Public Works committee to look into another matter uh obviously you may have noticed our electronic signboard out in front of burrow Hall is not quite functioning properly uh that is because the software it uses is an extremely old version of Windows that cannot be supported anymore we have been attempting to work on a fix we've had life Lifeline Our IT company come out here we've tried to find the oldest laptop with the oldest software on it um but nothing has worked uh Lifeline has concluded that the software and sign itself just cannot be replaced or updated and there's nothing out there that can be done or purchased to make the fix they just don't make it anymore so it's time to look at other options uh I'd like the Public Works committee along with our new bir administrator who's coming in April to begin exploring those options I do know that electronic signs are much more costly these days um Mr Harris had done an init initial exploration and' seen numbers like $40,000 so it may be time to think of doing something else out front um some other type of signage other than an electronic sign so councilwoman Bodo if you could put this topic on your agenda for the next month uh and have the committee report back some recommendations for that appreciate it I was holding out h of the fixs but I have to accept the on this one um and then one last thing uh if I could turn your attention to resolution 24-65 and 24 066 you will see that uh Steve greet who has been our representative to the rbsa for 15 years has decided to take a step back uh he he had lots of time on his hands that he needs to spend with grandchildren so uh but he uh has spent a lot of time uh working for the vment of Garwood and working with the rbsa and he has educated me a lot about this topic so um I appreciate all the work you've done through the years um and and we will miss you um but I I understand it's been 15 years and you've done your time so uh we thank you very much and you will see uh 24066 hires Craig mccar to replace him we want to welcome Craig uh as our new representative I know Steve will will teach him well and bring him along and um uh we look forward to working with him thank you so that is uh it for me so we will move along to our Council reports uh Council woman vot no comments councilman Foley no comment councilman gazer nothing for me as well councilwoman oldie nothing for me tonight councilwoman salmon thank you mayor so I would like to propose that Council look into a resolution similar to what was ad Ed in municipality Summit to oppose the new legislation that's coming down for fair share housing it hopes to allow for a more meaningful Municipal input and consideration of concerns that are coming to small communities like ours I would like to send it over to Sandy if you could send it to council hopefully we could see that come on the agenda soon thank you councilman I agree we've talked about this a lot and we are just frustrated and um there's new there's the new affordable housing bill that is looking um is come out I believe out of the the Senate um in the legislature and I've done several meetings with the league of municipalities about this and no one is quite happy well I will say mayor many mayors are are not quite happy with this um I I don't think it accomplishes much to help towns like ours so uh I am in full support of doing another resolution to just let the the state know where we stand on it I just did have one question too how much just the ballpark does it cost to pass the ordinance number 24-9 like that ballar number bond like how much would it cost us advertising all that um 248 ordinance no what I'm talking about ordinance 24 on that to do something like that what is it cost advertising cost advertising not say $50 to advertise so we advertise it twice or once just curious how much 30 you we um so is everybody in agreement on uh moving forward with the resolution their share once we see we will see what uh the month of summit looks like and take a look I'm familiar with the one from Summit it's going to need some work okay I I actually concept okay we can maybe discuss it at the next meeting when we work it or or we can take it um if Finance has a meeting before that and they want to take a look at in Burn recommendation CL all right um moving on to council president R thank you mayor uh just want to leave with a congratulations to now soon soon to be officially Captain Sam Roco uh I'm very happy to see his name on the consent agenda tonight and I'm looking forward to the future promotion ceremony uh I'm also looking forward to passing the bond ordinance that's on our agenda tonight uh as I spoke about in our last meeting this Bond represents our community up holding the commitment we make our post responders to provide everything they need to get their jobs done and have the best chance of coming home safely uh with that being said I am happy to entertain questions during the public hearing regarding the backstory along with how it came to be such an urgent need in this particular year and the work and decisions made over the past few years for anyone who hasn't been been watching Council meetings on YouTube since 2020 uh all of this which resulted in bonding for this equipment earlier this year becoming the only responsible option and that's all for me than you thank you okay moving to the minutes miss Cameron minutes of the regular meeting of the May Council held on February 22nd 2024 minutes of the special meeting of the mayor Cil held on February 26 2024 can I have a motion to accept the regular meeting and special meeting minutes as presented some moved second second all in favor I OS Communications M Cameron Jersey state municipalities Township of westfi regarding ordinance rece and file foring rece and file we are the ordinance portion of our agenda miss Cameron can you read the bond ordinance by 24-8 by title only yes Bond ordinance to authorize your equipment Fire Department in by for of borrow in the county of State 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 should provide for the issuance of bondp do we have any correspondence concerning this Bond on does anyone present wish to be heard concerning Bond ordinance number 24-8 evening mayor even mayor I previously did ask a question about the possibly interfacing with County which there's no problem that but gu I what what's what's the LIF span of uh these radios because that's the bonding going to go across that that lifespan I guess the question is and hope we got CFO here uh what's a rough idea what the cost is per household that's normally tax assessed and and also what is the rough idea of the uh cost impact for the uh for Mel units that are under the pil of thank you very much is there anybody else my only comment is thank you for introducing this and thank you for trying to get everything to be coordinated efforts that means more than you will ever know and thank you for involving the first aid Squad in this this is something that is so necessary it doesn't matter how much it costs for household this is something that we need and until you need it you don't realize the importance there anybody online okay anybody online yeah I had open okay can state your name and address hi this is Michelle Capo biano at 404 Myrtle Hi how are you Hi good um I just wanted to know were there any grants applied for for the purchase of this and um you know this has not been addressed on a capital budget and that's you know it's not that obviously the radios aren't needed it's just about planning for them um and that's you know the concerns that I have once we decided they decided not to go with the county several years ago it should have immediately be put on the capital plan budget items list um so that it's on the radar that this is happening and grants can be applied for as they come up so that's my comment for tonight thank you thank you is there anybody else online no can I have a motion to close the public uh hearing on bond ordinance number 24-0 so moved second uh discussion so um I'm going to let um council president Carney ask all of the questions I assume um turn over whatever you need to M friends I yeah I wouldn't be able to speak to the specifications I I don't have that in front of me and I don't know if you can I can tell you that the visal life of the radios is 10 years um I don't have calculation on the cost for we can get that for you another time I really the what mola will tell you out of the box is that they sport their products for a 10year lifespan now um You can generally get a little bit more