in two or three days the Sun comes out and there might be pumping the water out but that moisture has to be taken out of that ground I'm well aware how how the fields operate and they're doing a great job with it my point is it just seems like you guys rushed the project it seems like poor planing on fields I said and and and the weekends that have been nice I'm trying to answer that D and the weekends that have been nice you got your point you got your point of course I understand that I'm just saying that the delays we're experiencing now and it's forcing us all to work together the majority of it was was weather I understand and I understand that here's the other thing I want to say and I think we should end the conversation I I truly do in two months we're all going to be looking back everything's going to be copesthetic and we're going to be proud of every everybody's who contributed to making this successful once again the ball fields keep in mind that uh the scheduling it it's probably not practical considering all the different elements you have to put together I get it and it's it's burdensome so uh that's what that's in two months we're all going to be happy campers Doug what weekend how come nobody working on a Saturday all I don't know what their schedule is I don't you you run the town why we're behind on the project say hey they're not behind why aren't we coming when you bring weather into it they're not behind has been perfect on weekends there's probably a liquid damage clause was involved here but I don't know if you can enforce that maybe our attorney can tell us when you have so much bad weather like that that's unpredictable the weekends have been nice Saturdays have been nice I understand it's been rain so my point is to pick up the slack a little bit again I put in four Fields already myself working in and managing them and if we're behind we're coming in on Saturday as the crew they're coming in on Saturday we're managing them that has never been around and I understand the rain I understand all I understand all the delays but nobody's coming in on the weekends I don't know I can't answer that I don't anybody answer it we're into it it's believe me so nobody can answer why they're not coming in on Saturdays no I I can bet everything I have that if we posted a rendering that was 10et by 10t on bur field and they work Saturdays and Sundays you would still have a major problem with all this it would move on to the next thing because you you're telling us we rushed this and the facts just do not support that we didn't just we didn't support because at the last second we're getting felds we we we applied for Grants with this we didn't just Bond the whole thing we started with grants I believe we put out to bid twice the numbers came in like very high we entered a co-op and got a a $800 $900,000 cheaper with W with the contractor and then we moved it as as as fast as possible and but but for the weather we probably wouldn't be having this conversation right now so I don't understand all this aggression back and forth no aggression I'm not the one yelling okay I just don't you're angry about the subject clearly well I'm I'm getting a little angry because it's pushed on to us on the school that we're not helping anybody out and that's wrong you know it just got pushed on the school because we denied a a a u a permit which at the last second we just can't give out a permit at the last second now if we plan this on the contingency listen if it does rain and we're going to fall behind this is what we're going to have to do X Y and Z but there was no discussion with that until the last second that's the is this teaching the the council and the sports organizations a lesson is this what it's all about like dening just accept in just accept that it was it was poor planning Doug Doug I don't want to get in the middle of this but I got to I got to tell you the truth here you're going to yell at me now right I'm not going to yell at you okay I'm going to yell at you because I can I can see it coming but go ahead okay well talk to Mr basil cuz him and TOA had an agreement over two months ago that the organizations were going to be able to use the field well because when I spoke to Mr basil he said there was no discussion okay and you can ask the organizations they have emails we have emails from them saying the school's refusing to let us use it yes or no out no okay so I don't think you have I'm not yelling at you I don't think you have the right information okay I really don't and I'm just being honest this was planned the plan fell through what was planned tasa and basil had a plan that they were going to let us use the fields for our organizations to get by that was Mr Bas said you're going to use the field as two months ago two three months ago to Sean yep okay for sure and that fell through not too long ago it fell through because according to him it was never discussed who's him Mr basil okay well him and Shawn need to get their act together because they they have different stories then but why would why wouldn't we go through the superintendent like we have been now with the fields well we let the so so you know what I mean like the heads don't like the the the people running the the the rec director and the athletic director make the plans and then it sends it up to chain right and then it gets approved I would go the other way but that's that's just me I I would go with you or the mayor and then oh yeah we did we told to Sean can you work this out with the school because we need somewhere for the teams to practice until the till the Project's done project was supposed to be done April 1st the D would not allow them to pump the water off of the field Veterans Field for weeks because there's sediment in the soil and there's St stuff in there that they had to vet before they could pump it out that's number one number two the change order $60,000 because of electrical lines and we don't we don't meet every day so in order to get that pass there was weeks that went by to get approval for the contractor to repurpose the lines and to do that whole project so these are things that were uncontrollable nobody did anything perfectly fine understand I'm just giving you the facts I don't care who's right or wrong I'm just telling you the facts that's I understand change orders but my point was when the engineer came in at the work session meeting and said y we got XYZ had about three or four different change orders everybody said okay and it was not $1 amount so it got me concerned like we're just