[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] second this meeting has been 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 January 4th 2023 and was posted on ball website at www hpb.com and on the bulletin board of borrow Hall 221 South fth Avenue Highland Park and has remained continuously posted as required by law in addition notice of this meeting via Zoom was emailed to the home use Tribune the star Leisure the Highland Park planet on May 12th 2023 and was quoted on borrow website at www.hpborrow.com and on the bulletin board of burrow Hall 221 South fth Avenue Island Park New Jersey on May 12th 2023 and has remain continuously posted as required by a law fire exits are to my left and my right of council chambers tonight we have some special guests with us and I'm going to ask Ben from the Boy Scouts if he could lead us in the pleasure face Scout salute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands na indivisible andice for all mayor Foster here councilwoman Cana councilman George here counc H here council president here councilwoman Kim toan councilmanic here B attorney Shir here B administrator H council members do you have any questions on the agenda no questions there okay at this time it is my honor to acknowledge um Eagle Scout Zachary hail council member hail's son and I'm going to read the proclamation and then I'm going to ask council member to come down and to present and it says whereas Zachary a member of Highland Park Boy Scout TR 55 receiv received the rank of ego Scouts on April 25th 2023 and whereas Zachary has been actively involved in scouting for 12 years joining pack 5 in 2011 and through 55 in 2015 and whereas Zachary has has earned over 20 merit badges including ones in cooking chemistry climbing citizens citizenship in the Community First Aid life saving life saving and disability awareness whereas Zachary has served the troop on both sto Patrol leaders and senior patrol leaders Zachary eag Scout project was to build the first outdoor dining parklet in Highland Park and you all have benefit all of us have benefit benefited from that currently on Fourth Avenue he organized his friends family and fellow Boy Scouts to design and construct the dining platform with with which assisted several local Northport businesses with the assistance of several northw businesses by providing additional seiling during and after the co pandemic his eag Scout project took over 50 hours of community service to accomplish this goal and whereas Zachary a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh where he is studying biomed engineering and is considering a career in medicine now therefore I LC Foster mayor of theor of Highland Park to hereby Proclaim Zachary H distinguished Highland Park resident and where I recognize and admire his hard work and dedication congratulating congratulate him on his many achievements and look forward to seeing his future accomplishments and greatness of I have on to set my hand on the 21st day of November 2023 mayor Elsie Foster um council member here I know you are eager to help us help me out to make this happen appr I was G I was going to say some words but with us this evening and he came just to see this presentation and to congratulate you as well Senator here say a few words I needed this you know you read the paper you see all the negative things they don't need um be proud all I can say to the family is be proud this young man what 20 you told me you 18 18 18 in 18 years that resme my god um and obviously you have learned from example so God bless you we need more like you and you have already accomplished and this is just very much as I said I needed this thank you thanks for thanks for letting me and I just want to add thanks to the TR for coming out and supporting our town and to be here especially during the pmic to help all of us out because we all benefited from thank you there's ice cream out there for everybody who wants join I'll I'll be out in one second okay you want to get a two-minute recess so you can go out ice cream 2 minutes I'm being generous I gave two minutes let Dad go out and enjoy with us Happy Thanksgiving proud Dad Happy Thanksgiving thank you Senator one not going to share how long it really really is right [Music] that was the they come here [Music] [Music] anyone ice anyone who want ice cream can go get some going to plenty on Thursday so I need to start early yes please for Sor I got my dad pinned so proud well that makes well now that we're back in session uh approval of minutes motion to approve minutes distributed October 10th 2023 regular session and executive session and October 24th 2023 regular session and executive session a second can we get a second Council reports roll call roll call Council George oh sorry stain on the 24th yes to the other councilman H yes council president H yes councilman yesil reports okay I'm going to start off because I am super excited and I have some really delightful and uncommon news to share it's really good um over the summer I have been working with an estate attorney and the reason why I was working with attorney is that a longtime Highland Park resident by the name Leonard Kushner he was a former police officer and he retired from the police department in January 1988 and he lived here in town on South 2 Avenue for after decades after he retired he passed away in 2022 22 and um he was a very generous man and one of the things that Leonard loved more than than anything else in the world his mother yes Leonard loved and cherished his mom he did not um have any family and once he left the police department he became a day trader and he traded and after the we read the will and the will was probate he left some really awesome and great news well what Leonard did was um he left the borrow of Highland Park he Beed because he had no family he Beed the B of Highland Park different departments various sums of money and I'll just give you an idea of the different department that he left money to Highland Park Police Department he left money to purchase three new vehicles the fire department a brand new fire truck uh the first state Squad a brand new ambulance Highland Park Community Food Pantry $350,000 for people who have who are facing food insecurities Highland Park give a hoop $250,000 for camps and scholarships and food distribution to our local public library $375,000 uh he left additional fund the Highland Park Public Schools um some borrow based groups such as the auti uh children with autism and all the gifts were given in memory of his mother Ida Kush all of these gifts will be noted and we U we'll have uh you'll see a lot of name of Ida Kushner around the borrow and this is because he left this generous sum of money to the town and which had to form 501c3 organiz ations but I was happy that I worked with the attorney to give the the town this wonderful I think this is a season of giving and he really made it happen during the season of giving and I think it's a gift that's going to get back over and over and over again he was very generous to his mother he left her this and he wants her to be remembered and to be cherished and we're going to have a lot of um wonderful things happening in our town and for various departments and children who um are marginalized are going to get scholarships and a host of other things so I would like to ask each and every one of you to give uh Leonard kushna Round of Applause thank you um Park deli as many of you know that when that Park deli has stepped up to the plate and they have helped us out with um providing produce and dairy and everything else during um why we do not have a supermarket in place Park deli is expanded Papa Gallows is next door and they're expanded from where they are they're purchase they're going to be opening up expanding into that area which is great news I'm really happy to announce that but with that announcement I have a downside Quick Check who's been in town forever is leaving they're leaving because they have changed quick quick check corporate have changed their model and their model is for bigger stores with gas stations we cannot accommodate a gas station so they are leaving because they want to be in places where they can make a lot more money and they have gas stations so they can have lots of gas pump and um similar to the big box stores what most of big box stores are doing so unfortunately quick check will be leaving but we'll be working hard tirelessly I know council member hel and I are going to be like really working and all of us to get a a new replacement get a new store in that area because we want to address those needs unfortunately it seems like that's the way of the world that everybody wants bigger and bigger and bigger and small towns like us really have to work hard and to keep our town vibrant and to shop locally and develop create development that will be sustainable and that will stay in our town and on that note I have another Pleasant uh news to share I met with the new owners of our Supermarket space and um I'm happy to share that we they have signed all the paperwork the owner the new owner is out of town this week we'll be back next week and we're going to be meeting and at that time we will do we will be doing a press release on what supermarket is going to be filling that space so I think again that's awesome news that we're going to be having a supermarket in Highland Park in short order I can't say the name of it yet because I want to do this jointly with the new owner so I will keep you updated um that is my report and now I'm going to move into Council reports and I'm going to ask council member George do you have any report I do mayor thank you and thank you for that good news uh first of all uh to everyone watching listening and everyone here Thanksgiving greetings I hope your holiday is delightful but also say um on a more sober U note council president first and I attended the uh FAL memorial for Mary dver a longtime volunteer here in town who was instrumental um uh in many of the Committees she served on in particular in relation to the environment um and just as a note uh Mary was the first volunteer that I met when I took office and I met her at the native plant Sanctuary where she