##VIDEO ID:PxTU_kpoBWw## [Music] this meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meeting act notice of this meeting was provided to the home News Tribune the star Leisure and the Highland Park planet on April 18th 2024 and was posted on ball website at www.hpborrow.com and on the bulletin board of Bor Hall 221 South 5th Avenue Highland Park New Jersey and has remained continuously posted as required by law fire exits are to my left and right of council chambers Michael can you please Le us on the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge Allegiance the United States of America to the Republic for it stands one nation [Music] mayor Foster here Council woman Cana she tonight councilman George here councilman H here council president H here counciling Chan here councilman ponic here attorney Shaw here special Council bman here administrator here okay approval of minutes motion to uh motion to approve the following minutes as distributed June 18th 2024 regular and executive session meeting July 16 2024 regular session meeting and July 23rd executive session meeting second sorry yes councilman Hill yes council president HS yes Council woman K yes Council M yes and now it's time for Council reports and I'm GNA start off with council member Kim Shan yes I just like to again I know tonight we're accepting the 2023 atist so i' like to thank all the staff and especially oh you can't hear me sorry and especially um our our finance Department tax assant and every all the employees in the bur so thank you and the full audit will be available on the website thank you council member council member Hill thank you madam mayor my name is Matt Hill and I chair the economic development committee um have a number of exciting things on the agenda tonight uh but first some just reminders as always the world famous is world now in Highland Park Farmers Market it's in full summer swing on Fridays from 11: to 4 um please please get out on Fridays to support the market um also uh coming up on Sunday September 8th from 11:30 to 4:30 uh is the annual arts and the pars Festival uh art show arts and craft sale in downtown Highland Park um one of the biggest events of the year so please come out and support that um and then as always please uh remember to do as much as you can to shop local um we've got some new local businesses of course Super Fresh is one everybody's thinking about but also de's Pizza um uh there's new Smoothie Bar Connecticut uh connetics um all these businesses are really important um especially new ones are really important to help out um uh with local uh folks coming to them um tonight uh a number of agenda items on the economic development bucket um we have a second reading public hearing on the upper Meridan Avenue Redevelopment plan we have a first reading on new Redevelopment plan on 810 nor 2 um we're going to vote uh also on the Imp ation and execution of uh some amendments to a previous Redevelopment agreement about Charon girl school which will bring among other things um so much need sidewalks up on Madison um we also are authorizing RP for planning landscape architecture and engineering Services um for the creation of our our long awaited pedestrian Plaza on South Third it's really exciting um sort of see that uh come to uh fruition um this is a group that's going to help us in the community planning process um to develop the P Plaza as we as we move forward um all these developments are are a big part of what our master plan and Visions um making sure that there are opportunities for smaller developments um that add to the diversity of p park um they're not as big as track day or track C but they all contribute to the vitalization of the burough in different new and exciting ways so it's really exciting to to see them come on board and I wanted to thank Terry and Joe and the whole team for sort of moving those um uh that's my report mayor thank you uh Council George thank you mayor I'm Phil George and Public Safety Committee just a very short report tonight but the Public Safety Committee the police fire department first Squad and the safe walking and cycling committee invite me to the National Night Out uh the annual event this Thursday August 15th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at ble school now I know if you look at the calendar it's at the same time as the STS at par but think about it B school is only a few blocks from the park so you can catch both events for a change actually have a conflict of schedules and interest with fun things to do in Highland Park at the same time um but stop by it national light out share a moment with our officers our firefighters our first aid Squad and the volunteers who work on many committees which will be having informational boots fun activities um Park stock doesn't have a bouncy house and they don't have really big red stuff with ladders on it we do we're GNA have fun with that um so I invite you to come come in uh remember it's only a few blocks down you can catch both of the events and catch the second set of the strats and have a great time our fire a note um our fire department quickly extinguished a kitchen fire recently up on ritton Avenue we got the information on that Unfortunately they were con to the kitchen car but they asked me uh to remind everyone um kitchen fires are rather common and they're also one of the easiest things to control um psng actually has who was our service provider for utilities here in town for most of us um at safetytips PS p.com um is is a safety tips um uh site that they have that they put out for everyone uh to make as simple as making sure cooking surfaces cleaned of flamable flammable Services by cooking oils and keeping a kitchen safe by extinguisher of the state um finally to all of you with ebikes and these Scooters or kids who have them um recently there's been an upti uptick in accidents that are serious enough for emergency room reporting uh distracted scooting is becoming a thing and at wearing my municipal prosecutor hat we've been getting a lot of informational updates on scooters are actually being sold to kids now with cell phone mounts on handlebars that is dist distracted driving some of the towns that I represent are giving tickets out for distracted driving um and it is extremely dangerous um a scooter does not have a lot of prote protections like a car does um some estimates are that accidents reportable accidents with under 18 on scooters is up 400% since last year so please if you have a scooter you use a scooter or you have family members who do please try and enforce some of safy thank you thank you so much council member for your report and I would also like to add that people should wear their helmet they really will save their lives it's not required but it's it's smart to do so Council M post thank you mayor uh my name is Jason bellik I chair the recreation and arts committee uh in that um while the work the Department of Community Services have a couple of exciting things to announce there uh the park musical festival which is our annual summer outdoor concert series continues this Thursday uh the first of the last two Park concerts of the year um and on this Thursday August 15th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. uh the same uh over last somewhat with the National Night Out but we'll feature another amazing opportunity for recreation in town that'll be featuring this tra casters uh which is a rock and roll HP Rock instrumental guitar band um so again this is from 600 to 8m and located at grow one in Donald park there will be select food vendors on site and there's a rain date of Thursday August 22nd just in case um hopefully we will won't need to use that um and then finally our last part stock Festival of this summer will also be our big end of