okay thank you and as I said before now for anybody who's watching through YouTube um we are uh missing a moderator um and this sort of situation is something we've been finding could come up and we need to figure out moving forward how we that matters but it's such a winwin for business owners as well as the customers um that that's critical so skip the stuff for those people are not familiar it's a policy in which um restaurants only give out Cutlery and condiments upon request so if a person wants Cutlery or condiments for a takeout order they are welcome to to get it um but they will but they will be saving restaurant owners will be saving thousands of dollarss depending on the size and of of the business do I keep going um sorry ditto um but there's 40 billion discarded utensils single use uh uh discarded in the United States it's an you know how many of us go to a restaurant get uh a takeout order take it back home open up the bag and realize that it's full of ketchup packets or so sauce packets or the plastic flimsy silverware that we're not going to use so we do one of two things we either immediately throw it away in the garbage or how many of us have me have a junk drawer in our kitchen full of plastic utensils that we probably will never use and have a refrigerator full of condiments that in my case I throw away after a year when I realize they have expired um and think about the waste that that has happened to the to the environment but the restaurant owner is forking that bill that is an unnecessary expense for the restaurant owner um again depending on the size of the restaurant it can be thousands of dollars of savings for them to not have to provide me with silverware and condiments that I don't actually want so to me it's a it's an absolute winwin triple win uh ordinance we're trying to go town by Town um Red Bank is voting on it as we speak right now we tweaked the ordinance uh two three weeks ago um it's very simple language they're weaving it into their bag band um I met with another town earlier in the week There's a number of towns who we doing this I met with um I had a zoom call with Senator Smith this past week uh who's interested in passing a law but that takes a time so in the you know and so by going town by Town it gets the job done it shows the support um so we can um save restaurants in the meantime so I'd love to answer any questionss if people have any well thank you Marta and I know um a sample ordinance uh was sent around to the council um so they did have an idea before you came in about you know the language and and what you were going to be speaking about um I I want to open it up then to council members who might have any questions council president well I just I want to touch on something Miss Young said regarding the the savings to the business uh when I brought this up with our Small Business board uh there's a couple of restaurant owners and operators on there uh most of them were already doing this anyway as a cost savings measure so it didn't really even blip their radar they're like sure why not and this keeps them support well and I will say I noticed like on door Dash do because I cook so much um but I don't often do door dash at all but I on door Dash they they do have um a little section you actually have to click it to get anything of they've actually made it so that you automatically don't get the um utensils and the condiments unless you ask for it so uh or or I may have set that up on my somehow but I do there is a little section on some of those so it's it's interesting that this is getting more and more mainstream um anybody else how's every um can I ask uh the council's feelings on moving forward with something like this I know I hope you've got a chance to take a look at that ordinance um any feelings um I recently uh read a report where the plastic bag band has shown to have really substantial positive effects for the community and I think this is uh in supplement of that so I I I concur I like it I do think actually Cranford um have they I think they implemented it like they weaved it in years ago with their bag band so you know we we do have a neighboring municipality to take a look at their ordinance as well I did I looked at Cranford I wound up uh the model that I used to draft off of ended up being Mabel Woods okay I think it was a more recent adoption um and we didn't have specifically the plastic bag ban anywhere on our local code so I think Mr abronson can correct me if I'm wrong that we would have to create a new chapter add it somewhere to an existing he's not in yes so thank you well if everybody's in agreement and thinks this is a good thing for Garwood which I I hope you do I'm glad uh to hear about it um should we send it forward to our attorney to take a look I just have a question are we really GNA find the businesses if they put well we in a bag I think there's certain amount of logic to be used for this I think any of those little small fee that the enforcement fees are meant to have a um you know it's the deterrent it's to it's to kind of encourage them not to do it do I think our code enforcement officer is going to go over there and and issue a ticket if somebody calls and said no I think there's the discussion that you have with the business to to let them know um and we do have uh our code enforcement officer who can so distribute the notice about this um to the various businesses ahead of time that's yes so in February of 23 New York City passed it yeah and it's been a big success and to answer your question I don't think restaurants I mean sure you might have a a waitress or waiter you know kid that might not understand it but I think it's such a no-brainer for a restaurant that they wouldn't want to just give you silverware if you didn't want so I think the enforcement thing is probably not going to be a big issue I mean we we spoke about that council president because it's not as if we're trying to like you know come down with the hammer on our our businesses it's more about you know some sort of encouragement to do this and mayor the model code that I pulled the fines were actually much higher I think maybe would just had like a scheme for if you violate a local ordinance it's this this and this like across the board um so I reduced them substantially from from what was on iel should be any sort of uh substantial penalty yeah just um and in our discussion I felt the same way if we're if we're adding something into the burrow code there has to be a little bit of teeth behind it otherwise we could just issue a statement did you have something I think that a lot of restaurants are already doing it so I know many around I know many are because I take out and yeah they they already ask you they already ask you what you need and what you don't so I don't think it'll be a big deal I'm definitely for it okay so straw hold to move ahead and send it over to get looked examined no for you okay um Adam so we will uh council president since you had that if you could send it I'll forward you the uh the model and and if you could I I now that we'll be uh Miss with Miss Bruns her name you what I'm sorry yeah yeah okay thank you uh we will move along to our second presentation of the night um we have Steven Dunn here actually uh he used to be a Garwood resident he grew up here so once a Garwood resident always a Garwood resident um he comes to us from Union County connects trails to Trails and the groups kind of merged and now Union County connects has kind of is sort of the umbrella organization that various groups have come under to um support uh utilizing uh rail tracks as pedestrian or bicycle lanes and um we did uh I did have the resolution the sample resolution distributed to the council as well so they could take a look at it um but I wanted Mr Dunn to come and speak a little bit about it before we put it on any agendas so thank you the floor is yours thank you I appreciate it as the mayor told already I spent the first 22 years of my life here in Garwood and I'm a little embarrassed to say I think this is my first council meeting so thank you for having me I appreciate it uh just a little backstory on Union County connects we started out as a Facebook group in 2020 called Union County rails trails and in h 2021 of December we formally um filed paperwork to be a 501c3 charity organization um it started out kind of a small project three and a half miles of unused railroad from Cranford to Elizabeth and what I've been telling people is we have a lot hidden in plain sight here in Union County uh that we don't really know about I consider myself kind of an outdoors person a bit of an adventurer and I never knew that we had the Ry Valley Railroad going from over CPO and Summit all the way down uh to roselt park 7.3 miles of property just sitting there waiting to be turned into a trail um so I can talk to you all day about this but I'll keep it short uh we were successful last year in helping the county uh be awarded $1.5 million for a rail trck conversion in uh it's going to go from roselt Park to uh Kenworth and also we helped to attract 1 million dollar for the East Coast Greenway connection going from the gothos bridge into Cranford uh the reason we're here tonight is we're asking for more support um formal written support for Union County connects now before it was the rails Trails Facebook group now we're an official organization um that want support for and also the mission has expanded you know in my mind what I want to do is change the map in your mind to get around Union County I think for most of us growing up and throughout our time you know living here if you want to get somewhere you have these pictures of roads in your head you know Route 28 the parkway 22 78 what I want you to be is to walk out your front door and if you want to walk your bike somewhere you have an option of safe off-road multi-use path that you can take and by having the support of towns like Garwood which is right at the center of it all um we'll be able to to go to other stakeholders and say hey let's get this going specifically so everyone those here the the the hardest part is going to be this red line which is this the abandoned con rail it's still owned by the railroad so we're going to need a lot of support to get