out of it it's just at the end of the 10 years you can start to run into issues if you break on getting it repair so um that's about average for this stuff is the uh honestly even the stuff that they're using right now is well beyond its original lifespan which back then would have been 15 years um just the way the technology works now a 10year life cycle for this stuff is to be expected so this is one of those things that you know put put a put a pin in it and 10 years from now whoever sitting up here is going to have to deal with it again uh the uh the grants um question I know we've discussed this before though but take another stab at it we have unfortunately there's no specific technology grants available for this type of stuff um we were probably 12 to 13 years passed the vote on that um in this area and then all across New Jersey these systems started getting adopted in the early 2010s uh so there were some grants available back then and people were switching over uh the other interesting discussion point is uh for those who uh attended or watched over the years uh is we did do two cycles of Meco applications and uh I know mayor and councilman LZ one councel with me the whole time and the second one leave Council sanus as well um the leap Grant was contingent upon entering a shared service agreement uh either with the county of union or whomever else uh although in this specific case to access that second lead Grant it would have had to be County dispatch um un fortunately I don't know that that discussion was ever fully had back in 2022 got a little bit derailed uh and but the the bottom line is that the burrow chose not to go that way and uh we are where we are now um other grants for this sort of stuff I mean there's General grants uh Fire Department it's constantly applying for stuff but again radio communications are not really the target of a lot of these grants most most of the country is in the middle of their life cycle with these new digital trunk radios and there's just nothing out there until the next like technological we fler um and then in so far as capital budget um this isn't something that really my opinion belongs on any individual Department's capital budget um it's not the responsibility of the police department I mean they do operate the disat center but that's only one piece of this every first responder in the town uses this stuff and it's a it's an essential system to the operation of the prod so it may have appeared or may they may have discussed putting it on Capital budgets I know the fire department probably did every year and it didn't end up there because we were pursuing grants and trying to have these discussions it just didn't work out and you know Capital budgets or the the fiveyear plans are they're not set in stone and there's a reason for that so I don't know if I answered that effectively but you did and I will say that the fact that this you know we've had these discussions over the years about the radios in in public and in our finance committee so um it's not something that hasn't been discussed while I was on finance for for many years while I was on Council I think it came up every here just that we knew that this was something we were going to have to think about and at times when we did apply for the leaf Grant it was out here to discuss it so it's not something that's you know we're jumping on you know very quickly it's it's something that's been years in the making so um and everybody up here has been very aware of it and those council members um who have been on for years I think can attest to the fact that this has been discussed for many years so um okay can I have a motion to adopt Bond ordinance 24-8 I will gladly make that motion second roll call please ccom boo hi couny hi hi no hion hi okay we have one ordinance up for introduction tonight miss Cameron yes this ordance acary legislation 9 can I have a motion to introduce this ordinance so Mo second roll call please coun I iom la ioun ioun salmon no council president all right we'll move along to the Council standing committee reports Finance count good evening everyone thank you mayor um committee continues to focus on reducing the initial initially proposed fee Pur sewer maintenance and related administrative costs our objective remains to alleviate the financial burden on our citizens from the intermittent costly repairs while ensuring adequate funding for our regular essential super Services we must address the growing Financial pressures from The increased costs associated with the raway Val Valley Sewer Authority the rvsa costs are in some part are due to our Antiquated SE system the rvsa rates over the next few years may not be quite bad as this year but they are not ever going to be what they were and our I I is the highest in the group these Rising expenses highlight the importance of efficient local sewer management to prevent undue Financial strain on our Town's budget and its residents so we need to start putting money aside to take care of issues that arise from such an old sewer system our time warn sewer system is costing us significantly in frequent frequent repairs and lost efficiency the need for comprehensive repairs is vital to the health and future of our town neglecting this need can and will lead to escalating costs as fixes become more and more frequent we have been able to avoid what other towns have been doing for many years but kicking the can so that we as as council members don't take the heat is not doing our job bonding for emergency repairs is a markedly less favorable option than proactive investment due to the associated interest cost and the potential for escal problems leading to even greater expenses interest rates are up and to bond for these fixes we believe is fiscally irresponsible we need to use these fees to plan more efficiently and to upgrade when necessary being small does not insulate us from the forces that affect surrounding larger municipalities as we have seen time and time again in fact being small means these changes are even more necessary as our resources are limited it is time to take the step the burrow has been putting off for years we need to stop looking at simply the here and now and look the years ahead these small Investments here will increase the health and the longevity of our community thank you thank you councilman buy um in term term of uh further detailed information on this ores I assume Finance is still doing its due diligence into that and we'll have more at the next meeting correct thank you um SP councilman Lazar thank you mayor the Garwood fire department has responded to a total of 14 incidents that consisted of four alarm activations one Co alarm one Motor Vehicle One motor vehicle fire one medical assist one assistance of the garw part first Squad and two elevator assists the squad also assisted plan field for 10 hours on a mutual Aid call staffing of fire headquarters small group drills reports cleaning meetings and administrative work consisted of a total of 1, 19975 fire figh hours some of the trainings consisted of search and rescue training right to know and bloodborne pathogen training I also have some very exciting news to report first I want to provide some background before sharing the exact details firefighting turnout gear is to be retired after reaching a 10year lifespan beginning from the manufacturer date at the end of 20203 14 of our fire department members or 44% of our roster will be outfitted with turnout gear that has surpassed its lifespan and are in violation of NFPA standards five of these members are outfitted with turnout gear that expired in 2015 in 2020 the gwood fire department implemented a plan to have our members safely outfitted with IND date turnout gear by the end of 2026 this plan has been successful thus far however due to financial constraints we are limited on how many sets of turnout gear we can purchase annually assistant fire chief Bren gregy spearheaded a Grant application to the American Rescue plan firefighter grant that will allow 11 of our members to be provided with safe effective and compliant turnout gear which will afford the department with the opportunity to outfit our members with safer more serviceable and compliant turnout gear quicker than anticipated this not only ensures the safety of our members and their abilities to serve the public but also grants citizens of Garwood with Dependable Fire Protection Service last November the governing body passed a resolution to cover half of the cost in order to purchase 11 complete sets of structural