[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 Ledger and Highland Park planet on April 18th 2024 and was posted on ball website at www.hpborrow.com and on the bulletin board of Bor H 221 South 5th Avenue in Highland Park and has remained continuously posted as required by law the fire exit are to the right and left of the council chambers officer s can you leave us in the plge of Allegiance I the United States of America the stands Nation indivisible and justice for all R mayor Foster yes Council can yes councilman yes councilman H here council president here Council Chan here councilman here attorney here special Council here administrative here um this month is mental health awareness month May and um I have a proclamation that I'm going to read and it says whereas mental health is an essential part of overall health and wellness Le and affects one one's physical health relationship and the ability to thrive and whereas activities such as exercise mindfulness activity social connections unplugging the unplugging from the news and social media causing a causing a hob spending time in nature self-care May support mental health and whereas in instances of which Wellness activities are not help helpful it is important to note that Professional Health may be necessary to stabilize and or monitor a person's mental health and whereas one in five United States adults will experience a mental illness and one in five children either currently or at some point during their life will have a me will have a serious debilitating mental illness according to the CDC and whereas the rate of anxiety depression and overall Mental Health conditions has risen since the beginning of covid-19 epidemic which significantly significantly increased the need for holistic and specific Mental Health Services according to the National in Institute of Mental Health and whereas a great understanding from engaging science science and research on toxic stress and adver an adverse childhood experience has informed an understanding of the worsening mental health and suicide rates of Youth affirming that a multifaceted faceted and Swift responses needed to adust to address the growing Mental Health crisis and whereas becoming because of stigma and misinformation of individual with mental health issues are often over represented in the criminal justice system resides in substant housing instit substandard housing or institution or under employment or lack or lack of access to basic needs experience severe socioeconomic inequities and disadvantage and our impact of our co-occurring substance abuse and the commodity physical mental health condition and whereas New Jersey has successfully build and continue to expand its robust array of effects response integrated services and support for children youth and adults and recognize the need for the for the opportunity that will allow them to heal from trauma and whereas Highland Park has established a mental health commission to identify the identify and address mental health challenges in our community and whereas in 2023 Highland Park Police Department was among the first town to join the arriv together program which pairs plain cloth officers with mental health experts to C to certain 911 calls involving people facing Mental Health crisis and whereas Highland Park Police Department under the leadership of police chief Abram has made Crisis Intervention team training an integral part of all officer training this effort to train our officers has allowed the Highland Park Police Department to be at the front of changing the way police respond to people with Mental Health crisis and whereas New Jersey is committed to providing children and adult with mental health with mental health access to behavioral health systems that offer comprehensive evidence based integrated coordinated person centered treatment services and support that are support that trauma that trauma responsive complete comp competence and compassionate delivery and whereas New Jersey has implemented and Incorporated 988 and I repeat 988 the national three-digit dialing code for anyone having thoughts of suicide or experiencing a mental health sub or substance abuse crisis and whereas New Jersey is making great strides in reducing crimin criminal discrimination and discrimination associated with mental health diagnosis by instilling hope and providing access to healthcare to a wide array of communitybased and Human Service and Human Services Human Social Services to assist individual with mental illness to live an dignified life with the support and services they need to thrive now therefore I ELC Foster mayor of the B Highland Park do procair proclaimed May 2024 as mental health awareness month and I do want to repeat the number if you're having if anyone who's having an episode or is in crisis they can call 988 and I think this this Proclamation this bill is like so important for everyone who are highly stressed these days because it's it's really an epidemic and that's it and I'm going to give this this was brought to us by Council our council president her so I'm going to give this to you to pass on thank you council president for bringing that to our attention and we should we should say that number over again so people can have know that there's someone there in their hour of need okay and now I'm going to move on to the approval of minutes may I have a motion to approve the following minutes as distributed April 16 2024 regular meeting and executive [Music] session second roll yes councilman George yes V councilman H yes council president yes councilwoman Kim Chan yes councilmanic yes Council now it's time for Council reports and I'm going to start um to my right councilwoman Kim Johan thank you mayor my name is Stephanie and I chair Finance um just two quick um announcements last meeting did over the budget presentation and thank you business uh administrator and the