worked uh tirelessly to beautify that area um and I learned quite a lot about the town and and I've always said volun our volunteers are some of my best source of information and we literally sat on a log in the native plant sanctuary and learn how uh to deal with some of the environmental questions that we have um my regards to her family uh with regard to the library as the mayor has noted there's been a request to from the Kushner estate for 375 which is your mark for the meeting room enhancements including accessibility digital projection Carpeting and painted walls it'll include a paved patio and programming space at the North 6th Avenue entrance improvements to the meeting room kitchenet and restroom and improvements to the hope to the main public restrooms as funding allows in conjunction with the uh State Library grant program which and the renovations are ongoing at the time um Michael Bish our executive director who's here at every meeting and the staff were excited with this development as well as the progress of the library renovation uh they're looking at a Target date of February 2024 for reopening the library space but it's very flexible at this time so uh we'll have to stay tuned and see how things go with regard to Public Safety I'm happy to announce that the one of our um um better shared service agreements uh for transferring Dispatch over to the ruers Dispatch Center is moving along very rapidly uh on the agenda tonight is funding for bu building Renovations that are necessary to make the lobby Reception Area um a a personel free so that it's accessible at 247 and 365 uh from Rucker dispatch without any uh effort uh this will enable people to enter enter the area without having to perform um any switching or operation of any devices and automatically signal through the Ruckers uh for Auto uh further entry uh the updates going include cameras throughout the building so that the entire building is monitored as well I'm also pleased to note that three of the four full-time dispatchers were accepted by R ruer dispatch and the fourth full-time dispatcher um has placed with another dispatch area that they wanted to go to so the program has been U working very well a Public Safety Committee recently discussed the no parking change at the Irving School which seems to have cleared up a lot of traffic problems in the area um it also discussed was uh whether um uh moving forward with commercial parking at this time um we don't feel that the ordinance any changes they seem to provide one good news that was shared at um the public safety meeting was uh that officers they've increased the patrol in the in Crows uh Road area and it appears that some of the speeding um has been reduced significantly which a number of residents have uh commented on um other than that I note that swack has submitted its budget request for 2024 and foremost on the proposal is the reinstitution of the Bike Rodeo uh which we used to hold prior to the pandemic and this year the well 2024 I should say they're planning to include the bike maintenance program which was so successful at the recent Farmers Market um the fire department will be out at the tree lighting event this Saturday councilman her has much more to say about the event um but I do have to note that Santa will be present driving by fire thank you thank you uh council member P thank you mayor um so I am covering uh the Departments under fall under the Arts and Recreation committee but with Stephanie out on the trity leave I'll also be covering uh the items that her portfolio which is finance so starting off with uh with my area um like I do every council meeting just wanted to start off with a brief reminder about the burrow offering grocery store Transportation online food shopping assistance um through the Department of Community Services for more information please reach out to the staff Community Center at 732 819 0052 there is very excited to hear that uh new update about the supermarket uh you know I'd like to get this information out while we're without one but it is I mean thank you so much for all of your hard work and dedication for facilitating this process and bringing us to this point so hopefully I won't be able won't have to be making these announcements for too much longer U moving along to some Community Center programming highlights U we kicked off the holiday events our holiday season yesterday with the Thanksgiving luncheon um which over 120 members attended and enjoyed the Thanksgiving meal with tripping all the trimmings thanks to Kim the team of Department of community services and other UC event and coming up on Tuesday December 12th we'll have a holiday lunch in from 11:30 a.m. to 2: p.m. Mo fromi and entertainment by Gordon James um and then less than a week later we'll have a holiday party that's co-sponsored with the uh by the Lions Club um that's on Saturday December 16th starting at 11:30 A.M at the community sector few days later we'll have a winter wonderland dance performance Tuesday December 19th at 11:30 a.m. at the community Center and last but not least but we'll have a Winter concert Friday December 29th starting at 11: a.m. at the community center a few updates on with Recreation programs um just wanted to announce to save the date for the Highland Park youth theater company production of Matilda Jr the musical uh first showing is January Thursday January 11th at 6:30 pm and the second will be at Sunday January 14th at 3M and this just shows our Town's dedication the Arts and the theater in particular uh so remember looking at this for my daughter may already be too late but there was a open registration for susal Jr um that's going to be starting up in February it filled up and waight listed within 12 hours of registration opening um and there's already like 50 kids signed up um ready to go and more waiting for a spot to hopefully open up um but we do have plenty of other programming that's still available we have registrations currently open for youth basketball um just to note that for the kind Gard to sixth grade uh that registration closes tonight so last chance to register for that uh we also we also currently have open winter soccer Rovers um Youth Winter track adult basketball and adult indoor soccer uh and then coming soon within a week we'll have registrations open for uh Recreation Dance Theater review class and jumping jelly beans for the little ones again those will be open next week um a little brief Arts commission update so uh around town you may have noticed a few more of those decals that the commission put together so they have been installed I think we're now up to about 14 scattered around the downtown in front of most of the schools uh so another just little way that the commission is freeing up our town and uh a little bit more fun then last uh but not least I have a finance update uh the rent control board meeting last uh was last held on Wednesday October 25th the board voted to certify the annual rent increase for 2024 and that allowable rent increase is 3.8% and app leases as of January 1st 2024 and that mayor is my report thank you very extensive council member H um I just wanted to say thank you to all my fellow council members and and the mayor and Senator Dagan for um the little ceremony that we had at the beginning I really appreciate that it's been on the book since April so finally nice to be able to do that I'm very proud of my son but um I also just wanted to to give a shout out to the troop Master for Highland Park it's man named Sheldon frien R um Sheldon is has been the troop master in in Highland Park for ever and um uh this is his 25th Eagle Scout coming out of of of Highland Park so um that's that's over over 40 or 50 years so that's a that's a pretty amazing um mentoring that he does so I just wanted to give a shout out to to Sheldon for all he did for for Zach and for for so many others so um also wanted to to report that um uh the the neighborhood um uh MVP program uh is just closing out its second year um over this course of this last year um we've been able to provide about $90,000 um to about 20 businesses and residents up along Woodbridge Avenue um for design work facade improvements um and a number of other projects um I really want to thank assistant of the burough administrator em Von Thum for her leadership in this um in this effort um and and for also all the stakeholder committees that have been involved in it um it looks very promising we are on track for next year to have a a grant renewed um so the the the process of of of uh revitalizing up on on Woodridge Avenue and and is is is well underway and we continue so thank you to Emma and to all the stakeholders um for for this year and then also a great year um for things to come um also a uh just a a quick thank you and a shout out to everyone who came together um to create the empty Shabbat table uh exhibit a couple of weeks ago this exhibit of a Shabbat table with 242 Empty Chairs um was to call attention to the 242 kidnapped people from around the world who were kidnapped by hos terrorists um it was an event that brought over 500 people together um to see this um and meant quite a lot to many many people um so thank you to everyone who made that possible the list is is long and and significant but I just wanted to give a thank to that um there is a number of exciting things that are coming up um uh in in h on Park um and I will I will go over those um Friday November 24th is the farmers market of course from 11:00 to 4:30 um there's also going to be a walkup mobile vaccine CL Clinic um at that and Christmas trees are for sale um at this uh this farmers market on Saturday November 25th um the night owl Market goes from 4 to8 Arts crafts Artisan gifts um and food again another walk up vaccine clinic Christmas trees for sale and live music um uh and there will also be a gingerbread house contest um so uh you you make your best gingerbread house and then it's h it's judge for fabulous prizes and then the Peace Day res resist is the downtown tree lighting from 7: to 8:00 p.m. again this is Saturday November 25th um there'll be caroling from the Highland Park Community Chorus and the world's best Santa Claus um who shows up on the fire department and I can