we are live and uh streaming good good evening and welcome to the City Council budget Workshop meeting for March 4th 2024 the time is now 7:06 PM we'll all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag and to the Republic one nation indivisible Liberty will city clerk please read the open public meeting act this budget Workshop meeting was called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law not notice of this meeting was published in the record on February 12th 2024 in addition a copy of the notice was posted on the city's website the bulletin board in the municipal building and filed in the office of the municipal clerk on a forementioned date notice on the bulletin board has remained continuously posted please take notice that in accordance with the open public meetings act njsa T Poland 4-6 at seek and local Finance notice 2020-21 establishing standard protocols the city council of the city of angal adopted resolution solution number 0 66- 02- 06-24-18 18656 please see link on our website the webinar ID for this meeting is 95251 44 3214 and the passcode is 67255 n individuals will be able to fully participate in the meeting including providing public comment public comments may be submitted by 3M on the date of the meeting either through Written Letter or email to meeting at City . city of angle. org a separate meeting will be used if Clos session is required proper notice having been given the municipal clerk is directed to include the statement in the minutes of this meeting will the city clerk please do the roll call uh I don't see councilman Rosen s councilwoman wasi here councilwoman DAV Council DAV president thank you present thank you do you hear me yes okay all right councilman Wilson okay good evening president thank you uh council president cob here also present is Mayor Michael Wilds city manager Robert S Hoffman Deputy city manager John bur Berner um CFO Michael calman and city engineer France FY tonight budget hearings will include Municipal Court inwt Public Library buildings and Code Department engineering department capital and wrap up we will start with the Municipal Court good evening mayor council president members of the council Mr Hawkman always a pleasure to see you um your court is doing well uh we're healthy we're open we have a couple of new hires uh three new hires who are very very promising and hardworking um if you have questions I'm ready to answer them somebody's got some background feed going on I'm sorry council president somebody's got something in the background we're hearing the some somebody's in the background if everybody could put their if they're not speaking put um put there's thing on mute it would help um Let me let me check just one because it might be my house my wife is in another room watching TV I'll be right back Mr cop yes did you want to start with Mr calman we usually start with him giving numbers yeah so uh for the court they're uh their salary wages went up $88,000 is 1.9% and their other expenses went up $17,500 which is 11.8% part of that little that was for postage some of that was for specialized services and also a little bit of that was for the translator interpret uh sorry to interrupt Mr cop just for the record councilman Rosen swi is present then but that's it judge you you did your spill already you don't have anything to add just saying just well I can say that we are doing pretty well we're very very busy um although we're not technically a money generating part of the town or the city rather um we deliv to the town $325,000 in 2022 and we up that by another $71,000 in calendar year 2023 giving the city $396,000 um we have been very very busy uh we had 12,000 traffic summonses in 2022 that went up to 17,000 in 202 3 we disposed of almost 16,000 um criminal stayed pretty much the same uh and the DWI actually went down by about 10 um so we've been doing well um hopefully you have had not heard about us I've always said if you don't hear about us we must be doing something right um I know that Dr wasoski stopped into the court the other day uh I didn't know she was there we had an in-person uh trial session um I don't know if she reported anything to the uh mayor and Council hopefully it was good um we have had uh one one thing of note as of February 19th the state legislature um has revamped the entire DWI law in the state of New Jersey um unfortunately to the detriment of the municipalities they now have no fines whatsoever if you're charged or found guilty or plead guilty to a DWI involving alcohol so that means if we got a third time offender is a mandatory th000 fine which we won't be getting if it's a second offense it's 500 to a th a first offense it's anywhere between 300 and 500 so this is a a revenue stream that was taken away from us by the legislature um I don't know why but it's done so we have to live with it um we have had a large increase in uh the need for um various type of uh legal interpreters we just can't take regular interpreters we have to have legal interpreters unless it's an emergency and then we will use the language line which is more economical but the quality of the interpreting uh is not as good from what I've told because I really only speak English uh we have Spanish we have polish uh Korean Turkish we have mandarin we have canones um we have Macedonian we had one called usbeck Ube K I didn't even know it was a language but apparently it's from the country of ubekistan and I have a secretary in my office who speaks Macedonian she we don't understand what these people are saying so she speaks Macedonian and couldn't help me if I needed her [Music] um let's see we have turnone else I wanted to thank the mayor and the council and Mr Hoffman in particular um for the uh renovation of the office the new furniture and the flooring it was sorely needed greatly appre appreciated uh we're enjoying it if you haven't come down please come down and visit us uh anytime you want uh it's it's a was a great morale Buster booster for uh especially the new ones who came and the new three uh ladies who we've hired um I did want to address uh with the with the mayor and councel um the salaries for the administrator and the Deputy Administrator um Miss bar has been with us for 25 years and in all that time she's only made been received one Merit pay increase um based on the amount of work that she does and I I see it I would ask that the uh governing body consider uh doing something for her she's from what I understand probably one of the lowest paid department heads in the city and likewise Jackie Bland has been here for 14 years and never received uh a merit increase um I find both of them to be professional helpful I can't say a bad thing about them because they are just so competent and do such a wonderful job uh so if you know if Mr cman calman can find a few shekels we would be greatly appreci appreciative of that for Miss bar and Miss Bland um we've been picking picking up a little more money um on the Noto violations we have a statute it's 39 col 4972 it's called unsaved driving it's an expensive uh ticket item but most of it goes to the state but we pick up quite a bit of extra money from it they have a $250 State search charge that goes right to Trent we don't see it but the rest of it comes to us um any else um if you have specific questions with regard to the the budget itself uh Miss bar is on the platform with us and she would have a better grasp of what we need and what we don't need uh and how we utilize I think that's all I have M Miss bar you have anything to add to this um yes like the judge says um especially the Specialized Service we have to pay the um alternate um prosecutor from that because she comes on on I know she's with code enforcement now because Carl bewit was there and then we had Mr um simuka and and then um elbet is now really the prosecutor for the code enforcement but she's also with us as an alternate and she works on Tuesdays and she has to get paid through that the public defender also has to get pay for a special session Services through that although he get his typen each month that's part of the service that we have to pay him through and then sometime the prosecutor may have uh Mr Rael he may have certain motions that he has to write and we have to pay him a certain stipend from that you know apart from that the DWI funds we haven't gotten any DWI funds from the state usually we have to reach a certain amount of tickets at at a certain time of the year although we may go over say 46 45 we did not made it by the time in October or September we went over that so we have to have at least 45 d by the end of September for the state to really give us a check you know sometimes the check could be 10,000 or 15,000 but we didn't made it up to that time um so we have a lot of cases um you know uh schedule active pending um you know it is you know parking ticket is a lot of it people are paying Their fines on it some people are coming to court on parking tickets a lot of people want trials on parking ticket is unbelievable and they are telling us it's not the ticket it's the principle of getting a $30 ticket and that's a lot of court time for the staff for us to reschedule so many parking tickets and then they don't show up and then you know it's a big argument they call the court fighting with us then we have to um subena the officers again for a $30 ticket you know so you know like I said the customers they're right we are you know we have to really support them also I had spoken to Mr Huffman we need to get get which we are working on we're going to get a kiosk in the lobby of the Court the problem is there are a lot of seniors who cannot use the zoom and the state is not going to go back to inperson fully we are partial with special sessions only a few people can come for DWI and a few people for criminal so a lot of the seniors our lobby sometimes on a Tuesday my staff they have to go outside to help the seniors help to log on to their phone some of them have no services at all and they stay in the lobby to do court so I'm trying to get the kiosk in so at least a lot of our seniors can sit outside and they can turn it on and talk to the court while we're in sessions so that's one of the big thing my staff is outside tomorrow is the same thing if you come by you'll see my staff outside helping them cuz they just don't have the access to the phone and I have sent them to the library but the library does not have computers with cameras to help them they were sending some folks to Bergenfield to get help to you know for the court so I would really like to get the kiosk in on that part of the budget to help this community how much does that cost well um it's not a lot I say 5,000 four 5,000 I had gotten a some estimate from some company which is sending me a lot of stuff in now and that would be great so they're going to have someone talk to me this week where we could sit down and go over like 30 m either this week to next week they want to have like a you know Zoom meet and to talk about it and how it can help them also it can help them if they want to pay say they come to the court they could use it to pay Their fines online it could help them to apply for permits and things like that cuz a lot of time they come to the court they want to go to the registar they want to do things and we don't have the access like that and that would be a great help to the community yep sounds like something we should be doing yes does uh anybody have any questions for the judge or Miss bar I do um thank you counil president I looked at my notes uh judge and uh Debian I yes I um found my notes from last year February 28th also you spoke of the full-time employees diverse staff and increasing uh Court sessions um resisting adjournments and putting defense bar into trials I want to move cases judge that's what I had in quotations um have you moved the cases sufficiently if I may ask yes I have reduced our backlog yes we had a huge backlog there like 7,000 cases I noted here yeah well we have probably about that now but we added another 5,000 just in uh traffic from last year uh and we got rid of all of last year's plus uh a big chunk of this year's uh we had some DWI that have been hanging out there in backlog but that was because we had the um the Dr um Bish there were drug test qualification issues and standards yes could and you couldn't suspend driver's licenses it was like covid proof at the time still can't still I find it Well I I have been at least getting um judge Galina who's the presiding judge to sign bench warrant authorizations for people who don't show up more than two times that was my next question judge are are bench warrants more limited or are they more common them uh I talk to other judges who sit in Burton County and they are amazed at the amount of bench warrants I'm able to get from Judge Galina believe it or not I tried and I got in Anglewood an individual who had not mowed as lawn for the entire season refused to come to court and I somehow convinced judge uh Galina that that was a public safety issue well and he granted me an a bench warrant terrific tell tell me there were 388 criminal cases in Anglewood and you had reduced it down to 88 which was you said more than one a day it um and and you know my notes were a little murky there how were we doing on the criminal Side Of The Ledger well right now I just signed warrant number 109 and we're only 60 days 62 days so it's going to be if it keeps up on that it's going to be a lot more than 400 got it tell me about the DUI program you had suggested last year um that you would do a DUI program for high school seniors and all yeah we never got into that yet but that still on my radar and on my bucket list but I have been so busy with the court and I get called sometimes three times a night on domestic violence hearings which I do and they usually take a good half hour especially if we have a language line it can take up to an hour to hear a restraining order I didn't do anything with the the schools yet I'll talk to Chief gy about that because uh normally what I like to do is have um the police be part of the demonstration uh what I've done in other towns is I have the um a reenactment of an auto accident where a senior passes away or is killed as a result of another driver uh in his class who was drinking his or her class who was drinking and then we have an arraignment uh we send the uh offender down to jail after he's been arraigned in in handcuffs um and then I talk to the the students um I usually do this before prong uh I don't know how effective it is I don't know if it stopped 110 or none from drinking on prom night but you know it's it's like buying a lottery ticket you know you're not going to win if you don't buy one so I try to impress upon them that they're our future and we're trying to make sure that they continue to be our future no matter who they are what they are um so yeah that's something that's on my radar I would like to get a hold of CH Chief gy and see if he would be interested in it otherwise I do have a a video I made um which I to be very effective I usually use it as part of my uh presentation but I could use it as the bulk of it if if no one else thinks it's worthwhile in terms of bringing the police in and doing some live things I bring the seniors into the courtroom H to look and see and you know I say you know Jon Jones over is you know is no longer with us and he's sitting on the other side of the room with his face towards the wall and I tell him I said don't look over there he's not there there he's down on an aluminum uh platform in the morg he's never coming back he's not going to graduate high school with you he's not going to go to the prom when you're graduating college the defendant will still be in jail if he's convicted you know and that's how I try to impress upon them that their lives could be changed by just one stupid drink I I heard the our predecessor judge uh speak of her efforts uh to connect with the kids in the community it's so important judge um that your example your Exemplar in that respect that all the professionals at the courts reach our children uh in these kinds of programs anything that we can do I'm happy to participate as a former Federal prosecutor myself if you wanted to have a session you just let me know I will thank you for your professionalism and service both of you thank you anybody else have any questions for the judge or the uh Court Administrator I don't I don't have any questions I just want to thank you for the excellent presentation and um I did enjoy stopping by uh the court and um I it was it was good to see how well everybody worked together and I thought there was a lot of compassion and Humanity uh there that day so thank you for uh having me thank you it's actually my pleasure I wish all of you would [Music] come councilman R way yes thank you uh thank you very much judge for your presentation um I think I asked you this question last year but have you seen any increase in cannabis related DUI just with the law changing uh three years ago I know it' be an anecdote from you but just what what you've been