that the raway Valley Railroad was a little bit easier because it was already owned by the government than NJ do that's why that's moving along quicker and we actually have a new map which is extending this red line along the active right away um which is the ren Valley line all the way down to Westfield there used to be five trains that actually ran along the r and Valley Line here now there's only two so in our mind that's pretty much underutilized valuable Transportation property that can be used uh for multi-use p to connect bike and Walkers to Transit um safely uh just a little backstory I'm a bike commuter myself I'm a firefighter in Elizabeth I was hit by a car and broke my collar bone two years ago almost three years ago now ironically leaving the first meeting of the Kenworth Rails to Trails committee um so it's um and also one more layer to add to it I was uh I started out my emergency service career here volunteering for the first a squad and I see unfortunately a lot of death and injury on our roadways uh so Union County connect is advocating for safer uh pedestrian and bicycle passage on all LS that we can and I appreciate the time and and I look forward and hope for the support and um working together thank you um th this has my full support I you know we hear all the time at these Council meetings about traffic and we have you know new developments coming up all all along the you know South and North Avenue and um something like this is an actual uh program initiative that can really help with that because we we all sort of go what can we do with all of this traffic well we can encourage people to to use these sort of lines to to get to where they need to be so this is an actual tangible possible solution no it's not a solution for everything traffic-wise in this area but it's it's a piece of it and so I appreciate you bringing for that forward to us uh I want to open it up for any questions from the council um how are you um planning on giving access from the town between so between Garwood and Westfield is there a plan to to achieve some sort of access points to get onto the the unused Trail yes so I'm first ver we're not the planning organization we're just an advocacy organization so the planning would come down to individual municipalities there's already trans to be involved in this um this this is a big wall this is a wall project for getting access to the right of way up on NJ Transit and also the the abandoned it's unused but still owned by the so there are plenty of access points I could I could go and show you I know where they are and how to do it um that being said I don't want to misrepresent myself as an actual plan to do um yes Mr Dunn um if I if I may u we had done a uh study here I think back in 2020 and uh part of it I forget the name of it you know the what I'm talking about with all the various bicycle Network plan yes so uh one of the things that had stuck in my head from that presentation years ago was the uh Center Street is very wide and uh I've watched a lot of your videos on Instagram and uh you know seen you measuring out inter intersections and crosswalks and such um we did have a preliminary discussion in our Public Works committee about uh potentially establishing a protected bike lane on Center which uh you know would serve to kind of feed people towards the railroad tracks that are at the center of our town I don't know how we would get people up there like said nobody nobody up here's a planner either but um I do know that it's going to be a long haul uh was happy to support this and uh I helped bring this to the council in 21 with um Jay who's uh he's now a councilman in Rosell Park but this was before he uh he had run for office and uh I would love to support this again yeah I appreciate and just to a little side note there are zero protective bike Wings in all of un County and we would be the first I am here and willing to cheerlead and build support and scream from the rooftops for anyone who was it's only Center Street it's not that long just so I have been in talks with the chair of the Green Team about a particular loop on the North side that can sort of connect Cranford Garwood and Westfield um so it's it's something and and I you know that's we always look I sometimes always say baby steps and I think that is something very doable actually the more that I've spoken with with the green team chair about it um so I'm sure we're going to need your help on that so if I could just tell you one more thing since I don't have garwood's drawn out this is westfields this is the the county so everything you see on that map and everything that we do personally at Union County connects so try and make sure it's within existing County Master plans Municipal Master bike and walk plans so the God one I've read front to back I love it it's beautiful um the thing is we have this this for example is a bike network of the county from 2007 nothing's been done on you know so Garwood is only four years old now but uh like I said anything we can and we'll do on it good I think yeah terrific anybody else have any questions well um if the council's okay we can uh send the resolution over to miss Cameron and put it on the agenda for the next meeting very much okay thank you okay appreciate it we will move on to our uh Report with our burrow engineer depending upon how quickly keep you don't have to want for all of it's very unlikely you know maybe the end of March ANP wasn't agend me today after and Clint um had indicated that the food does not have a jet they have ch but not back so that's the kind of equipment we need because the line is we need the mechanism to do that so it is under within our right away do has not responded to our request for assistance not surprising but I think ultimately they would probably nonetheless the question is what do we do with that so if we don't have the equipment and we retain so privately we field or alternatively I'm not trying to set that up but Springfield has a jet I know theyed so it's an option but I think if we want to correct that problem I know the Chiefs the back get a jet V from somebody that okay thank you thank you Mr disco um does anybody have any questions first for Mr disco okay if I can then um refer this issue once again back over to Public Works um and if you can uh coordinate with uh superintendent Dixon to figure out where we want to go with this it's obviously something we have to deal with um and I don't see putting it off as as really helpful um so if we can figure out where we want to go whether we talk with Springfield or whether we look into one of the uh co-ops to see one of the companies are a part of them um and then report back and we'll we'll figure this out alternatively when we do start construction we do have some CV work coming it's could be two three months away but if we have an AC reach out to these Contra see through that through our original we can certainly get price yeah it might be a little cheaper something else but but that is true it might be easier to fund under uh one of the ordinance the uh road work ordinances so um Mr disco maybe if you go ahead and and do that that would be great okay anything else from Council okay thank you Mr disco and of course if you'd like to head out you're welcome to okay um report from our bur attorney okay and now from Mr Harris our bur and administrator thank you I don't have a report just some comments tonight I I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the employees and volunteers who allowed me to be successful during my time in Garwood also like to thank all the council members whove been supportive of me and I'm very appreciative of having the opportunity to work under two great Mayors who allowed me to perform my duties as as the burough administrator at the highest level I've learned so much during my time in Garwood and created many great memories and Lasting friendships and I wish the best for my co-workers the government body in the residence of Garwood that concludes my report thank you Mr Harris um and I know uh well I'll save my comment for my report so which is coming up now so I um first of course want to say goodbye and good luck to you uh it was truly a pleasure working with you and you have certainly made your impact on Garwood uh in a short time you have streamlined uh many barel practices and you've saved Garwood tens of thousands of dollars um by locating and fixing several inefficiencies um your knowledge and your initiative has been really beneficial for Garwood for the past few years uh and New Hampshire is lucky to have you uh we will miss you but keep your phone on because you're still on my speed dial so you're not rid of us completely so good luck uh I'm very excited however to announce the hiring of Mr John Arthur as you see in resolution 24049 um and I hope the whole Council supports this tonight Mr Arthur will start here in Garwood on April 1st and I will certainly have a a bigger more detailed welcome for him at our first meeting in April but just for a quick intro uh Mr Arthur will be coming to us from East Brunswick where he served as Library director of the East Brunswick library system where he managed almost 70 employees uh with almost $6 million budget so he is extremely knowledgeable in the area of local government uh and I know he will be a great asset to our residents here in Garwood uh and he is here tonight so after the meeting if there's anyone who might want to say hello he has certainly told me he welcomes it so okay uh I also one more thing like to wish a very special person a happy 100th birthday uh Pauline Pearlman a resident at the Village senior housing and a member of the Garwood senior Club is turning 100 years old this Saturday and I've gotten to know Pauline through my work with the senior club and she's truly a bright light she's always very positive always singing uh and always wearing her glitzy sequined hats so I will be presenting Pauline with a mayor's Proclamation at her birthday party this Saturday uh but I'd like to just read it out loud here so everyone can hear it and just get to know more about this great lady so whereas on February 24th 2024 Miss Pauline Perman will celebrate her 100th birthday and whereas Miss Perman Who currently lives in the village