already see the beard growing as we speak so you know obviously it's really the Santa Claus that's coming but thank you uh very much to his assistant councilman George um for for playing that role so this is uh uh um again Saturday November 25th from 7: to 8 come C San on fire truck among other things uh on the 26th of November um there is a small business uh arts and craft Market from 12 to 4 um again arts and crafts and Artisan Market along with food again vaccines Christmas trees and live music um so uh this holiday weekend it is quite uh a lot of events going on um uh uh uh around our local businesses um and I I I I do want to point out that that we really do at this particular time of year need to shop at our local businesses all of the gifts that you're giving all of the gifts that you are are out and about um please uh take a look at Highland Park um this is a crucial time for businesses um in order to to make it um uh we will be having a small business Weekend Update um uh and to continue that um and then uh last but not least um Coming Up Again is on December 7th there's a Manor lighting and sufo party from 4: to 5:30 um again uh uh at the wwiz Pavilion so a lot of things going on please shout small businesses um and uh and everybody have a a wonderful and um full Thanksgiving thank you very much thank you council member can going to wing this because I ran out of my office to get here and left my report in the printer um first I would like to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving um I don't have anything to report on my boards and commissions because unfortunately due to ongoing health issues I haven't been able to attend any meetings this month um but on a personal note I'd like to thank the chief um I had a family member staying with me who had just cten out of the hospital and um there came a time where she was in crisis and even though I'm a social worker when it's your family member you're not thinking clearly and I had to call um and of a certain and I hope I say his name right SE and um sergeant schaer had to respond and I have to say I was very impressed with how um officer saer spoke with her and was able to calm her down immediately and take care of the problem where she did not have to go to the hospital so I wanted thank your officers for that um and I apologize for everybody tonight for being late tonight um mental health in this time of year are very busy and that's my report everybody have a wonderful happy and healthy Thanksgiving thank you council president we lose trap sometimes uh hi my name is Matthew h i CH the uh the public works committee and um just to Echo um c h um because because it is small business weekend it is very exciting there are so many opportunities to shop local and buy really good gifts for any holiday that's coming up you can get a basket from penos you can put together a really cool gift basket uh at the farmers market you can get gift certificates from our local businesses um uh you can find opportunities at the public library I'm sure uh but you can but there are so many ways to think not only think you don't have to think creatively a shop local for for gifts it really is an easy effort uh and it's much easier than traveling out to the highway to just kind of look for something you can find really great gift items here including because I have it this is from uh Venus uh who's one of the vendors at the uh at the at the farmers market sells beautiful scarves so I thought this was a scarf when I got it but it's not it's actually a blanket and it's wonderful so I'm going to wear it because you know what I'm always cold you know what is the season so here we go my name is Matthew h the council president I chair the Public Works committee uh this is your friendly reminder that recycling is cancelled this week and that b offices will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday um it is Tuesday so you probably already found out what's happening on Monday uh but today was B leaves collection tomorrow business district and Southside garbage collection Southside my neighbors take your trash out please tonight because you it's going to fill real quickly this weekend and you're not going to have another opportunity until next week so please remember remind your neighbors um anything that you can do to make sure that people get their garbage done tonight uh tomorrow Thursday I'm sorry Thursday uh there's no recycling no garbage collection Friday no recycling no garbage collection so please be prepared and plan ahead uh related bulk pick up uh just another reminder this both pick up this by appointment only um we had special collections following the Town garage sale but normally bulk waste collection is By Appointment pickups will be scheduled on Wednesdays during the months of April May June and September and October so plan for the spring uh and to make an appointment please call public works at 732 247 9379 uh tonight on the uh on the agenda we have a second reading of an ordinance um that hopefully will pass I think it will uh of our updated mitigation fee for tree replacement uh as the leaz on to the shade tree advisory committee uh as you know the Highland Park Municipal Code requires payment into our tree tree replacement fund when a property owner does not plant the required number of replacement trees so with inflation General recent rapid increase in cost the amount presently required by our ordinance is $400 a tree it is materially too low as as the sh Tre advisory committee has recommended um and that's below the cost of the purchase of of of new replacement trees so our trade tree advisory committee has recommended continuing with a two-tier distinction between owner occupied an investment property already in our ordinance and we are asking homeowners who are seeking to remove a nonb Tre on the property uh to now pay $600 per tree which is under the $650 uh cost Target uh and uh as and um uh and ask those who own property for investment or business to pay $850 for private property trees these are not Street trees these are not burrow or shade trees Street trees um uh so obviously for businesses this cost is a business expense uh this is this is in order to keep our tree replacement fund solvent and uh the shade tree advisory committee has been strongly recommending this for quite some time and we are happy to update our ordinance and make sure that we can continue to plant trees particularly now as you might be noticing we have a lot of trees that are aging out at the same time we have a lot of trees that are hitting 100 120 you know they don't their the roots are limited to where they can go on the street so we are planting a lot of trees not going to get big for a little bit so we have to keep up with that um the uh Highland Park River Greenway Community needed uh so the Highland Park uh River Greenway is a concept that would is a river trail that would connect Johnson and Donaldson Parks uh this has been uh we you might remember we received a feasibility Grant study from the state uh a few years ago for $250,000 to explore this concept and so now we're moving forward in in in kind of the public exploration process um to map out uh you know potential Roots potential access points and to really just get the public up to speed on what could be a really exciting infrastructure project uh this community meeting is Wednesday December 13 2023 uh 6:30 pm right downstairs at the Highland our community center uh snow volunteers uh it is raining now and boy I hope this does not snow I don't want snow but that's the actually you know um as Public Works chair snow is no snow but uh however when it does snow the bur is seeking individuals interested in performing snow removal in the community as a volunteer or for a fee any shovelers charging a fee will negotiate directly with a or renter the buau is simply Gathering a list of names to be provided to to residents on requesting need assistance the moving snow if you're interested please contact Janet Molina at the community center at 732 819 0052 or email J Molina m o l m o l i n a HPB r o.com uh sustainable Highland Park so I wish I had a FL here inside the hallway but for I know we did for the 10th year in a row um the B Highland Park has achieved silver level certification from sustainable Jersey uh this accomplishment uh um uh was was was earned this year by earning a total of 420 points by exceeding benchmarks in 34 action items ranging from sustainable Highland Park hosting this Earth Day fair to tracking and analyzing energy usage and burrow buildings to purchasing electric vehicles uh stable Highland Park also grants points for the the public information that we put out there the level of community outreach intentional and community outreach that uh that that the B does get out into apartment buildings Spreading the News of the B letting people know what's going on uh so these are all part of what makes for sustainable Community not just environmental even though environmental is a huge part of it uh the mayor and I were um and Council pelic were and and counc councilman H sorry we're at the League this year uh at the league municipalities this year to accept this reward award and uh you know thank you to sustainable Island Park thank you to emo Von Terry H and the whole team team uh it really does take a village to uh amass these level of points we are among the highest in the state we are parentally behind Woodbridge which is very frustrating but Woodbridge is like Jupiter compared to us so it is it is they you know it is is not is not as hard for them to to to to get ahead but good for them uh we can do it on our own so uh uh congratulations uh my colleagues to Terry Emma and Community sustainable Highland Park Tino wi house Irene marks Rosie Lorenzo and the whole team of sustainable hous Park uh for making this reality happen the plaque is hanging out in the hallway it really is a tribute to the hard work um of our volunteers and our staff and our policy makers so thank you just wanted to give a shout out to the Veterans Day Parade thank you to the ran Valley veterans Alliance the city of Brunswick and of course Elie Foster and the B hen Park and the hen Park Department of Community Services for hosting a wonderful