seeing coming through Court I have seen a great deal or an increase most of it is alcohol related um I haven't noticed a large increase no maybe some cocaine right cocaine we have like they're using cocaine most of it now like they move up from marijuana to cocaine some of those and then they downgrade them and the prosecutor's office will send them back or they keep them and if it's a DWI for a CDS control dangerous substance we actually can collect the fine for the municipality but not alcohol related I have no idea why the legislature did that but it must be smarter people down there than I can comprehend Miss B you said they dowr they downgrade the cocaine they'll they'll downgrade it to not like a paraphernalia but to like another drug charge where they would go on section 36 program that 36-6 judge not two 36-2 is paraphernalia they make it like syringe or needle and then they put them on that program for the probation from the cocaine with the fenel or with the cocaine stuff like that like use usage CU they just asked to send back like a few cases from the prosecutor's office this week they had downgraded them and were like no send it back because the guy got caught again with cocaine this week so they take the case back are you seeing a lot of drugs like fentol in this area just a little bit just a little bit but cocaine usage I don't see a lot of in Anglewood um I've seen it in a couple of other towns but not in Anglewood so much right Caine but the Burton County prosecutor downgrades quite a bit and it comes back to us their favorite one seems to be the um uh failing to turn drugs over to the nearest law enforcement official they use that a lot and I look at the complaint is there's 18 bags of heroin and they're sending it back munal court but that's not within my purview either councilman Wilson I saw you had your hand up before you have a question good evening thank you um councilman large C I appreciate it y yeah so thank you for the presentation I'll try to be as brief as possible um he said you had 177,000 traffic tickets and how much and I would imagine that was last year and and what Revenue will we be looking forward for losing um from 2023 for the DWI it depends right right now we'll be collecting Monies on cases that are now coming out of being held status with the Dr uh State versus olanowski was decided a few months ago and judge bdol when she was the assignment judge had put a ban on going forward until that was decided so now we've got a lot of DWI cases we bring them in I try to bring in I'll do like a special session on a Friday morning and I'll bring in three or maybe four DWI cases uh we started doing that and generally two of them will plead out and no excuse me maybe I I wasn't as clear we we collected some type of revenue for 2023 or was that lower in effect in 2023 for no collection of funds for DWI oh no we have we have you're talking about the DWI funds from the state yes you said we we no longer can can get revenue from that is that correct oh no that's correct starting with anyone who is charged with DWI after February 19th this year this year okay so I'm trying to quantify by trying to figure out what revenues we made last year was it 10,000 8,000 2,000 from DWI do we have a track on that I don't have a track on it but we can probably get it for you okay because I'd be interested to know um how much that would downgrade us that would be nice information for me well the the the interesting thing is in appropriate cases they've now allowed as of February 19th plea bargaining in DWI cases up to the discretion of the prosecutor in a very close case where no one was injured there was no accident the defendant was polite and Cooperative Mr aratio or Miss cruus might say judge I would like to plead this to a reckless uh driving with a suspension of license and an interlock uh but they won't have a DWI and then I can find them and we collect the fine for the town on a reckless I don't anticipate me allowing that to happen off that often unless it's a you know if you come in with a 0. 2 which is you know very very high you and I would be unconscious at a 0. 2 blood alcohol content I'm not going to let a reckless go through through that's just ridiculous but okay yeah I I I know there's multiple um components and different circumstances for each particular case and I understand your position and we appreciate that I appreciate that but I know we had to have a final total of last year for DWI and that's what I was looking for and hopes that we'd be somewhere in that particular area whatever whatever that might may be we could look forward to not getting that Revenue um our monthly report when we do our monthly report we always a month behind so when the money comes in each month a the state draws their money and what they do they combine all the money together then they break it down on the report what the city gets what the county gets what I have to send to what the paaa funds are that goes to the city poaa funds is part of parking the parking offense adjudicated act I send a check to the city every month for that and they break down all the money that's how they do our reports for us you see I I I understand and there's many different stages I just thought we might have had something like that blocked out since we're not looking for any of those revenues for the most part moving forward so I just wanted to capture what we possibly might be losing so we can prepare ourselves um I understand so thank you um going in do we know that we need interpreter whether it's from Russia Spain Italy generally generally we do but we often have people who come on and we can't adjourn their cases uh so we have to get the language line right swear them in and do what we have um if we have a group of let's say Korean necess necessity uh interpreters we'll try to schedule them on the same day right um okay thank you we try to minimize it yeah we try to send the calendar every week to a legal interpreter and then sometimes you have five six people that comes on that never tell us that they needed an interpreter so boom we have to call the language link right away that to provide that service so we have two services that provides and and the defendants are are are quite Savvy also they'll see me take three or four Spanish interpretation cases because we're paying them by the hour so we want to get them done and out so we can stop paying them and then all of a sudden you've got five people raising their hand saying I need The Interpreter also cor and they stay longer because they know they're going to get out faster yeah I just wonder if we could situate something to to enhance um those defendants to make sure that they let us know but you know maybe that's something we can work in in the program moving forward with the kios the Kos should C capture a lot of that I hope so we have uh 5,000 traffic stops um and I I I can't imagine your case load with 7,000 and add and another 5,000 it's got to be um very tacting for you guys and you know I I see the the overtime time is at minimum at $2,331 73 and I'm not asking for you guys to do overtime I don't know how you do the time that you do already um are all I do we get a good percentage out of the 5,000 like do you have to let some of those go because somebody was eating a hot dog and the office that thought it was a telephone like a lot of those traffic stops throwaways cases on on your um calendar that may not be payable to us no no I don't find a great deal to be but it is funny I did have a a trial that I had where the lady said she was holding a taco and it wasn't a f phone and I go what color was the taco and he goes she goes black I go what was it goes oh it was Char Roy and I go well you were eating it through your ear so we have some interesting cases there too um most of the cases will plead out they'll either take the unsafe or obstructing traffic they just want no points okay and they'll pay and and a lot of them especially the seniors they just want to tell you their story and why they only parked there for 30 seconds while they were thinking about going somewhere else and I try to explain to them that I can appreciate their explanation but it's not an excuse they just want to be heard and if I listen and they felt that I really listened and talked to them they leave pretty well satisfied even though they're paying some money okay my last two quick questions are for you miss bar yes um I think I looked at the organizational chart and there's a um a vacant position yes that's for the part time doesn't stipulate what it is it's a part-time violation clerk position and that's like supposed to be 20 hours a week so we're going to be in interviewing soon so that's a part time that we need help at the window more help you know taking the customers at the window so that's on the on the um chart and we are going to interview soon I was looking at some there is some students from Englewood too like a few of them that applied so we are going to um they're like 21 you know I try to get a lot of people who you know who are interested in criminal justice so far we have you know young lady from Englewood in the office who started as a as a intern from the high school she was only coming in for a few hours and she stayed with us four years went to college five and now she had her master she's with us full-time she became the bookkeeper and she's now um going to get certifi in the court so you know we have and then I'm looking at a lot of that and there is some resume that came in from students who are from high school in Englewood that went on to come into college and is looking so we're going to interview some of those um coming up so prayerfully we'll have that position fills surely yes okay and also just one more thing I want to say remember like the delinquent um cases that are delinquent the state stop us from collect those money so if you have a million and a half money left in delinquent time payment they won't let us they took that out the system after covid that we can't collect that money anymore you know so that's something that's also sitting there for that you know I just want to let you know okay thank you for that and my last question for you is you're classified is that correct yes sir and how many years have you been with us um uh 26 years and uh in 26 years with the city 25 years with pension as of March 1 um this I just celebrated 25 pension years so and um you congratulations thank you um but what's more disturbing um to me some of the stuff isn't really disturbing but the fact that you're here and you didn't get a merit raise I'm trying to figure out where did we drop the ball on that is that HR thing um Mr city manager is is that because they're unclassified how does that work moving forward how do we capture our most valued employees here in the city and have them work this time without them getting a merit rise that's concerning to me yeah there's um there has to be objective criteria for merit raises but part of part of what the way we're addressing it is there's um there's the study that HR is completing just about all of our all of our positions and um you know there there will be some recommendations that are coming to the council about that all right that that's good I I a wait seeing something like that because valuable um employees that I don't know how you not don't complain about something like that but and my Deputy 14 years Jacqueline never get one not one nothing we just get cost of living and it goes to the health insurance there's no money you know but we work hard hopefully hopefully things are about to change and that practice won't continue okay that would be good thank you guys for your presentations council president thank you for indulging me with my questions sure thank you so much anybody else have any questions for the judge and Debbie see you next year or hopefully earlier I didn't let you go yet judge I didn't let you go yet get back on the witness there I'm the judge now now does does does anybody have any uh closing remarks for the judge or debban the court administrator yeah just uh one more uh Point council president two points first judge I hope not to see you in the court because I was speeding second um I would love to go to the schools with you the law and Public Safety Academy um has a robust speaker series that I participated in um and I think it would be clever for us uh to go there um you know different sides of the law uh and it has an angled flare and touch to it also that'd be great so figure out uh what works for you and the administrator and let's make some time with the kids later in the year absolutely thank you yeah if we can get some more locals to go into the courts it's wonderful thank you'all thank you thank you okay have a good evening you too now okay bye bye ycy we got the next is the ingood library yes yes is up if you could let those folks in Kate are you there Kate somebody's there from the library because they got the uh hi we're here I okay I don't know why you can't see us did you turn video on you should be able to there you we are good evening everyone good evening I also have um Council um board president n nassi right beside me she's blurred she's oh she's there she's hiding behind the the screen the magic it's just the two of you for tonight I'm sorry Charles it's just the two of you tonight it's just the two of us okay your turn Kate all right so I'm going hold on hold on one second Kate sorry for interrupting sorry um Mr caufman could you do your spill first before Kate gets started yep um so the past I don't know 10 years we we've been giving the same 2 million 105 870 to the uh Library this year the third of the mill which is the minimum that the we have to give to the LI the that has the library has to be taxed on was raised to 2,115 802 so they're getting a uh $10,000 well a $10,000 increase from what it was last year that's it all right they they when they gave their when they gave their uh when we had our meeting with them it was 2 Milli 105 and I'm like oh you you have another $10,000 to spend so which which we're grateful for thank you yeah um can I share my screen now sure go ahead okay let okay make sure you can do it [Music] one okay okay you guys can all see it and me okay so um again forgive me I am a novice to this um but I'm thankful to have Nina with me this is my first time presenting this as um an interm director um so this is the 2024 budget presentation just wanted to go over a few highlights of wonderful things that we have available here at the library to serve our community besides books and movies we have Audi books and playaways CDs DVDs video games all of these things are the community's use for absolutely free they just need to live here and have a library card um we are are also currently circulating 20 hotspots so that's for those who don't have internet can borrow a hotspot and use it in any way shape or form um that they need it we are a fine Free Library um that is great especially for our younger patrons since um they sometimes have a hard time getting back here um to the library to return their items but when they do they come back and check out things tenfold we have 19 computers for public use and as it was mentioned prior we don't have computer um computers with um cameras but we'll be getting to that part in just a few moments um we are also home to englewood's local history we provide scanning copying faxing and printing services free free public Wi-Fi we also have free notary services um and we also offer um Museum passes um to various museums for anyone in the community with a library card to use and we have a art wonderful art gallery and tons of wonderful programming that we do for um ages zero to 100 and Beyond um just some online services that I would like to just note that a lot of people aren't always don't always know about we have LinkedIn learning which is formerly known as linda.com it's an educational site which anyone can use hoopla digital media service that you can borrow movies books audio and more same with canopy is streaming think of it as free Netflix it is um a service that we have that has movies and documentaries and Libby which has an amazing selection of ebooks and audio books and magazines all in one place um we are a member at the Anglewood Public Library is a proud member of buckles which just recently changed their tagline to bridging communities connecting Library Services because we have blown beyond the borders of Bergen County and we are in Hudson Essex and pay County as well so there is with a library card you have access to over 5 million items 78 libraries within the consortia we have our own delivery service so within a day sometimes it's even 24 to 48 hours the item that you were searching for if it wasn't here on our Shelf we can get it to you that quickly we have um a wide variety of languages not only here but of of materials if not we have access to over 20,000 M multilingual items um and buckles just does wonderful things for um Library staff with continuing education um it helps contribute to the economic well-being of the community um and it definitely