spending money hands over fist because we have to get the field done I worry about paying it later and it was just concerning as a resident saying well what the change order cost this and I understand like they didn't they didn't they didn't check the the lines on the ground I get all that they missed the line and I get that okay but we approv change your order with no dollar amounts and as a resident it kind of gets me concerned because at the work session meeting councilman for Sol one just SP $100,000 for a marina which we didn't have but we're going to pull it out out of the wreck let's not go off topic let's not go off topic I just want to for for everyone's sake say that I have the emails from the organization I'm to go back the school denied them flat out so that maybe there's a miscommunication I enjoy I enjoy my relationship with Mr a and everyone and everyone I'm not trying to but things are being said that I feel the need to defend Bend because they're not being said accurately and I'm not saying you're making them up I just think you've been misinformed that's it Chief I'm sorry there was a there was also a communication between our rec director and Mr ITI back in January when the rec director was planning summer camp for this summer the facilities are under the construction and the conversation that took place they did speak about um the fields and they spoke about the use of the middle school high school for camp this summer and Mr iy did at that time in January said they would be working with the organizations to make sure they had field time and then after that they were denied so there were conversations with the rec director with Mr basil and Mr ik regarding Fields just think the whole town with us school and the council should have been working a little bit closer and if that was the case and now Mr Bas if I'm not mistaken without speaking for him I don't know if you mentioned that it was more of a day-to-day week week basis and that's to say here in January we're going to give you the permit for May because we don't know where we're going to be uh that could have been it I don't know but I'm going to find out because I don't I don't want to leave hanging I don't want to leave you guys hanging unless as a board you know we're like out there going it's all your fault it's not our fault because we didn't do bough field now together I think it's going to be a beautiful project I don't think it's anyone's fault I think we let's use it as a learning experience for all of us to do better next time right nobody did anything deliberate I don't think it was intentional on anyone's part and let's collaborate better going forward and let's leave it at that and I love and I love to do that I think now going forward at this point we all working well together that's and that and that's sure dou I can say this and I recall a meeting in January foreseeing problems with the weather that we put contingency plans in place and that's when the the thoughts went out asking the school board uh and any other alternative we had or what fields in case these fields weren't done that was all part of the planning process and it was being done as the events were occurring like I said 10 Ines of rain that's a lot of water in an area that and I think going back then I think we said we can't go permit in January for May and that's why I think we kept saying we'll have to wait till it gets closer because unfortunately fortunately the school programs come first yeah now the question was out there too why are they not working on Saturdays that we'd have to ask the engineer that there might be how can I you guys run the the town I don't don't Mike will manage here we'll find out Doug but I can tell you this the contractor wants to get paid right so he don't want to be there an hour longer than he needs to so if he's not working on Saturdays I don't know that maybe he is can you you know that for sure yeah yeah I go by every day I don't I don't know one day they had the compressor or the generator go all day and all night nobody knew why like just kept running we'll find we'll you know but my point is that things happen they had to keep the they had to keep the could the ground water it wasn't just the surface water like the mayor said it's ground no but it it just seems just seems odd but that's that's all it just if we're behind youur you can't micromanage in this business you can't micromanage I don't think that's micromanage I just think that's being listen it's nothing for me to stop there every day and see how the job's going especially with my uh wait let me finish with my construction experience I won't do that cuz that's not my job it is your job or it's the administrator's Job saying that you fall behind you do it if I was the mayor of the bur ministrator I guess I would do it well when you're the mayor someday you do it cuz that's that's micromanaging and that's micromanaging no being down here daily is mic go there every day I get I said nothing about every day I get weekly reports and that's enough I said nothing about every I asked about a Saturday yeah okay anything else no obviously it's just it falls on De ears but I get it no problem anyone else may I just wanted to clear up a statement that uh Mr Deo said that uh I wanted to spend $100,000 on a field yes because of since I've been since I've been excuse me Marina the marina since I've been a that we didn't have since I've been a councilman we've been able to secure two grants of almost $700,000 so about that project I'm talking about that Pro Marina Marina you said I want to spend $100,000 short and you said just spend $100,000 correct because on mayor said no we're not doing it no he didn't he said if it's something about $100,000 said you pull it out of the r trust one at a time let's one at excuse me cuz if you if it was only $100,000 if I could call Mayor if it was when we have $700,000,000 in Grants a million dollar project to to benefit our residents yes it's only $100,000 oh so tell the tell the residents only $100,000 that we spent okay okay I'm sure they I'm sure they'd approve to get a million dollar project for $100,000 we have a project 90% paid for grants I mean this is like insane that we're having this conversation if the bo ofed got 90% in Grants to do a project I'd be all over it and supporting it so what are we getting at here we're getting at it looked like it were just frivolous spending $100,000 until fortunately the mayor says we're not doing it right now let's hold back the mayor didn't say that he didn't say it he didn't he said if