veterans per was beautiful weather out retired major Harold Woody served as the Grand Marshal and talked of his 25 years leading the Army Junior RC program at MC Bron High School great day great to walk from Highland parks in the Bruns always uh thank you to Interfaith rise for holding its Ninth Annual Community walk with the silent Seekers on Sunday uh November 12 uh thank you to Mayor Elie Foster for for speaking at that event um and uh uh and kind kicking the event off we wish Interfaith rise much success uh and if you're unfamiliar Interfaith rise provides essential assistance to refugees and ases who have experienced crisis before arriving in our community immensely immensely important they do for our community uh councilman George mentioned uh the loss of Mary Denver uh I first got to know Mary um Mary um when I joined the council and was leaz on to the um human relations commission and she and her husband Don uh both served simultaneously on the board it was such a joy to learn from them work with them to really get to know Don Mary and their entire family so we celebrate her life she was in just an unbelievable Steward of of the environment um put all of her effort of of her volunteer effort um and work into the native plant Reserve done by the Environmental Education Center uh and really committed a considerable amount of time to the burough obviously to her family uh uh our thoughts go out to Don uh and her children Michael Sarah Belinda of course she was preved by by by her son Don our hearts are with the family and uh she has left such an impact on how she'll be with us for a long time uh I see some n here in the audience um hello uh really nice to see you uh and you know that this you know that we that that uh you have our you is unbelievable what you're dealing with that there and you have our full support um another way that we can show our support is by is by passing resolutions uh for um legislation that would require safe Staffing uh item 130 on the on the consent agenda um supports uh or calls on Governor Murphy to pass and sign into law s304 a 4536 the Mandate states to safe staing levels in every hospital one of the co-sponsors was Senator Dagan who was here with us uh and and um uh you know we look forward to working with you on on however we can support you thank you that's my report mayor thank you administrator report yes just one item mayor thank you um I just wanted to put out a reminder I mentioned at the last meeting probably will mention it again uh we're pushing hard to complete the meter replacement the water meter replacement project in town so if you have your own home and you have a water meter that hasn't been exchanged you would have already gotten a letter or will get a letter in the next week or so from the bureau to please schedule the appointment with national metering Services um at 1888 4489 we're pushing really hard to get as many appointments made by December 15 so we know we can close out the project kind of within the window of the either by the end of the year soon after the new year so please just continue making those calls scheduling those appointments um thanks that's all I have and Happy Thanksgiving no report Madam mayor I want to concur with um Terry about the water replacement um I I got my letter about a week ago and I kept calling and kept calling because the line was busy so if you get your letter and you you don't get through the first few times continue to call somebody will answer I do have an appointment so please follow up with that and we all love and worked with Mary Denver over the years as she gave tirelessly of herself and with that I'm just going to ask for a moment of silence thank you I see the nurses here as well and I truly wish you were not here I wish you were at work doing the job that you trained for many years to do and and where your heart is because without nurses you know you are the Cornerstone of our Healthcare System so I really wish that you were not here but I am happy to see that there is an assembly and a Senate bill to move forward to giving you the support that you all do need and I hope this will get resolved really really soon you you guys are eager to get back to work and we want to see you back at work thank you for all you do I just want to follow up with um we went to the league last week and Matt spoke about that we receive our silver um silver award again and um we have been receiving silver and yes Woodbridge does take up a huge chunk of everything because they're much biger than us but we have been receiving steady silver Awards and which is really hard to attain but we're really good at it and just how good we are of it um because we were one of the first we're one of the first green communities and we do all this wonderful stuff I was the moderator for Sustainable New Jersey because although Woodbridge is bigger than us Highland Park is mighty we're small but we're Mighty so they asked me to moderate the panel on Sustainable New Jersey so again having Park is making its Mar in all places and now I want to bring it closer to home and um I have as the holiday approaches I have been shopping locally as well so I shop at from sweets the nuts because the holidays are here you want to have that that kind of stuff you want to have sweets and nuts and you know for desserts and stuff so I would strongly suggest that you go to these places in town I got my flowers from Robert Flores so that's on my checklist that's done and then uh eating locally going supporting our local business last week we were at Mr prize that was great continue to support our local downtown business and then last night I was at theis all of these places are great to shop great to eat and as you heard me speak earlier about how small downtown is struggling the struggle is real and we have to be creative in finding ways to keep our downtown going because when you see these big box stores around you they don't support local towns for example quick check is leaving and why are they leaving they're leaving because they want to have a gas station and they want to have those Mega gas station that you go to and have everything we're a small town and we have no place for that but if we shop locally we can keep our downtown business vibrant thank you okay and now it's time for our public public session this it's it's time for our first of two public discussion session total time allotted is 21 minutes 3 minutes per maximum per speaker comments are limited to items on the agenda if you want to speak on an item that is not listed please do so at the second public comment session later in the meeting the Bor clerk will monitor the monit the time and indicate when 3 minutes has lapsed she will give a warning when there is 30 seconds remaining I may warn or terminate a participant statement if it does not adere to the three minutes provided or if the statement is abusive obscene or irr irrelevant comments from member of the public attended meeting in person will be heard first followed by those who are participating via Zoom if you are interested in speaking please step up to the microphone or raise your hand on Zoom by pressing start nine on your phone keypad or selecting the raise hand button and now we're going to have our inperson and please tell us your name and address now I live on har Street um so a couple of things uh just in response to uh some of what I heard tonight um last time you talked about buying new police cars we had a little bit of a discussion um and the kusher grant sounds amazing I did hear that there's some money for new police cars um I I just would ask again you know just as I did last time whether uh these cars are are needed um and if they are uh to ensure that they're electric vehicles I know there were supply chain issues which at the sustainable uh you know award um but if they if they are needed due to cars being you know really in bad condition just to make sure that if possible you know that's great money and that money can go toward electric vehicles in particular which I know you guys are already working on um so I just wanted to say that um I also just wanted to comment on the library I'm hearing that it could potentially open in February although I understand that's flexible is incredible um it's been really um a loss to the community while I understand the renovations are critical and and will be really great um you know it's a place that it's an equalizer everyone can go there um it's great for kids there's really nowhere in town that kids can that families can bring kids um that's like the library or even that's not like the library there's not many places that you can just drop in and and not spend money but uh see community and see people so I'm really excited to opening um and I would ask I always you know want to advocate for uh the spaces for little kids and if there's any potential to see you know plans or get any Community input before it opens that would be great um I don't know where it is in the process but um you know that's that's really important to get that that kids space to be good for all and accessible and and um also um you know suitable for for multiple ages so um I'm very excited about that um and then the other thing I wanted to mention that I heard about um I heard the rumor about the F check closing you know of course online things circulate um I'm sad to hear that but um there's a lot going on with the schools uh there's the need for space for a new prek um and from what I understand just through attending meetings um it seems like you're back to square one and 30 seconds uh quick check is immediately across from Irving um I don't know if that's feasible but I would really encourage both sides to come together and see and I encourage this last night when I attended the um Board of bed meeting but I'd encourage you as well this affects our entire Community um I know it's you know a school issue but really it's the whole town issue and if there's any way I don't know if that lot is a possibility I know it's for lease maybe not for sale maybe maybe there's a potential um I know we'll all Miss up coffee I go there many mornings more than I should but um I do you know if there's a way to find a good space for the prepay um at