adds it adds value to live in a town that is a buckle Library I don't know if you recall but in the past um towns such as Rosel Park and have withdrawn from buckles and there was the outcry from the town um citizens wanting them to rejoin so um they slowly did that Northville was the other and thankfully they're both back within buckles and sharing all of these wonderful Services um so these are a little bit just a quick highlight of the 23 statistics we are open 64 hours a week 64 hours a week and we're open S days a week we are third within the city uh only after fire and police we are open the most amount of hours in the city and we are also a warming and cooling station for our community um we circulated over um we circulated 1,500 one th 1,56 and 773 items last year with um over 140 Patron visits we have 11,000 card holders over 10,000 computer sessions were had and for our programming we had over a thousand programs inhouse and out on the front Plaza and we had over 700 online programs that's still going very strong because not everyone can always make it um to uh the Li liary itself for programs so our online programs are still going just as strong um just a little brief snippet of some of the wonderful programs that we have here at the library for adults um pictured is our annual Jazz that we have out on the front Plaza which many of you enjoy during um the summer we have wonderful uh lectures most recent one that we had um that was of great interest was Barbie and American Icon was with the historian who talked about the history of Barbie for teens um we have de had crafts for them and for the children we have had um countless you know story times and many other events such as the one pictured music and movement that is um just for all the kiddos to come and participate in um some other great things that I would love to highlight um touching on a few other things not only are we a heating and cooling center but we are also a polling place so um I've been the lucky the lucky one who's been here at uh 4 o'clock in the morning me and yansy have uh developed quite a rapport um but I'm here helping everything get opening the library getting everything set up for the elections that we have um had in my time here we host um in person and online ESL classes which are are going wonderfully they are very well attended and um it's a great asset asset to our community um keeping in touch with the community we host coffee with the mayor every Friday um and just a few other great things to note we have book clubs for kids and adults uh Nintendo switch Club is something that's been recently popular and something that we have just added is happy hour nice play on happy hour which can help any citizen come in with their tablet or phone and get them hooked up with all of our econtent apps and this is just a small snippet of all of the wonderful programs that we already have and are expanding upon um all the our professional staff um all is members of nla and ala some are also members of the public library ass which is known as PLA and also through buckles um staff is encouraged to partake in training courses throughout the year through all of these various organizations um and committee meetings which help assist the staff and making sure everyone is knowledgeable and up toate and I am currently in the planning stages for having a staff development day here in house to go over safety procedures again even though they are well versed in it um such as active shooter training um um CPR we um are in great need to go over those things and would love to make sure that all of the staff is um knowledgeable in that um so looking forward a few goals for 2024 we were um awarded the cpf Grant and the grant will assist us in making some very much needed upgrades and improvements to the library and it will be for all of the community to utilize um something else that we have been talking about getting a young adult librarian and the young adult the hiring of a young adult librarian would Bridge the widening gap between middle schoolers and high schoolers at the library as well as meeting some staffing deficits and we would definitely like to do some more Community Partnership um strengthening the relationships between the schools Community organizations retail outlets for a more unified Anglewood um looking at it as how can we all help each other because ultimately that's what we're here for um with the um generous you know increase that we already received would love to you know if there was any room you know more in the budget these are just a few things that could be a something potential with the budget increase um as for Staffing with um people leaving and retirements and timing of things um there is a need for some part-time par professionals to work at the circulation and children's Department in addition to a part-time librarian to be up at the resources desk that would definitely alleviate some of the staff shortages as well as especially on the weekends um some improvements yes we have the cpaf grant but that is supposed to be used for very specific things which we are all currently working out right now um but with the ing Renovations the library would be in need of updating some shelving um tables and chairs carpeting some windows on the lower level and of course our HVAC system which is important um we're going to see how much of that we can possibly do with the grant um but it is definitely something that's needed especially since we are a heating and cooling center and materials and programming while circulation numbers grow the demand for materials is it you know grows as well high demand materials can be purchased in multiples instead of just owning one copy we can buy five so that way it goes into the our members hands faster programming can also be increased we can reach a wider audience and suiting a variety of Interest we can tap into parts of the community um that haven't been represented before and have programming for them specifically broadening The Horizon for the library and those are patronage um so if you don't know where we are this is where we are we're over on angle Street we encourage you all to come visit um we have a great virtual presence these are all of the places where you can find us online and again we're open 64 hours a week um and we hope that you come and visit us so I thank you all for your time and come check us out thank you does anybody have any questions for Kate I my hand up Angela something's wrong with your uh could you hear me now we can hear you yes please sorry just one yes um great presentation thank you it was um well done um my question you said the um notary aspect it's free correct yes yes and I forget the exact number but we've already had I'm sorry it's hard to hear you you're breaking up you Angela your your your internet is coming in and out if if I'm hearing you correctly um um you were asking if it was for Anglewood patrons only no it's for anyone who comes you hear me no it's still bad sorry Angela it's very it's very CH if you have any qu further questions you can you can and um you can always email me um and I can share that information with everyone okay oh okay that would be great thank you Angela kind of okay you can't Dr Rosen has a question hi hi and I wanted to congratulate you again uh for that amazing Grant thank you and the amazing board members you worked with absolutely yeah um just looking at the other uh um items in the capital budget is 75,000 for HVAC repair and 50,000 for boiler repair enough [Music] um I would say no um but you know unsure at the moment we are actually currently working with one of the gentlemen from the grant is in touch with and this is something actually Robert Huffman and I have talked about um in the past with my predecessor there is a um another Grant or uh that's not the the correct word for it but through p there's a program an assistance program that they can help us get what we need it's like a one for one replacement I have it here in my notes um so it may be enough but we won't know we sent them all of our I have it in my notes right here from my um um it's called the direct install program um and it's basically a one for one replacement and it would be through psng with the chiller and boiler um um and how it works is you get added to like the list the funds replenish in July um so this gentleman we've been in touch with has um all of our information and he's actually going to come and do a site visit in a few weeks we don't have a set date with that yet and then he's GNA you know hopefully get us on that list so that way we can partake in that program and hopefully that money then will be enough great because with the improve you the library's busy right now and with the amazing improvements you're going to put in there it's going to be busier AB so yeah we're going to need when you have more people the the building gets hotter because people generate a lot of heat absolutely 98.6 degrees so um you'll definitely need an improved AC um you know and and definitely improved boilers so they all go hand inand so please let us know what you need we'll do thank you and also you know the um there's not a day to go by in our household that we're not using uh some Library facility whether it's books for the book club I'm a big uh hoopla and Libby uh user so it's it's really incredible resources so so thank you wonder of every person in town absolutely thank you anybody else have any comments for uh Kate uh yes if I may um Kate you came out of nowhere and you took over beautifully um and I can just tell that you don't get flustered and uh everybody is staying uh warm in the winter and cool in the summer uh and it's a it's a killer team between you and Nina and the board I I just want to really thank you for everything that you do I'm more aware than most of all the programs and what it takes to keep the Library operating and for the most part we have not heard anything kind of get out that was negative um and you've kept this a very positive experience so thank you for your professionalism as always thank you very much mayor thank you anybody else councilman Wilson thank you council president thank you for that great presentation um and kudos to you for stepping in for not only the town the citizens the seniors needed someone for leadership so thank you for not hesitating to step in i i for one appreciate that um it was an easy decision okay all right that's good um I noticed that some of your budget lines are down and that's a good thing um and I listen to the last presentation how I I can only imagine that so many different departments in our town send people residents and non-residents to your facilities so I can't imagine how you're overloaded at times and my concern is since we may be down in certain parts of your budget what would it look like for us to reconsider maybe five computers that have cameras um I forgot to me I for not to cut you off but I forgot to mention that with this grant um we are looking to put in quiet study spaces that can be used for tella Health visits as well as um just study spaces someone's coming in and you know we have people in here all the time who are studying for um you know the mcats or SATs whatever it may be they can use that space to study um one of the things that we would love to also have in there is um we were also gifted a grant a few years ago we have iPads that can be used for telea Health visits and other things like that um so we're hoping because we don't have a quiet space to go as Debian mentioned that someone had come here and we didn't have um you know cameras it wouldn't we with this newly constructed space it would give us the ability to assist um patrons in a way that we haven't before um if someone came here and needed to have a you know Court visit we can put them in a quiet study space where they would have the Privacy to do so um or any any other you know tella Health visits or any other kind of meetings anything like that they'd be able to go and do that um so so for right now where it's a very generous offer um I don't know where we would necessarily put those people so that they would have that privacy to do that just yet but forthcoming we would have the space um to be able to um cater to those in need in that way okay um because if in fact that we found that space you're probably too young to remember GM where they came down with a cone and capsulized that particular area we don't have anything of that magnitude and I I mean I started to think about the disturbance of other people or whether or not we're us utilizing earphones or are our computers now Wireless capable right yes and you know as as Nina was just like saying um that you know for confidentiality sake as well you know I don't know we don't know why the people would be here for court or anything else but I don't think they would want to be um whereas I've always said we're a beautiful building um but any of you who have been here know that we have basically an open retunda and the sound just floats so someone could be whispering on the other side and you could hear them across the library so this is why that space would not only be beneficial for those who need to silence out um what's going on out in the library um but also they would have their own privacy and I've only get smart in rerun sorry okay um the Q sticks there in the library are tremendous um and and out of the 10,000 computer less questions are we tracking I don't know if I'm a senior or not but I'm probably close to it are we tracking how we're um teaching our seniors uh I mean through statistics uh but not seniors specifically um but that is something that we can Implement um this year we have talked about doing more computer classes and again um with this newly created space that is hopefully coming down the pike for us within the next um 12 to 24 months we'll be able to do that we'll be able to serve our public in a new way yeah well thank you my concern is just that we don't leave the seniors behind absolutely with this new technology many people are having difficulties and afraid to have computers even at their house because they don't know how to operate our absolutely our staff up in um the resources department um I have to say always takes uh even myself when I've filled up in filled in up there in the past have always taken our time to assist um not only seniors but anyone um and that's why um it's just yes it's important and thank you and noted well um like I again like I said earlier thank you for stepping in in a time of our need uh you made it seem seamless so thank you thank you so okay I'm I'm G to I guess I'm going to close it uh and what I what I appreciate and I'm going to thank you and Nina for this is listening to me when I talked about security at the remember when when I was visiting happen to visiting the library so I'm glad that you you folks have put that in the front you know of things that you're focusing on because you know um we have a lot of people that go to the library the library is is a key resource and it's a beacon in the city of Anglewood and we want to keep it that way want we want people to feel safe when they go to the library we want the employees to feel safe and be safe you know because when you really think about it the library in terms of public city buildings is is open probably later than most buildings in the city each and every night so we have to make sure absolutely so I think you and Nina for for for making that a priority absolutely and U you know I'm always here supporting the library I just think that it Bridges the gap on so many things and U we just got to keep it out there and encouraging people to come and visit the facility and use the resources there I know in the children's um section you have those those little similar to iPads there where I saw all the kids checking them out and that that's a big hit you know hopefully we keep up upgrading um that kind of technology so the kids can can stay Advanced and if they don't have those tools at home they can use those tools at the library so nobody falls behind absolutely that's our that's our goal as is safety right as is safety so we don't want anybody to fall behind so the libraries are charge with that so it keeps us all up up to speed so um just keep up the good work tell the board to keep up the good work and the support um and keep Mr VY in the loop because he's our engineer tasked with with he's the expert let him be tasked with with the you know helping you navigate some of this stuff here absolutely he loves doing that so let let's let him do what he loves doing um you know there he is See's he's still in the office right now ktie he's in the office he's not even home he doesn't even do this at home and and and he put his suit jacket on for you I can't get him to do that at the council meeting so you know what are we going to do here but it's all good thank you for thank for your time and your service and keep up the good work and much success thank you thank you everyone have a wonderful evening thank you so much thank y'all next we have the building and Code Department uh Michael you