it's something like that then we should just spend it so I I miss I misunderstood it's 90% paid we stopped or we we going have a marina I I don't know if he was at that meeting I was meting I going going going forward based on what's going to happen this year with our taxation we have to pull the reins back and any project that's not 100% grant money we're going to have to rethink mayor and hold back on mayor I recently sat down with Roy and we discussed this particular project after that meeting because I was concerned about the same thing and Roy made the comment that this project has already been bonded we've already had the money to the side for this project and we are not short $100,000 for the project you're missing the point young lady you're missing the point you're short $100,000 mayor we're not sure the that was the misinformation at the meeting that I asked Roy to go over with me and he says that we've already bonded all of this money we actually have more money from the project and at the last meeting we were misinformed here's my question how much is the project going to cost Chief can you please I don't have the numbers for you but I'm thinking that is it 100% grant money or are we bonding additional taxpayer money we've already bonded the project several years ago but that's that's not the point the point here is going forward we're going to have to stop at what the grant amount is allocated for that's the my the whole point here we're over it right now we've already sounds like it anyhow we've already planned for the project the money's already put to the side so there's no shortage we B we've borrowed the money several years ago and you sign to borrow that money we have the money right and also you're raising taxes this year and we're looking for ways to pull back corre and draw but that's that that's a that's a bigger philosophical conversation the mayor and Council funded this project already three years ago yeah well I'm saying this going forward any project that's over a grant amount I'm not going to be on board with and I'll use my veto powers to stop that so all right anybody else you got us going up here Doug anybody else care to speak right here hello everybody uh so I'm just going to Simply say with the all these Sports programs that we have going on I know the Border bed's looking for the high school students um little leagues looking for the Little League bombers are looking for the bombers we all got to make sure with influx of kids let's just think about now that you guys are going to go and talk about what's going to happen with the fields let's let's look to make sure that we have enough to so we don't have to deal with all this coordinating and begging low ey th Fields let's make sure that we have the resources put in place so as our Sports programs grow that we have the options to to accommodate these children whether it be high high school or kindergarten let's make sure we have the the fields the parks all the parks everywhere you go through town they all they all look great great playgrounds so let's let's make sure we're doing the right thing with the w field and please take care of my girls you know how I feel about my girls yeah that's all I had on the same page one thing I could say every person on this day is here is concerned and they're not shering away from anything uh but the things happen and when you try to explain a little thing that sets off a big explosion somewhere it's hard to explain that to the public but I say this to you in two months everything is going to be fine so that's what we got to look forward to when you're doing a major renovation like this there's going to be some suffering in between that but look look at what all we will have accomplished we're renovating a field that hasn't been touched in 70 years so it's a Monumental moment let's just all keep working together and it's and it's all going to work out fine anybody else here to speak yes Mr Cano I'm not long we home what time you get up in the morning there uh um I leave my house at 6:00 in the morning this is this is the fellow that takes care giant stadium for us well that's part uh Keith can is 12 25 fenac Avenue um when this project is all done have we thought about the maintenance have we bought the machines with the brushes who's going to operate these machines where we keeping the extra rubber the extra sand because if Turf is not maintained and with the use of that field it's going to be flat and it's going to be play you might as well just play on a hard floor so I hope you are thinking about the maintenance you know Keith if you can do do us a favor now Scott is has been pretty much up on that and talking about it it wouldn't hurt for your expertise from being around that giant Stadium all these years just to give him some words of wisdom just to let you know giant stadium is gone it is now called jetti Stadium but that's another story but wish wish we go as far I mean because it's a professional we go as far as they actually spread a Downey Softener on the field so the the rubber pellets don't get stuck in their eyes or or whatever it's a lot of maintenance on a turf field put it that way so you have to start thinking that another thing and I live in the Birchwood section and I have a little safety issue there um down at the end of the block you know Birchwood and paa they did work I guess they added a cover water basins and stuff uh whoever did it um but the fence is like lot of a lot of defensing is down and with the children playing in that area I don't want any of the children to be curious and say hey what's what's down there and um you know maybe we could get the contractor back to put the fence back up or the DPW to put some kind of yellow or that orange snow fencing CU it's wide open you I'm sure he's making notes right now and that's that's all it's just safety with the kids in the in the area thank you okay thank you everyone anyone else here to speak if not I will close the public portion motion to go into executive second all in favor thank you ladies and gentlemen whereas the open public meeting act PL 1975 chap 23 want permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances and whereas this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist and whereas the governing body wishes to discuss litigation and legal reports minutes will be kept and once the matter involved in the confidentiality of the above no longer requires that confidentiality then the minutes can be made public now therefore it be resolved that the public be excluded from this meeting