least take a look at that and just help help the schools be creative please because I think it's really critical thank you uh I just want to address that the kosna grant thank you for your comments the kosna grant they um they were specific and um the these were dedicated to um these organization that received they had to go out and form 501 c3s to receive these sprads he was very specific about how he wants them to be administered so we the the EV cars absolutely we've we've been on the list for five years now for Ev vehicles and um we have reached out to other towns to do Shar services to see if we could get them because they're buying larger amounts and to see if we can get one or two it's that challenging yes there is a supply chain and it's very and everybody wants EV V so until they get to where it's a lot of production is going on we're still holding on hoping and trying to share services with other town to buy to be in their group when they're buying EV vles matter of fact last year we were looking to try to get a EV garbage truck but still not we're still not there yet um did you just want to talk we we recently had a meeting with um the the burrow and the the the school and the school administrators and and and to talk about the the the need for for preamp um and so um those conversations are going on um we working together I think um which is a great thing because this is an absolutely an entire burough issue um and and I know the mayor is is very involved in this as well but but we have sat down with them we scheduled continued meetings to make sure that um we're all on the same page about how to make um the best choices for um how to make sure that our our three and four year olds um are are have the capacity com SCH too so those conversations are continuing so yes uh that is correct um you mentioned the quick spa the Quick Check space it's too small their requirement it it doesn't fit their their needs but we are our conversation is monthly and it's an ongoing conversation to try to accommodate and work together we're really working I believe really well and scheduled monthly meetings where we sit we talk and we brainstorm and see what we can do for our town um you spoke about the library my publish is right there so I think you should go you should talk to him about what their plans are and he can provide you with more answers thank you hi uh Dan sterm Cardel barer Street uh commenting I know each of these items has their own um public hearing but uh I'm going to leave in a couple minutes so I just wanted to highlight the two zoning items on the agenda um it seems like each one of them would in their own way promote the construction of more housing in High Park which is a c thing to help address the uh affordability crisis in High Park in middlex County and in New Jersey more broadly so I hope everybody votes in favor of those things I should note that I'm speaking uh on my own behalf and not on behalf of any boards thank you thank you just thank you mayor I'm sorry Terry just quickly I just want to follow up also with with on aby's comment too I mean that's something we really have to think about and take seriously because uh the governor you know uh announced um uh that new new uh uh man vehicle manufacturers will have to make zero emission vehicles uh an increasing percentage of their yeah 2035 100% of of of of vehicular sales in New Jersey so I hope that supply chain issues are addressed quickly and that's why we are always looking at for Grants to create more public charging stations in town to to build on the two that we have behind here because that's the that's an economic development driver as well um but it's also a necessity we're going to have to do it I think quick check is absolutely wrong that they are going in the direction of the gas stations just like wa wa it's this driving it's this highway model that we seem to be always seem to be slipping back toward and it hurts downtowns like ours because we lose because of it the decision making that happens very far away um so it's uh it's it's it's frustrating but I think the uh I think there's a lot of opportunity pretends like pars really benefit from this but um if we had the senator here we would ask them to to uh figure out how times are going to comply because we need to and we want to be out in front uh and make sure that we do have an all Elric Fleet uh and certainly before 2035 do way before uh Terry administrator you no I something to I just with regard to the two ordinances I didn't know if we should mention just because there may be people wanted to speak on that or yeah he's just saying because he's leaving but I think that when we get to that part okay hi um I'm Sarah key I live on Riverview Avenue and um I just wanted to um say a few thank you to one of the nurses um still on strike um first of all I want to express my appreciation um our appreciation toart for giving the problem of unsa tapping the attention it deserves we've been on strike for 10 and I'm not quite sure days now we haven't made much progress negotiations if if any um it seems like the hospital is resolved to deny the nurse to Patient ratios uh the staff and our patients desperately need in fact they flatly told us that they would never agree to California like Staffing ratios so um however um we remain hopeful um and optimistic about the Community Coalition that we're building um the purpose of that is to try to support these bills um and past resolutions and other ities um and uh the problem of 1700 nurses still on strike remains it's hard to hear friends and neighbors describe the poor experiences they're having at the hospital given the current circumstances it's no surprise but it does trigger feelings of guilt however we need to remember that our fight is for the future of patient care at our WG and all facilities across the state for the sake of the patients as well as our nurses we'll continue to do our part to reach a resolution that prioritizes out Staffing um and again U thank you to the community of Highland Park as a whole and beyond for all the support and the encouragement that you shown us is Jessica h i a month from R Street and I just wanted to follow up with what Sarah just mentioned and really thank the council mayor and Council for um passing this resolution and it has been wonderful to see the support of Highland Park residents who have organized time and time again to support the nurses and I think this is absolutely in line with the constituency of of of our residents and so I just really appreciate that you put that forward and are going to vote on that and I also just wanted to say as you as you mentioned uh council member uh Hersh that Senator dman is a co-sponsor but care assembly member cariban Che and assembly member um uh Stanley are not co-sponsors so it would be really wonderful to use your connections and and and put some pressure on them to do that it's a really important bill and um obviously I'm not a nurse I am a community Ally but I think we all can agree that when we we if we go to the hospital we want to make sure that we get the care that we need and that's only possible if nurses um have safe Staffing so really uh have been um frustrated to see the nurses be on strike for days but also um extremely grateful that they're fighting a fight that is not just their fight but also all all resents all resents of New Jersey so thank you again yes have uh 11 attendees online three hands up first is phone number ending 4445 please state your name and address for the record hi Lois leing North 2 Avenue okay in the reports I heard mention of the facade improve movements along Woodbridge Avenue something like 90k grant money well also in your September newsletter 2023 you have inside an orange box with a before and an after photo with a new facade and I see the remaining One Step Up on each of those two doors could someone tell me or where is the sign for a wheelchair to enter um I I uh certainly will link into that I'm not familiar with that particular picture I'm not um so I'm not exactly sure which area that you're talking about but certainly we want to make sure that everything is disabled access we will certainly take a look it's the white building that's well it's on the clerk's desk the BN the counter with all those um it's the only Building inside the 23 I don't know how many other newsletters you've had out it's not off the Internet it's off a piece of paper but just as a reminder please as you go forward Community Development block grant programs housing U Act of 1964 us Code 42 section 5301 at secra um uh like the general title six provision specifically bars discrimination in state or local government use of federal block grant funds so please remember that it has to be accessible maybe this this is Woodbridge AV no I think it looks to the left of L Roa but I don't have enough photo and I don't have an address so it things have to be accessible this is already 30 years past the Americans with Disabilities Act so somebody is slipping the construction official the whoever gives these out somebody has to no thank you I I would just certainly will will we will take a look at that um I I would hesitate to make a decision based on a picture without being out there and actually looking at it so absolutely we we are committed to disabled access and we'll certainly take a look at at um I know what you're talking about now it is next to L Ro it's in accountant's office and we'll certainly go over and take a look at it so thank you for bringing that attention Okay thank you but now who was just speaking because I can't see you counc member hail oh hail okay I didn't know which one it was and that's his portfolio so he has the MPP Grant so I believe he'll have a conversation with the the property owner or the property renter well either one there should be at least a sign saying go around the back if that's possible I don't know if there's a hill back there or have a portable ramp not even they're not supposed to have to call and say hey I'm coming over it's supposed to be automatic it's already 30 years but okay we'll just keep going and this will be my my subject for you guys thank you for your time thank you Lois and have a great Thanksgiving and we will