Summer Festival which will be on Thursday August 29th that'll be featuring Cliff westall which is electrified Hony Tong B and there will be a number of other activities and features including the bounce house bille my bounce an obstacle course and food trucks the bark stock and and the Summer Festival will also be held 6 to 8 Camp uh this one is expected to be bigger it will be located in the mainfield in Don Park uh note that unfortunately due to various logistical issues we're unable to have a rain date for this event so hopefully hopefully hopefully we will have good weather uh because this event is going to be a lot of fun hope to see all there a few other items uh from the Department Community Services there will be an ice cream social on Tuesday August 27th at 2m at the community center featuring mag truck with selection of ice cream and atalian ises uh and lastly the community services uh there will be I just want to announce the FL ation programs registration for several have opened up including chess table tennis uh improv Youth and adult dance classes sorted adult Fitness classes youth soccer and Youth Flag Football and there's more to come so please keep an eye out for emails from the rec department or check out their website through the burough site and then uh one final note uh since Le the Arts commission just want to let you know that there is a poetry Festival they're planning uh for October 6 from 5 to 9: at Pinos more details to come so stay tuned for that and that mayor is my report for tonight thank you ccil president thank you mayor um my name is m h i chair the Public Works committee um and I think everything that we do should have a bouny house so it's fair and everyone has actually all has um but it's not a competition I think it's just it's just illustrative the volume of activity that's going on in Highland Park it's a really exciting time and there's a lot happening um I just wanted to uh just report on a few things uh tonight uh item 12b uh is the first reading of an ordinance that outlines the capital ordinance for Road improvements um while it just says Highland Avenue that is the name of the application of the State uh to receive funds for the uh uh from the Transportation trust fund but what this ordinance does do is it uh it outlands Road improvements for gram street from 4th to 5ifth uh South 8th Avenue from Benner to Woodbridge and then all of Highland Avenue and if Highland Avenue sounds familiar to some of you it's because psng was just out there doing some work so we're going to help navigate uh that one as well uh this is just this uh one ordinance there's more Road improvements coming um and if you have any questions about uh future road projects for 2024 they're listed on our website www.hpb.com uh this month middle six County uh is Paving roadways and parking lots in donon park um uh weather obviously it's been we've had some wild weather uh the last couple weeks uh but all facilities will remain open during during the uh during these projects um the uh just an update on the Felton Avenue Tot Lot uh the mayor uh has indicated you know strong support for reinvestment in our existing public spaces and identifying opportunities for new uh um in neighborhood passive recreational locations so think Mal M gra Park AKA carsy Street Park the Felon Avenue hot lot we don't have a lot of Municipal Parks though even though we're surrounded by two beautiful County Parks um we'd like to see a little more in the way of of of of of community parts so our first investment is na to construction is underway that's new equipment new surfacing uh new plantings all in that small space and really think that it will be a magical spot uh for for the neighborhood and for everything in town uh again I just wanted to mention cooling centers kind of Arrow is out tonight um when we do have times of extreme heat fortunately it doesn't look like that's going to be this week a residents in need of shelter during heat advisories and exessive heat warnings can take advantage of air conditioning right here at the community center and bur Hall during business hours and we're also we've been grateful to our community partner the reform church and p park for making their quilt room available to Residents during the evening and weekends so if there is a heat advisory if you're signed up for Nixle you'll receive a notification on your phone and an email but you can always call dispatch the non-emergency police dispatch line 732 572 3800 for questions um if you or someone know needs housing assistance questions about eviction or to get a better understanding of available housing subsidies you can start by dialing 211 or call 877 652 11148 uh their services are free confidential and multilingual uh and they will help navigate uh the office Byzantine uh support system that exists and this Byzantine but but fairly robust support system that exists in New Jersey but if you're experiencing instability the last thing that you're thinking about doing is being your own Advocate as you carry on with all your daily uh routines work Life School um family and everything uh so please reach out and make sure that uh you can uh you know what is available out there thank you to um this is not a public this is not this won't start off as public works because it has to do with Town camp but I just wanted to reply we we gave a preview before but the environmental commission was uh involved in uh working with camp camp counselor Mason Springer lifton a Highland Park High School grad uh who is currently and a um an environmental history major uh at Ruckers University two weeks ago Mason um LED campers on a tour of unnamed streams for both ecological exploration and to name them uh members of the environmental Commission were on hand as well and the goal is for the environmental commission next to recommend to the mayor and Council uh to officially name the stream so we really look forward to to to to being the next stop on this kind of Civic engagement process it really brings in uh the campers to learn about their ecology and also take ownership over some of these uh um streams that that are that are unnamed uh sustainable Highland Park conducts regular cleanups um uh we're uh there were going to be fewer in August just because it is August um but uh please join s mam Park and the High Park ecology and Environmental Group for trash cleanups to get on their list please email HP EEG news that's hpne atgmailcom uh cleanups are typically from 10: a. to noon uh on um uh on the first Saturday and thir and third Sunday of each month so get on the list uh and it's a really great time to contribute and give back to your community um trim just a a little PSA uh one of the one you know a very common uh uh very common correspondence that comes into to the governing body uh has to do with uh crosswalk availability crosswalk access and sight lines uh particularly as you're driving um being able to see around corners is a pivotal piece of you know what makes for a safe pedestrian cycling a cyclable community so please if you have a corner property enjoy the view make sure that your that that if you do have shrubs around the corner just make sure that they are trimmed back so the cars can see around and so pedestrians can see if there are vehicles coming um this morning uh for administrator ter and I attended the middle County Housing Summit over at midd College uh a really great um uh uh update on housing policy in New Jersey and kind of an over which offered an overview of the um the new uh affordable housing law New Jersey A4 s50 and what that does is that it rewrites how Municipal obligations are determined um as we as we comply with our um with our with our required um uh contri our required obligations to produce affordable housing in New Jersey um