firefighting PPE AKA turnout here which includes pants jacket helmet Hood gloves and boots the purchase of this turnout year will greatly assist the department in our long-term plan of no longer having worn damag or expired turnout year just yesterday it was published on the Grant application website that our department will be awarded $37,000 which will match the Burrow's commitment passed in November it is no easy test to successfully win a grant but I want to thank assistant fire chief GRE for his incredible efforts to secure this money and finally I I also want to congratulate Sean donin for passing the physical and background check to be accepted as a new member of the garell fire department a big welcome to Sean and we wish you success in this new role that's all for my report thank you councilman that is great news about the gr good glad to hear it um Community Development councilwoman salmon thank you mayor so just an update on vermella retail verela is in the final lease negotiations with sweat house which is in infrared sauna and F plunge Studio Vera has also sent out a proposal to an Italian restaurant on the quarter of South and Center so we'll keep you updated on that in regards to the paper board Mr vegra is currently working on the newly proposed plans for the site and I will update as soon as they were reviewed that's all from their report thank you Public Works councilwoman voto thank you mayor um in addition to the recurring buties the Department of Public Work employees assisted the recreation director with the B muffin sections of hman PL and Sports Complex perform preventative maintenance of miscellaneous Public Work shocks and Equipment set up and take down tables and chairs of the sports complex for numerous recreation activities and events cleaned up the common areas around the municipal complex assemble that continue to install the perment parking signs in various locations of the B than to the common hallway in the municipal building began hton Court offices per form pole repairs on the 100 block of Third Avenue near Stephan Wilds perform repairs of the drainage inway at the intersection of West Street on Beach Avenue perform shade tree removal turning elevating in VAR occasion of the B the Public Works committee met on February 28th and in continuation of the car extension project discussions and thanks to council president K's initiative we have scheduled a zoom call for April 11 with Lisa Lee the director of the sustainability programs who will share her knowledge and provide further guidance once the C exp plays I will provide an update I have also been working with superintendent Dixon and from the Viro to gather information on the most effective catch faas in order to begin our adopted dream program they identified a few intersections of locus and East Beach and East Myrtle Oak Willow and maple the 600 block side fin Center Center Willow Hazel Center second o for and Georgina uh we will provide more information as the project progresses but I am very excited uh to be involved in a community jur project we looking forward to that thank you um police council president Carney thank you mayor the police committee met in person this past Monday with Chief stoer uh we held preliminary discussions on the parking and compliance issues that were seen during the events enforcement options for violation of the snow parking rules and follow-up discussion on Resident concerns regarding some of new areas of parking which we believe that the chief has been able to disolve uh the chief has recommended further discussion in committee regarding snow parking and possible updates to the burrow code uh the committee agrees with this and we will cover the topic in future committee meetings with an eye towards reporting back any resulting suggestions to the PO Council in the summer so any changes could be put into effect before winter um specific to the towing of vehicles parked in violation which which I received several constituent questions about uh the chief reported over 100 summonses were issued across both snow events uh there's no feasible way to tow that many vehicles uh Additionally the Garland Police Department normally only tow vehicles for snow parking violations which are either impeding emergency response or the dpw's ability to safely clear enough of a street to allow vehicle passage so we'll continue to discuss all this in committee and report back sometime in the summer I also have the police department's activity report for the month of February uh the Garland Police Department reported 1,679 cat entries during the month of February uh these calls include 101 Motor Vehicle stops 25 parking complaints 67 fixed traffic posts those are radar stop sign and distracting driving details 17 motor vehicle crash investigations 100 5 Golding and property checks 37 medical assists 75 community policing posts 40 walking posts and conducted 21 criminal investigations the gar Police Department would like to remind everyone that as spring approaches people are ready to get outside and enjoy the warmer temperatures make sure to slow down and share the road especially with Walkers and cyclists also please keep an eye out for motorcycles when ing passing turning and approaching intersections uh finally now is the perfect time to check your first a kit and or emergency preparedness kits check the batteries expiration dates Supply levels of items that you keep in your kits for ideas on how to build your kit out please visit ww saying www lights 1986 ready ready.gov build-- kit and that's all for our report okay thank you um Community engagement Council Oni yes thank you mayor the garage partnership for arts and culture is excited to present discover art and nature an event to be held on March 16th ages 6 to13 all supplies will be provided join Gabby bevens for a walk around Recreation Center Park with your nature Sketchbook and colored pencils to notice interesting natural elements to draw and record in your journey this event is free registration ired on Garwood w.com gek is also excited to announce that we are celebrating natural National poetry month in April with the first annual Garwood poetry Festival local poets please submit your poems in order to be invited to read your poetry at the Poetry event co-sponsored by the crossroads and the Garwood Public Library poetry readings will take place at the crossroads um at 12: on Sunday April 21st and at the Garwood Library date to be announced poems should be submitted to my bur email CI garwood.nj for $4 a pair which I might just add as a a dollar discount because regularly it's $5 so they're giving us a little special on that the Garwood Easter egg hunt is Saturday March 23rd at 11:00 a.m. at the Garwood Sports and Recreation Complex rain date will be Saturday March 30th at 3 this is uh geared towards toddlers through third grade bring your own basket there will be a raffle DJ and pictures with the Easter Bunny the Easter Bunny drive around the Garwood Recreation committee and the Garwood fire department are excited to announce the Easter Bunny drive around scheduled for Saturday March 30th the Easter Bunny will make his way around town starting at 10 a.m. Garwood summer camp from June 24th to August 9th from 9:00 a. to 12:00 p.m. this is a gear towards Rising 1 through 8th graders registration is open now the early bird registration rate is $110 per child until May 24th the next regular meeting of the recreation committee is March 11th at 7:30 the historical committee met for their regular meeting on February 26 they planned uh for their use of the grant money from Union County Historical projects they also are working on applying for the grant uh Union County heart grant for their project entitled marching towards the future which is a presentation they hope to create uh to present in the fall of 2024 there are plans to create materials by April to be included in the Time Capsule being prepared at the garw public library they also discussed celebrating the 60th anniversary of JFK Plaza at a small ceremony near the monument which was installed in 1964 and that concludes my report thank you Council woman a library mayor's representative councilman Lazar thank you mayor just a couple of programming updates um on March 12th at 3 p.m. there'll be the virtual adult craft pick up your F supplies and instructions from the library registration is required for trets and is limited to 10 participants sign up on the library's website events calendar or by phone and on March 13th and 27th at 3M the Lego Club will be holding their