whole Finance team for all your hard work property taxes were due May 1 there is a 10day grace period just a quick reminder we do have our drop off box in the front and the rent control board April meeting has been rescheduled to May 23rd at 5:30 p.m. here in council chambers and zoom and well please uh um it will be listed on our burrow website on the bur calendar um the details and the links will be there and lastly is uh Happy Asian-American Pacific Islanders Heritage M thank you for the role that you play in our community and that's my uh councilman H thank you madam mayor my name is Matt hail I chair the economic develop committee um I want to begin uh with a big big thank you to Main Street Highland Park for the 5K and Street Fair last weekend um I was not able to attend I was out of town at my daughter's college graduation and army commissioning which is one of only three reasons that you could ever miss this event because it is that special so um uh it is it's a wonderful part of what we do in Highland Park um and and I've heard reports that it was uh that there was a fair bit of rain but even so it was a huge success so I want to make sure we give a a big thank you um I also just wanted to point out that that on the rain um just to to let people know that the vast majority of the work that goes into this event um is done by volunteer labor um and that many of the vendors travel to other street fairs and other events throughout the year and that means that having a rain date just isn't practical um realistic or feasible um rain or shine is always uh uh the the word of the day for for this event um and rain or shine Rebecca H and her team Main Street uh always make it happen so a big big thank you to them um uh on our content agenda uh we have one item related to the cusher gift in the library um but I wanted to recognize that that we recently lost a man who was instrumental in making the entire cusher gift to the burough happen um judge Barney Hopman recently passed away and he's going to be sorely missed I'm sure others may have comments on him but he was a beloved member Community a respected judge and the owner of a wicked sense of humor my father-in law knew Barney for decades and they used to go along with some other longtime friends to watch the metser Phillies lose at least once a year um and when he was not able to go I often got to take his seat once one of their longtime friends said to me you might know a little bit about baseball but you're not as funny as Barney um do you think you might come up with some jokes jokes next time um and it was just one small example of how very very few people could keep up with him um whether it was his humor his sense of justice or his willingness to give everyone Second Chances um Barney was way ahead of everyone and he will be Surly missed so I just wanted to recognize that Madame mayor that's all I have thank you mayor thank you mayor Board of Health wants everybody to know that today is world as day asthma is a chronic lung disease which causes breathing difficulties and affects suff sufferers in various degrees asthma is caused by swelling and inflammation of prpal tubes sometimes in reaction to allergies exercise stress changes of temperature and smoking including second and third hand smoke community community sorry commission for universal access wants you to know that it is jette's Awareness Month while the majority of people have heard of trette syndrome many do not really understand what it entails most thinking of it as um a rare disease and that shouting out obscenities is a criteria for diagnosis which is very untrue is believed that due to the lack of awareness around the condition it's still one of the least known neurodiverse conditions the media often portrays tette syndrome as a swearing condition and the true realities of what it's like to live with the condition are rarely shown leading to isolation for those with the diagnosis as the mayor has said the Mental Health commission wants everyone to know it's National mental health month uh mental health month was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in American lives and to celebrate recovery from mental illness mental health is essential for a person's overall health prevention Works treatment is effective and people can recover from mental disorders and live full and productive lives if you need help please call 988 or text home h m to 741741 the food pantry hours are the 2 and fourth Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. and 6: to 7:00 p.m. and the Saturday following the 2 and fourth Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. giv a hoot Food Pantry located at the son6 center is Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10: to 11: they had to increase their days because we have so many residents in need lately I wish to extend my gratitude to officer BBY um for his prompt response to a 911 call to my residents concerning a family number experience in a medical emergency his compassionate demeanor and Adept handling of the situation provided invaluable Comfort during the distressing moment therey therei sorry therefore mitigating the level of stress involved and on a much happier note I want to acknowledge one of our crossing guards Bill U I believe it's Latos um he's a guard since September however he has recently been moved to um fif in Maran and that's where I've come across him he's so friendly the kids really like him a lot my son says he's so nice and you can tell he loves his job and he is here tonight and I just want to let you know even when I'm having a bad day seeing your happy smile and your enthusiasm really changes my morning so thank you very much we all thank you B uh council member George thank you madam mayor my name is Phil George I Le on to the Public Safety Committee um as councilman Hal mentioned I'd like to U give a general memory in order for judge Barnett