want to give us let Walter and team in and you can give us the uh opening sure so the code enforcement uh salaries went up 8% uh $997,000 um and the other expenses went up $111,000 which is just 6% uh the other expenses went up you know increase in elevator elevator inspection Walter could talk about that and then the salaries is for another full-time inspector make someone fulltime but Walter could talk about that also that's about it Walter do you have anyone else joining you or it's just you it's just me are you ready councel good evening all so your camera's not working my camera not working it should have been it it was turned on me one second uh try that here we go good evening so to start with go over R we right now we have 12 full-time employees and seven part-time employees eight 13 employees that are UCC involved that means licenses with construction uh two full-time Property Maintenance do Property Maintenance and housing and one part-time Property Maintenance housing inspector and two employees that work under land use or zoning official and our land use administrator so it does sound like we have a lot of people but we have a lot of different fields to cover and as as um Michael was just saying we are looking to put on a full-time plumbing inspector and possibly a full-time electrical inspector at sometime if we find somebody we do have one that that's willing to come part-time electrical and I would like to get them in as soon as possible because that's we've been backed up for quite a while with electrical um the project forecast we're looking at 2000 foot retail faculty with 64 residential units on top and then erra South is looking at another 220 units that come in this year and they're close to uh finishing up with all their approvals 45 streeto Lane which used which was Staples at one time they're going to turn that over into a um Tesla dealership but not so much a dealership but their PDI group all the cars will be prepped to go out to the dealerships so there's a lot of work involved in an area like that and the retail establishments downtown everybody seems to want to move into downtown Anglewood so we're trying to keep up with them and get them in as quickly as possible so as you can see further back in the further back in the budget area I did ask for some some I think I think it's a large amount of money that I asked for most of it is for a unfunded mandate by the governor who now licensed the technical assistance they carry a license they get they received we have four of them three of them working full-time as technical assistants one part-time as a technical assistant and they all have licenses now it cost us a $100 for each of them last year to get their licenses and it will cost us some money this year because they now have to accomplish continuing education units continue education is the day of class um Atlantic City has a three-day a three-day um Symposium on building safety if you go down there you can get three or four classes over the weekend but we have to of course the city has to pay to drive down drive back in hotel rooms and a registration fee so I ask to raise those lines up drastically for the travel amount and for the actual licensing some other equipment that we need this year more than we ever needed it was is office um I'm sorry safety equipment for the for the inspectors out in the field the code the construction code inspectors if they go on a construction site and we'll have three or four of them this year at one time they'll need their hard hatch they we already have the well lit safety vest and safety jackets but we need to buy new hard hats safety goggles need to be carried by every official out there and earplugs so we'll be spending a few a few dollars on that that we haven't spent in the past years um we're also looking at buying some iPads because the new system going to the inspectors will be able to go out in the field with their IP iPads and get not only the plans for the project but also be able to fill in their inspections and close them out right there on the spot and send the send the home the property owner the homeowner or the contractor the inspection results right away all real time we're moving into the state wants us to go totally digital this is one aspect of moving into the digital age totally digital by next year the states hoping that we can take plans online and permits online with the new system that we're bringing in there will be some permits that we'll be taking online such as the ccos or C and paying online um so we do have to invest in some equipment to to go forward but once we get the equipment and we start bringing in it'll move the the items quicker and less hassle for the for most of the homeowners and contractors of course we'll be looking toward this year we'll be looking to get funding through grants hopefully that we can find we'll be looking into that the other item I did have in here was uh I did request a raise for myself I've requested over the last few years we've had a new city manager every year so it never went anywhere when I the request and that's why my request is a large one but I believe I deserve it I if you've read my note my my letter that goes with my job expectations you'll see I do a little bit more than just instruction official and I've been they've been added added uh jobs through my through my job over the years a lot of more responsibilities have been thrown into it and Walter that's that's that's part part of the HR evaluation that the that the uh um that the C the council will U will be getting okay I did do an evaluation myself I don't know if you're yeah the H yep we we we can talk about that offline but the HR Director does have that and that's that's going into the report okay so I think that's as far as more employees the employees that are here are now in the beginning when somebody starts you you work 221 working days after you're here for what is it five years your vacation time goes up and you start working 21 days and when you're at 25 vacation days which five of our employees are they also get three personal days from the new Union contract they're 206 working days and then you have to add another six days an average of six days a year so they're down to 200 working days just for um for continue education programs that's why we're trying to beef up the other end and the state wants the the state wants or or really requires us to have inspections in three days from a phone call or or being notified that they would like an inspection so that's where the the Quest for new for more manpower comes any questions anybody have any questions for Walter counc woman wasas let me just lower my hand okay so I don't know if my question's really for Walter or for Mr Hoffman but um you know the S so so in our budget notes under the construction Department it says the city significantly subsidizes the operations of this department it appears that a review of the department fees is in order and I went through the you know the budget the whole budget of the building department um I guess there was a breakout and all so I'd like to know um one how do other building departments do in other towns I assume that they probably break even and number two Mr Hoffman what are we doing to reverse this and get us get us where we need to be and then I'll have more questions after after that okay part part of the answer is uh what Walter alluded to is is looking looking at the available time per that we have for inspections and how long it takes for plan review part of that is that the uh the the the council has um invested in technology which we're bringing online uh this year with with sdl and with a couple of other items uh there will be a there will be a help when we have the iPads that are that are set up so that the inspectors when they go out in the field they will be able to to um look look at the plan so if there's a question they won't have to go back to the office or you know and and and find them um but you know the the other the other thing is we're we're looking at at the fees that we're um that we're charge that we're we're charging to see if they're they're realistic um you know for for the for the services that are provided so um we're we're working on that analysis right now can I I interject one second absolutely so you know you understand there's three different divisions of Code Enforcement when you say building department to me that means uniform construction code the uniform construction code is very specific about how much money we take in and how much we spend okay so and there is a way to dedicate by Rider just for the uniform construction code that means whatever money comes in with building permits and penalties stays with the that part of the department so last year I know Michael's numbers came out a little different than mine but when you start breaking it all out out and I did add up elevator telephone iPad electric water car insurance a bunch of items that were never added before to the budget we spent a mil 118,000 oh I'll just make it make it around number of a, 118,000 for just uniform construction code and the and the income was I'm sorry Michael told me one Michael has a270 but I have a million 31 so we're yeah we're a little short this year for in 2020 and 2021 2021 it just started going downhill a little bit in the height of Co we still did 725,000 this year we did a a million 31 we're close to the number even though Michael has a number down here of 400 421,000 if you go over to the o to the next line item which would be Property Maintenance and housing they took in aund round number of $100,000 in our office you have to also include the 323 cases in court that were found guilty and paid fines that range from $100 to ,250 we don't see any of that money but it's still part of our income or part of the city's income you know we do have to pay the court we do need the court is a necessary item for us so that we can persuade people to keep their property neat and take care the landlords that don't want to give heat on a cold night so there's a there's a lot more complicated to just breaking even with this budget because there's so many other items involved M then you have two people's salaries for zoning and planning board there's nothing in the UCC with zoning and planning that's a whole another budget by itself so you understand where the you don't it's not a money-making operation Mr hofman when do you think the um analysis you know in terms of the fees will will be done it's um it's it's probably six weeks out right now okay and in terms of um um getting things uh using the new technology and getting things computerized um and all when when do you think that's going to come on board the uh we're we're making strides with with with sdl so they're they're going to bring another module on board um I just soon but I I I I don't want I don't I don't know what s what soon is and then after you know it it could be it could be a month or it could be it could be six weeks there's there's a couple things we owe them and then we we should be able to start to use some some of the uh you know some of the software that the iPads have you know do our do our test for that work out the bugs and then then uh we can um we can start using them in the field after after we've we've worked out the bugs all right okay thank you so I'll if I have more questions I'll just ask you um offline thank you sure anybody else have any questions for Walter councilman Wilson good evening sir thank you for your presentation and your time you're welcome my pleasure I'm concerned uh you guys have been doing this for a long time uh Mr Kaufman's been doing this for a long time as well anytime when there's a differential in the numbers and we're looking at the same piece of equipment Services whatever it may be that's a concern the numbers are the numbers it's not a [Music] um it's only quantitative by the Numbers either we used it we bought it we paid for services so I'm a little complex why the numbers are not coming together and uh Mr Hoffman I I'll leave this up to you whether or not we need to discuss some things offline um with with with the budget with things that we've already looked into and we know that we're waiting for things for reports to come back uh in interest of time I don't know how far to delve into this um if in fact this is the proper space for that yeah this is um you know there's um the the numbers the numbers are are are not that that far off when you drill down because in what what's happened in the past is that the cities used a ratio when they submit their reports down to um down to Trenton and we remit uh the fees that the state is the state is entitled to so what we've been looking at is we've been looking at saying okay what instead of using a percentage what what are what are some of the true costs because um the when when that when the report is submitted with with some of the the true costs that means that the state receives what they're entitled to but um the this the city the city retains um retains funds to cover those true costs so um you know that that help the help the Construction office and its different divisions Property Maintenance provide provide services to our residents so um we can you know we can we can talk more about that about that offline if if you'd like but it's just in sorry are these new laptops going to help us capture that because I get it what you're saying but numbers are numbers you know you get approximately and then then pretty much you get good at it and then you you expect what we have um and and during the budget season it it's it's real good to have the actual numbers of the previous year um and the previous year shouldn't be off we've had some time look at the numbers to to calculate what was given out what was being held what was in escrow however it may play out um at some time the books have to come together so you know there was a loss last year from Governor Murphy it wasn't a big loss it was $22 $228,000 a year that's a big loss to me but go ahead okay that was called bacon property registration when the new system comes in they will have the module to handle vacant property registration what happened was governor Murphy said these outside companies can't take the money and send you a check you have to do it you have to take the money and you could send them a check if you want them to do the bookkeeping or you could just keep it in inhouse so every vacant property that registered they were charging $400 we were getting 200 when they were charging 200 in the beginning we were getting 100 so when we can put it back online that'll be another income to the property maintenance division so you're saying none none of that income is online right now it it's coming unfortunately we couldn't get it installed this year quick enough so it's it's not Incorporated you're saying it's in this budget it's not online at this pro at this moment I can't can't count it in this budget because but in previous years I have counted it in the budget because it came into the office okay but Governor Murphy changed something and we need yeah so all this digital stuff is catching up to what the state is saying what we need to do just like we got we have to be able to take permits online and be able to get paid online this what the governor is saying but he's it's unfunded mandates that he's throwing at us can yeah once we complete it it'll be much smoother and and the the money will roll easier so we can we we can we can have a we can have a separate presentation um you know for the council about about this you know um at a at another date and we we will have the rec we would have the reconciled numbers because um you know the there's the state software and then there's there's the admin software that the city runs um you know runs its its Financial platforms on okay yeah I I think we need to have that because you know what I'm hearing I'm not too comfortable with because I'm not being able to reconcile these conversations right about now because the numbers are the numbers numbers don't change if we use a ratio we should all be using the same Ratio or whatever the practice is and my last question with this is this process and this procedure or this policy is it documented and if it's not then we need to have that docu and memorializing it so if somebody leaves here today we know what we're following we and we have a a place and time that says this is what we're doing and this is how we have arrived at this based on this um I just have I I think I just have two more um on page number 35 the budget and Revenue code enforcement Specialized Service 000000 228 that's on page number 35 specializ Services yes so could you explain could you explain that specialized Services we pay the prosecutor at the court for specialized Services which we have 20 me just find the court sheet we have 21 sessions or 22 sessions a year depending on if they cancel something or if a holiday comes in the right time we saw 300 we called 323 cases an average of 15 defendants per trial date prosecutor makes certain hourly rate sometimes it air two hours sometimes