senior housing in Garwood grew up in Jersey City as one of 12 children and whereas Miss Pearlman worked as a solderer s solderer yes solderer for Western Electric during World War II uh and often spent her free time during that period period with her girlfriends greeting soldiers in Manhattan and buying them meals to show her support and whereas Miss Pearlman raised six children and proudly supported her husband who was an accomplished AMF bowling salesman and whereas Miss Perman taught sewing lessons for singer was a top demo sales associate traveling to supermarkets throughout New Jersey and worked in sales until her retirement at age 85 and whereas Miss pearlman's Love of sewing prompted her to join the Multicultural do Mak class taught at the raway senior center several years ago and whereas Miss pearlman's vibrant imagination and resourcefulness for using recycled materials has created an inspiring collection of handson Multicultural faceless dolls and whereas Miss pman has proudly displayed her Multicultural doll collection for several years in over 20 public libraries including here in Garwood Mountainside Union and Highland Park and whereas Miss Pearlman has a love for all art and has had her watercolor paintings put on display at Union College for the artworks by Union County series seniors exhibit uh and whereas Miss Perlman continues in her love of glitzy casinos daily coloring and singing and now therefore be it resolved the mayor and Council of the bur of Garwood do hereby extend sincere congratulations and best wishes to miss Pauline Pearlman on her 100th birthday so happy birthday out there Miss Pearlman and we will see you on Saturday for some cake so that is all for me we will move to comments for the council councilwoman Boda thank you mayor um Mr Harris you will be missed it was a short time but it was certainly pleasure you were very very kind and um very welcoming so I'll wish you the best and keep in touch thanks thank you councilman Foley was it something I said was it just it's just me you saw me and you heard for the hill right oh my God I'm gonna miss you man um look um I've known you for a brief time um but I can just tell uh you're a man of conviction uh kind patient uh willing to look through the complex critical problems and you do it with a sort of quiet confidence that is hard to to to replicate um so I'm gonna miss you so great even though you you rejected me um um if I may I also wanted to uh if write I wrote something I wanted to express regarding some of the things I've been seeing the past week over on social media um so I want to just begin um by saying to everyone here residents at home uh who are watching um as your councilman it is my primary duty to safeguard the well-being and security of our Beloved buau the responsibility does not only extend beyond the mere physical it encompasses the health of our community discourse and the Integrity of our Public Square in Rec recent times we have observed a disheartening Trend where the Noble Arena of debate and discussion is Tainted uh by the underhanded tactics of intimidation harass and harassment on social media platforms social media while a tool of immense potential for connectivity and information sharing has increasingly become not a Public Square but rather a combat Arena you see often the algorithms of social media are not neutal it is more designed to be nothing more than an outrage machine inherently unsuited for thoughtful discussion and debate its algorithms are designed to amplify Sensational content prioritizing engagement over accuracy or Nuance this digital environment is fertile ground for misinformation and conflict as it rewards quick emotional reactions over calm reflection and deep thought and in this um constructed environment harassment and histrionic behaviors thrive in our town among others near and far they find themselves held hostage by negativity through bullying and belittling those who stand for community's values not pluralism but monism not deliberation but noise not resolution but combat not compromise but battle the noise yes the noise on these platforms become harder for our community to drown out let me be clear noise is a sign of bad character just as a Noisy Neighbor might disrupt the pece of a community by blasting music at all hours leaving barking dogs unchecked or engaging in loud arguments noise on social media is similarly disruptive it drowns out meaningful dialogue with their hostility demanding attention while contributing little to no value these actions are not just a nuisance it degrades the quality of our community it is crucial to distinguish between a constituent who demands answers and accountability and those who harass and intimidate on the internet the former speak seeks resolution and change and the latter plays aggressor while actively persecuting others moreover recent attacks on our Volunteers in the fire department have further exacerbated this issue enhancing risk and minimizing our Collective safety such aggression undermines the spirit of volunteerism and community service increasing the likelihood of gaps in services and large discrepancies in our Town's essential Services putting our citizens safety and lives at risk and I also want to add another thing that this feeling of of behavior and apathy and avoidance was the most common C complaint I came across during my campaign for councilmen countless individuals expressing great concern about the rhetoric mainly coming from social media platforms and how it a negatively impacts our town they expressed feelings overwhelmed by the toxicity and refused to take part in our local Civics due to apathy or fear of harassment from community members this is a loss for us all eroding the foundation of our community and leaving us vulnerable and unsafe let me be clear the Relentless noise and vital over the years and the attacks on our fire department volunteers has and is creating clim of a climate of apathy and reluctance that threatens this community it discourages participation in vital Community Services but also SE division eroding trust and mutual respect among residents this climate of intimidation and fear compromises our ability to respond collectively to emergencies and challenges it is easy to talk nowadays but we find it harder to listen listening it doesn't work on social media only reaction and out AG an unfortunate negative side effect because after all we have two ears one mouth for a reason we have always been better listeners than talkers our species evolved listening prior to developing speech and we list learn to listen way before we ever say our first words and finally the focus on enhancing our Public Square away from social media platforms does not imply less scrutiny for elected officials on the contrary it would invite more more scrutiny more dialog dialogue and more accountability for all of us serving the public for broadening the Public Square will encourage more of our Town's residents to engage in meaningful dialogue advocacy and for more people to even run for after all real quick I hate the idea of running a uncontested primary happens all through the state and I'm saying this is somebody who's who's running this year so all of this contributes to a better Garwood so in closing the Public Square is not in danger from a lack of speech far from it but from an overwhelming amount of vital which creates confusion stress apathy and disengagement the barrage of information and constant noise makes it difficult for this meaningful dialogue to occur as we embark on enhancing a Public Square for the 21st century I ask that we please look to focus on constructive respectful dialogue that moves Garwood forward thank you thank you councilman that was very well said councilwoman ndi your comments um I my comments are very short I would like to thank Kyle for all he's done for the burough of Garwood it's just been a pleasure to work with you you've always gone above and beyond in all areas and I'm was very pleased to work with you and I wish you the best thank you councilwoman salmon thank you mayor so I did just want to thank Kyle although we didn't always agree at the end of the day we still worked it out it was definitely a pleasure working with you and I wish you a bunch of luck council president Carney fortunately it's not going to be that short for me either but uh Mr Harris uh I do want to start out with uh I'm going to miss you um you're leaving some very big shoes to fill and I know I'm saying that with your successor sitting in the audience um seriously though good luck on your move uh I hope you get many relaxing hikes through the mountains there um I really appreciated your uh your patience uh especially with council members and uh your quiet professionalism and all your service year and uh I would concur with the mayor that your new town is very lucky to be getting you so thank you um while I'm handing out thank yous uh one is due to Chief stoer and chief scal Adana uh from that's our police and fire chief for those who don't know uh they were able to work quickly to get together quotes uh vet and compare Alternatives with the finance committee and get everything needed in place to prepare for a bond ordinance uh which is on on our agenda for first reading tonight thanks to Mr Harris um this Bond represents our burrow upholding the inherent commitment we make with our First Responders to provide everything they need to get their jobs done and also to have the best chance of coming home safely uh in this case it will be by investing in upto-date technology for two-way radio communications uh it is absolutely essential equipment at this time due to the Eng AG in decreasing functionality of our current system I will be very happy to cast my vote for this Bond as it will finally address a concern I've had since I was first elected in 2020 uh I would also like to thank Miss Young from the Clean Water fund for her presentation and for attending tonight uh I'm looking forward to seeing an ordinance adopting this on a future agenda and I hope when we go up for adoption that you will uh you will come back and celebrate with us uh also Mr dun your presentation was uh outstanding I'm looking forward to supporting that initiative and uh please grab my card before you