hop who did recently pass away we were at his funeral service with his many accolades uh just went on and on on and on but personally um uh I did business professionally with him um but as I say all the time some of the best advice that we could get us from our volunteers and he was a volunteer and a consultant and a good source of information for things going on in our town my one questionable moment uh was always that he actually did business extensively with my father uh going back to the 70s uh when he was a prosecutor my father was a defense uh attorney and um judge Herman and judge Hoffman and I would often walk at one of the memorial services for the synagogues or other events and judge hofman would spend the afternoon walking and telling jokes and calling me John after my father and judge Herman W up no this is fail this is fail um but he will be missed but um not the things that he did here in our town also cudos to Main Street and Matt Hill it was a wet street fair but the crowds were pretty thick until it really started to pour around 2 o'clock um and it didn't seem to deter anybody the merchants were doing well um you know at least up until that time and nobody was folding their tents really till about 3 3:30 um they were sticking it out um with regard to our safe walking and cycling committee they're having their bike R Rodeo on Tuesday May 14th that's a week from today at ble School par in the parking lot from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. it's sponsored by uh safe walking and cycling the Highland Park Police Department and keep middle sex moving there's no registration needed um it's for ages six and above bring your bike helmet your bicycle there'll be fun events um and help you learn the rules of the road they'll also this year um as we did once at the farmers market there'll be safety checks for bicycles and Equipment this year with uh regard to the library um as councilman Hill mentioned there's a resolution on the agenda to authorize the library board uh to enter their own resolution uh to contract with the lowest bidder for work related to the kusher grant improvements that will keep everything on the same synchronized work schedule along with the roof the interior if you saw stop by at the library booth at the street fair sver photographs of the almost completed interior so things are moving on um but the user volume is still up especially with the online services and the remote um sites that they're filling in around town with regard to the police department uh the Highland Park Police Department is participating in police week next week there're a team of five Intrepid cyclists from our department who will be taking part in the ride down to DC uh that believe they they're leaving from moristown uh to ride with the New Jersey contingent um as we talked about last meeting the Highland Park Police Department was a partner in the Community Food Distribution program in partnership with the middle sex County prosecutor's office Boya Foods the Highland Park food pantry and the New Jersey lgbtq Law Enforcement liaa for distribution of non perishables and canned goods the event was held on April 25th I spoke to the chief today he said between 9:00 a.m. and 1 p.m. over two tons of non- perishables were distributed and that was supplied as a donation by Roya food um at at the time they cleared out at 1:00 over 200 full bags uh ready to go were also left for the food Pion so it was very much a success it was also um they brought in help from Woodbridge Police Department to assist um the May pack of patrol car event for the Edison Municipal animal shelter continues uh the police department advised me that it's been very successful so far since starting on May 1st people are dropping off donations for the animal shelter and again on the police Faceook site um and and on the um I'm sorry the police department uh main page on the website is the QR code if you want to go to the Amazon wish list uh for items that the Edison amimal shelter which assist us is available and finally with regard to the first aid spot um they were out at the street fair um I was talking with the members about the new ambulance that the Chris High School also be supplying they're still waiting for it to be delivered uh but we spend a little time discussing future plans for some of the uh older machinery and whether uh it can be repurposed to use here in town for fire assistance purposes and that's my report mayor thank you thank you so much council member thank you mayor good evening everyone um my name is Jason stelck I chair the recreation and arts committee uh included within that work is the uh the wonderful programming and services of our Department of Community Services like to give a quick shout out to them as well as the Arts commission and historical commission for sticking it out at the street fair on Sunday despite the uncooperative weather um but it was a really good time I was there for a couple hours and there was good turnout and it was really nice to see all of them out and about there um so just real quick just want to start with a quick reminder that the grocery store transportation is still available through the community center if anyone needs it um coming up soon this week actually uh the Highland Park youth theater company will be performing sus Jr performances will be held on Thursday May 9th at 6:30 and Sunday May 12th at 3M and they will be held at the Highland Park High School auditorium um next week we'll have the May luncheon at the uh community Center it'll be Monday May 13th at noon entertainment provided by Lori Goldman uh the week after that at the community center will have the annual healthare which will will be held on uh Tuesday May 21st from 11:00 a.m to 2 PM again at the community center um at the health a there will be free screenings including those for blood pressure pulse uh BMI cholesterol glucose stroke