it air three hours depending on how the cases go through the court and then there's the fee of when she's writing up the case or she has to do a I forget the term that they use but she's writing writing something to the judge each each lawyer writes uh their letter back into the judge I foret what they call that [Music] Bobby right well anyway there's times for prep there's times for things that they have to write to the judge so that's usually around a $10,000 bill the rest of the specialized Services let me pull out the I could say what it is easily it was the cleanup you had a h $21,000 clean up we have to do yeah so that makes up for the $30,000 difference yeah most of it yeah that's a that was a 25,000 or 27,000 cleanup where was that cleanup that was that was the lean on uh on West Avenue yes yeah okay and and we're looking to recoup that that's correct right correct we're attaching a lean to the property yes okay and and are we looking forward to setting programs um to capture those Pro properties throughout our city that need clean up we've already captured that right that gives us the permission to go ahead and enforce some of these uh vacant properties the vacant Pro vacant property program tells us who who's the owner of the vacant property because they get moved around a lot the banks that's gonna that's going to help when you get the new laptops is that correct that that program will be installed already when you're out there and the code enforcement person out there wants to write the summons he'll know exactly who he's writing the summons to right from from his laptop and the sums will go directly there email and it'll also come back and then mail it out to them get it right and and my last question you have a vacancy um for zoning housing and property maintenance is that's still vacant is that correct full-time position is still vacant yes and how is that posted it hasn't been posted we were waiting for we're actually waiting for this year to make sure we were okay with the budget wise that we can continue with a full-time property maintenance person or we were giving we were giving j a moment to think about moving into the full-time position also so it should be just yeah so I I know a little by a little that they're going to be have have to be certified certain classes um certain certificates um and do we have are we prepared to have a a salary posted Bob do you have the salary sheet I think that was included in this year's salary sheet yeah when it would it would go through it would go through HR that we would be um we would be posting the the job the job and then the uh you know the the the Sal the salary for the position or the salary range for the position position so who who negotiates that the HR well no well it it depends the um there there's POS the position is is a union position so um so they I just want to understand the template as new employees come in in all our departments who sets the salary how do we guarantee that they they go in on the salary um I I I just want to I just want to make sure that I'm clear on that about negotiations and how that is set and who looks at that it's it it's looked at by HR it's looked at by the department the department head HR finance and myself and then there's a there's a there's a a verification process to see is this is this a position that's um uh covered by by a union or is this is this a uh you know a non-affiliated position and then we we and then we follow we follow the union contracts for the for those those positions in the interest of time and some in-house cleaning I would prefer um C council president that um we we try to Circle back and capture this yeah in some other session so I may have some more clarity in the interest of time but thank you for your report it was very uh informational thank you for your time anybody else have any questions for Walter Walter I I have a uh since we're getting some new technology my hopes would with that um since we're investing in it that we would speed up the time with the approval of permits and inspections so people could get back online with their businesses or get online with their businesses so they're not really losing as much money as uh they've in the past because they weren't up and running because every day they're not operating that's that's a that's a loss so you know hopefully and we become cognizant and committed to trying to get people online and if they're not online we we're talking them why they're not online you know um I think it's important um I think it's important that if this full-time person that you're looking to get that if that's the need and and that's going to help us be better and it pays for itself then those conversations between you and Mr Hoffman should be happening you know sooner than later to see how you can do that with with with HR involved in that in the recruiting process of an individual to to help us out but I gotta tell you um we need to hopefully speed this up because people are frustrated with the the process and I can't tell you how many times I hear that so I would hope that the commitment is to you know let's see how we can streamline it and make it a lot of lot user friendly without compromising the the the requirements council president yeah Walter why don't you talk for a minute because we're one of the frustrating things is that there's um there's an there's an error rate that's higher than in been in the past because um we have uh we have plans that are submitted based based on the wrong code sometimes it's even a New York code but did did you wanna did you want to just talk talk about that for a minute well yeah we well part of that's part of the equation is the beginning of the equation is yes we could afford the Manpower right now is both electric and pl a well over $200,000 income and and could get better with quicker responses so with the more with an increase slight increase in Manpower this is not a huge increase bringing to fulltime a plumber and and an electrician full-time in doing their inspections with that being said when they when the person brings in the plans the first application and and they come in and they only fill out half the application and this happens for cro for rentals ccos for purchases of one family homes and the all the building permits electrical permits they come in with half the information well the young ladies at the desk have to take it because the state says you have to take incomplete applications so okay we take them then we tell them it's incomplete and let's go around the horn to every everybody to say okay it's an incomplete application we send them an email this is what's incomplete on your application and possibly on the plan we try to do the plan review sometimes that doesn't work because the plan has outdated dates of codes we're in the 2021 code and people give us the 2018 code we've been in the 2021 for over a year so a lot of stuff is it's the basic stuff it's kind of like going to kindergarten learning your ABCs and counting to 10 they come in with permits that just don't have that in them and we have to reject them which takes time we want to give everybody a permit as quick as possible and we try to teach them as they walk in the door council president if I may um yes Walter one of the uh things that concerns me is that you're so good at what you do and you've been doing it so artfully and professionally you may see some things that aren't there in um that ought to be in the room that's the talent with somebody who is a preent sense of how something can end up getting delayed or mishandled um are there any other measures the city should take that would preempt this should we have a process sheet where it states that it has to be the New Jersey code not the New York code that it was receded in on this date and these are the two problems and then when they come back the second time it'll say you already have two strikes against you in other words it's so easy when I call you or when somebody reaches out you have such a good sense of all this can't we produce this content in real time for the residents or for the developers as a as a resident mayor not to interrupt but as a resident you want to build your home so you go to the architect the architect goes to the same class as I go to continue education units well the architect makes the mistake and sends it in because ah you hit the cad button it came up the wrong number but they didn't check it these these are things that we you can't teach him to be careful I know know but if we had a worksheet that had certain digits or or boxes a process is there such a thing that can be created or is it check off a check off sheet yeah or something so that they know where they messed up where the homeowner will know that the architect is the reason this is being delayed not the city of Englewood I I don't think that's going to help because you have to read it to be able to use it right I'm just trying to people have to read it's it's just a matter if everybody's in a rush everybody wants to get it done but nobody wants to take the time to do it right the first time right it's that's all it is it's just sloppiness unfortunately how do I teach that except just to reject it and send it back an email right away and then they Rectify it it's as a said they're they're licensed Architects they're professionals we'll make more money if there are more hands on deck is my takeaway from all the calls emails and Communications the quicker we get a job done the quicker you get the tax money for it yeah thank you for your professionalism you're welcome anybody else got any questions for Walter okay Walter have a good evening thank you thank you have a good evening thank you thank you for your time Walter appreciate it next we'll have engineering department Mr Voli is that my Q yeah my Mr Kaufman will give you the give an intro and then you have the floor Michael you're muted thank you sorry um this other expenses stay the same the salary and wages the the it went up 66,000 and that that's only because we're looking for a person to work right under frons as a assistant engineer and we're trying to find somebody for the uh full here and that's it okay FR you can tell us about your laundry list of things that uh you're doing that impacts the budget yeah good evening everyone um I I guess I'll try not to take too much looks like it's almost nine o'clock so I'll uh I'll start by just providing like a a broad picture regarding our office and what we do um as you all know we're a department of four employees it's it's myself Lydia who's the office manager and Bim and Noah who are you know our engineering inspectors ideally we would like to have two more people to complete our office staff as Michael stated we're currently interviewing for an assistant engineering position um preferably someone with a PE but that that person would be able to Aid in you know project and engineering design you know help facilitate you know Esco permits um help with capital project management that kind of stuff um the the most you know the most part of the you know critical aspect of their job would would be able to you know stay on top of the obligation of the city to meet whether it be D or storm water management guidelines and and to help keep up with grant opportunities Grant requirements deadlines that that sort of thing so the position is it's crucial to to help the office function and you know and run smoothly and effectively um going into this year you know our number one priority is probably um the repairs of roadways as many of you know um they've been uh heavily impacted by the infrastructure Improvement that the utility companies are doing so they're the most visible Improvement that that need to be to be done um as always you know drainage and flood mitigations are always high on our priority list um we'll continue to seek you know outside resources funding to help you know tackle some of the infrastructure issues that we're dealing with um our goals as far as the office and more internal is uh to increase our Revenue um you know for the year and Implement you know methodologies to help us increase our effic or efficiencies um to to again as mentioned before the turnaround permits you know turn around Plant reviews um that sort of thing um we plan on continuing to work with other other departments and outside agencies such as Millennium know the county the state um you know just to uh you know provide better guidance and services to the city and the residents uh aside from the day-to-day activity of our office um I guess our most visable work is through the capital you know roadways sidewalks traffic signals you know storm and sanitary that sort of thing um last year we were able to complete 11 roads um we also completed the signals at gr and engo Avenue and also on Hudson and nicker Bacher um we oversaw some municipal building projects and did the health department um we did the basement at City Hall um I should say you know the remediation of the basement at City Hall um and other other smaller Renovations we uh we monitored uh countless amount of storm and sanitary repairs again our Asian infrastructure is catching up with us um so um and we're still in the process of of completing you know some projects I mean the park project we're still working on and we we're g tackle some more this coming year so we're sort of involved in a little bit of everything um this year I think we're g to be as I mentioned the roads being in the shape that they are we're going to be aggressive with our road repair project um we're hoping to oversee about 24 Road repairs plus an additional 1015 due to the utility companies um looking to finalize some of our Park projects and Huds Hudson the Hudson covert we're looking complete that and obviously looking to start the Glenwood Avenue covert um we'll continue to you know survey our buildings uh to update them to current guidelines we all know that our buildings are old and they just some of them just don't meet the current ADA compliance or or even the energy code standards so the library for example touching the library this evening um working with them and working with the grant to to help Implement some of the improvements at the at the library um and we'll well I mean we'll continue to research ways to alleviate you know flooding issues throughout the city um as our city manager mentioned a few times um we're we're in collaboration with NGIT St and Ruckers um you know and you know and that in Denver regarding uh you know our our drainage issues um I also be working with Bosell engineering to help in those projects as well um in addition to that you man our office also do also does other things um we oversee and you know and issue right away permits soil permits you know solil or settlement control permits tree permits uh we provide engineering service to the board of adjustment uh we work with the environmental commission access for all committee um and a slew of other other bodies so even though we're we're seen as a department that oversees capital projects um it is far from the only thing that we do um I mean think that's all I want to well you know one more thing finally I say this every year but our office works with every other department in the city to solve issues you know whether it be infrastructure technical issues that come up so by no means do we do anything on own all all the city departments work work with us in completing our projects whether it be you know the city clerk's office DPW the building department police fire wreck um the finance office the city manager's office uh even you the council I mean you you I mean you're responsible to approve uh the project before they go out so uh it's it's important to know that we it's a team effort um you know I say that every year because I don't want us to lose you know focus on that we all work together to get these done uh and it's crucial for for our capital projects to be to be successful so um I guess that's all I I'll have to say regarding our office before I guess I dwell into the capital I'm not sure if there are any questions um before we do before we do that I have a question uh council president yes yes go ahead um one of the uh questions that I have um is you're so good and I mean this um what happens uh France when we in the planning board the board of adjustment or other uh per peripheral um groups have needs for your services and we want to implead you into the proceeding in other words excuse me we do have an engineer we do have lawyers we do have professionals but the impact that the city is going to have by individual applications can only be coined by you um and I don't want to point out any one pro project but there are Confluence of concerns that I have with infrastructure uh hooking into our infrastructure from private residences uh and people who are trying to improve development in our community where it's good to hear from their experts it's good to hear from the planning board but it's best to hear from you um so particularly if somebody wants to tap in to uh let's say Glouster Jones Road or any of the troubled hotspots in the