so Su um excuse me um Highland Park uh met its third round obligation uh successfully and uh we expect the town will get their fourth round obligations starting later in the year what this bill does is that it provides a lot of flexibility uh and a lot of options for municipalities to meet their obligation and U we it was really great to learn more about the law and to hear from some experts who could kind of walk through um some aspects of the law with us and on that as we sit up here explaining things uh you know what's going on in local government I did want to acknowledge U uh the two passings of of of of people who really helped shape the cfic landscape in New Jersey um uh Michael Aaron and ingr Reed um ingred Reed uh was a um uh led the New Jersey project at the Eagleton Institute at Ruckers University um and she was a proud advocate for feminism civil rights and public policy discussions based on facts and open mindness she came to public policy from a very very journalistic perspective which no surprise led her to promot vo in government transparency and led her to becoming the founder board chair of NJ Spotlight which is an incredible resource uh news resource in New Jersey if you don't read it NJ spotlight. um she served as chair of community Advisory Board of New Jersey PBS and her involvement with both organizations helped facilitate the merger of ngj Spotlight with njtv under W in 2019 um Michael Aaron uh was a senior political correspondent for New Jersey uh Network news uh he died today after a long illness and he was long considered the dean of the State House Press courp in Trenton uh with a with a career that that expanded over 40 years of New Jersey's political history um their presence uh you know was undable I think to all of us to really understand the machinations the political aspects uh the ins and outs of government uh and how things function particularly at the state level um and uh you know both from my hometown of Princeton uh and I happen to know both of them as well um and grew up with their children so it's it really is um an enormous loss uh to New Jersey to uh lose these voices and I think that the best way that we can honor them is to carry forward and not repeat necessarily what we see you know on the internet when it comes to either misinformation or unverifiable facts we have a reporter in the audience today which I'm truly grateful for um when I was a reporter you know we used have three people covering zoning board meetings uh and so it was a you know and so it's a different time now and the way that we reach the public is different now so to lose the voices that help us understand how government works to help us understand how we can interact and help CH and help advocate for change work with uh you know various stakeholders and local governments um is a big loss and so I think we all have shoes when it comes to when it comes to playing that role uh and uh and they uh absolutely will be Miss so thank you for your Indulgence May that's my report okay uh our administrator report yes mayor thanks uh Terry H B administrator economic development director uh one reminder um the uh grace period for property taxes ends August 20th so it's just a gentle reminder if you pay your property taxes directly to the Bro not through your mortgage um that's due by the 20th so I just wanted toind you that third quarter taxes uh are due um that's my administrator hat and then moving to my Economic Development hat council member hail mentioned a number of items on the agenda so won't go into depth on much of that other than to say um with regard to Upper rin's Redevelopment plan that did go to the planning board last week they did deem it consistent with the master plan as we hoped that they would um so just know that as you as men to the public hearing that the planning board did review it and found it to be not inconsistent which is the technical bar we have to meet with planning board I know it's awkward language um and just as a reminder to those who are may as familiar with the plan that plan covers the area of fronting RAR and Avenue between South pent Avenue and Maryland Avenue um and we dued it upper Ron for the time being uh so it's basically two blocks there that mainly front uh where in Avenue um allowing for multif family and Commercial mixed and all there um with regard to A10 North Second Avenue um that's the ordinance that's being introduced this evening and just as a reminder that's for relatively small property on North Second and it basically allows for an Adaptive reuse of a former lab building into either apartments and or if it gets demolished a one or a two family dwelling that's the reader digest version of that plan um uh for 33 Cleveland Avenue uh amendments to the developer agreement uh essentially we the schools getting very close to being ready to open I think they're targeting September 9th as their opening date and there were a number of off-site infrastructure improvements that we negotiated in our development agreement but upon further investigation in the field uh either made sense or are needed to be reevaluated this agreement reflects our kind of mutal understanding of what's listed it also uh grants a little additional time after opening to complete those uh improvements uh but we're really excited the most prominent being some Missing Link sidewalks on Madison and North Second um as well as some Shero which are shared Road markings for bikes and cars and some crosswalk enhancements uh kind of throughout the project and Beyond um sorry I just a busy um the last item I just thought I'd mention uh there are three matters relating to to Canabis businesses on the agenda tonight um this is an extension of our local support it's not the issuing of their license um they've all requested additional time there various stes in their projects but they are all making good progress and are eager to open as soon as they possibly can so uh you may recall I granted administrative extensions uh about six months ago uh which is allowed for our ordinance any further extensions have to come before Council so uh these three uh I should mention the three uh one is at 311 raron Avenue Main Street dispensary we have Blackburn at 176 Woodbridge and floral Highland Park at 85 ritton all have requested extensions and I just would mention that I I feel it's warranted and I hope you'll support that when we get to that on the agenda um so thank you for that mayor I'm done your report nothing May thank you okay um and before I start my report Matt uh council president uh H mentioned two fellow pillars of New Jersey that passed um and that we all have learned a lot from throughout the years but we have uh something very personal to one of I'm here in Highland Park and council member hell father past last week and he was a an extraordinary man and if you have a moment please go to Facebook and just read a little bit about it he was a professor of community I want to say community services he gave his life to empowering and providing for health carees healthc care services for those who are less less fortunate he's traveled to places such as Haiti Dominican Republic and all over the world trying to make this world a little bit better and one of the interesting stories that council member hell shared is that his dad wanted to be remembered as somebody that gave back someone that did community service and if you read his bio you will see that he truly gave back and provided for those who are less fortunate something that I would like to have on my appetite as well but at that this point can me take a moment of silence for all three thank you thank you for doing that I [Music] could we're one big happy [Music] well uh Super Fresh um if you pass Super Fresh recently you see they have a sign out saying