risk risk assessment bone density and skin cancer please note that fasting is not required for the testing um then a little later down the month um we'll be home our annual noral Day Parade which will be on Monday May 27th starting at 11:00 a.m. in New Brunswick uh crossing the bridge around 11:30 a.m. and proceeding up to the D boy Monument Inland Park where a ceremony will be taking place at the conclusion of grade and then um we have to have a couple of fun musical uh events that are be taking place in the coming weeks um first up on on Friday May 17th and Saturday May 18th at 800m uh the Highland Park Community course will be putting on their spring 2024 concert at the reform church of Highland Park tickets are $20 for adults $15 for seniors and students it can be purchased online at their website hp.org or at the door um again that's Friday May 17th and Saturday May 18th at 8m and lastly my report uh very pleased to um announce again por vest which will be be held on Sunday May 19th from 12: to 6: p.m. uh there will be performances at porches all throughout town and you can find a link to the schedule on the Burrow's website and here with that that is my report for tonight thank you council president thank you mayor uh including including my porch uh uh apparently a full compliment of Dan too uh my name is Matthew h I'm um I chair the Public Works committee and just a couple of announcements um uh bulk pickup is happening now uh and by appointment only uh bro runs a bulk pick appointment program uh and uh bulk waste collection can be uh picked up again by appointment and pickups are scheduled on Wednesdays during the months of may now uh June September and October to make an appointment please call public works at 732 247 9379 each household May request up to two collections per year here and please remember that after the townwide garage sale there is a townwide bul collection uh where you do not have to make appointment but stay tuned for those days as we get closer to to the fall uh Pooles and crosswalk striping are underway uh you know you may have seen those pot marks from the from from from The Long Winter um michor and DPW are hard at work to make sure that those Pooles are filled uh but if you see a pothole that's not being interest please report it at www.hpb.com and there's a button that says reported concern you can also call you can also call Department of Public Works 73247 9379 uh again Wednesdays are typically the day when when HS are filled whether depending but please keep us posted because we will put it on the list and uh and get those filled uh ASAP um a couple of uh larger larger road projects uh this week weather permitting uh we'll have several roadway Milling na projects getting underway uh they include exor street from Parker Road to Cher Street uh Washington Avenue from ran Avenue to near the Edison Township border Riverview Avenue from near the guide rail to the dead end so if you hav't be familiar with that street you know what that means uh um Wayne Street that's just a small section on Wayne Street uh in front of a residents there uh South Third Avenue from Valentine to Donaldson and South 11th Avenue from ja you to approximately mid block uh parking signs will be posted before the Milling begins and please note that garbage and recycling pickup uh schedule uh will not be affected if for whatever reason you do miss a pickup again please call public works at 732 247 9379 and they are very good at coming back and collecting what whatever was missed um pardon me just one more note about road paving uh please note that um in order to facilitate the work uh we respectfully request that when possible no cars be parked on the street in areas where work is being performed um and uh the contractors uh do anticipate keeping at least one lane of traffic open during construction um however there are certain times of course when the entire Road may need to be closed so please plan accordingly uh more 2024 projects uh in the works to keep a look at for North 4th Avenue from Denis to raran Dennison from North 2 to North 5th Harper from South 1st to South Fourth uh Harbor Street not Harbor Place uh and Woodbridge Avenue vulker street to Fox Road uh that's a partnership with middx County that we'll have more information on this forward uh uh this past Saturday at the Trenton State Museum the mayor I we're we're thrilled to be invited to see uh Ra's Cultural Center uh hland Park base uh honored at a recognition ceremony by the New Jersey Puerto Rican Puerto Rico Commission in 2023 the buau created a partnership with r's Cultural Center to to provide programmatic space at the environmental Educational Center on River Road uh where they are able to continue to grow and impact the community on a larger scale uh at the Environmental Center we're thrilled to have raised this as the eyes and ears of the building as we conduct uh regular maintenance in partnership with the Department of Public Works of course this will continue to be a a completely public space available to to the community the environmental commission sustainable Highland Park and the Highland Park native Planet Sanctuary um and uh uh we anticipate having uh a report in just a couple weeks on the volume of improvements that have been made at the environmental Educational Center you know it sat it sat you know empty for several years particularly during the pandemic during that time there was a considerable uh maintenance needed to the roof to the grounds uh in general lighting and so it's really great to have a steward of that building uh to make sure that it lives up to its full potential I just wanted to Echo about the street fair uh in 5K thank you uh to Main Street hland park Council m h uh the H Police Department uh first aid Rescue Squad and fire department uh and uh the the recreational department um uh so many moving uh parts coming together to what I saw as an observer