city into a network of piping that then takes water away way I want to get a sign off from your good office that this application will improve things or that what's being certified by all the experts including the planning board expert uh is in ag that you're in agreement with it um I don't want to hear from a planning board uh engineer that they spoke to you and that you're okay with it or that it complies I want to know that it's not going to make things worse and that it'll be easily or handedly included does that make sense France uh and absolutely I mean I I am available um if if the planning board needs me at any any time uh again as as I stated I speak with a number I I deal with a number of bodies and work with a number of organizations throughout the city uh and the planning board is no exception um even though you do have your own engineering um you know expert I I can speak with him as well um no they have I want your voice voice in there in addition to the planning experts that they have because everybody's opining that it complies with d it complies with the science and the engineering and the physics of whatever project it is but I would like to have your word in there as a city engineer that yes they can tap into it and yes this would be a DI Minimus effect in on that carridor or whatever the issue is I am available good so then I will make sure that tapped in a little more thank you coun Ros and swag thank you um fron you know I definitely endorse you adding as many people as you think you need um you you can't you're you're great which is why everyone wants a piece of you but you can't do it all um so you definitely need to to get some good people in there train them up and get them to do the stuff that doesn't need your your expert touch and the stuff that's a little bit more you know wrote day-to- day doesn't need your expertise so any help you need from us if you want us to to meet with any candidates to sell them on the city whatever you need us to do let us know because you know we want you to have every opportunity to to succeed and and you know uh you know if you think about all you know we have a busy construction situation every year and then you add on you know the extra $6 million of Ida damage you know it's just you know we didn't clone you uh you know so you know definitely you know you need you know as much assistance you know under you as you need please let us know and and uh you know and we want to make it happen any way possible I know I know it's a difficult Market to hire people so any help with recruitment you need know uh any sales job you need please reach out to us thanks thanks thanks appreciate this morning councilman Wilson good evening um thank you for your presentation um and I will say this so up that your behavior is problematic fron because we've seen you with your cape on we've seen you swooping down over the city and doing projects all by yourself um so I I applaud you for finally trying to get some help um I don't know how you do it when I was on the board of adjustments you showed up at those meetings some of the planning board meetings are meetings um so it's okay for you to take a c or for a while and share your responsibilities with someone else that you deem capable to handle our services and I understand what the mayor is saying because I two him in the on the planning board and we're used to you okaying stuff no slide on the other Engineers um without putting extra pressure on you it's always good to hear your voice on these new uh facilities new private housing and as you're figuring out my biggest thing a lot of our conversations is about storms and waterways and infrastructure um so I would just like to see us drive down on something that we can put on paper that holds these new developers that are coming our way whether it be a house or a structure that we have the problem proper um drainage if you will um and some of these new places that are trying to come online want to hold these drainages on um on site and a lot of this technology is new to us and I've suggested that we have backup but I just would like to see us possibly when you get your assistant look at something that will structure the city so any new housing make sure that that the sewer is 25 50 ft away whatever that code may be so we're we're okay with the runoff um how many roads do you believe need to be repaired this year and it's a two-part question how many roads do you think we will um be able to complete this year you said that we did 11 and 11 doesn't seem like a lot because what people don't understand is we have um a lot of stress on on the on the pipes on our infrastructure and sometimes they have to go back into a newly paved Road for pipes that have burst so I'd like and and I know this is a a budget but I I just like to know those two things about how many roads do you think that we looking forward to repairing and how many do you think we'll be able to complete that that that is that's that's a good question and know in my mind it it breaks into how many roads would I like to see rep paved versus how many we can realistically do I'm thinking this year I'm looking at 35 roads um and again we can't do more because I hate to use that terminology but we're sort of at the mercy of the utility companies right now um even roads that I want to pave if they're going to go back in and they still have to do repairs on those roads it makes no sense to pay them and have them tear back into so we're we're we're actually GNA meet with the utility companies in a couple weeks to go over their schedule to to sort of get a sense as to what roads are completely finished um and you know sort of going to the paving season W with with that listing the roads that I have listed on there are the roads that by in the capital I'm jumping a little bit are the roads that to my sending or are definitely completed and will not be touched by the utility companies that's why they're they're on the list okay there's some if there's some additional roads we can squeeze in there we will squeeze in as many as we can but it's it's gonna be it's going to be one of our larger Paving projects this year let's put it that way okay is is there in your budget and this is the last question because I know it's l um signage um cuz I talked to the city manager before in regards to giving a timely manner for a residents that as their Daily Progress may be hampered that we give them some type of advanced notice yes what what we're gonna before we pave any roadways um the contractor will have to give notices to everyone letting them know you know what time they're going to be there how long they're going to be there that sort of thing what the project consists of it doesn't have to go into details but it should let the the residents know whether or not their driveway is going to be impacted that sort of thing so everyone is on the same page in terms of what what the uh what the not only what the project consists of but how they're going to get impacted by it so that that's definitely something that has to happen and is there is there a timeline do they post that like 28 48 hours before usually we try and give everybody 48 hours okay you know if if you post it way ahead of time people just forget and not you know I get it so I I I just don't I know we had some some issues before where people didn't have the notice but France thank you for your time um it's okay for you to put your cake down for a while we appreciate you thank thanks a lot Bron yes I have a question for you if I'm reading this right on page 23 um 16514 overtime you see that page 23 um yes okay you see what it says overtime uh yeah and it got a bunch of zeros there right uh yeah is it that you're so budget conscious that you want to make sure you come in or you just don't charge this you what what's that story or there's no need for overtime I I just need to understand that now we we don't I guess it's more of a HR question we we get comp time as opposed to overtime so we we don't have overtime we have comp time so somebody works overtime and then we're giving them calm time as opposed to giving them some some real stuff that hits their pocket book you know comp time is just time you take off I I I that's a I'm going to take that conversation offline but you know I think people need to have the benefit of their time their time is worth something else than that that's that's that's just my opinion um hopefully you could recruit and groom one or two people uh in there I also would like to see that you like other departments has at least one vehicle for you guys riding around the town instead of taking your own personal vehicles and riding around in town uh since other departments have the same you know so we we got to give you some more tools uh to work with along with helping you with that recruiting process for uh resources to help you cover this city because there's a lot of work that's got to be done um so I look forward to talking about the capital part of it with you as we we start that conversation if nobody else has any other conversations with you so you can be specific at in terms of the capital projects that you have for 2024 appreciate it you got it all right are we I guess we're heading into the capital is that what we're doing I think so I think everybody's asked the questions that they want to ask so okay um in terms of the capital I hope everyone has the latest one it should be draft number four um before I start I just you know I Just Want to Thank You Know city manager the CFO and all the department heads um you know and all their efforts in in putting this together again it's a team effort and I just want to just want to acknowledge that um I believe everyone's pretty familiar with the capital with the budget layout um there's been some changes in an effort to reduce you know confusion but but the main difference is basically what it was last year and that the budget is is you know set up for each department um each department is separated so that way it's it's easier to identify the the wants and ask of each of the Departments uh I'm not going to go through all the details of the capital I just want to give an overview what was included and what we tried to accomplish and answer any questions that you may have uh the first page is essentially a summary of the of the capital for this year only the 2024 column is a real concern right now uh the remaining years are approximations so they're most likely going to change um as we go through those specific years Bron sorry I just want to say on the first page the arpa money I just want to reiterate that it has we have to bid for it this year we have to have the ordinance done this year we have to bid for it this year we have to sign the contract we don't have to pay it yet but we have we need everything else to be done this year so we don't lose that almost $3 million I just wanted the council to know that and just to reiterate it thought I was GNA get to that darn it sorry that's okay um so um I and the know the other thing I want to say is this is only an anticipated budget um though most of the numbers are pretty solid for 2024 some revisions may be implemented by the governing body if if it's deemed necessary um uh as you can see this year's budget is a total is is a little over 15 million um we do have significant amount of Grant um I'm not gonna go into the grant aspect of it Michael already stole my thunder um again the the different grants they're all different um in requirements they different timelines uh different deadlines associated with them so um they're not going to be implemented all at the same time but they will eventually offset the cost uh of many of the items in the capital um just just as a reference we've been averaging about $8.8 million in capital fundings for the past five years so we do have a little uptick this year and it's due partly because obviously the utility work that's going on to the city um we have a tremendous amount of infrastructure issues I think you know Believe It or Not Ida is still impacting us um there are you know part of our infrastructures that are that that were damaged during that storm and unfortunately we're uncovering them still in this day so it's a storm that really has a lasting effect uh on our system and and we're dealing it we're dealing with it you know as as we're as we're finding um and last year's program last year's Capital program was a little light on the roadways again because of the the paving issue the utility companies we didn't want to pave any roadways that we knew they were gonna GNA go into and and excavate um our primary focus this year remains you know the roads obviously as I mentioned are are visually you know a nuisance but but flooding and flood mitigation remains a high priority our our you know our office is going to continue to partner up with Millennium strategies to apply as for as many grants and opportunities so we can sort of lessen the city's you know Financial exposure um so that that's that's it um regarding the the first page I guess I'll start going if there if there aren't any questions I'll just start going through the the capital itself if you turn on page well I don't know if anyone has any questions where am I just going yeah now France before we go to page two just uh just um you know let let the council know about the deadline for um for the Community Development um P Paving project that's on uh Humphrey and tibs oh we we are yeah we're currently going yeah we're currently doing a Paving uh Paving construction for Humphrey and tibs and it's Humphrey from U Lyndon all the way to tibs to William and we essentially have to complete it by April so that's the deadline for the grant we have to have it completed paid for um Soup To Nuts by April we have a contractor that's working out there now we're on top of him we're pushing him um you know it's a little bit um you know I shouldn't say inconvenience for the residents because we have to we have to get moving on this and and complete it as quickly as possible or we'll lose the grant so there there's a there's a finite time that we have to get this done um and this was some additional grant funding that our city manager was able to acquire from uh from the Community Development BL Grant so uh it's extra money that we got and we were able to complete one one of our roadway stretches well it so it's it's all it's all good things but there there are specific guidelines that we have to meet for that Grant so yeah I think this week it's gonna rain the rest of the week so that's it's not a good week for us but the contractor is still confident that he'll be able to to get this done by by the end of the month if we uh if we turn to page two um we'll start getting into the meats and Bones of of the actual um budget um the pay Sho contains the breakdown of you know the building department City querk you know Administration and uh and Engineering um the you know building city clerk Administration is it's not a lot there it's pretty straightforward um I guess I I'll focus more in the engineering part part of things um we'll start with our Ro project well you know what we'll start with the jail sales as I mentioned before we we're looking to expand our you know our our headcounts here in the office and um repurposing the Jael celles into office spaces we'll go a long way um to give our office you know some much needed space for not only for new hires but for filing Furniture Etc so uh that's the one of the things that we're doing uh in preparation to expanding our office so we can be more and more efficient it more effective um the the roadways are essentially the mill and paid program um is is ongoing I mean just a maintenance and upkeep of our our roadways is just an ongoing process um I know that not every road that needs to be repaired is going to be addressed under this Capital um we just try to prioritize our decision based on the condition of the roads you know pedestrian usage you know Motor Safety that sort of thing and also feedback from the community and also making sure that the utility companies aren't going to come back and and rip up rip up the road after it's paid um as you may remember last year we partnered up with Street Logics um in evaluating our road so they've submitted their finding our office um office has taken a look at it it's pretty comprehensive um in terms of you know their findings of our condition of our roadways um so we've sort of used their you know their findings as well as our inspections to identify you know which roadways are needed and repairing to prioritize which roadway should be done first um um the list that's currently in front of you as part of the mill and pave program is not set in stone um if you know if a roadway that's not under the list needs to be repaired for whatever the reason and is considered to be hazardous Etc we will absolutely swap out that Road for one of the Lesser ones in terms of conditions on that list um the main concern is to make sure that the budget is not impacted negatively when we do something like that so if we find a roadway that's you know it needs