continue to thank you I'll be back uh next up mayor is Mary forsberg please just state your name and address for the record please hello yes please speak the microphone har forsberg um 317 Dennison Street um I'm interested in your um uh resolution 13c that is you're hiring um professional Engineering Services for roadway improvements on North forth Dennison Street and Harper Street I would like to think that uh I'm not quite sure why you need um uh professional design uh services for that unless you're planning to dismantle um the tables in front of penos which I think should have been taken down a long time in those cement those cement um barriers and the wood structures no one sits there and it's a dangerous thing for um people who are walking and driving because a lot of big trucks um double park right there and people double park in front of sushan and and in front of Morty so um I'd like you to redesign that and get rid of that stuff but I'm pretty sure you think that that is a successful thing which it is not because no one ever sits there um but I'm curious about what why you are um have needing designed services for Dennison Street and Dennison Street in my block the block between third and fourth it's like a dirt road um about 15 years ago the town had a water main break there and um repaired it and never re um resurfaced the road um right right near um North forth it is really the potholes there are incredible and um it has nothing has been done for at least 15 years if not more and I'm wondering why um why it's necessary to do um to do to redesign the road what is the whole point of of that uh because it seems to me that all you really need to do is repave it there it um all of the all of the um intersection C are um real um you know can people can use wheelchairs there so what is what is the point of spending $800 800,000 um for that administrator hi Mary um the that the resos to authorize the Engineering Services uh there's design work it doesn't cost I don't have the number in front of me uh the there's a road project that's in the order of $800,000 for the construction we have to do related engineering for all those roadways they put together the bid specs that go out to the contractors we agree with you Dennison needs resurfacing and that's what will be happening but our engineers years do a complete detail on that work before it goes out they also uh check for Ada uh accessibility at the corners updating it to whatever the current standards are so there's there's more than go to go to it than just the mill and pave which is the kind of the final step in the resurfacing process so this is the engineering work that is needed in order to execute the project uh next year do you do do that for every single um road that you repave pretty much 30 especially when it's a state a road and what is what is happening on North forth uh milling and Paving but all the other engineering work to bring it up to speed and so are you getting rid of the concrete barriers and things they all have to be removed and either replaced in in back or moved somewhere else depending on what the governing body decides and eliminating him not necessarily we can move them and put them back if we want well I I suggest that you um eliminate them and just let people sit on the sidewalk because that's what that's the only place people sit they do not sit in the street thank you so much mayor mayor can I also add that a lot of our accessible Corners are not up to compliance with Ada and that's why we need another reason why we need the studies done to find out which ones are and which ones aren't and I would also like to add that when um the road is as you say Mary torn up and it's sat for and it's sitting for a while that there's a lot of infrastructure under theground that needs to be dealt with earlier this year I met with PNG at one of their conference meetings and that was one of my questions too why does it take so long to have the roads repaired and why you know it seemed like it's ongoing and one of the things that they shared with me which I was quite surprised that when utility the underground utilities that's there that it takes a a much longer time for them to clear out and to get the work done because over the years there was no rules that you had to take whatever you if you went down with hose and pipes people just left their stuff there and it created clutter and it take a lot more time to get everything to clean up for them to actually do the work but once the with technology and we're doing fiber optics and everything else that's being done it takes a much longer time to put to install what is needed to be installed to keep our infrastructure going because they're dealing with pipes seore lines cable lines and a host of other things and it would be a waste of money to close the road up completely and then reopen it up for someone else to do a project so if we know that there's ongoing project in one particular area want to get all that work done and then once the work is completed and they seal it temporarily the Earth has to it get settled and once it gets settled then they do the final payment with the Curve cuts and what have you so it does take time person um mayor I see uh another hand up but we I did note that we were supposed to end at 811 and I I see Mary put her hand back up so I don't know um we can we Mary will bring Mary back in on the second public session okay would you like me a call on the next the one who hasn't spoken yeah the person has has not spoken Sam if you could please uh let us confirm your name and address please sure Sam fredman 250 Lawrence first I want to thank you for supporting the safe Staffing bill it's really very important both for our health and for the health and happiness of the nurses um I'm not a nurse but I visited their picket lines about 20 times and talked with a lot of them and in our conversations with them or my conversations with them I've heard many many stories about how the lack of safe Staffing both puts the patients at risk but also forces them to decide who to help and who to let suffer and that's horrible moral position to put anyone in it creates huge stress and exhaustion um I Al so I want to urge everyone in the audience and on the council to take a walk over it's good exercise talk with the nurses they're wonderful people and you will find out lots of things that will be useful the other thing connected to that for those of you who have any influence like me members of the council but probably other people in the audience put pressure on the hospital you know they're making shocking amounts of money for their top Executives and things and that money could be going to services and to nurses into things to help keep us all healthy and Alive thank you thank you okay all righty now we're going to ordinance it requires second reading ordinance number 23-2 20771 ordinance requir ordinance provided for replacement of roof or related Improvement to the public library and by the burrow of Highland Park in middlex County state of New Jersey appropriating 400,000 therefore to authorize Insurance of 380,000 bond notes of the Bor of Highland par part fin Finance part of the cost an ordinance entitled Bond ordinance providing for replacement of the roof and other related improvements to the public library by and in the bur of pil Park in the County's middle SE state of New Jersey appropriating 400,000 thereof and authorizing the issuance of 380 bonds or notes of the buau to finance part of the cost therea has been duly advertised for consideration of passage on Final reading by title and Affidavit of publication are on file the ordinance has also been posted and made available for public inspection public hearings time for public hearing on this ordinance if you would like to speak on this ordinance please come up to the microphone and use your raise hand button and zoom I do have a hand up uh I'm guessing it's loest leing 4445 and it's going to be on this ordinance I this is regarding the ordinance uh m sing okay hi I'm unmuted I I have I think one question how long is the warranty on the roof hello yes please council member George thank you ordinarily the warranty on roof work of this type um is graded uh it's generally a full full warranty for uh either three or six years uh and a general warranty for certain types of repairs for 10 years um but statutory requirement is that roots are guaranteed for 10 years um and hopefully this time we monitor it uh carefully and make sure that if there are any problems we we get on them right away a long time ago in the past when the roof was replaced in probably good 30 years ago um the warranty problems weren't monitored um until it was unfortunately too late so now we've learned our lesson and um and we will be monitoring it carefully uh also know for everyone when we introduce this that uh this is for the full replacement um along with the related uh engineering to try and make the the problem is always the uh Junctions where the where the duct work for the hbac runs and no that's being corrected uh and um it also will make the overall renovation of the light Library Hopefully Dr dry and tight thank you uh no more hands okay motion to adopt or re or reject ordinance number 23277 so moveed second roll call Council Cano yes councilman George it's about time yes councilman yes council president her yes councilman ponic can wa to visit in February yes clerk please report an ordinance number 23 that's 2078 an ordinance concerning monetary mitigation for the payment of or free replacement was duly advertised for consideration of passage on Final reading by title and Affidavit of publication or on file the ordinance was also posted and meet available for public inspection as required by law public hearing it's now time for public hearings please speak into the microphone if you like to speak or put your use your sign on zo I have a hand raised okay Miss leing uh 4445 if you could U if you're speaking on the next ordinance hi Lois leing North Second Avenue okay I didn't hear mention not that I could could hear many uh sentences tonight but that in the ordinance it exempts owner occupied homeand from bindes when the tree is dead dying unsafe it's a whole sentence that