go because I want to talk to you a little bit more about bike Lanes um and finally um this is going to be a parallel to what council mon Foley had to say but with a slightly different Focus um I uh very much appreciate the consistent and fair coverage by the Union County Hawk of our meetings uh and such coverage of local government is both uh very rare and very vital in 2024 uh I did take exception to a recent headline on an article that they published online I didn't see it in their print version uh I just want to be crystal clear for the record no one on this Council or in garwood's local government is looking to combat scrutiny as councilman Foley discussed uh public scrutiny of the government is inherent uh I welcome scrutiny comment curiosity feedback and criticism this is how we all learn and it's how we can continue to improve our community together through collaboration and shared understanding there is one caveat to this these things must be done in good faith to be productive what I do not welcome is the Warped and toxic version of so-called oversight being practiced um by what seems to be a very small number of people many of whom don't reside in Garwood and it's all carring via social media uh in my opinion the escalation of this along with the repeated innuendo that our town or any of our departments operate in an unsafe manner is disrupting the ability of our professionals to do essential work uh we're unfortunately also seeing bullying and harassment of employees and volunteers by name uh some of whom literally sign up to risk their lives on behalf of the general public for no pay as firefighters while an enhanced level of scrutiny is to be expected for those of us in this room who hold elected offices we're way over the line of what's acceptable even for us uh we're far beyond discussions over policy budgets or even different Visions for Garwood and said we see the same cynical tropes that show up every election season except now it seems like it's all year long and not just a couple of months before November um the the constant refrain of the mayor and Council are incompetent or we can't manage this department or we're doing things in secret we want to destroy the town and so on and so on it just it defies common sense that anybody sitting up here would want to destroy the town uh and it really even to me defies belief that this kind of conduct is being tolerated by our community although I have been heartened recently to see some Brave res residents step up and and push back a little bit online although it is it's a very difficult thing to do because as councilman Foley said it is not really a uh system that's designed to facilitate conversation um so what I stand against is not scrutiny or um public oversight I I stand against Division and anger we all saw what it did to our country on January 6th so I will stand against it here in Garwood um I invite any Resident who wants to discuss issues affecting Garwood to use their smartphone for the purpose of calling or emailing me I know that would be novel but they can make calls too uh I am happy to meet in person anytime I'm available to do so and I promise you it will be a much more effective use of all our time than using that same smartphone to post on Facebook thank you thank you council president well said we will move right along to our minutes uh miss Cameron yes minutes of the meeting of the mayor and Council held on February 8th 2024 minutes of the special meeting of the mayor and Council held on February 14 2024 do I have a motion to accept the minutes as presented so moved second all in favor I opposed communic ations please miss Cameron New Jersey state League of municipalities received and filed Township of Cranford regarding ordinance received and filed rway Valley sewage Authority regarding January minutes received and filed okay we have one uh in one ordinance up for introduction tonight uh miss Cameron can you read Bond ordinance 24-8 by title only yes uh Bond ordinance to authorize the acquisition of new radio equipment for for the use of the police and fire departments in by and for the burrow of Garwood in the county of union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $400,000 to pay the cost thereof to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds thank you um do I have a uh motion to I kind of got cut off on our on my agenda uh do I have a motion to introduce this ordinance I'll make a motion to introduce mayor second second uh roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon I council president Cory I okay we have a number of ordinances up for ad ction tonight so let's get to it uh miss Cameron can you read ordinance number 2401 by title only yes an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burrow of Garwood by amending chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic Article Five entitled speed limits section 13 entitled speed limits uh do we have any correspondence miss Cameron we do not okay does anyone here wish to be heard concerning ordinance number 21-0 uh sorry 24- 01 M Harris anybody online okay can I have a motion to close public hearing on ordinance 24- 01 so moved second second uh any discussion okay can I have a motion to adopt ordinance 24-1 so moved second a roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman Sam I council president Corney I okay miss Cameron can you read 24-3 by title only yes an ordinance amending chapter 67 entitled buildings and structures of the burrow code of the burrow of Garwood by creating new article a registration of rental units uh do we have any correspondence concerning this ordinance we do not does anyone here wish to be heard concerning ordinance 24-3 Mr Patterson just a simple question uh good evening mayor and gentlemen of council Bruce Patterson 325 uh Chris zuba is somehow he's uh he's involved in this right is that his job as part of this I'm only asking only because uh there's another I guess redistribution of UH responsibilities there the reso on the last page page eight the rental property Administration is that different than what Chris newba is doing I think I have his name right right Chris yes we'll answer after thank you that resolution okay is there anybody else Mr Harris anybody online okay can I have a motion to close public uh hearing on this ordinance moved second second uh okay Mr Patterson I'm not yes this would be a part of um mayor the question doesn't pertain to the ordinance it's up for adoption the question pertains to a resolution later in the agenda um yeah and I was trying to find that resolution and I'm 57 the last right okay okay so um Mr Harris do you want to this would uh under this ordinance though Mr zuba would be in doing enforcement under with what's concerning in this order yeah Mr zuba would be doing the enforcement yes okay so if there's a question on the resolution later we can you can ask that during public comment at that point um but that's the answer to the ordinance abortion um okay can we have a motion to adopt some moved second second uh roll call please miss Cameron councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon I'll be recusing myself council president Carney I okay can miss Cameron can you read ordinance 24-4 by title only yes an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burrow of garard by amending chapter 4 entitled Police Department article one establishment organization and administration okay do we have any correspondence concerning this ordinance we do not does anyone here present uh wish to be heard concerning ordinance 24-4 anybody online Mr Harris no okay can I have a motion to close public hearing on 24-4 some moved second second uh any discussion uh can I have a motion to adop adopt ordinance 24-4 I'll make that motion second second uh roll call please miss Cameron councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I okay we're almost there uh miss Cameron can you read 24-5 by title only yes an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burrow of Garwood by creating chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic article one traffic and parking new section 21- 8.8 uh does any do we have any correspondence for this ordinance we do not mayor does anyone present wish to be heard concerning ordinance 24-5 Mr Harris is there anybody online can I have a motion to close public hearing on ordinance 24-5 so moved second uh any discussion can I have a motion to adopt ordinance 24-5 so move second uh roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon I council president Cony I okay miss Cameron can you read 24-6 by title only yes an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burrow of garard by amending chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic article one traffic and parking sections 21-7 1 hour parking 700 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and 21-8 2our parking do we have any correspondence concerning this ordinance we do not does anyone present wish to be heard concerning this ordinance anybody online Mr har okay can I have a motion to close public hearing on 24-6 so moved second uh discussion okay can I have an a motion to adopt ordinance 24-6 second uh roll call please miss Cameron councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon council president Carney I okay last one miss Cameron can you read ordinance 24-7 by title only yes an ordinance fixing salary and wages of certain officials and employees of the borrow of bwood in the county of union state of New Jersey do we have any uh correspondence concerning ordinance 24-7 do not does anyone present wish to be heard concerning this ordinance anybody online Mr Harris okay uh can I have a motion to close public hearing on this ordinance some mov second uh any discussion can I have a motion to adopt this ordinance so moved second second uh roll call please miss Cameron councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon I council president Cory I all right we did it okay we will move along to council standing committee reports and other reports uh finance and Personnel councilman Foley you on the hunt okay the finance committee has reviewed the requirement for funding the upgrade of our Emergency Services radio communication system after thorough discussion we unan