that they're coming soon and the expected opening date date is going to be Labor day but they also have something else that's hanging out and it says we are hiring so I think it's super official so um if um they told me that they would hire kids um kids high school students who want to work after school so that's an opportunity right there and anyone in town or surrounding towns who are interested in employment at Super Fresh they really should go and fill an application out so I'm I'm really excited or should I say I'm super excited about Super Fresh opening dat so it's a good thing Highland par we long waited um we um council member council members both hail and her spoke about um funding that we receiv last week we did a press conference with congressman and the press conference was about um safety in our town keeping our streets safe and we received a grant from Congressman with Congressman pone effort from the federal government for $850,000 so we've been doing really good with grants we also receive a grant from the state thanks to our assembly person and our Andor Senator car um Carib benek and Stanley and also Senator dman and we receive a grant for our Plaza for $1 million to get our our Downtown Plaza going and another grant for $250,000 for our EV trucks so we're racking in the grants this year I um we're going to continue to pursue grants to make sure that we not only get our fair share that we can really start doing some serious improvements in our town I'm really happy about that I also want to say thank you to the First Responders that are out constantly putting out fires and keeping Town keeping our town safe and what council member George said about fire safety and U be careful about grease fires because that's really dangerous um while I'm saying that the hurricane season is upon us and it's sooner this year normally it's at the end of September it's sooner and we have all experienced the massive heavy rains and um delays because of rain and that kind of thing please go to our website we put our reports about storms and get information that you may need to be prepared and to know what to do in case you're experiencing an emergency during the storm we have information on our website and that's my report and now it's time for our first public participation 21 minutes three minutes per speaker limited to items on the agenda comments from members of the public attending in person will be heard first followed by those members attending on Zoom please step up to the microphone with your name and address microphone so I don't kick the table you sure enough thanks nor Second Avenue um have upcoming Highland ordinance 24-29 to is this working doesn't sound the agre is on we can switch [Music] it coordinates coming up which I see is GNA be I guess discussion next week but you mentioned it anyhow ORD number 24293 about Highland in other locations whatever happened to a year and a half two years ago money was put aside for Dennison Street washboard block and CME was going to do a wonderful site plan and and and it's still a was for the third block oh that's right you can't answer me okay I'll talk about the one that's got the public hearing up later on and I want to point out I sincerely think your mission statement needs update the last few words in the last sentence to encourage direct public participation no you don't we get three minutes once a month maybe twice a month maybe twice in a meeting that's it we can't talk like the US Constitution promised us discuss things read the minutes back in the 50s and 60s meetings went I don't want to be here till 10:30 11:30 12:00 but it was was intense and there were debates and it was interesting and they got things done so I guess I'll stop there I met Michael Aaron once accidentally at the state house he wasn't very friendly but he was working and I'll be back about the records Preserve in a little while anyone else to speak anything on the agenda good evening um Charlie crille editor new Bron today Community newspaper serving the area I just want to understand this is the public comment on General matters or agenda items only agenda items only okay you'll have another comment later yes mayor I see a couple hands up uh we have seven attendees total online first up is Carl prey please St your name please hi um um Dennison Street I um I appreciate uh Lois's question about Dennison Street um I like to know as someone who lives right where uh she call it um uh whatever she called it um the basically unpaved part of dentist indry that you were supposed to be repairing uh when that is going to happen happen uh there's obviously been no uh uh nothing about whatever you were going to do whatever your site plan was and there's been obviously no repair done um so I'd like to know when that's going to happen I don't know why she thought that you didn't have to answer that question but I think you should have to answer that question and I have um an additional comment on on Dennison Street and North forth which are both part of you know this repair process supposedly um um people double Park on North forth people park on the south side of Dennison Street between uh uh fourth and fifth and I've never seen anybody get a ticket it's very dangerous you could um you can't when these trucks are double parked on North forth um or when people who are who are eating at um the pizza place and getting stuff at Morty or maybe penos they double Park and they stay on dentist Street where they're not allowed to park for a long time and I've never seen anybody get a ticket I've never seen anybody uh told they can't park there and I'd like to see a little bit of enforcement in Highland Park so I'd like to know um whe When is Sison Street actually going to get repaired it's uh been like probably 25 years since anything has happened thank you anyone else uh no mayam okay seeing that there's no more man no no one else may I have a motion to close public participation second yes [Music] H yesan yesc yes council president do you want wish to address the issue with Dennison Street oh thank you mayor um thank you U um M forsberg and M leing um I think you I think you asked us at the last meeting um but uh Dennis Street is on the 2024 road projects list as we discussed uh and in fact bids just came in for for um uh for uh uh work on Dennison Street as well as North Fourth Avenue and Harper street so those are three those those are three roadways that we have been discussing all year long um and uh happy to continue answering those questions but uh we expect that this work will take place in the fall thank you mayor you're welcome okay boord requiring a second reading clerk can you report an ordinance number 24208 n an ordinance of the B of pil Park an ordinance of the burrow Council of the burrow Highland Park County of middlex New Jersey authorizing the adoption of upper raron Avenue Redevelopment plan pursuant to the local Redevelopment and Housing long njf 4A 12 A-1 Etc has been duly advertised for consideration of passage on Final reading by title and affidavit to publication or on file and now it's time for a public hearing on this ordinance if anyone who wishes to speak on this ordinance you may come up to the microphone please give your address north okay I looked at the plans taking away lots of black pavement from two properties I don't know how if you helped Mo it all if you helped the Widow of Dr gold smith at the veterinarian clinic did our Main Street step in which was supposed to take the place of a chamber of commerce I don't know she wants to sell a business and obviously has to move did anybody help her out no no answer okay and and also so I just want to warn the neighbors up there that we were told no eminent domain or no condemnation tr day and now it's happening gho ident domain not