exempts dangerous is I think is in there so please remind homeowners that the fine excludes them or does it does this is that still part of the tree ordinance that a dangerous dying dropping branches type tree is exempt from a f or a replacement fee yeah is that true did you change that Council council president that is correct Lois I'm sorry EXC all right so where are we who is that H yeah I'm sorry Lois yeah it's m uh and you are correct okay so it Remains the Same thank you thank you for asking than you anyone I do have another hand up just doing hand management here uh next up is Mary forsberg again we're talking about the the tree related monetary mitigation ordinance uh please state your name and address sorry not not I don't have anything to say about this just hit the wrong button okay no worries uh motion to adopt or reject ordinance motion second roll call councilwoman Cana yes councilman George yes councilman Hal yes council president H yes and councilman pic yes may I have a motion to continue public hearing on the adoption rejection of ordinance 23-20 79 and ordinance number 23-28 to the December 25th to December 5th 2023 council meeting so move second roll call councilwoman can yes councilman George yes councilman H yes council president H yes councilman Pon yes consent agenda items uh may have a motion to adopt or reject the following consent items 13 a through 13p so move all right um we need the second on this one roll call please counc yes councilman George yes councilman Hill yes council president H yes Council Memphis D yes resolution requiring a separate reading uh 14a 11-23 d256 resolution to approve budget transfer may I have a motion to adop or reject counc can yes councilman George yes councilman hail yes council president H yes Council councilman Panic yes um resolution um 14b 231- 23-25 7 resolution authorized in agreement with let's let let's Link Wireless LLC bracket ltw to purchase and install C CCTV and audio system for the police department as a part of the 911 transfer emergency communication services to rut Dispatch Center second councilwoman Cana yes councilman George yes councilman Hil yes council president H yes counc pic yes now I move to appointment uh mayor's appointment mayor's te advisory committee appoints adult member Harry gler a kid heart's my favorite team our favorite team may have a motion may have a motion okay he got it know everybody said councilwoman can yes councilman George I think maybe we all need some ice cream right now yes councilman Hil yes there might be some outside council president her yeah and it is like it's like the movie Big I hope you have never having show up like you know councilman ponic yes okay now it's time for the second public participation three minutes per speaker on any topic subject to 900 p.m. conclusion prior to work session comments for the members of the public attending in person will be heard first followed by those on Zoom those attending on Zoom uh but clerk will monitor your time and indicate when 3 minutes has lapsed she will give a warning when 30 seconds remaining I may interrupt War or terminate a participant statement or if it does not ad to the three minutes provided or if the statement is abusive of seen or irrelevant comments comments from the member of public attending in person will be heard first followed by those who are attending on Zoom for those who are attending on Zoom to speak please press star n and on your telephone keypad or uh and then or a raise hand in the application star six to unmute yourself those in the audience can come up first you wish to speak and tell us your first name first and last name and your address anyone yes we have 10 attendees and two hands raised looks like phone number 4445 Lois leing I'm guessing if you could confirm and um St hi again North Second okay all right one more point on accessibility please in April this April there was a planning board meeting in your chamber where you are pertaining to development on Buck Woods the site plan shows to me a small opening for the garage vehicles to enter the garage underground parking I asked a question how high is that opening how high how what is the height the answer from The Audience by an expert was the answer was 11 feet high I just want to make that clear so that if by some and since the minutes are not yet Complete because of Staffing problems I want to make sure I know you don't approve these but it is 11 feet high which it does not look on the sketching looks much lower so I'm thrilled I was happy that to hear it's 11 ft F feet high not 11 feet wide and 7 feet high East Brunswick New Brunswick right here where the nurses have to go in the employee parking opposite at the traffic light past the train station opposite Joyce Kilmer is 7 feet Z and that's wrong it has to be 8 feet2 it hasn't been changed That's the Law East Brunswick has many many violations on new buildings as this parking deck down past the train station for the Robert Wood employees so please remember it has to be at least a minimum of 82 and that's what I was told it would be 11 feet and the minutes are not done yet and we'll see what happens that's my point have a great Thanksgiving thank you thank you Lo same to you thank anyone else yes I do see another hand uh looks like Mary forbord you should be able to put your name and address please hi I'm Mary forsberg 317 Dennison Street um when uh I'm curious when are these um uh CH improvements supposed to be done on North forth and Dennison Street and I guess Harper uh we'd have to do this is authorizing the engineering work it would then once that's complete it goes to the state do for review because we use state aid in parts of fund these projects and they have to approve the specifications and once that happens so we're looking at if we are pushing hard we would like to see these happen summer fall next year oh okay um now there's not you know the door is closing on improvements uh this season we've got some road projects underway uh at the and in other parts of town that will be the last it for the year did all of those Road um uh projects require the same amount of engineering and um you know whatever do you have to hire an engineering company to go in and check everything yes yes okay um I have a couple other other points um the the chush request is very impressive it's very nice that somebody is that generous to Highland Park I'm curious what the um impact will be on burrow spending because obviously some of that money would be fungible with some of the expenses like for the library and thing and I mean another $375,000 for the library is very nice um so I'm I'm curious you know if you're not gonna if you are getting money to buy new vehicles what does that mean for the budgets of of those um those departments and I I just have one other comment and that is you know I worked in Trenton for for 25 years and um when when bills were introduced in Trenton it was required that a statement for uh what the bill does and a fiscal analysis be done for every single bill that costs money I know that I know that local governments are not required to do that but it would be very very useful for people who are who are um who are interested in the way the burough spends money and what the impact of bills um are to know that um that everybody that's voting on these bills thoroughly understands what's in them I mean it's not it wasn't always the case in Trenton that people you know were understood what they were voting on and they voted on things without knowing but I I think it's a really good idea and it's a really important thing for for governments to do thank you Mary just a little update that um each council member have a f pfolio and there's three council members assigned to the various portfolios that we have um if something that they need approval once it comes through their committee then the entire Council meet and that is our work session and we meet in our work sessions to agree disagree approve or not approve before it gets onto the agenda for first or second reading so we do have uh an opportunity when we work and we discuss and we agree or disagree if something should uh warrant it up to the agenda and then um a resolution should be passed so it it is a process and unfortunately that's why the wheels of government turn so slowly because there's a lot that must be considered and must be looked into and we must be good stories so it does take some time before you actually see something like people will say why can't you just put it on the agenda it doesn't work like that it has to go through a committee there's a committee form as you are aware that has to be done there is there is very little disagreement when you vote on things though which is kind of interesting well maybe you should attend one of our work sessions y okay thank you Mary and have a wonderful Thanksgiving S I don't have any other hands up okay that Mary popped her hand back up I think is her back Mary did you intend to pop your hand back up Mary I think uh Mary think it might be a technical we said our goodby good nights to Mary okay um now um does anyone want a five minute recess no okay work session item there will be no formal action taken and this goes to what Mary was just discussing this is where we go to work session and our work session item is uh signage and facade ordinances and so that concludes our our public from us being up here and we're going to move into our work session now so if you're you're more than welcome to stay with us if you decide not to stay with us we're going to take a motion to adjourn and um motion to wait am I missing something going EXA going oh we're we're not going to exact we're going to move from the T down here and you guys are more than welcome to stay with us and this is where the real work begins because people talk about work that they're working on we agree and we agree or not disagree but those who are leaving us have a wonderful Thanksgiving can we get a photo with you guys for the res thank you for you guys they want to going to sit right here sit right here [Music] [Music] [Music] and oh yeah that's great you'll get this yeah yeah it's great you'll get this it's great so everybody I'll make sure everybody gets in let's