unanimously recommended the adoption of a board ordinance a bond ordinance to finance and update the radio system for our First Responders the enhancement of our radio system is critical for the safety and efficiency of our emergency response teams in addition the committee is actively engaged in the preparation for the the 2024 budget we are going to be involved in ongoing meetings with our CFO to focus on ensuring a robust sustainable financial plan for the upcoming fiscal year this process involves careful consideration of of all revenue and expenditure forecast to align with our municipalities strategic goals we will continue this work throughout the month and plan to provide updates on our progress at the next couple of Council meetings our commitment is to transparency and fiscal responsibility as we strive to meet the needs of our Community our special budget meeting will occur on April 9th at 700 p.m. and the budget will be up for adoption with the public hearing of our budget adoption on May 9th at 7M that is all thank you councilman um I do have a fire an oem report from councilman Lazo that he asked me to read the fire committee met on Tuesday and they were provided with an update on the status of the required certifications for all firefighter and officers all of the firefighters that are on tonight's agenda for appointment to officer roles have provided the proper certifications uh Andor documentation to serve in the role any firefighters in the department that did not have the proper certification Andor documentation uh were informed and have been brought to the proper level as soon as they provide the required certifications they can be reinstated into their former position uh in terms of the lad truck we still do not have a quote nor length of time uh it may be out of commission our insurance does not cover rentals of any kind we can rely on Mutual aid for latter truck needs as we did before we had purchased the ladder truck when we get an update on this it will be reported to the public and finally I just want to express my gratitude for the dedication and incredible sacrifice of time devoted to our town by our fire department while public scrutiny is a necessary part of having uh of having equipment publicly funded it doesn't mean that we shouldn't also consistently celebrate the contributions the department has made to our town from Santa visits spray Downs in the summer as well as their ability to grow the department to cover more daytime shifts we are so fortunate to have these individuals looking out to protect our residents from what can be a catastrophic event perhaps I'm a hopeless Optimist but it is okay to celebrate and question at the same time it makes our department more accountable but lets them know we support them too Community Development councilwoman salmon no report mayor uh Public Works councilwoman Boda thank you mayor in addition to all their recurring duties Public Work employees assembl and continue to install the permit parking signs in various locations of the barrel completed painting of the administrative offices and began to paint the common hallway in the municipal building prepared all plowing and de iing equipment for the forecast is now on February 13th Public Works employees worked a total of 30 man hours of over time and a total of 68 man hours of regular time they Di and plowed all Municipal streets and bar own sidewalks and parking lots before and after the storm they travel to the Union County Public Works facility and loaded Each truck with salt before and after the storms provided residential garbage pickup on the north side of the Barrow once fallowing operations were complete it was a very long day for them during the winter snow of uh February 17th Public Works employees worked a total of 54 and a half man hours of over time removed stack pile snow from around the school drop off zones after each snowstorm they perform repairs to all the snow plow equipment and wash all snow removal Vehicles salting was performance needed on the bar own sidewalks parking lots and streets numerous times throughout the day due to freezing conditions uh the Public Works committee is meeting next week to review pending items and I will report back at our March 7 council meeting I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Public Works employees for their amazing work during the past snow storms and daily tasks please know that your hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed thank you that's all for my report thank you councilwoman uh police and Public Safety Council president Carney uh thank you mayor uh I'm going to pull a few topics into the police committee that have come up since our last council meeting uh several residents have reached out to me with concerns about violations of the ordinance concerning off- street parking during snowstorms and I know the mayor and a few other council members have uh heard from a few people as well uh I've spoken with Chief stoer on the issue and he's noted compliance with this is not as good as it used to be uh and uh number of summonses have been issued during the last two snow events uh I know we haven't had much snow over the last few years and we do have a lot of new residents but I would like to discuss in committee how we can better spread awareness of this rule uh and I would also consider stepping up enforcement to get better results if the committee and Council and the chief support that uh I want to point out that the current burrow code does provide for the towing of vehicles that are in violation What appears to me at an officer's discretion uh if it's impeding the roadway and I know this had been done uh in past years when a vehicle was in fact impeding the dpw's ability to to plow properly um also we've been receiving resident feedback from a few blocks regarding the update to the permit parking area uh so we'll discuss that a little further as well and uh I'm sure we'll have a few other things before our next police committee meeting which is scheduled for the first week in March so I'll have a report back at the next council meeting okay thank you uh Community engagement Council menaldi yes thank you mayor uh the recreation committee held its regular meeting on February 12th to discuss and plan our townwide Easter celebrations upcoming is the Garwood Easter egg hunt on Saturday March 23rd at 11:00 a.m. at the Garwood Sports and Recreation Complex the rain date is set for Saturday March 30th at 300 p.m. this event is for toddlers through third grade the Easter Bunny drive around uh will be occurring on Saturday March 30th uh presented by the Garwood Recreation committee and the Garwood fire department the Easter Bunny will make his way around town between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon the Garwood partnership for arts and culture held its regular meeting on February 12th to discuss upcoming Arts events up next in our Discover series is discover art in nature with Gabby bevens this event is scheduled for Saturday March 16th at the um recreation center from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for ages 6 to 13 for this free event all supplies will be provided walk around observe nature take notes notice natural features and create your own nature Journal coming up in may we will have discover the art of collage with Leona sufer on Saturday May 4th at 5:00 p.m. this is a free event also for adults learn how to add three-dimensional items such as lace and fabrics to your collage and also work with digital collage altering photographs and superimposing images um another free event we have coming up is the Garwood family skate night Saturday March 16th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Warren inco Sports Center this event is open to Garwood residents of all ages pre- registration is required to sign sign up for this free event please visit um Garwood rec.com skates are available for rent on site for $4 a pair um there are many youth programs that are coming up I mentioned them last on my last report I'll just um sort of give you an overview we have stem uh beginner youth python coding program for ages um 3rd through 8th graders this will be taking place during Spring Break um so please Reg register for that Wednesday Thursday and Friday April 3rd 5th through 5th from 9 to 12: p.m. uh there's also parent assist soccer for ages two to two and a half to three and a half run by Sports Institute uh that runs on Saturday mornings soccer squirts ages 3 to 4 also run by us Sports Institute runs on Saturday mornings from 9:30 sorry 950 to 10:35 uh there's Al soccer squirts for ages 4 to 5 and A2 also run by us Sports Institute on Saturday mornings from 10:40 to 11:25 uh the Garwood summer camp will be running this sum this summer from June 24th to August 9th 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 pm. grades uh K through 8 there's also adult Ceramics uh registration is still open for March 6th a and April 10th and May 8th and that's all for my my report thank you councilwoman excuse me I have the library report from councilman Lazaro just a few different items um March 5th at 3M there's a virtual kids craft and then March 12th at 3m. a virtual adult craft pick up your craft supplies at 3 pm and then watch the Facebook tutorial after registration is required for craft kits and is limited to 15 participants for kids and 10 per adults sign up on the library's website events calendar or by phone uh March 7 14th 21st and 28th at 3 p.m. is brixology using Legos kids will build engineering themed projects each week they will explore mechanical structural and nautical engineering for kids in second grade and older registration is required and then at March 13th and 27th at 3 P.M there's Lego Club be inspired by this month's theme or build whatever comes to mind some some will be displayed in our showcase and registration is required and limited to 12 okay school board leaz on council president Carney the Garwood Board of Education met this past Tuesday February 20th uh action taken specific to the burrow was an approval for Garwood Recreation to use the cafeteria on March 1st from 6:00 to 9:00 pm for the end ofe basketball pizza party and metal ceremony uh in the committee reports the board indicated policies