the exact same definition but it's it's frightening when you have residential property up above the cleaners and and you know that you're on the way out 40 years here means nothing some town just well employees get a bonus for being here longevity bonus but not y I'm Classic Cleaners it makes no sense mckeny left after whatever 60 years anyhow so neighbors up at the upper Aron be very wary thank you Council um Kieran Crowley 218 Harrison Avenue um I'd like to uh comment on some very discussion at planning board last week in relation to Upper ritan made some notes the board member flagged that the needs of borrow schools were not considered in that Redevelopment plan and it led to a really interesting discussion um and I think to really summarize it it basically said that back when the master plan was written so much has changed in the town and all fronts but in particular with the schools there's been some emerging challenges and the one that was spoken to specifically was that Irving School has these temporary units which are housing the youngest students and I think this is all you know driven by recent changes in state law you're probably aware of what I'm talking about but it was very interesting that the discussion went through you know well um should the the development plan at least make reference to this issue in the school district and I know usually there's quite a clear separation between the B and the schools but um it led to a good discussion and I think the way I felt it ended was you know it's not a requirement for these development plans now but in the future it did I think there was kind of consensus that maybe some of these School considerations should be factored into development plans um you know in the future so um my take-home was that it does make sense to me that the B should look for win-win opportunities that could maybe benefit the B andit at the schools um and yes this planning board discussion was just about one of your projects but I think it kind of leads to a bigger point so um I count five or six development projects that are kind of in the pipeline right now tracks a to d and then the two that are being mentioned tonight so that's a lot of Redevelopment and you know I wonder well what are the potential impacts on the schools planning board we talking about kind of I think space around these classrooms but the biggest concern for me is financial so if we're going to go down the root of um Financial incentives pilot agreements how will that impact um school funding and at the same time enrollment may go up so um yeah I just wanted to make sure that that discussion last week and I'd encourage you to listen to it I know you're all really busy but experts who know it this area far better than I just make good points um didn't necessarily come up with the answers um and Mr B I know you were there so if you would either confirm or even tweet my summary you know I'd invite that um and lastly for the mayor do do you think that the bar has a responsibility as much as it can to consider the schools in its Redevelopment planning and its Redevelopment projects [Music] D Don I was wondering if this grand plan of the and whatever other developments are coming which are probably welcome and a big thing I was wondering if there's any consideration of the people that own the houses on those in that area do they just do you just you know tell them to get out and pay them Market what's the process is it just you know you're leaving we're making this a better place that's what I wanted to ask sorry just Lois one more second Piggy on the gentlemen from Harrison if you edit I'm sure all of you have the first hland Park historic book page 78 talks about that over schools after post post World War II babyb in the 60s your kids or you or your grandchildren in the future might be they were in they were overcrowded there were classrooms in the hallways in the room closets and even one school's Boiler Room that's what you're looking at a baby boom and I'm not hearing a study on school expansions police and fire expansions other Master plans have circulation we see centralized parking management R circulation traffic so where are the schools going to grow to how are we going to pay for how are you going to pay for it your kids not me thanks anyone in zo with any questions no mayor um before we move on on on this particular one um Terry you want to be here to answer some of the questions about first I would like to say that we have been in in conversation with the superintendent and we are exploring we're looking at all Avenue so that's that's being looked at it's not that we we're oblivious to that make that may that we may have an impact on the school system we have been having conversations those conversations will continue to happen um Terry would you like to report on anything about the hous and the process for housing in that upper ritan area um I'll try to address uh the comment from De uh so so with upper rit's plan all of our plans are a little bit different based on where they are but the upper ritan plan which is what we're here talking about with this public hearing um it's a um there's nothing compelling a property owner to do the plan we think we want to encourage the reinvestment we think it will improve their properties as well as the streets Gap uh but there's nothing that's forcing a given property owner to do that and this this we're talking about a small handful of properties in the case of that plan so in general our approach is to work very um you know in collaboration with the property owners because we do want to see the plan happen and so we did consult with some of the more engaged property owners who the Luol property in particular they had that's the the former Luol uh because it's it's kind of the most Dreadful streetscape apologies but also they express an interest so we we did bounce ideas around before we finalize our plan um so our hope is to see it happen uh but to do it collaboratively with with uh the prop owners and that's our approach to a lot of our our plans uh the smaller plans that we're talking about uh today I can't go back and forth with you that's not the format sorry but I'm happy if you want to get my contact after to answer any questions um the uh I there I think I think the clerk did pass along the notes from the uh board attorney from the planning board but certainly we can talk more about uh Mr Carly's points uh and we I will let go what the mayor says we do work in collaboration I will point out multi family housing and school children generation um but there's a lot of studies out there and we're looking at that very closely to try to anticipate as best we can what we think the generation of school childrens might be from our Redevelopment projects but it's not a it's not exact science but that is something on our minds and we are thinking about that for sure um May those are the main notes I think I have I think you answered adequately thank you uh may I have a motion to close public hearing on ordinance number 24289 may I may I just one comment about the public um I know that sometimes it seems that we want to engage in in a conversation but once um the individuals up here are answering any questions we can't have any dialogue going on from the public so I just wanted to make that clear because we have two more ordinances and another public portion to go through thank you so much roll call second oh got a second may I have a second second roll call counc George yes councilman H yes council president yes councilwoman Ken Chan yes councilman konic yes please report oh may I have a motion to adoptor rejects ordinance number 224 d208 n to adop Second bro councilman George yes councilman H yes Council pres H yes councilwoman Kim Johan yes councilmanic yes okay now