to be repaired and it's going to cost a 100,000 then we'll try and swap out something for the 100,000 that may not be as bad um just so we keep the the budget you know uh as much the same as possible um presently we have about 9 19 roads as part of the the capital this year as part of the mill and paid program which is essentially pavement replacement and some curb work U we also have four roadways as part of Road reconstruction it starts at the bottom of page two and continues on page three uh with the list of Recon Road reconstruction that we'll be doing this year and those projects have more significant they're they're they're more significant in scope you know they're curbing they sidewalk there's sanitary and storm repairs that have to be done um apron repairs that have to be done um so those are the roads that are that part of the the Reconstruction project um we uh we're also we I we continue to reach out to the county um regarding the condition of the County Roads um and their Paving schedule we'll keep the council a city manager you know um posted with the progress of what we're doing with the county they promise to to pave Grand Avenue um think they're looking at Liberty Road as well um to be paved um either this year or latest the beginning of next year so that's that's something that we are we are pushing them on to get some of these County roadways um paved um we also have infrastructure um you know work to be done in terms of storm and sanitary Improvement if you look at our storm and sanitary Improvement and Channel Improvement that's sort of like uh a lot of where the arpa funding is going to you know come into play um many of the projects that we have slated as part of those criteria are sort of completely covered under the arpa fund so it's it's going to be very little impact to the city directly um because we'll get reimbursed for a lot of that work but again a lot of sanitary and storm work repair a lot of drainage repair we try to tackle some of the areas that we know are prone to flooding um and again this is just part of what we're doing there are a lot of other issues that we're tackling regarding flooding that that's not seen uh that's not reflected under this but this is the the bulk of what we're going to be focusing on in terms of drainage Improvement storms Etc um we're also doing obviously some some traffic work traff traic signal improvements again those two are fall under the ARA fund so we're going to be taking advantage of that fund and and update some of our traffic signals um you know we've you know part part of the road thing is we just received a number of calls you know from you know residents Etc regarding intersections crosswalk you know um not being able either the the you know the striping being faded um the lights not know not being visible enough for people to know when to cross Etc so we're going to be looking at all those things identifying um what intersection I'm actually working with the police department to identify which intersections are the most dangerous um especially the stop intersections we're going to try and see if we can uh if we can upgrade all the stop signs um to flashing stop signs with LED so they're visible especially at night um when somebody's driving that's not familiar with the area so those stop signs are clearly visible um so we're we're that's that's part of what we're going to be looking to as well when we uh when we do the the uh the road improvements we're also doing you know handicap rent improvements we're currently working with uh with a grant with the federal government um and we're we're serving and identifying you know and improve the walkability of Roads predominantly around schools for now um the particular grant that we're dealing with deals with the you know the breel school the McLoud school um and the Janice dismus Middle School those are the the roads around those schools are being evaluated to make sure uh the Ada the ADA Compliant Etc and we're actually working with a consultant um to help with the design Etc to to implement to implement that project um see what are we going we are going to page page four um page four is predominant either Fire To Hell uh Human Resources the library we spoke about the grant there um you know keeping in touch with them and also you know the grant providers to find out what the requirements are what the deadlines are um there's some helps that they're gonna they're going to provide us so I need to find out exactly what those are in terms of technical help um just an example the grant that we're doing for the ADA compliance seat the grant requires that we use an architect and there's four Architects that we have to choose from so you know maybe the library Grant has something similar I don't know but we're in the process of ironing all that so we can get that facility uh up and going um let's see um that is the Municipal Court um there some window issues we're going to deal with that there the police department um can't really dwell too much into their requirements but they're all they're all there um on page five is uh you know part of the police department Recreation and Public Works uh most of our Parks fall under you know Recreation as you can see there there's quite a bit we'll be doing um the William Street you know playground equipment we're still going after that uh that that Grant um for Access for all um not access for all um yeah it's um God the name just escaped me holy cow that's not good um the grant for the McKay Park um Bob do you remember offand Jake SLO oh yes for jakeel H sorry I drew a mental blank there so we're still going after that Grant hopefully we'll get that uh and get that project completed um we are obviously going to finish up you know the the outdoor Fitness at McKay um we are looking at making improvements at you know at Denning Park gity field um so we are looking at at a number of improvements in our parks that we're looking to make it as well so um much like our roadways you know working with the DPW and the rec center and constantly monitor turning the parks if something comes up that is crucial as part of our Parks we also can swap it out for an existing project again as long as it doesn't negatively impact the overall Park budget then then we're okay with that um I mean last is is our is our DPW um the uh the biggest thing that's going to be um an interesting project with the DPW is the drainage and Paving um as you can tell that that that has a grant tied to it also the ARA fund's going to cover that we're going to Mill and pave the DPW that hasn't been done I can't remember the last time that was done um and also do some drainage improvements there so it's it's it's sorely needed the the complications with that is is obvious there's a ton of vehicles there that are going to have to get temporarily moved off site so that the you know the yor can be milled and paved um so that that's something that's going to take a bit of coordination but we'll we'll find a way to get it done um I think that is it on my end anybody have any questions from Mr VY I didn't go too guard the capital Mr Vol yes hi Mr Bly thank you so much um as usual uh you're very comprehensive excellent presentation um so just want I you know look at the damage from Hurricane Ida which is now two and a half years years ago you know East Hudson Glenwood yep angle Street 111 West Chestnut they all have one thing in common they're all in the First Ward so you we doing a great job repairing those damage although angle Street obviously there's some question of who's responsible there um what are we doing you know we sometimes use the phrase The New Normal yeah I don't know if that's completely accurate but probably in the next 10 years we're we're going to get a a storm of similar intensity to Ida maybe not quite the 4 and a half inches an hour what are we doing to improve impr the infrastructure and and seems the First Ward Ida has exposed the First Ward is you know probably the most vulnerable to that type of rainstorm just by the by the uh eight figures worth of damage there um what are we doing to prepare and improve the infrastructure so we have um less damage the next time around you know ounce of prevention is is worth a pound of cure absolutely part part of what we're we're finding is you know the age of our in infrastructure is problematic um you know the covert at Hudson um part of the design is to make sure that it's it's better stronger more stable than the older cover so that if we do have another storm like Ida that the failure that we've seen at that covert would not happen again now if we get a storm stronger than Ida whatever the case may be the covert May overflow meaning if the amount of water that comes down just can't go through the covert it will overflow but the covert itself won't be in the shape that that that it was left after Ida and that's with all our our repairs um even on Chestnut Street where unfortunately we were gonna you know repair Chestnut Street we wanted to have it done by now but we just found so much damage with the infrastructure that we sort of have to you know repair a lot of that and part of that repair is you know whether it be increasing size better pipes Etc whatever needs to be done to sort of solidify the infrastructure so that we don't have a repeat um that's what's being being taken into consideration um a lot of what we do unfortunately has you know impact I mean if if you know Improvement uphill means it's going to go downhill and now you have to worry about what's going to happen downhill so we have to take a longer view as to hey what is improving this section of town though to the other section of town so we we're looking at all of that um again we're gonna be looking for outside help we're gonna be recruiting you know some help from outside Consultants to to help us take a broad view of the entire time and how to improve these things but part of what we're doing is definitely making sure that whatever repairs that we make that is it's tenfold in terms of improvement compared to what was in the what was there before and if you may have some questions on page three um so on the parking deck restoration design I see 30,000 a year over the next three years now I would think that all the design would be in the first year you know not at the end of the project but at the beginning of the project no the 30,000 is an estimate but every after that project has be broken up into three phases after every phase they're actually gonna come back re-evaluate the parking structure and see if either you know the design needs to be enhanced or lessened based on the improvements they made on the first phase um the the concern with a project like that is you go into the first phase you make the the the repairs and you may find out huh you know after exposing some of this it's either better or worse than what we anticipated um because a lot of the concrete may have to get chipped away Etc um like I said we have you know some rebor issues that we have to take a look at so they're they're you know they're designing it for what they can see now but depending on what happens after the first phase that will sort of dictate what what the second phase will be so there is a component of sort of redoing an evaluation after every phase um so they can properly document what actually needs to be done for that particular phase if that makes that I hope I I explain thatle so and then for the improvements I see 300 for three years which I think you you sort of explain but is this based on the th report that we got yes I'm sorry that that is yeah we got that a few weeks ago I seem to remember the number 800,000 as their estimate in that report you that that is correct um the 300,000 may change over the years phase two may end up being 200,000 um phase three may end up being a 100,000 um I just have it there right now for a placeholder as I mentioned before those are just estimates for the for the remainder of the years we know something's going to happen but we we do need placeholders for them and it may change I phe two maybe 400,000 I I couldn't tell you right now it all depends on what they find okay and uh right below that I see street sign replacement program I haven't seen that before what is that it is we are evaluating all our street signs throughout the town um we got a lot of calls from res regarding the condition of the street signs uh especially in in the fourth ward you know Third Ward so we are in the process of evaluating all our street signs um and seeing if we can have a comprehensive project to either you know change the street signs and make them all uniform but right now there there are a number of street signs that definitely need to be changed uh and need to be replaced so that's part of what we're trying to do uh eventually we want the city to be uniform in terms of you know street signs Etc they they go a long way in terms of the impact it makes and and what the city looks like um we actually had had it done in Bloomfield where all the street signs were replaced and it makes a tremendous difference uh in just driving down the street and being able to to clearly and more visibly see the signs um it it it it makes it makes a world of difference a lot more than you would think it would so in the process of sort of doing the same and we've had some uh some requests regarding that and we we also had street street scan also gave a gave a report on the VIS on the reflectiveness of signs and and things that have to be have to look be be looked at and ultimately replaced as well yep that's that's what I was gonna gonna gonna go into it's not street signs eventually we're gonna go into stop signs speed signs parking signs Etc so this is one of many um things that are going to come down the pipe in terms of you know beautifying our our streets and roadways well yeah visibility is is the key you know because that saves lives and there's nothing more tragic than someone losing you know losing their life unnecessarily in a traffic accident because of of poor visibility of the signs all right thank you very much fr thank you councilman Wilson thank you again for such um a diligent report I know we have a lot of work to do and that we're looking at some budgetary items and I too would hope that um as we're getting into the code enforcement I I don't know if those pads needed to be distributed to your department as well would that help you while you're out in the field it it probably would um part part of you know I part of the concern that that I have in our department and especially with speaking with our inspector is you know they they spend a lot of times on trees you know that's it's an ongoing thing in angor uh and unfortunately we we have to respond every time someone says someone's cutting a tree someone's you know someone's doing something with a tree and that that that just I mean we have one inspector that spends 75% of his time on trees it's a lot of time at Le very little time to do engineering stuff if you're spending that much time on trees so um having the pad would probably would probably help us as well so it definitely wouldn't hurt that's for sure when you say the trees are we concerned about um structural damage or I know we had a sidewalk program years ago where our trees were interfering with um slipping Falls and such so what are we talking about structure or sidewalks oh it it it's it it varies that's part of it but anytime someone cuts down a tree anywhere and then go or off it should be notified and we go out there to verify where the tree is what size it is if it's dead um you know if the person needs a tree permit or not then after that we follow up with a letter notifying the resident of what the requirements are either that the you know the removal is approved denied what the conditions are Etc so it's a multi-step process and we have to do it for every single tree and a lot of the times it's false alarms you know if someone's pulling their tree the neighbor are calling say it's cutting down his tree and you go there and you find out they're just pulling the tree which they're allowed to do so so you you guys just had a big project in at Herring Herring field uh yes there was there was some tree removal done at Herring field that that was done through not through our department excuse me that wasn't done through our department but you guys went out anyway to identify dead trees is that correct um I believe the uh the uh the tree the tree AR or the tree arborist went went out through de through DPW to identify the trees all right I'm just trying to differentiate when our engineering department goes out and when we have a um a arborous on standby the the arborus we use the arborus as well if we if someone calls and says they have a dead tree they want to remove whatever the case may be um and we we're not arborous and and we can't tell if the tree is dead or not we will call the arborous uh just to make sure that you know the tree is dead or alive or whatever the case may be um and we have unfortunately we have a lot of you know um a lot of people that come in or you know um tree companies that come