regarding use of school facilities uh which affect various Bo burrow programs were progressing uh in his monthly report superintendent superintendent Kenny uh reported on numerous school activities and also on a construction project which will start on or about March 22nd uh this project will include the replacement of sidewalks alongside the school building uh so there may need to be a plan for an alternative walking route uh while the project is in progress and this is the side of the building uh not not the street side not Walnut side it's the the other side um so I know a lot of the that's more for the students uh but I know some parents also cut through back there to get to the black top uh I used to when my kids got out that way so he just wanted to make sure everybody was aware this was going on uh there is an overhead uh map of the project uh shown in the full superintendence report uh which is posted on the Garwood school's website just click on Administration from their main page and follow the link under Mr Kenny's name for the most current report uh I encourage everyone in Garwood not just parents with children in the schools to check these excellent and detailed reports out about our school district uh also mayor blumenstock and I are scheduled for our monthly meeting with the superintendent and board president on Wednesday March 7th uh we'll be following up on a number of topics we've been in discussion with the school district about including the use of facilities by our Recreation programs uh the use of the school as an alternate location due to weather during this year's summer rec Camp uh and general followup on policies and potential capital projects uh the board's next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday March 19th and also everyone put a pin on your calendars for their April 16th meeting which will include their public budget hearing and that's all for this report thank you council president uh I have our senior citizen liaison report at our last meeting on February 15th we said goodbye to senior director Kathleen W binsky who we thank for many years of service to Garwood and specifically to the seniors uh Recreation director kacha lysc will now be assuming the duties of senior director and she stopped by to introduce herself and talk to the club a bit we are looking forward to working with her in that capacity our first meeting in March on March 7th has been cancelled our club meetings will resume on March 21st at 12:00 p.m. at the Nights of Columbus uh small business advisory council president Carney uh thank you mayor Garwood Wellness month is wrapping up the this weekend uh please see the Burrow's social media feeds or check out garwood.nj will include a review of Wellness month and preparations for our next promotion which is my absolute favorite one uh the taste of Garwood which is tentatively set for miday and that's all for this report thank you council president uh Board of Health councilman Foley uh nothing to report at this time planning board lers on councilwoman salmon next meeting of the planning board is February 28th okay thank you moving right along to officers reports miss Cameron uh chief of police monthly reports for January 2024 Police Department year and reports for 2023 um do I need a a motion because I don't have it on that do we do that now okay um we will move along to public comment if there's anybody in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and Council please step to the microphone and state your full name and address please limit your comments to five minutes who wants to be first hey good evening mayor and Council who's that guyam 12 rept if you didn't know that um I I rise today just once again to thank and commend Mr Harris for wonderful service to his community U got to know you you know quite well and uh I know what a standup guy you are and everything everybody said was absolutely absolutely true 100% And I wish you only the best as you venture North just remember uh it is a little warmer down here so global warming could be warmer there soon too um I also want to uh just mention how uh pleased I was to see Bond ordinance 2408 um in my five years on this Council one of the most vexing problems that we faced not just us but the entire town was issues with with our radios and our First Responders reliability issues um different options that we had uh we were were weighing at the time that didn't pan out for whatever reason dead ends mostly um we knew it was going to be a very expensive fix a very very uh High bar to get over um three years ago when I was the fire commissioner I mean it was a constant conversation in in Chief scal adona's office about what to do and constantly uh complaining and explaining about um issues with um just radios that didn't work and it really hit a home for me when we had the house fire just down the street and our deputy chief was in the Attic uh trying to put out hotpots before they could leave the scene and uh the fire had burned up through the center of the the house so he literally at one o'clock in the morning had could fallen through a from the second FL to the basement and probably lost his life and nobody would even known because his radio didn't work so uh you know that was very chilling to hear that story and many many others and then uh being the police commissioner for the last few years you know talking to Chief stoer on a constant Bas basis about uh radio problems um just kept it at the Forefront so I'm very very gratified to see coming up with this Bond ordinance to fix this um get into the 21st century with radio so important nobody should lose their life or their their health or safety over uh inability to communicate just outside 50 feet literally so very happy about that congratulations Council and uh move forward more good work thank you thank you Mr Graham is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and Council thank you Mayor Bill nearad 320 Hickory Avenue um some of you know that you know I'll pick up any plastic bottle that I see along the street and uh uh I'm always afraid that um let me rephrase that uh I know that we all do our best not to uh throw these plastic bottles around um but too many of us don't use Reus usable containers so the Green Team um who I'd like to invite there are other members of the Green Team here if anybody wants to come up uh the green team decided as you all hold up your water bottles I appreciate that uh the green team decided that it might be in the best interest and Advance one of the things that the green team is all about is if we actually purchased and I'd like to stay for the record we did not use tax dollars to purchase these because I know that question will be asked um Green Team you might know Kim farara um green team has purchased um reusable water bottles for every member you will if you open these you will take note that um um the green boogo is is on there have I'll grab marks I got marks one more I think you oh you have one we need a I love that that's awesome everyone well this was an Andy design so you're not here we had we had purchased 10 we had one in advance for you when you came on so might as well give see it up there but it's got the green team logo on it so um obviously you can continue to use your own but we what we don't want to see and what I will you know publicly uh you know challenge you on is if any of you um you know have a plastic water bottle in the future uh miss Cameron I know when I was on Council the little plastic water bottles were actually handed out to members I don't know if I speak for anyone besides the green team members but you know we would appreciated if those water bottles were not handed out and if Burl Hall didn't purchase any more plastic water so um I leave that out there I look forward to you using them you know I will ask you you know where they are if you don't have them um did I miss anything anybody like to thank him for getting uh the labels on there and uh I reserve my uh time to talk about other issues uh in a few minutes thank you well thank you this is uh this is awesome these are really great ones so and I love having that logo on there so anything Green Team works for me okay is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and Council Donnie Pritchard 410 sp7 of Garwood I come here every time the B council meeting it's my right to do so as a citizen we must back our police officers and firefighters and risky Squad Personnel because they're out there 24 hours a day seven days a week they're out there for us they're the ones you can can on when going gets rough here they want to count on there the I'll be there every fear kind of people that you can count on we must back them up in every way abolishing police departments abolishing fire departments abolishing risky squats is not the answer and Mark well what I to say ladies and gentlemen should never be the answer we must back them up every way and we must back them up we must back our soldiers Sailors Marines coast guards men aren as they serve our country and defending our C defending our nation both at our own abroad we failed to do so during the war in Vietnam three of garage Sons were lost fighting for us they loved us so every day in aund ways they told us so in honesty and affection they told us so they loved us so every day in aund ways they showed us so with with loyalty and bravery they showed us so they were our Defenders and they kept us free they took it o to guard us and fought for Liberty they loved us so and we should know for we loved them so and finally we need to pressure the state legislature in Trenton to reopen some closed hospitals such as milenberg because what if 911 attack occurs don't need those hospitals very badly the sooner we activate some closed hospitals the better off we all will be don't make myself clear thank you Mr prit is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and councel I'm evina 256 North Avenue um like everybody else I follow social media and um I don't see it as bashing I see it as criticism criticism is backed by fact that's the difference and it's really no different when a cting councilman was bashing parents who came out to speak against a convoluted sex education curriculum in our schools that was acceptable now when