annual by bi-weekly event inspired by the month's theme or build whatever things to mind some will be displayed in the library showcase registration is required and there's a limit that's all from my report thank you councilman School Board liaison council president KY the board's next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday March 19th um I have the garage citizen senior citizen report but nothing to report as our March 7th meeting today was cancelled but our next meeting is on March 21st uh small business advisory council president Carney thank you mayor the SBA executive board met virtually on tu sorry Tuesday February 27th uh we reviewed the wellness month promotion uh and we'll be sending a survey and followup out to all the businesses that participated uh I'm happy to report that preparations are now underway for the 2024 Taste of Garwood uh the SBA will begin promotions for this event in the month of April with the dates of the event being May 17th through the 24th uh and finally board members are continuing to work up suggestions on a proposal to update the B's code regarding signage and that's all for this report thank you council president Board of Health councilman fing um the next Board of Health meeting is on March 20th at 6m here at Burrow Hall and that's all for my bo uh planning board councilwoman salmon thank you mayor there was a planning board meeting on February 28th unfortunately I was not able to attend due to the stomach virus placing my house so mayor if you want to add anything if not I will be happy to report at our next meeting um we we saw two applications uh one was a continuing application of from Winslow uh and we did approve a resolution um for the applicant to move forward uh and then there was another application for um South Avenue uh 110 South Avenue um for a it was a use variance so I could not participate but um the variance did uh go through so um I can you know what I totally forgot that get a report on this tonight that's okay so I'll give a full report I can have more details for you next C me up that's funny my fault H officer report miss Cameron yes filing Enforcement Officers report February 2024 M offic report February 2024 then I have a motion to that the offic second second all in favor I oppose okay we will move into public comment if there's anyone 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 Johnny perer for out gar one of our police officers will be promoted tonight but we and we must back them up every one of them because they're doing the job for us they're out there every day thinking the the fire department personnel same thing with Rescue Squad Personnel all three Services they're all the people who can can on they all have that I'll be there Fe kind of attitude that that gets them through that helps them as they serve us as they protect us we love back way a police departments abing fire departments and abing res is not the answer and Mark well would I just say ladies and gentlemen should never be the answer we must back them up every day we also must back up our soldiers Sailors Marines Coast Guards and Airmen as they protect defend America and all of us view of uh the new reports about the Middle East and also also also Ukraine we need to back them up in every way we need to back them up we found to Serv war in Vietnam three of God Sons have lost their lives fighting for us they love us so every day in 100 way they told us so in honesty in affection they told a St they love the S every day 100 ways they show the S with royalty and bravery they showed us so they are Defenders and they kept us free they took God us and F [Music] for they love and we should know for we [Music] love and we need also to the sck legisl Trenton reop some closed hospitals such as mberg because what another attack occurs leave those hospitals very very B and we're talking about many people's lives ladies and gentlemen the Ser anate Hospital much as M better off where I will be don't make myself clear and have that electronic par fixed still more than hour High [Music] all all will be to thank you hi J Paul 543rd Avenue I apologize my lungs or doing that long Paul Co or whatever it is that is happening so I just wanted to um thank you mayor Lenny and the DPW for temporarily hatching um the street by my building's driveway apron and also the barrels and the thing you need to know about the barrels is every time the minivan went in or out of that driveway it was like so um and it was ruining my cars also so thank you guys so much for getting that done that is really really appreciated we obviously can't wait till spring until we actually have the permanent solution but for now this is very very helpful um also thank you to dep Duty fire chief Gregory on that grant that is huge um I am going through so many grants with work right now so I completely get that um and empathize with that process and I'm also looking forward to Sergeant right who isn't e something right now that's not Sergeant right but he's also doing that um l Grant for Harman so that is amazing um and the last thing that I just wanted to talk about is I feel like all of you know but I'm so excited because the liver Foundation we got our 501 safing status in like record time um in two weeks of starting the fundraise we were able to fully fund our um first outdoor AED which you all can assume where it's going but I'm not allowed to publicly say it yet um but in two weeks just from Individual donors so that is amazing it came yesterday and it wasn't Mike as our UPS driver it was fill in and he had no idea why I was like over the moon on this um but the lior foundation's mission again is to raise awareness and funds to install all weather aeds in outdoor recreation spaces while also providing crucial resources and educational opportunities to individual and communities um really cool things that we have going on in addition to funding the device is um this week we actually launched two mental health programs for cardiac arest survivors and their loved ones so please anybody you know who's gone through this put them in touch with um with me or us basically um this is for cardiac arrest survivors and their loved ones which is often a forgotten about group um adults but also young adults 15 to 21 who is the biggest they are the biggest forgotten about group and so we started peer-to-peer one-on-one connection program um with our ambassadors and so those are for people who might have just had cardia arrest or L one just had cardiac arest and they're paed with somebody who it happened to two three four or more years ago to help them through that and then four um monthly support groups facilitated by the trauma therapist on our advisory Council so I'm so excited and I'm so excited to just kind of see what we can do in terms of Community Education and CPR um sessions and just knowledge and also I think the biggest thing that I've been hearing is people have no idea how easy it is to use an a you and I I almost brought I told the mayor I was G to bring the case to to show you all but the actual device itself like you open it up you press the green button and it literally tells you what to do it Taps out the impressions for you it says jump away press this button do this and people really have no idea or they're coming up to me and basically saying well if I do CPR and something happens I'm going to get suit I'm like myth not true not true somebody told me they had a CPR button they still know don't know what that means but I don't want to do it because I'm afraid I'm going to get sued no and lastly at the station here they are selling Paper Hearts for $5 and that's going to the foundation and they're putting them so after this if you want to pop across the street I'm going to do a heart so thank you guys so much for your support of this it Le a wel thank you there anybody else in the audience who wishes to address the May and councel pon good evening mayor ladies and gentlemen of council 325 Avenue um 2465 and 066 is replacing Steve Bri with Craig as the rvsa rep I know Craig I'm sure he'll do a good job uh Mr G thank you very much for the 15 years of service that he did for the rvsa fortunately I mean the rvsa was beaten on gwood in least 10 years we had increased cost but you know yet we never really had any building but increase of culation but somehow the calculation just kept pounding on us uh I did about five years ago I I provided in fact the mayor during that interview I provided you a weighted calculation type address I don't know if you ever did anything with that