clerk please report in ordinance number 24-290 coordinates approving authorizing the entering into execution and delivery of a light a lease and agreement with mlex County Improvement Authority relating to the issuance of County guaranteed Capital Equipment and Improvement revenue bonds series 2024 of the middlex county Improvement Authority has been duly advertised for consideration of passage on Final reading by tit and Affidavit of publication are on file and now we're going to go to public hearing on this particular ordinance anyone who wishes to speak on this particular one may do so now by coming up to the microphone give your name and address see that there's none is there anyone on Zoom no okay okay may I have a motion to close this public hearing ordinance number 24-29 motion to close second roll call councilman George yes councilman H yes council president H yes councilwoman Kim Johan yes councilman ponic yes may I have a motion to adopt or reject ordinance number 24-290 move second BR councilman George yes councilman Hil yes council president H yes Council Kenan yes councilmanic yes clear these reports in ordinance number 24-29 loan ordinance authorizing the enter into entering into execution and delivery of a loan and security agreement with middlex County Improvement Authority for the undertaking of various 2024 Capital Improvements and the acquisition of and installation of as applicable a various equipment with an estimated cost of 260 ,000 the costs of such improvements and equipment to be financed through the issuance of County guaranteed Capital Equipment and Improvement revenue bonds series 2024 of the mil County Improvement Authority has been duly advertised for consideration passage on Final reading by title and affidavit to publication on file now it's time for public participation on this ordinance if you wish to speak please come up to the microphone give your name and address Terry anyone no May seeing that there's no there's no participation may I have a motion to close public hearing and ordinance [Music] 2429 councilman George yes councilman H yes council president H yes councilwoman yes councilman yes may I have a motion may I have a motion to adopt or reject 24-20 91 so move second roll call councilman George yes councilman H yes counc president yes counc Kenan yes councilman yes ordinance requiring first reading ordinance number clerk please report an introduction of ordinance number 24-20 N2 in ordinance of the bur Council of the B final card County of middlex New Jersey authorizing the adoption of the A10 North 2 Avenue Redevelopment plan pursuing to the local Redevelopment Housing law and JSA 482 A-1 at SEC has been duly introduced by the economic development planning committee for consideration of passage on first reading by title may I have a motion to approve or reject ordinance number 24-29 2 to authorize publication as reviewed by law and set public hearing date for September 17 2024 you approve second roll call councilman George yes councilman H yes council president H yes Council kiman yes councilman P yes please report an introduction of ordinance number 24209 3 Capital ordinance providing for improvements to the Highland to Highland a in the county of middle state of New Jersey appropriating 550 ,000 from the Department of Transportation Local transportation projects program therefore to pay the cost thereof has been du introduced by the finance committee for consideration of passage on Final reading or on first reading by title may I have a motion to approve or reject ordinance number 24293 to authorize publication as required by law and set public hearing for September 3r 2024 motion second yes councilman ha yesc president yes and again this is more than just high ad this includes Graham from fourth to 5th and S from CER to Woodbridge thank you administrator there for for that remind yes councilwoman Ken Johan yes and councilman Bon yes uh consent agenda items resolution may I have I'll ask council members if they would like any if they would like any of the following consent agenda items to be pulled from consent agenda any items to be pulled no mayor okay may I have a motion to adopt or reject the following consent agenda items 13A through 13s councilman George yes councilman H yes council president yes Council Kenan yes counc M yes now it's time for the second public participation three minutes for speaker on any topic subject to end it not to conclude at 900 PM comments from members of the public attended in person will be heard first followed by those attending on Zoom if you wish to speak please come up to the microphone name and address please good evening Charlie brille New Brunswick New Brunswick today uh want to begin by extending sincere condolences to councilman h on loss I want to respond to council president um thank you for the kind words uh I I only wish the people that Run Middle sex County had the same gratitude uh feeling when when I walk into the room with them and uh I know today was an example where it was great to see you and and unfortunately was was not allowed to enter that event bring my camera and record that event it's very unfortunate but I'm here uh to discuss some burrow business I want to raise a complaint about a municipal judge not sure how many Municipal judges you have you only have one are there multiple um sir all of the questions are going to be asked Al together from individuals in person and then online then we're going to close a public portion and then the questions are going to be answered if we have information if we don't we're going to follow up with the information to to get to you okay I don't understand why it can't be answered right away but um I'd like to complain about Judge Edward Herman and his handling of case that was moved from New Brunswick the case of state of New Jersey versus Susanne Sor lwig was transferred from New Brunswick to Highland Park because the defendant's elected position in New Brunswick and I personally requested and secured permission to report and photograph the defendant's case uh the date of the appearance was July 31st and I requested and obtained permission more than a month before that uh the permission came from the presiding municipal judge judge Christine Heyman and judge Herman began the day by overturning Judge heyman's approval and denying me the uh right that I had expected to get to be able to record and uh photograph the proceeding so be so you can understand what we're talking about here was a zoom zoom proceeding um so I was at my desk and uh yeah it was actually quite shocking because I've never seen a municipal judge overturn a higher uh judge filed a a letter with the assignment judge for Middle sex County and uh it appears that the trial court administrator's office agrees with me that what happened was very wrong that uh this was an example of overreach by judge Herman and that now they're rounding up all the municipal judges to to make sure that they understand rules uh for how this stuff is supposed to work and so I wanted to bring this to you because my understanding Municipal judges are appointed by mayor and councel and uh I don't know what powers you do have uh as far as uh um you know trying to remedy uh or or um remediate the problem 30 seconds but uh I certainly know that uh you know this person comes up for a reappointment you should think twice based on the way he's handled this matter um I think that uh you know if you want to learn more I'm happy to share the letter I wrote with the the Clerk and and Clerk and pass it on to you all as elected officials but I want to bring this to your attention today so I appreciate you hearing me out and we welcome any response you have as I mentioned before there's no public participation Crowley 218 Harrison Avenue um on the