questions are being asked that are based on fact and people are looking for answers that's unacceptable I see a double standard arising here um the people that you're accusing of bashing the fire department were at one time members we know the internal workings very well in my 18 years years on the fire department there has always been a problem with leadership if you want to sit in a big chair and you want to wear the white hat you need to be prepared to accept some criticism and you need to be prepared to do some explaining when things go wrong if you don't want to do any explaining take the white hat off put the black one back on or go sell pencils on Main Street for all I care but when it comes to Public Safety people are entitled to answers if you want to be a leader and not a politician you need to ask the difficult questions are they difficult sure they are has anybody asked why for example an officer is driving apparatus the officer belongs in the officer seat not behind the steering wheel and working in an environment where we have a dedicated fire department on site where I work I spend a lot of time with those guys my opinion is respected because they know my background I can't join the fire department because I'm not a Company employee I'm a contractor Factor if that were to change my application is right on top why because I have um what you would call a s looking for they know that I know what I'm doing confidence um I have developed confidence with these people and are they excellent at what they do they're very excellent at what they do and they don't do anything a normal Fire Department might do it's all confined space rescue it's high angle rescue it's Hazmat it's all specialty kind of stuff and that's where most of my training lies so there's been a lot of discussion about officers not having requisite certifications I had got those certifications back in 2012 I'm probably the most qualified person who never became an officer because contrary to what councilman Graham might think it is a popularity contest you're elected by the members you're not appointed on any in any basis whatsoever ever on your qualifications it's all a popularity contest if you don't have the popularity you're not getting elected then there's an expectation that once you become a lieutenant you stick around long enough you're one day going to be wear the white hat as Chief without ever taking another class without ever attending another seminar go into a conference or participate in any other educational opportunities get elected Lieutenant you're one day going to be the chief that's a problem if you don't think it's a problem look at any paid care any career fire department they take a test to advance that's how that works if you don't pass the test you don't advance and can volunteers be the same way they absolutely can because professionalism has nothing to do with whether or not you get paid it has to do with your demeanor it has to do with your qualifications and it has to do with how you carry yourself that's what professionalism is career volunteer doesn't matter you should be just as professional regardless of your position thank you is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and Council Mr Patterson come on up good evening mayor L and Gentlemen of the council Bruce patterson5 Will Avenue and to Kyle I'm going to keep the this work product of yours it was great little colorful dots for the parking I mean that was that was a major job he did so it'll be in the historic pares well thank you very much and I'll miss you I didn't uh I didn't get to know you long enough where we could argue so but uh thinky back on what Tom is saying about the the fire department and social media from from the council I mean and I talked about this before I'm an admin of that site that you are talking about and yes on social media of course there there's a lot of noise a lot of battle but the strange thing is when some whistleblowers come on and they start talking about the fire department some somehow you know the government is targeted here and then you're backtracking and trying to marginalize what's going on we had former firefighters actually bringing up serious questions and and I said this last time too you know it's kind of like it was over the top I mean they kept banging away but but anyway but I tried to be a mediator I got them to actually list a lot of questions which I put in a letter and I I sent it to the mayor to and to Kyle to distribute to everybody and dir also and so anyway so now the questions are out there uh we're looking for answers I did get a letter from the mayor U saying you know the insurance questions will be be answered by the proper parties through Oprah uh there are some answers that will be done at the uh Council which I guess is tonight um but then there's a bunch of questions that are are related to the policies and procedures of the fire department themselves and the mayor was saying well why don't you go see uh Chief scal adona well that's not going to work because these are major issues that came out through Facebook and there's a lot of people concerned and there's people that aren't concerned because they're volunteers so we should leave them alone but as Mr evina said professionalism they have to be professional whether they're a paid department or not they have to meet certifications when you know when they're on whether they're volunteer or pay department they have certifications to meet so anyway so these questions are put out there uh you want me to go talk to Chief scal adona but no if if you're really concerned about the Safety and Security of our buau you really should have Chief scal adona come here to explain those questions to the council and if the council has any other questions about it then they could ask you know one-on-one is is just making things go away Mr Carney Council MCC Carney mentioned the same thing text me or call me or something one-on-one but it doesn't go away one-on-one doesn't make it go away the public really needs to know I mean you know the battle is about people versus non-transparency I'll tell you until this came out on Facebook we didn't hear anything about the accident of the 1.5 million doll firet Tru that's going to be out has to be flatbed out to Pennsylvania to have the whole back cab replaced because it's that bad and the the U I don't know who how much it's going to cost and you were right saying the same thing so anyway so so we wouldn't have never known this certifications there obviously is certification problems you're saying that the officers right now on listed in the uh resolution are certified well if that's the case then if I could Oprah the certifications would that be okay I guess you can answer that uh that they all have certifications that week in Oprah uh councilwoman her from last year was saying why don't the why don't the certifications be on file in burough Hall and that's a good question because they should be and I think that's actually one of the questions that we get but anyway but last week there were two emergency meetings one minute regarding this okay I can wrap it up in one minute there were two emergency meetings I guess could you give us an overview of what those two emergency meetings were I mean all this all this is coming out because of these whistleblowers on social media which you say is Battle and and noise and it's not I mean it could be but it's not in this case it's bringing transparency to what's going on behind closed doors that the public doesn't know about that Safety and Security is being diminished the truck is the the 1.5 million doll truck is now out of service or who who knows how long 30 seconds we're not gar we're not hearing about anything about that you mentioned it in passing but only because social media brought it up and that and the title of that article Garwood combat scrutiny I wrote a letter to the Westfield leader I said that's the best article I ever saw because it doesn't have just have to do with Garwood it has to do with the government the government okay Mr Patterson your five minutes are up thank you okay thank you very much is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and counsel thank you and thank you thank you for letting me come back because I was just making a presentation before um I want to thank uh Marty young and Steve D for being here for those who haven't gotten a chance to look at the Union County haulk yet on the front page is an article about Steve and about Union County connects I would encourage you to read that um and I know Council woman salmon you know we've kitted okay you haven't spoken me for two weeks because of what I said at the last meeting I I think there's going to be another the two we period here um because I simply don't understand um a proposal gets put forth that will save local restaurant tours money and will reduce the garbage uh in our garbage cans at home and on our streets and you're opposed to it so I assume you want our restaurant tours to make less money and you want more garbage in our cans and streets I would appreciate it if you could explain that your vote thank you is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and Council Mr Harris anybody online can you state your name and address please just one second we're gonna work on on meeting yeah this no the screen is delayed the screen is delayed yeah the YouTube is about 45 seconds behind reality but the zoom would be pretty close okay can you state your name and address please hi this is Michelle cap biano at 404 Myrtle okay hi um I have a few comments tonight um I saw the rvsa presentation and discussion at the last council meeting and from December 2022 through April of 2023 there was excessive daily average sore flow some of these months were more than 50% higher than the usual flow rate that garw do the rvsa said they do not know why and stated their meters were working and correctly and checked monthly and then the buau has no idea why there is the significant increase so from you know what was said and this is just being looked at it it was kind of clear to me that there was not a process in place by the bureau to review the rvsa flow reports each month to identify large fluctuations and immediately Sound the Alarm if