a really seamless uh wonderful event uh we did have some Earth and weather but it is Earth Day so you know without rain we can't have anything so so so so we so we made doom and just on Earth because we celebrate Earth Day in Highland Park uh on May 5th um and we're every day um I did I did want to give a special shout out because I'm LLY Asis on to sustainable Highland Park for really doing a tremendous job uh organizing um uh music uh Anthony Walker amandala Magnolia streets String Band uh vegan food from Chef Mar 20 boots of Environmental Education and interactive exhibits and free native plants I hope you got your free native plant we planted those today uh and so we're excited to watch that grow uh Tina wi house uh and the team at St Park I just wanted to give a special thanks to all the hard work that they do uh and there is a shet tree advisory committee meeting a regular meeting tomorrow Wednesday May 8th on Zoom at 7:30 please come and you can find the link uh in the calendar section at www.hpb.com and you might be able to hear uh a little bit about the 72 new trees uh that recently been planted that he may have seen in town uh and I did just want to just mention uh very quickly related to the schools the Island Park Educational Foundation I served on their board for um about 8 years uh they they provide really important seed money U to to conduct teacher Le um programs and initiatives and they're looking for new new new trustees if you uh to get information for them to contact just go to www.nj.org that's my thank you thank you uh administrator report I don't have report this evening mayor okay for attorney's report for attorney sha mayor I have or attorney B nothing to report okay and now it's but before I go into anything I would like to ask for a moment of silence in remembrance of [Music] Judge I too have a judge Hoffman story and um he made everyone feel special and I think um everyone that inter away from his jok and his sense of humor and his gift of giving back and thinking outside the box especially with the rad program the The Prisoner recovery program that he started here in Middle sex County where he would go to I heard such stories that he would go to the jails and you know when the prisoners saw him they respected him although he may have sent them to jail but they respected him and they respected the programs that he put in place for them to come out and to thrive and have good Liv and have live lead good lives um I was particularly touched and honored um a week before judge Hoffman passed I I've been working with him with the Krishna grant for over a year and we we happen to get everything together and we can see the fruits of of his labor with issuing of the grants and making everything happen but a few days before he passed I got a phone call that he wanted us to see me and I stopped by the house and I held his hand and I read the Bible I said the Lord's Prayer because that's what I know how to do and I think we shared a special moment and I will be I think one of the greatest honors is that before someone passes on that they request to see you that's that's speaks volume and I think that the relationship that we had was great and one that we both respect each other and he will forever be missed we will be doing a proclamation for judge hman um in the next few weeks um stay tuned and ask his family to come out and we'll do the presentation at that time but I want to say to judge hman Thank You For All You've Done For Humanity thank you for all you've done for Middle 6 County and thank you for all you've done for Highland Park on that note um I want to go to a little bit of Celebration and um this month we're celebrating um Asian Pacific Islander month and I want to reach out and say thank you for all the services that you have done for making our home the United States a much better place with from inventions to laws to policies and all the contribution that you have made we all benefit from it and we all celebrate with you I also want to say thank you to Main Street Highland Park to sustainable Highland Park to the vendors that came out the 5K race DPW Public Safety uh fire police first aid OEM all the vendors sustainable Highland Park thank you all for making Highland Park a special place on when we have our 5K race and when we have our day of Celebration it doesn't matter if it's raining Highland Park always show up and the vendors always show up and they always have a good time so thank you for all who came out participated and made that day special and I have a exciting um I have been working with the school board members of the some members of the school board for some time now I would say a couple of months and I think that we're in a healthy spot as we move along and this this coming Thursday we have a School site visit to perform with um assemblyman Stanley Cara benek and Senator dman John Carol from middlex County for them to come and get a tour of BTO school so I'm excited about that I'm excited that I was the one who helped to get the superintendent of middlex County Schools to go over and take a look at uh ble and to see if they can address some of the issues and to follow this week the followup continues where we will be visiting the school and taking a tour I'm excited about that I'm excited about the collaborative work that we'll be doing together uh another thing that's coming up um traveling veterans memorial wall will be in East bronck as we're looking to celebrate um Memorial Day um the BFW post 133 and the township of East brck will be hosting a travel and Vietnam memorial war and it will be anyone who's interested in seeing this it will be at the East Bron the Community Arts Center at 721 Cranberry Road and that's from the 23rd to the 27th um The Traveling U Vietnam memorial wall is 80% is 80% replica of the veteran memorial wall in DC so if you want to say a special thank you for those who have given so