in and say you know this trees's disease this trees this and we we don't know so we have to we have have to lean on the arborist to sort of guide us you know in matters such as those okay so when when you guys get called do you did owe that call right to the arborus no we go out first we do the inspection first if it's something we can take care of we don't we don't call the arborus all right so just for my clarity you guys have a tree experience I would imagine yes um limited um you know if someone says you know this this tree is is has some sort of disease we're not going to deal with that that's something has to deal with thank you for your time okay councilwoman pasas okay thank you um thank you France for that wonderful comprehensive report and um I too I'm in favor of you getting as much support and help as you need in your Department I'm just looking at oh you know what let me just plug my computer in it looks like it's about to die well if you you may can you hear me yes think not anymore Le say you're Frozen can you hear us no looks like we lost her it's like she's playing pool's back she's back oh there we go okay I I don't know I think something's wrong with my computer I it's not charging can you hear me yes yep all right I'll try if it doesn't work I'll call call in on my phone I was just pulling it up um so I'm sorry about that um so so France um so what I wanted to say is that the second ward is really getting beat beat up a lot you know we have a we had a lot of problems still still um with flooding glower I don't even see it on here is is it is it not supposed to be on the Capital Improvements no that that's something that we already we started doing that last year so yeah it's something from the previous SC what about all the flooding that they're getting on Kate May kumble andad Del court and all that where's that that's something that we're looking at it's it's all part of the Glouster drainage issue believe it or not so Boswell is doing sort of a comprehensive study of that whole area and finding out you know one all that drainage is running downhill and ending up on glower how do we capture all that and where do we put it um the uh on Face Value the Glouster project seems simple enough I just drop a couple of catch basins and and run into the to the creek but the uh the elevations don't work so we we have to find another way of capturing that that storm water to make it work and that's something that Boswell is working on right now right right but the cumber and Kate mayad Del Court that's coming from from Anglewood Cliffs through Flat Rock Brook and and they're flooding right there at the spot so so are we are we still looking at that yes we are we are looking at the entire area there okay because I because I didn't see it listed on on the sheet but no we we've yeah we've already spoken to Bosell about that's something that they're they're looking all right and you know um we're getting the second award is being beat up I mean I don't know how to say it you can't even you know some mornings you can't even move anywhere between the PS and G Viola you know between the Jones Road Route 4 you know I've been driving around the streets in the second ward and there's so many streets that are really in terrible condition that are not listed on on this on the on the sheet here and I understand there's a flexibility I understand that there's a sensitivity that PSN is going to come in I also noticed that there's a lot of um I mean you know the the capital budget goes out quite a number of years and they're projects that we've been talking about and they're just not they're not on it in terms of recreation so what I what I'll do is I'll just um speak to you offline I guess during the week with you and with Bob and we'll try to um make sure that that um we Rectify some of these these omissions in the second world thank you Ju Just So reiterate the the budget will change for the for the coming years what's what's on here is no way reflective of what's going to happen next year we do have some numbers in there but you know it will change it will not stay exactly the way it is right talk about it because there's some roads I mean that are just so I mean they're just in such incredibly poor position condition and I mean I don't need to go through them with you but but I but I've been in V touring all the roads and um and I and I've been take keeping a list so you know in the last couple weeks so we'll talk we can talk about that um know um I guess during the week um you know while since since I'm still on here and I I had a I had a couple of other questions um you know so for example even with road work like some of the stuff was passed on prior budgets but they're still here so they're just here to be done but not not really the money's already budg Ed for that so for example like another like another terrible Road would be Jones Road South of where they're working it it's in just such incredibly poor condition um people have been complaining about it for two years now it was on the capital budget before I even came on the council but it wasn't done uh so I see it's still on the list here are we are we going to do it this year or we we are hoping to get it done the issue we had with with doing Jones Road there is because as you know the bridge is is going to impact it's GNA it's going to impact the roadway they're going to elevate the bridge um and what we're trying to get from do is how far back they're gonna go with their you know with their Paving part of the bridge once the bridge is elevated that's going to change the the uh the trajectory of Jones into the bridge so what we're going to do is Mark that out and pave the rest of Jones Road but there is going to be a section know Jones Road that we may just patch up but it's not going to get repaired road that road as of like this evening really needs to be patched up I mean it's it's it's I mean if you should drive by this week it's really in in in just terrible condition and the the other question I would ask you has to do um with with Flat Rock so so so we we put and I may be I mean maybe you can help help clarify this for me um we we put money into the capital budget for Flat Rocks for Flat Rock for their parking years ago few years ago not too long ago maybe two three years ago if you remember and I see it's in the budget now again what exactly Flat Rock um parking is in the is in the budget is this the Jones Road parking expansion or is this back to parking lot up VI van norren no this is the back parking lot the older um budget that was what was in the budget previously was the lot the gravel lot that they had they wanted to put pervious parking there Etc that never happened I believe that got taken off the eventually that got taken off and swapped out I believe I can verify that with Michael I know exactly what we with it what we did with it is we took it off and we gave them that money towards their Jones Road restoration uh renovation project that's ongoing th this is for the parking along Jones Road okay and and um and how many spot how many spots are we adding there and has yeah that's that's something we're still determining that's something that's it's still in in design phase we haven't really determine just how much we can squeeze in there yet okay all right so thank you and and I'll speak to you um another time with with Bob offline thanks anybody else have any um questions for Mr Voli Mr Mr VY yes sir um I'm sure we'll come back to you since nobody has um any questions for you right now um in terms of the capital but s we be re revisiting because you did say it's a tick up from 8.8 to n something which which takes this which takes this budget over 2.5 and and I'll start right here with the sledgehammer I I will not vote for anything over 2% that the the two overtime issues that I have with the fire and the police over a million dollars each um and they've gotten the bulk of whatever we were dealing this year uh has been extensive and and I'd like to see those budgets going the in the opposite direction I think the overtime is too high for that for those two departments and I think that when you start doing that people start comingling that with their salaries and that increases their salaries but to keep it over a million plus on each one I just think that that's not good practice for us it's not healthy for us when we have other departments that need help engineering Health Department Library you know I think we should be a little bit more generous in spreading the wealth around but I think we should really look at overtime and how it is in the city of Anglewood so that's my thing and Mr VY what also I'd like to see you do is what is a priority what what are the priorities for us and and share that with the council in terms of capital in your mind so that each council member understands and knows what the priorities are because we should take care of the priorities uh first and then nice to have second but everybody should be able to do that because uh you know yeah and that's the way it is yeah in in my mind to answer that question flooding is is always an issue it's always an issue it it's you know it doesn't happen every day but when it happens it impacts so many people on so many different levels I said the roads are just a visual issue that everyone sees every day and it's rough and people are having issues with their cars Etc um and I get that um and they they need to get done but you know we've been hit with some storm events that have really you know um I'm sure everyone would trade having bad roadways to dealing with some of these you know some of the impact some of these storm events have had so drainage is is crucial drainage is to me and as that's that's you know it's my opinion drainage is the most important thing we have to deal with try to Evo let me just cut you off for one second I apologize but the Evo right there by Elmore Avenue you see that water that's running there it's water there along with that fire hydrant over there at 46 Lafayette Avenue that's a regular thing that's in councilman Wilson's Ward but that's a regular in terms of flooding that's that's that's a regular that has to be fixed because when it gets cold you know something is compromised there with that building who knows what it is uh and I saw Viola out there last week and they because they had the Street closed down but I the when it rained the other day was like a puddle over there I mean you know the water sitting around that fire hydrant and and the curb the curb is not even a curb no more right it's just it needs to be raised up so so I guess it that that part of the street right there is not pitched correctly so the water will run to that drain that's on the south part of it but but again I I do agree with you we should look at everything uh with well flood mitigation in all the wards prioritize them so we can you know try to late as much flooding as possible I agree with you there anybody Council Wilson um yeah I think we were just waiting for update on Lafayette I think we had a a broken sewer pipe there um and it wasn't accepting uh the water so it was backing up and that's why I let in earlier in regards to all new structures all new housing we have to make sure that the drainage is is proper we're doing some things on the planning board and you know a big concern is is the drainage we get individuals here that on the top of their list is building they build then they disappear and we're stuck with the water so I would just like fron you know what we we've had this discussion over and over so it's consistent and I think you have a handle on it uh but we just have to be mindful understood Mr coffin and Mr Hoffman you guys have any comments on on what because we're going to I I don't know what anybody else feels but as I said well it seems like it seems like we don't if if the council is not going to vote on a budget that's over 2% that we have to cut $355,000 from what we presented to the council and that I mean just from the budget meetings we've had people have said they want to give the Departments what they want hire this hire that but yeah what we'll do is we we'll go through we have we have notes and we'll we'll go through and then we'll uh you know we will we will have a we will have a a draft budget that will will be at 2% but um you know council president there's a couple things that we need we needed to just clarify off offline and I hope we can do that later this week okay that's fine I'm just I'm I'm I'm just I'm I'm being real uh honest with you that I looked at those two overtime lines and and that's a lot to put on the people's back who's paying taxes here in the city of Anglewood and we should always consider how we we always say if we hire more people we'll reduce the overtime but really a million plus and I've done that if you look around all the fire departments and police departments in Bergen County you know million dollars is a lot in the overtime for the size of the department listen I don't mind giving people you know what they ask for but I also got to make sure and be mindful of the people who have to pay the bills as well so and we all should be mindful of that you know paying these tax bills so if you go and we can have a conversation about that and we see what how we do it we challenge ourselves to to to see what we can come up with yeah yeah the CFO and I we we'll sit down and we'll we'll come up with with some with some things um okay and then then we'll get back to you sounds good all right yeah I just um I wanted us to have a conversation probably offline in regards to some of the hard stops of some of the budgetary things that I think may slow down some of the overtime um so there there's several different issues that I think that we can kind of clean up and sharpen up I think the most important part for me was to see the presentation have an initial discussion and then go back in and uh get some clarity on some things that may look a little bit um different and I think that we we as a council will have the opportunity to refine certain things yeah I and I think whatever comments that we have we should send them directly to Mr Kaufman and Mr Hoffman and we can follow with them with your with your personal comments yeah that's fair right that would be good because I I have about 30 pages of notes from the from the meetings okay yeah that sounds good I think that that's a plan for us and if that's it we can go to public session and then hopefully we can let everybody uh go home oh yeah yansy there she is sorry I have if everybody's if everybody is good why don't we just uh go to mancy we can public we can pivot to the public session Y and then if we don't have any questions after that we can call the night because we got to do this tomorrow night as well right in person in person so uh Yancy let's do we have anybody in public yes uh right now you have two hand raised uh first one is ramond Diaz three minutes correct yes three minutes okay Mr Diaz please unmute yourself I have my hand lowered excuse me thank you uh I appreciate it um you can have your time back thank you appreciate thanks R thank you all right y who else because the sand is raced okay on okay next is Diane johnsonan please unmute Jansen Nancy thank you uh uh president Cobb um I don't I'm not going to comment too much on any uh specific uh items that you did tonight I just want because you're going to be redoing the budget and getting it down and I I'm so glad to hear that because the taxes have have gone up and you know without a community center I'm really not willing to pay more taxes um so I wanted to also say that there's some simple things that need to be done and I don't know if they're in the budget or not but a few years back um we did a lot of Road repairs and they were mostly in W WS one and W two in fact I did an analysis about that and I was almost embarrassed uh to live in too and have such nice roadways on our side of the railroad tracks I hate to say it but the East Side meanwhile going on the west side I could not believe what I was saying uh especially around the schools and stuff and I think for school safety we really need to still uh uh Mark the streets better um when you come over here uh you know everything is nicely painted you see the white lines the yellow lines the nice curves but you know when you go on uh in WS uh uh two uh pardon me three and four many times you don't and these are areas where children are walking older people are walking um so I just would like to see that finally taking care of once and for all so that when you're driving around you don't feel like it's a tail of two cities thank you thank you Yancy no one else has their hand raised uh so we're coming at this time for the meeting we're going to close the public session and we're going to move to adjourn I need a motion I make a motion that we adjourn I'll second it all in favor all right I meetings adjourned see you guys see you folks tomorrow see you all tomorrow all right thank you you have a good sorry I left you on here what happened Yi I left Diane on Ah that's okay good night good night good nights