consent agenda item 213 there's the RFB for the Plaza just two quick questions on that so the RFP that will go out is that giving all three options that the public was presented in June um and then responders will kind of pick the best or has you know a preferred scenario been identified and then the second question when you do get bids will that review of the bids and the decision will that include members of the public or will that be an executive session and you know we'll just you know I guess the public would then hear we've got a new new developer sign or new plan anyone sorry mayor there is but okay uh since I can't ask if there is still r a residential single family on the ecological preserve Zone which apparently ecological preserve Zone doesn't mean like park or or some place you don't develop you cannot develop people that 1988 we got the hannes bill passed you guys weren't golden diapers you should have heard about this this was Statewide this was an important lots of visits to Trenton we absolutely busted but working on this so 88 it was the hanesville no development now I've got the 98 when state do wanted to enlarge nler Lane ex 18 extension John L bridge and put a dunk handle and it was passed in the sen 1998 again saying the 28 legisl Bill s Bill 1488 no you can't nether Rucker State University border of Governors trustees State agencies instrument no one may develop build upon you got your units permit any other person to utilize developer build upon you've all got electronic devices people any undeveloped real property now I don't know if this came and you can't tell me if this came from R's Board of Governor or the department of the off the governor's office or the treasurer's office this can only be for scientist ific use you cannot put parking blah blah blah blah none of it Associated buffer the natural teaching Zone that was called in 1988 now it's the memorial preserve for Peres other than scientific research study instruction land specifically related Paving of any area for any purpose shall constitute a conflict event you can't do it this is the preserve you're not building on dson Park you know you're smart enough to know not to build on Johnson Park I don't care it's here you got little pieces of each of those two parts you cannot do anything number one number two when Ron Haskins was police chief I brought a a piece of ordinance a hand grenade here to the office across the street and I'm sure he's and and it was a dummy because that was camp Kilmer and on your 74 taxes you've got that it was exempt because it was a military Camp so unless my questions are did you do a cleanup did you contact the governor's office who gave the commission white genius doesn't know what ecological preserve means I'd like to know where this came from I can put a request for information and follow the poor clerk's office but this is not for touching thank you we we do have two hands up and Carl prey or Mary th hi um Mary forsberg Dennison Street I um I have very similar um concerns uh to the issues that Kieran Crowley has brought up I I really am rather um worried I have to say about the future finances of Highland Park since Highland Park is doing a lot of Redevelopment plans and uh so far you've given away two pilots but I'm sure there will be a lot more and um schools are not are not part of the pilot and uh there's no way that you can actually uh be forced to give the money to the schools which is rather unfortunate uh the best thing to do is not give Pilots I mean the there were all the things over by the uh developments over by the train station did not get pilot uh Pilots so um I I'm I'm quite concerned I'd like to know who who at who in the burrow is um take is going to take financial responsibility for the future of the town when the town is giving away its money you know buying property and then may or may not sell it uh the questions about um track a and buying the property down there to to uh um to hold it for the developer and whatever the developer gets around to doing something um where where is the money I'd like to know actually specifically on the million dollar Grant from the state where specifically did that come from where it what department what what agency where where is that million dollars from um um I'd really like to know that and I'd also like to know how much the burrow has already spent uh trying to get that Plaza started you know in terms of what the buau had to do to respond to Pro issues that the state had of closing the closing the street and why is it I know that um kieren crowle asked the question of is is the um developer of track uh C going to help finance that is the developer of track C expecting to get a pilot for whatever he's planning to do there um it it'd be nice to know that somebody has um is taking a real interest in how our money our taxes are being spent so uh I'd like who is responsible for keeping track of this thank you anyone else um May Marilyn Blake or you're up next please state your name to confirm yes hi Marilyn BL 32 L um my concerns are again about um trees um Matthew mentioned that we we're into hurricane season um there's a lot of dangerous trees in Highland Park I understand we had an arborist hire to I believe in inspect the trees to see which ones are in needing needing to be you know taken down there's some very serious limbs that are ready to fall on a lot of trees at least on the North side that I see every day on my walk so I'm very concerned about this some are dangerously near the sidewalks okay and also I think in the past there's been issues with this that sidewalks have been covered by grass um other other types of growth um during this time of the year um sometimes the sidewalks are very difficult to walk through because of this and what is the town doing to notify homeowners that they need to trim their area that's another thing and then again I'm going to bring up Madison Avenue Fourth Street Triangle Park this is only getting worse a tree did a big brand Branch did fall I had complained about the trees being diseased they need to come down Matt Matt halil can testified that a big Branch fell a few weeks ago during um a wind storm so I really think that someone needs to look at that and clean up the mess um like you said we don't have many parks so this is one little Park that needs uh fixing that's it any El no um seeing that there's no one else may I have a motion to close public participation someone roll call Council George yes Council H yes council president H yes Council kiman yes Council P yes B attorney um as it relates to judge Herman that is not something would you like to say where that that that complaint should be well um it it really does fall within the Judiciary System but if you would like I have no issu in saying after and speaking to Mr CRA to get the remaining of the information and and if there's anything else that we can try to do on our own obviously may not be within our jurisdiction than you and um Terry you have a lot have a lot I'm going to throw at you the RFP for the plaza the bill process the bill the bill the bid process I should say and um we got the grant we got the Grant from the state that's about it but could you speak to the plaza and the RFP process because we just passed that one tonight for the RFP sure thing um the South thir Plaza RFP the plan for that is to draft kind of the scope of work that's the thing I'm focused most on which is you referenced the three Alternatives I'm not quite sure what you meant with respect to the plaza but we can talk about that separately um but in general the process that I had envisioned although it's subject to you know the mayor and Council was we'll draft the RSP once we have the scope of work uh we will put it out uh and have respondents these are Professional