much um they've given their life their limb and so much more to for us for what we call Freedom today take a moment go out and honor those brave people that give us the liberty for us all to be sitting here and for us to be free and another project that has been long long long awaited and um I have a save the date and I'm really excited about this because this is the it's going to be a celebration dinner at the school on Cleveland Avenue and that cele celebration dinner will be from June 17th to the June 17th and it's uh 4:25 clean Evan avenon and the Thea is finally going to be opening it's a beautiful one I will keep you all posted as we moved forward so we're hoping that we may be able to do some visits so especially for people who live in that neighborhood and we'll schedule that and so you all can see what this girl campus the state-ofthe-art Girl campus TOA will look like so stay tuned it looks beautiful and I can't wait to go and see it and that's my report now it's time for public participation 21 minutes total 3 minutes per speaker items is on is list on items listed on this agenda comments from members of the public attending in person will be heard first followed by those attending via Zoom any uh comments from Members attending in public please approach the microphone and your name and address for the [Music] record turn it good evening everyone uh my name is Mr ban Kumar and I own a business in Highland Park which is called Highland Park Wine Anders at 97 [Music] rge I'm having one issue uh which is affecting my business a lot uh like it's in the corner of Woodbridge Avenue and South 10 and people are living their car hard for like 5 Seven 8 10 hours a day at the right in front of my door so I do have a parking lot in the back which has like four cars can fit over there but because of my business I have like every day big trucks are coming in to deliver stuff at at the store and because of all those cars are parked sometimes they even deliver on time and I'm losing business because I don't have stock to sell and same thing uh the customers also they they just they see that a lot of cars are pared and they don't stop and they don't come into the store and they go to the Addison store next day they come and tell me that hey because a lot of cars there I don't even bother to come inside I just out so basically I'm losing my business I need some kind of help if we can uh put a sign like 15 minutes parking or something like that that will really help me for the business um quick question are you talking about on the South 9th Avenue 10th 10 so you're not speaking of w Bridge Avenue South 10th because there's a two road but I'm talking about the street sou Street well I'm going to have a council member George um look into this this is Council Council Jorge oversees the Public Safety Committee and um I think this is something that he can look into and get back to you thank you mayor already made a note to bring it up in public safety so that we can do a traffic check thank you thank you um Madam mayor respond as well I just wanted to make sure that you knew about the neighborhood preservation program which is in the district where your your shop is um it's a it's a grant that we receive um that uh that provides business help um and business assistance so we have grants that help with business with auding I think that that the parking issue is certainly something in in that that coun George um can address but I'd like you to to we can talk afterwards about the neighborhood preservation program because it it does have some assistance money that might be available or um to to help in some other ways sure thank any comment anyone uh there is someone on the zoom okay uh looks like Carl prey could you please just say your name and address oops it's veryy for uh Dennison Street um I have um I have a I have concerns about the assignment and assumption agreement with the track a developer HP uh raren Development LLC I don't understand it um this is a real estate transaction between ub's a read a readed through all of that paperwork it's a real estate transaction between UB which is located in tra a tra a at 115 raron Avenue and pnk autoc clinic at 70 Woodbridge Avenue UB is assessed at 480,000 pnk Auto Clinic is $1.1 million anyway because ub's Auto Repair business is in the center of the Redevelopment proposed for tra a the developer of track a wants appropriately to help UB ub's Auto Repair business to relocate I think that's appropriate for for the developer to do what I think is not appropriate is for the burrow to act as a go between using taxpayer money to facilitate this private real estate what should be a private real estate transaction the taxpayer money at question is $1.5 million in bonds that were off authorized arrived some years ago during mayor Midler's time in office during mayor Midler's time in office of Bonds were authorized in the amount of something between six and7 million do as I recall um the first bond which I think is the one that is being used here of 1.5 million was authorized for the burrow to buy Buck Woods which clearly never happened I have a problem with the burough using taxpayer funds to facilitate what should be a private transaction between the developer UB and pnk auto um it continues what I believe is a bad precedent um set by the burrow of speculating on property for the benefit of a specific developer the questions I have is what is the what's the ultimate outcome of this assignment and assumption agreement you have ub's at 480,000 you have the the pnk auto at um 1.2 million or 1.1 million and the burrow uh authorized 1.5 million in this this ordinance says that the bur will own both properties quote pending the acquisition of the balance of the properties within track a from what I understand there are at least three properties still not owned by either the burrow or the developer so who's going to buy the remaining