then with the rbsa but guess nothing been done uh so look forward to he's an intelligent young he's listening but hey the um you know the government overreach term uh you know I tend to agree with the councilwoman samon but it's like we responded like it was just the first time there's a government overreach we've been facing government overreach for I don't let's go back 50 years I guess even more than that back to uh Ro president but I mean it's it's just amazing we're slowly we're slowly falling into some kind of dystopian fog here with um at one of the audiences I did actually ask some questions and what I did I put together a road map uh for any committee to discuss any resolutions or or ordinance and such just to start uh the conversation going you know inside the committee and I put together a couple questions and I'll even uh email it to the toil the chance to have it but you know question number one how does it benefit the community so when you're looking at something you know these are the questions you should be asking right up front question number two how does it help or not help the residents question number three if the tax impact you have to look at two questions now what's the rough impact to tax assess bomes and then what's the rough impact to the pilot agreed units I did those question question prior but you weren't ready uh question number four are there any savings or granted while question number five this ideologically driven and or just because everyone else is doing it I'll email these questions know be it' be a good Ro to start any discussion uh and I guess lastly you know today today as I speak today um is that our firefighter certified for these positions and this is on the last agenda John scona rent Gregory Glen spea Mike Fon L cartney and you know are are these people certified as of today they were listed as officers of the last agenda last meeting so thank you very good evening ha and counsel people I'm just with miscellaneous again I'd like to remind everybody that talking to New Jersey Transit would be nice if we could get enough station another thing is I'd like to congratulate Captain wo on his promotion well deserved andess happiness with [Music] services and my last I thought is in terms of information about health and how to perform such things as [Music] cingal is there anybody else in the audience just John 231 Hue I'll start with a trivia item that ordinance you keep refering to from franford for the single CL band was repealed two years ago and never replac repealed in this entirety so just a for U so referring to uh ordinance 249 I'm very much align with the event uh very much misalign with the tools you're using there's a time and place for a resolution uh there's a time of the topic for a law on penalties this is a time for resolution uh I know you can make a law wasn't uh this industry food service industry they take that chin since Co it's almost cruel to throw an unnecessary regulation how uh and the Word noer was used this was discussed last meeting that's kind of an arrogant way to label this it implies that uh if people who do this for a living SPS aren't already doing this small they're pretty stupid uh so we need uh activists and El government officials to save them to themselves and you know that's that's just uh these people now have business and uh they should be to do that but I really don't like about this uh I'm a Democrat and this Democrat I'm Aline with the party that by form of environmental stewardship and appropriate government regulation and see myself where a Democrat would be against this ordinance when you know that but this ordinance typifies everything about the modern 2024 Democratic party reinforces the stereotypes that there's no detail of day-to-day life so trial so minute so small that we can can't reg it right down what we use to s c and it reinforces The Stereotype that we're a party of hypocrisy now we don't have a monopoly in this the other party has Spirit shared as well but we always talk about even the government on us on Big Stuff don't let the government tell us what books we can't read don't let the government tell us we can't choose our gender identity don't let the government into our bedroom don't let the uh email richu race public government say you can't hand out a packet of ketchup and that's somebody saying may I it's crazy uh and I understand this notion that we're trying to you know save the world for everyone but each one of you has personal habits that impact our partment for PR some of you been admitted in this discussion you use uh Home Delivery Services for food you go take you have drawers full of stuff and take you realize the carbon impact that you have when you do that just turn it up all the rest of us you don't a 450% impact by homes that use Home Delivery Services for food versus U households that Dev how would you like it if Triton started saying you can't have door Dash with more than Del liery or you can't go over take out for more than a certain number of times I shouldn't say that you guys might like that but really this think about this imposition this could be done by resolution I'd be all over the greatest thing going in the world uh but but please when you do this you reinforce this horrible stereotype that Democratic party and you undermire your ability to build the coalitions that we need to do the really important things thanks is there anybody else who was just with us I was hoping you would have G I wasn't plan speak all evening mayor councel Mr B and I go back long ways here we are disagreeing in public I can't let that I can let that go Mr B you remind me of what went on 30 years address 320 Hickory Avenue I just be nice I have ask 320 Hickory Avenue gwi um about 30 years ago uh there was a law proposed called a bottle return can return and uh at that time I was very much in favor and because it would have given people money in their pocket if they returned V against unfortunately um what ended up coming out of that was the clean communities La that we work with today clean community laws are basically resolutions resolutions don't mean the damn thing okay you or to find them to make them real people resolve to do things all the time the resolution last one year if I recall prop so you need something behind them and I've learned over the years that litter and everything else the only way to hit thean public and make them change is through their pocket without them being hit in the pocket to have to pay for something they don't change so it's all well and good to say a resolution be great resolution isn't work to paper written on two years later um I also encourage people who are opposed to this uh or to come with us and do a cleanup walk North Avenue okay um on a regular basis okay the Democratic Club does that You' be surprised if think you pick up a resolution telling somebody not to do something I'll tell you doesn't do anything um last but not least I apologize to just when I right through me um happens more and more sorry to say that um okay business is taking know I'm sorry this saves businesses money it saves them money because they don't have to buy this stuff so I don't understand the accusation that bu are taking it on sh because of ordinance indeed they're saving money thank you very much is there anybody else in the audience who wishes to address the in counil is there anybody online yes you state your name and address hi this is Michelle at 404 myle I'm okay um so I would like to say something also about uh ordinance 24-9 um I feel this should have been a community initiative it would have been the perfect opportunity for the Green Team to come up with a program visit all the food establishments to educate the businesses on potential cost savings while also helping the environment and ask where the business's commitment because I think a conversation is much more useful than someone just going and handing out a flyer to somebody um and I just feel this should be a conversation and not an ordinance the second thing I wanted to bring up was I wanted to Circle back to the answer that I received um last meeting regarding the ordinance that I originally had brought up back in April of last year and asked for it to be updated for the streets and sidewalks under um the excavation and openings speaking right now first the answer I received back was that the committee looked at it and didn't want to change it due to any potential cost to homeowners one of the very specific examples I gave in last April was for Westfield's updated ordinance on this subject which