there's an issue the first month uh of excessive sewer flow so you know someone in the buau should be responsible for reviewing the rvsa monthly reports and immediately taking some kind of investigative action if there is excessive flow including tving them if that is what's needed but it needs to happen as the event is going on otherwise looking at it later isn't going to solve the issue um so I guess my question is what will the Burrow's process be going forward to prevent excess sore flow for months without it being fully immediately identified and investigated by the buau garwood's 2024 rvsa share exceeded Mountainside by a a lot of money and ours has always been like $100,000 less than Mountainside Mountainside has a couple thousand more residents than Garwood does so this is concerning you know for taxpayers that we just don't know what happened so my second comment tonight is regarding Street openings and excavations last April 2023 I asked the council to please update the fees as well as the actual ordinance as it hadn't been updated in over 18 years while I appreciate the fees were updated right away the actual ordinance has not been updated almost a year later I previously previously explained that many surrounding towns such as Westfield Berkeley Heights and Rosel Park all updated their ordinances several years ago so much taxpayer dollars and Grant monies have been used to improve and pave our roads recently that the B should do everything to protect that investment orich changes updating the road moratoriums requiring curb to curb full Road restor not just patches as well as infrared patch treatments for repair are small by whoever is working on the road so I'm asking again to please make it a priority to update this ordinance to be in line with other towns so that it helps protect the taxpayers thank you that's all thank you is there anybody else online Mr Harris okay can I have a motion to close public comment second all in favor I okay we had a number of comments tonight um there was just one question in Mr Patterson you asked about what emergency meetings there were I really don't know what you're speaking of in terms of having emergency meeting so that is kind of the problem is I think that there's a lot that goes on and is said on Facebook that there's no context to and nobody knows what's what's you know just things are put out that just aren't necessarily true um and I normally wouldn't respond to you know you sent me the email and you talked about it and I normally I wouldn't respond it wasn't a question and to be honest I I feel like this is getting giving air to things that we shouldn't but I'm I'm going to because I I take issue that you take issue with uh Mr Patterson with me asking you to go to the department head of the department who you're questioning specific policies and procedures that would be the best place to find your information I've had residents come to me often over the past year and some months as mayor um with various questions and if I can answer the questions I did I do um just as a if you know I said we would answer some of them tonight and we have that were in your email um and if I don't have the answers I give them you know I I offer to help them find where they can get it or I refer them to someone in the burrow that could help them and that's just the case here as well uh it's not dismissing safety concerns uh to get you to the proper person that can answer your questions in the best way possible um and I have to say you you keep saying that the public needs it the public wants it you are the only person that has come to me with concerns to be honest so I know you are talking about the public in terms of your faith Facebook page but I will say and we talked a lot about Facebook up here tonight but we will not govern based or or or we will not govern or make decisions uh up here due to or on behalf of a Facebook page we we're elected by and work for the residents so if there are residents that came to me with concerns yes then we would sit and we would have that discussion um but we we can't govern BAS based off of a Facebook page I I think you would I think you understand how that would be and to have and to have a our department had come in here simply to answer the questions of one resident I think you can understand how that would be certainly an inefficient uh way of governing and and a waste of taxpayer time and money um it's not hiding anything it it's not hiding anything it's not being transparent because I do know that whatever answers that you do happen to get from your depart from that department head will be posted on Facebook afterwards so it can't possibly be hiding or or not transparent and to say that one of our department heads wouldn't answer your questions or would be dismissive which is what you said in in your email it it's just uncalled for our department heads have always been very generous with your time all of them and very gracious to our residents and there's no reason to assume otherwise um I really do trust our department heads including the fire department uh Chief to run and manage their business the best way possible uh and I know if I ever do have a question about the way something is being managed well they are there to then provide me with the Ws and the wise and all of the information and they're also willing to discuss suggestions and changes with myself and with the rest of the council members so that's where we stand on this I'm going to put that to bed for now um Miss Capa Bianca we will move on to your questions uh the rvsa meter um we we share your concerns over that I think you saw that at the last meeting how much we share your concerns over those excessively High months um and we have discussed the possib ility of tving uh something that was said during that time is garwood's inii is really it's dramatically uh well it's it's not great it's bad it's one of the it's the second highest in in the rvsa group um but that kind of goes along with what we've been talking about in terms of um the Sor and and I know we've talked about sore fees before because we do need to start looking at repairs that need to happen because our ini I and and all of theant areas are are just they're they're old The Source it's old and it's it's needing it it will need fixes as we go along so that kind of goes along with everything that we were talking about um I will have to talk to our rvsa representative in terms of reviewing uh something every month again they couldn't quite pinpoint where this was coming from or or what this was stemming from so it's it's sort of even the M even seeing at at that month in the moment um we still I I don't know if the there would be any sort of difference in the situation that that occurred because they they check their meters every month and they are insisting that it there was not a problem so um but I will take it to our rvsa uh representative and and discuss that uh in terms of our street opening ordinance uh it was looked at and I I believe that they if I remembering correctly decided that it was as we want it in terms of moratoriums I know it's different than others and other uh municipalities have done different things with their ordinance but um if I am remembering correctly Mr Harris you correct me if I'm wrong I think they decided that it was they re the Public Works committee recommended keeping it as is yeah they did not want to burden the residents when they had a sewer issue that a a resident would then have to repave the entire roadway yeah so we we do have to remember that that is a case but you know we certainly don't mind sometimes when it's the utilities coming in to do it but we have to remember that there are residents that come in and we don't want to overburden them um so uh that that is the answer to that um and then uh councilwoman salmon uh Mr n asked you a question I'll let you decide if you want to answer it or not thank you okay um although I do think the idea makes sense I myself don't believe in government overreach I feel like that's what it is and it should be up to the restaurants to decide okay um I'll say personally I think it is up to the restaurants to decide I don't call it uh government overreach but we'll agree to disagree but then it has a fine that's what creates the government overreach so we could get into a whole philosophical conversation because all of our code uh you know that's the point of our code to enforce the laws and they all have penalties on them so it shouldn't be a law should be their decision okay we will move along I appreciate your your comments um and we will move along to our consent agenda does anybody need any of our um any of our resolutions removed um I would like to pull 24- 047 okay anything else okay can I have a motion to adopt consent agenda uh as amend I'll make that motion second uh roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I Okay resolution 24-7 can I have a motion to adopt so moved second second okay is there a discussion I was just curious where did we Implement a discount for a multi- kid sign up I know that we've been talking about that for almost two years we talked about it last year no was that discussed no that was discussed and it was decided against all right can I have a roll call please miss Cameron yes councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman ndi I councilwoman salmon no council president Carney I okay can uh miss Cameron payment of claims and refunds uh yes um be it resolved that the following claims as approved be and the same are hereby ordered paid when properly signed and verified and the payment of payrolls as listed is hereby confirmed and ratified can I have a motion to adopt payment of claims just move second uh roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilwoman ndi hi councilwoman salmon I council president Cary I okay the regular meeting of the mayor and Council will be held on Thursday March 7th at 7M in council chambers information for meetings is posted on the barel website can I have a motion to adjourn so moved second second right all it well anybody opposed I know that's why I I know it it messed don't don't worry I just was like wait a minute but then I'm like am I crazy no no okay so thank you for that no problem no worries