Services Under public Contracting uh licensed Professionals in the state of New Jersey so we don't have to go out to do an RFP but we want to kind of hear what people have to say and we want to be kind of impressed by the work that they've done in in other places so uh but the type of team we're looking for it's probably going to be a team either a professional planner with a landscape architect or a landscape architect with a planner they'll pitch their services to us in line with our scope of work and we'll interview them um um we haven't discussed committees or things like that and that's something we can certainly talk about so I don't want to commit to that here um but we've done that in various for different projects before so we certainly could if we thought it made sense um but essentially the potential would be to find the team that's going to work us through the stakeholder process uh for what what our needs are for the space I'm including the the an expanded parking area on South Third as well as um I believe going to include at least the covered area that uh we will have as part of the tracky Redevelopment because we kind of want it all to work in concert to each other so um what the RFP will be public so you certainly have an opportunity to look at it and and see that um and then we'll eagerly a wait um hopefully some exciting uh proposals from Professionals in this field um so that's kind of how that part will go um once we've done our evaluation and we want to make an award then go through the Normal public award process uh come to the council and and a decision will be made here to move forward uh the the question regarding the grant it's a legislative Grant I guess they used to be called ear marks but it's a legislative Grant uh to answer that question um and I'm I'm awaiting the grant agreement um and I would mention Miss gburg asked a couple of other questions which were already asked in an O request which we will certainly provide as soon as we have all the materials available thank you um I think that was I think that was it as it pertains to those those Redevelopment don't know if Joe had anything to add on can I I have one thing to that's okay B attorney um nothing to add council member Hil yet something one of the things that Karen that I I thought I heard you say is that that the RFP that we approved tonight was for developer of South Third that's not really the case these are professional service it's not that we're going out to a private developer and they're going to choose what happens this is a community process and these are the professionals the pl the the architect the the landscape architect and that so it's it's a it's a small distinction but I think it's an important we're not going to to bid to get a new developer to to come in and develop our Park this is our the the Town Park um the Town Plaza Town pedestrian Plaza would be a public process and their job is to help us work through that process with all the stakeholder engagement like uh like Terry said so just a small small tweet but I think it's an important one to to point out uh Council presidency um would you like because this falls under your bucket in DPW just the concerns about trees thank you mayor uh thank you Marilyn for for the uh for the question um and agree completely uh you know we have a lot of as we've reported here we have a lot of trees in town you know a lot of the development in town happen at the same time we R similar times so we have a lot of trees that are aging out at the same time and I think that's what we're seeing so our shade tree advisory committee um working with our arborist working with our professionals B Mr H uh and through the advice of consent with the council uh uh um is uh taking an aggressive stance on tree planting just in the last two years we've planted upwards of 150 trees um U multiple species uh from Red map to Red Buds to River Birch to crab apples uh and and and so forth and so forth and so it's a really exciting diversity of trees that diversifies the uh ecosystem um but then it also helps promote the tree canopy so all the things that you've said um are are absolutely correct if you see a tree limb or limbs or a tree that is no longer living or that appears to be in danger please contact uh either either the police non dispatch number or contact psng as well psng is always out monitoring the wires um if it's on the North side you may have wires in your backyard so those Street trees that are on the easement uh may be different so um there there is a report of concern portal on on our website so a lot of it does have to do with just proactive reporting um you mentioned that you had contacted um councilman ha uh if you're comfortable reaching out to to to to him or any one of us uh you can also do that but I would just say to the public if you notice a tree in distress uh there's a tree right across the street from you that last year was perfectly foliated um and and living this year completely dead it's not a street tree it's on some of these properties so I I approached them and offered to you know said that you should really hire a consultant to come and look at this um look at this tree so it can happen suddenly um when trees fall during storms I always say that as Public Works chair councilman George the the the thing that frightens me most is not the snow we the flooding it's the wind we can't shovel it we can't move it and particularly when the ground is soft and wet the wind can really wreak havoc so um our Our First Responders are first on the scene if a tree falls uh the fire department is on the scene right away to clear the obstruction from the roadway but again um all of these things are are it's always better if you are proactively reporting uh these items too and the same thing with and I mentioned in my Council report um overgrowth um on uh on side walks um residential property owned shy that that grows up the sidewalk can be very dangerous can affect Sidelines uh and can make sidewalks inable particularly if you have a if you're pushing a stroller if you're walking the dog no matter what what what you have it can make it very difficult uh so I would just say that we have an aggressive tree planting regimen currently underway and that will continue um uh you can request the tree planting on on your street for a street tree but reporting is really really important and that goes back to the Civics that we were talking about right is interacting and involving yourself with the workers of municipal government this is the business that we're all that we that none of us is immune to uh so if you see something you really need to say something thank you may mayor can I add to that too about the trees um I just wanted to ask plug for my neighb but many of our properties are just so tight and small that many of the trees border our neighbors properties and it's always um you know a good conversation to have with your neighbor a little PL for my neighbor when I first moved in there it it was kind of like 60 you know 40 and we wind up going doch on the on the fees and the application so um you know in good Highland Park Spirit you know be nice to your neighbor you guys can share the cost of the tree okay um now on the agenda it's time for a five minute recess but we're going to forego the recess and we have executive session so um executive session may I have a motion our executive session will be on litigation it's JSM at Highland Park versus Highland Park may I have a motion to adopt or reject resolution litigation JSM and Highland Park JSM and Highland Park versus Highland Park second roll call councilman George yes councilman H yes council president yes Council yes uh this ends our public discussion um we will be moving into our executive session good night have a safe summer