has a bunch of exceptions built into it so homeowners are not penalized the burrow has spent several million dollars taxpayer dollars and Grant Monies to pave the roads and it's the Burrow's duty to protect that investment updating an 18-year-old ordinance to make utility companies responsible for restoring the newly paved roads is a no-brainer and many other surrounding towns have already updated their street opening ordinances so I definitely think this needs to be looked at again thank you thank you is there anybody else online yes this person can you state your name and address hi this is Colleen he 516 4th Avenue I just wanted to um make a few comments about the the plastic and condent ordinance that's up for introduction I just don't feel like that's something that the burrow should be addressing I think it should be up to local restaurants it I get it there's a lot of people out there that have extra condom and packets in their dra but that's not everybody and I feel like that should be on a restaurant level and I understand what the point the mayor made about the public safety and health issues that there's ordinances for outdoor dining Etc but that really is a public health and safety issue I just don't think that a ketchup packet ever killed anybody unless it was in a tore for 25 years so I just don't think that this is something that we should be in the business of policing um also I mean you know that I collected 2,000 reusable bags for the food drive and it's two years later you know they've all been distributed but I still forget to bring my bag to the grocery store and I order takeout and if I don't specifically say that I want soy sauce I'm going to be very disappointed if there's not soy sauce in the bag and yes shame on me because I should have known that but there's a lot of restaurants that have people that order takeout and delivery and I understand the apps have that option on there if you're ordering like through door Dash or Uber Eats but a lot of people pick up the phone and they place a phone order and they don't necessarily live in Garwood and not everyone from Garwood will be familiar with this ordinance if it passes but a lot of Out of Towners who don't even know the ordinance exist they're going to come back and they're going to say you know what the restaurant is incompetent they didn't put my condiments or my Forks or my spoons in the bag that's going to lay on the restaurant they're not going to say oh my God I'm mad at Garwood it's not even gonna come to their mind I just feel like this is it just shouldn't even be discussed at this point and you know um my other my other question about this is the way it's written in the ordinance is if a restaurant asks if you want a ketchup packet or a fork or a knife they're in violation and they're going to fine I don't feel like this should be a violation I think they should be applauded for their good customer service their service industry they're supposed to be offering good customer service and I feel like the restaurant if they decide they don't want to hand them all out without asking that's up to the restaurant I don't think it should up to the government lastly I wanted to make a point that I happened to be in my new position privy to a zoom call today where the the Union County Board of Health officers were all invited because of a report that is due every three years and it was a very um important Zoom meeting today and unfortunately only four officers could make it onto the zoom meeting because they're all out in the field they're so busy you know um out there investigating complaints and and doing inspections Etc and under the food distribution law Plastics fall and condiments fall under the Board of Health and Garwood utilizes the Westfield Regional Board of Health which oversees our complaints and inspections and she actually manages many different municipalities so I would like know first of all were any and all restaurants consulted in this um introduction of an ordinance and also was the regional the Westfield Regional Health officer consulted in this because she's the one that's going to have to reply to all of these complaints because all the complaints have to get filtered through a program and in our case it's gov pilot so all of them get filtered through there and they have to go out there even if it's just like like oh my God a restaurant handed out a plastic straw which I mean I don't understand why plastic straws are not okay but it's okay to put a paper straw in a plastic cup so there's just a lot that has to go into this that I just don't think has been discussed and I would ask that you table it until further information is out there and more discussion uh with the restaurants is done so thank you for your time thank you is there anybody else online one more hi hi can you say your name and Alison sugar 33 Second Avenue okay good evening good evening council members I'm a single mother of two and I have personally experienced a house fire displacing my family before moving to Garwood um I've heard a lot about the lack of training that the Garwood fire department has they were given until February 16th which has passed and now I've heard that they have an extension until May um so are any of them trained just because they are volunteers does not mean they can skimp on safety don't we deserve to have the best possible protection here in Garwood um Madame mayor please you need to do something about this now before someone is injured or Worse make arrangements with gar with with Cranford or Westfield if you have to to make sure are safe I'm truly scared for the safety of my family thank you thank you is there anybody else the no ma'am okay I have a can I have a motion this public comment so second uh all in favor okay appreciate everybody's comments tonight um in terms of questions um well there was a lot actually on the the ordinance so I will allow comment um on that even though there weren't real questioned in this but council president carne I'll allow you to talk about this I just want to answer the last call first um because I want to allay your fears that there is absolutely nothing you have to be worried about and I really really wish that I didn't have to keep talking about this over again but that Facebook site is just kind of insane um I want everybody to know that I'm not on that site I get things sent to me of course if people want to know is this true is there is this true there's nothing that has been reported on that site about our fire department that I have seen that has been true at all we at our last meeting and Mr Patterson I I question why you even ask about this again because at our last meeting I specifically read the report from councilman Lazo that said the officers that were listed on on the agenda had been confirmed certified they had everything in that they needed from the state otherwise we wouldn't be voting yes to it and everybody up here did um and there were some officers that didn't have every single certification so they were brought down to the the level that they were certified at and then once they received the proper certifications to move up they will be reinstated but every one of our officers that was listed on the agenda is certified I have not extended any date I have not done anything other than what was stated at our meeting um I know there is a lot out there being said our firefighters are trained they do their job nobody in Garwood needs to be worried about whether they know enough to to do their job um I just I I really don't know how many times we can can we can say it but I'm saying it now and if there I get the question again because I was bombarded with soft puppet accounts asking me this on you know on my Facebook messaging too I and I'm not going to respond because I i' we said it at the meeting there's no nobody is lying about it we have the certificates um the department is working the way that they should be working um and and I I want to lay any fears of anybody who is taking anything on that site you know to be true it just liveing um and so if you do have any actual questions please don't look to that site please don't ask any of those posters the questions the answers you're getting are just not true you can call myself anybody else if you have a true question or concern um but you don't you you don't need to to worry that I we don't need to to um call in the other the other departments Garwood officers are certified and everybody is trained accordingly um okay and I I apologize for just being frustrated but it's it I've