see squishing just a little bit more I know you're trying to keep the sign too all right I can get everybody from here it won't be too close though one two three let me make sure that my oh very good I probably should take it with somebody else's I feel like my camera is so old one two three all right [Music] good I was like okay well maybe you should come to the meeting then you know you tell me everything you should come to the S I think we're there's one here there's one over here I think we're good okay and Ed can jennif she alwayss work my that's this microphone does a great job doing this listen toor to the ones on the T board I was record secretary pleas it's okay she's so concerned about us not I'm gonna be a good girl she is very good I second that emotion Al righty signage everybody knows chriset one of our planning team works with Jim conin team but is our day-to-day person and on the planning board works nice to see you in person all righty so I'll try to keep this brief and it's been long night so uh as Terry said Chris cenza part of the planning Consulting team LK is providing some advice so the signage ordinance this is really through the impus the impus of this project is through the nebor preservation program as we talked couple times tonight um is in year two that program and during the uh facade grant program that has been running with uh all the other stakeholders it was found that during that process that the burough received a lot of phone calls about sign ordinance how it function how it works and frankly just sending the ordinance just confuse people even further so at at one of our various actually multiple stakeholder meetings we talked about the sign ordinance that we rewrite it not stuck with that law local ordinance um so and if fact was my understanding also that Main Street H park has had issues with really trying to navigate the ordinance when it comes to applying for funding and whatnot and it's actually through the neb preservation program approved by the state that we'd have some money switch from one project to another which is common in these year-to year projects fiveyear projects where we have the state approved a small deviation from the plan to yeah we'll set aside money to do assignments for WJ beauty of this program is that as part of this project we're actually modifying the sign ordinance for the entire town so it's a benefit the entire community and so might as well do it all one El instead of key me um so that's the imped of the project so as understand it there's really no cost to the burrow which is great ordinance changes are can be costly and for a side ordinance it can be very costly they can range up to six figures for more more complex um projects so so this particular project is really like a three-phase um approach the first phase is really analyzing existing ordinance second phase is writing the new ordinance third phase is public participation and approval process introduction planning or consistency the master plan and of course adoption just like any other land developments so we're gearing up well actually we are almost finishing up the first two phases I'm actually in the middle of writing the new wordss um so they're in phase one when I did the re search found that the ordinance is all sorts of comut and I met with the your zoning official your construction Cod official and several members of your Main Street H Park we all all had very very very productive meetings just one uh I I would say we TR meet one more time with my draft ordinance which I hope to send 80% version to the burrow probably tomorrow or if not on Monday after Thanksgiving and we'll meet one more time discuss the meth the mechanics of the new ordinance uh what I found ining my research is your sign ordinance in three different spots of the ordinance and the whole goal of this is to consolidate remove a lot of redundancy and streamline it so it is much more user friendly I think we're going to find eliminate about twoth thirds of text so there's a lot of redundancies in the ordinance and put it in one spot inance and also include some best management practices based on um model ordinances they you see throughout the country after Reed versus Gilbert which is a First Amendment case regarding signed ordinance specifically signed content or content regulation specifically as well as uh other model ordinances from American Planning Association and signage industry standard so sort of modernizing your ordinance um that's sort of a tertiary benefit to it but the primary benefit or purpose of this project is to consolidate simplify for the end user and for the front user and to really update certain standards mainly the dimensional standards because from why understand from your construction code official zoning official and M H park it is quite restrictive so we're looking to add flexibility both in terms of the dimensional standards as well as the um the process to a review Pro it including flexibility for dations that's basically it we're in the middle of the process and it should be done soon I understand we're shooting for introduction probably January sometimes that's why we wanted to touch base with you in part because this is through the NPP program we wanted to get the bulk of the work done in this grant year and use the mo majority of Chris's time this year through the Grant and then next year we'll figure out how we cover it either through the grant you know as we see through you know uh see it through the uh public you know comment and and hearing process but I just can I have tried to make sense of our ordinance from time to time it's difficult and then you know Chris is the one who always tells me did you check you know section whatever and I go oh I didn't know and it it makes it really difficult for professionals to guide people um as well as people to help themselves um and so I think this is a and and I think at previous meetings Main Street reps have come and been really appreciative of the fact that we're taking on this initiative right now because they're trying to work with the businesses on helping themselves look better they have facade Monies to go towards signage but the it's really hard to the way it's currently written to get results we want in a timely way you know this is complaining for years about that's fine so now we have one standardized facade thing that's that's going to that's going to hit all the compliances and whatever we got to do so but it's for the entire town we just tapped into this and do for everyone at one shot for the commercial that's what I meant you know for that yeah and it's it's just I mean um it's a great opportunity to use the MPP funds to to support this but the other thing that I think um it's so convoluted and so crazy that the design Committee of Main Street and the zoning board and the and all the people who have different input into this will sometimes look at the same documents and and read something read something completely different and so there's conflict between the zoning board or the planning board or the zoning official or and code or the matri design committee right and so by streamlining it putting it all in one place saying this is what our ordinance is ideally those sort of you know debates and conflicts will will be set aside and we'll have this is our signs this is what you can understand and this and we'll go forward smart mve to get it done with NPP so we don't have to pay down a rabbit hole of other places in our ordinance I would love Chris to tackle but that's for another day when there's another free one that has it will have hopefully over time a real visible impact on our commercial areas and we're start to see a an aesthetic that way we look it's gonna it's going to benefit especially with the development that we're hoping to come in play you know it it will I think it'll be a huge benefit to our town absolutely Main Street a lot of credit because they came armed with red line markets for me I was like this is fantastic here did half my work for me taking it to the next step and really acknowledging the work that they oh so we should cut your bill [Laughter] out I have we had to go through all that like do we have any say like you know we're marijuana stores are going to start opening up like I while I support that I don't support my son walking home from school and seeing like big neon in in the in the Cannabis legislation there's actually restrictions specifically onri very restrict so it's that's just that's not just State that's also our local Red I'm just asking because I was in another state getting some no I was getting some medical test done and I saw some things on storefronts and I'm like I do not want that in my town it's it's the Cannabis stores are very restricted what they do if you go to I mean check out new bronw the Earth and I um it's very understa my friend owns that store yeah that's how most of them are I think so but Time Square is totally different you know which is probably what you know see get a contact not only that I mean it's just like the the signage is really you know in your face you can support everything in the world but you're just like that's a lot true so this but these regular I would like to think whatever we come up with would be you know a cannabis business under the state and local rules also was to perceive any Chang do so really what we're doing here won't affect that but to your point your concerns are being heard through the state stands okay all righty any other questions so when when we draft gets done and we hope you look at it you'll say that's what the thing was and you know hopefully uh support you warn it will be a wall of text but I will try to offer a simple summary the key changes are key changes key changes and it's just mostly cons well I thank you very much than excellent excellent we're looking forward to seeing it because it's it's been discombobulated for a long time and as we found the two other ordinance that you um push to December the next meeting so we game we find something fix it cheap fixes and make a tremendous impact right on all right motion to ajour all in favor I guess it's well everyone Happy Thanksgiving be safe hell good night everyone and have a great day