been getting bombarded with it and I know that there's been a lot said about me and about the department on the this like constantly still and it's just it is frustrating so I I apologize for for looking a little frustrated about it uh council president Carney thank you may and I will um I know you always write down all the questions same thing I didn't get all of them this time so if I miss one just talk me and just briefly to follow on with you to what you just said without continuing to beat that particular dead horse um you know what's frustrating for me as somebody who deals with public record requests in in my day job is that that I know that the burough clerk has been besieged by open requests and these things are tying her up they were tying the administrator up some of them have to be referred to council because they're complex all of these things incur cost of the borrow and it's all coming from a place of bad faith and I spoke about this in a couple meetings Council poliy has spoken about it it's just when something escalates to the point that it's interfering with the bar's ability to operate either one of it departments or in general enough is enough if this was court I think the objection is ask and answer right like it's been asked it's been answered but please put it to V and I just feel bad that residents even have to question it and be afraid because of what they're seeing um and that's what bothers me res would would feel afraid spreading fear like that is just it's unacceptable and it's why uh somebody here I think in the last meeting said something about questioning the messenger the medium this is why um so with that being said um for the skip to stuff uh ordinance um it was actually almost backhanded from uh from the one member of the public but it did actually make a valid point and uh somebody else spoke with the difference between resolutions and ordinances so I had made that comment myself in our last meeting that if we're not going to put an enforcement piece into this then we should just issue a statement because it doesn't have any weight um all of these things require a little bit of self-examination and change and this particular thing that brought to our attention um I did discuss this with the Executive Board of the SBA and there are two restaurant owners on that and they both said that they were already doing this and wouldn't really matter to them one way or the other if we didn't ordinance they didn't see an issue with it um the reason to do this as an ordinance and not a resolution aside from the fact that resolutions expire after a year uh is that Trenton has failed to act on this for several legislative sessions in a row there was a bill in the last session one second number a 5331 this bill has diing committee repeatedly so one of the ways that local government can take action and uh councilwoman sammon touched on one earlier about the affordable housing we cannot make a law that the state already has a law for we can make laws for areas where the state is signning in this case the state is being willfully signed this legislation that would establish this skip the stuff initiative Statewide continues to die and commit so when municipalities start to pass local laws that can reach across borders when someone is saying calling for takeout from the next town over um these sorts of things eventually come to the attention of the assemblymen and the Senators and they decide that instead of having a patchwork of different local ordinances that are probably all similar but not exactly the same that you'll just go ahead and and take care of it and there's multiple examples of that of this this happening here in in other states um several states have already made this law uh California and Washington State have codified it uh it's in the legislatures in Oregon and Massachusetts and there's multiple munici alties that are discussing this I actually saw a news report on NBC yesterday about redb so um I can respect the the position of of some of the public commenters I just respectfully disagree this is an area where local government can actually do an effective piece of legislation and yes it does improve the lives of people in this community I I can't tell you how many condiment packets and plastic tensils that picked up on North Avenue in the area of the fast food establishments when we do the about the highway CS uh every year so what I don't pick up anymore is plastic bags so um if I missed anything can you please let me know I I think you you answered it there was all just some general concerns about the you know us enforcing this this law and putting it on the restaurant by burdening the restaurants but I I do think that Mr n said said it well that it it will actually help our our restaurants and I would we we will do a public education piece on this either green team or the SBA or this is up for introduction tonight it will be on its second reading at the next meeting you know if in fact it passes I certainly enact the volunteer resources we have available and we'll use our small business you know email blast that we're F very patiently trying to build out we'll put it up on social media we will do our best to make sure that the community is informed and I very much doubt the first thing that's going to happen somebody happens to report a violation of this is a summon dropping down out of the sky there's going to be conversations that's why there's discretion and enforcement actions whether it's the police or somebody else that I think with anything that we we legislate up here whether our fing it or our code ement enforcing it there is never that heavy hand um especially when it's a new law there's always the conversations that happen first okay I just wanted to also comment on this I mean I wasn't here for the discussion at last month's meeting um but you know the way that I look at this I think this is a pretty soft regulation I mean I think I would disagree with the characterization of some of the residents which is making this sound like a a pretty overwhelming burden on people um I think it's a question of values and the value of a slight inconvenience versus the value of a more cleaner sustainable environment to me I value a cleaner more sustainable environment over the slight inconvenience of maybe not getting a single-use plastic um you know and some people would say no I do that convenience which is why we have these debates we have these conversations but that's where I stand um on this issue and I don't think that this is a overhanded uh statement that we need to say about the parties as a whole I think it's just a matter of this is a pretty soft regulation and not really seeing this as an overwhelming like coming in and changing everyone's en entire habits it's something that hopefully will slowly and subtly change people's habits and if they still want the single packets they can still ask for it so it does not prevent them from having that so I just wanted to throw my just out thank you um I also just want to add there has been a 400% increase in dining out since the pandemic due to advents like door Dash greets and GrubHub um that has increased a significant amount plastic um utensils that are found in our streets and our parks and throughout our town this does come at a cost this does help clog our train our drains SE systems and so forth this is beneficial to the welfare the safety of our town and because of the significant changes of these applications and these of the ways that we were getting from the way we were eating we also want to make sure that the negative effect that come with that which we never aware of until it happens is is being attended to thank you um there was one more issue to address Miss Kaa Bianca the street openings um the discussion in the public works committee I I can't tell you that was over a year ago um I by all means can refer it back to the public works committee and they can take another look at it and see if they still um want to uh keep it as is or if there's any um changes that they want to make I we be that CC woman I did thank you I made note of it I will follow up all right um we're GNA move on to consent agenda is there any resolutions anyone would like to remove okay and I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda second V call please misso Hi I hi hion hi hi business um I've had a communication with a couple of residents uh regarding a something called a HomeTown Grant this is something that the uh company tal is doing um I haven't had a bunch of time to research it um there was a word in there that concerned me in the B called rural but I'm being told that that definition is less than 5,000 residents so I would never describe Garland as rural but I guess that's the parameter um I I would ask apologize for this in advance councilwoman if we could make our I guess public work um the applications for this grant that I saw publicized on the website board it had they were all park or kind of light infrastructure related so kind of seems like it bone in public works anyway yield to your discretion and move slightly away from yes um I I have seen that and a couple of people have brought it to my attention I haven't got I've taken a look I think it's 50,000 not 5,000 um so we B but I did see the you know is this for us so I didn't get to look completely into it so let's do this um I will send it along to to miss Bruns if you can send it to Public Works um you can take a look and see if it something that would be applicable to us um if there's any you know if we want to move forward with with that Grant itself um if in the meantime while we're looking at it it looks like it might be better in another committee you can let me know we can put it there um okay thank you mayor did have something um I know on tonight's consent agenda is the park mobile app that's coming out we've been talking about this a lot in I was hoping maybe the police committee could consider designating a veteran spot in one of our Lots in town we don't have one um okay I will refer that over to the police Comm with Chief ster okay um okay anybody else okay payment of claim miss Cameron yes Fe resolve that the following CLS as approv being the Same by signed and verified and the listed is by confirmed and ratified and I have a motion to adopt second I I I hi okay we will be moving into executive session uh miss Cameron can you read the following resolution yes post session resolutionary to discuss the matter now therefore that the council while need to go into executive session in accordance with the provisions of the public meeting and JSA 1046 for the purposes discussing the subject stated above further discuss the minutes of the 12 session can I have a motion to adopt this resolution all in favor I [Music] oppose you're welcome wait the meeting's over right yeah that's why it so I thank you know I'm doing it right thank you but I doing that EXC oh no thank you thank you I got a question how come G will y'all don't have like Silver Service if people want to apply why don't y'all have civil service we collected barain no not nothing you need Silver Service like the list like like say this job that I app I just want a website Civil Service they'll be post on civil service website you have to go the list put your credentials and they choose why y have that they just adver on that and they choose who they saying yeah that's saying like if you want a cop you have to go on civil service if you want a fire why you don't have Civil Service when it's like that you know okay it's on I'mma ask I was just like why you don't have that uhhuh cuz when you try to apply to jobs is not for civil service service is good because you go pill you feel like you don't you want right to get the job most County and Municipal jobs is service and that's you go on there for your pinion and everything that's just Pion right they get a right so what did B because I saw that you said she said something mean what did BB say and I was looking at the video at the end of the meeting she said it yeah uhuh as I was leaving uh you know they all stand in the as I was leaving she goes I remember the exact conversation but she said you know you shouldn't be saying what you're saying I don't I don't like what you're saying something like that and I said what I belly right I remember I said I belly right up to the line is that and and she stared at me stared at me then when I said that she stared at me I guess she something anyway so then she stared at what do experience that's when the police officer got in between anded me out yeah video you smart I know she came to me like you said she came to me uhuh that's crazy a lot of times I I go clean on the chair and then out the door care she wants she wants to do that so she and she'll try to do a little restrainer order something like that be careful uhhuh I know and you know my union president my union president is the reason why called my un president she and my president confirmed everything she said she with I'm no so being that they won what happened to her is not talking they for a disclosure I mean there things like like B wanted to put a page out no to pay for them to write a full page ad having her no and she said no do wow you know that big loer her that's crazy a mediator the judges actually has rfqs into the county for that's crazy but you know everybody in a Nick everybody in with them with their favor because of Nick's gu they don't do anything unless it benefits his father Works he ain't never there he get paid he ain't never there yeah I'm there and I'll you down somehow which obviously think out there you know goers the golers showed up I'm the only one that stands I know what happened to John bur you know I think he moved out now hey hey Sean I think he moved out okay so that's why he's down County but okay my vide there okay but yeah the county Watchers start com we was just talking about we have to start coming to the we start coming out I remember you I think you said before but you when you speak out to them they'll listen they just scared scar guys because I find it second hand but you know who I know gonna want to talk and that's why they didn't fire her think she's on administr leave it's the director myob William I know she's gonna talk she gonna talk they gonna because she gonna make me leave over something Petty but you got people that like got excavators like y'all said okay she gonna talk because she know a lot well I'll tell you there a tip line if you want I'll I'll send it to you again the tip line the email they scar speak they can't stand me or my mother do it anous when I do Po and stuff I they mess with me so much I let them know that I call PE so they mess with me I can say that's why you mess with me say I I did so much yeah likeis you guys I know they ain't gonna mess with me because I spoke out so much they me they can't I know I I'll give it to some people that's that's like you know and I'm mention it okay yeah they like you don't stop doing what you're doing they were watching it today my coworker was watching the videos when you said I I hate all of you oh my god do I hate women yeah do I hate men like he stressed you see he stressed but our un andion were thinking about having like a public forum or a public debate between the Republicans and the and mooded Marella and um Baker about to plan that you want we have about 200 members you want us to vote for you because they redistrict don't get comfortable because stuff is getting shifted okay we want to know why we should vote we about we're playing that that's what're about to play I like yeah he's cool he actually question I know but he gota be careful look what they did to Garrison she asked questions too yeah she was good yeah she asked questions yeah that's why they they got mad her and then did what they did let back Adrian m that's probably the third you know Fin and that was it they got El there was somebody else J J yeah but he real close with all right there's somebody else that J he supported kie Mah and they support Nick and they yeah know I support campaign locally for calling it should have been they call youis why didn't you support she was rightfully supposed to get and then how about when pass away y SP all that money on other stuff that they had no business doing yeah the um dere Arad spoke out about that I know person I know him up in Lon said that when I um contract like he going to start going on microphone speaking out he was like I'm a County employee and I'm retired he said he he not he always went off the line yeah oh okay shut it down no they didn't that's called a hot night better need I really wish Miss yeah okay can I have a motion to regular session [Music] second opposed okay the regular meeting of the mayor and Council will be held on Thursday March 21st 2024 at 7. counc chamber meeting posted on the website and I have a motion to so second second all in favor I oppos thank you everybody for coming thank [Music] you I'm sure you do make I remember your name Bill that's right I do only remember because of theint that you gave um David buy got it got it thank you