properties in tra a what's the process between ub's and PK Auto what if it doesn't what if uh if the properties don't get purchased uh to finish off the ownership and who who will pay ma ma'am point of order your time is up thank you you gave you interrupted me already ma'am she gave her 30 seconds and your 30 seconds were up she stadi your time was up thank you any uh not on Zoom mayor no okay um seeing there's no other um further questions may I have a motion to close public participation so move second roll call councilwoman Cana yes councilman George yes councilman H yes my apologies for jumping in on the question there I stillar the any process council president her yes councilwoman Kim Johan yes councilman pan yes okay so it's it's now time for ordinance number for ordinance requiring second reading but before we go there I'm going to ask attorney Joe Balman to give us a overview of this ordinance thank you mayor U first ask ask some really good questions I'm G to try to answer them um and I'm going to start with where we're hoping to end up as opposed to the beginning of the story it's easier to understand where we intend to find ourselves at the end of the transaction then we can go backwards the goal is for the burrow to own all the property in this track and with the acquisition of this property there will be only one left I believe that will still be in private hands over the course as this SPG properly points out over the course of many many years the burrow has identified this area as an area to acquire the property over time with the goal of aggregating all the parcels and having a developer acquire them back from the burrow and then build a a prop a Redevelopment project and we have actually gone out to the marketplace and have taken proposals and we've traditionally designated redeveloper uh which is the tank LIF team that is the developer that's describing these documents the reason we think it's important for burrow to ultimately own this property is between now and when we sign we development agreement with the T team we do not want to find ourselves in a situation where perhaps the private parties did this transaction and now she owns the property have to get it back from her team um in the future and we sort of end up in the same place we are today which is it's a private property own the property the end result will be will sell these properties to the redeveloper but along the way we spend so much time and energy acquiring all the other parcels we felt it was critical for us to also own this parcel until we reach a definitive agreement and sell all of them together to our Des a lot of things can happen between now and then we fully expect to do that transaction with the talent team but we want to be extra cautious because again we don't have owned all the parcels of not owned this one piece because a private transaction occurred where we could have acquired it from the property so the end result is to uh own the ub's property in the burrow consolidate with all the parcels and then sell to redeveloper hence the taxpayers are getting would get their money back but more importantly to that a development project curves that has been years and years Mak why is the transaction somewhat conut um the goal here has been to uh relocate uh the ub's uh dealership um repair jobs from one location to the other it was opportunity was spotted um by the B and bus administrator and the team um and identified the pnk location it was for sale um so our developer um with keeping us in the loop every step of the way negotiated transactions that would allow for her and their team to acquire the pnk property put it in fix it up and then allow Gres to transfer their over to there and then swap properties but we had to do it in order so that you first have to acquire the property that rovies will go to you have to fix that property up and then you have to allow the 's team to move to the new location in order to sort of seamlessly unimpact not impact the business so this was a a complex uh transaction the goal being to have us ultimately know the property but at the same time to allow this business to continue to operate throughout the entire process so we entered into an which allows us to step into the shoes of the tan te both for the purposes of uh owning the pnk property and then completing the swap of the UB property at the end that transaction should Cur pretty quickly there's not a lot of work to be done being property it's a it's a really nice location so we're really thrilled with that piece of property that will be put back into the market and at the same time we will so we at the end when we're done we all take it a viable business put them in a location that has been closed and abandoned so making that location a viable Market participant now we will acquire yet another piece of our puzzle U to complete our Redevelopment of that project and then we will negotiate continue our negotiations with our destinated redeveloper sell those properties to that redeveloper and ultimately again our funds back and that negotiation has occur so that's that's where we want to get to and that's why we have this assignment we step into the shoes of the tan team for purposes of all of these agreements so reasonable people could disagree about whether we should leave the private parties uh to their own transaction as a as a policy matter and certainly my advice to the B was not to let that happen my advice was to have the come to us so that we can control our Destin which because we don't control our destiny is taking as long as it's taken we've been we've been trying to carefully work through we acquired two Parcels that were for sale um we had actually acquired two vacant Parcels for condation they're abandoned um there was nothing on so we've slowly been acquiring these Parcels again to do the hard work for putting them all into a develop portion a project that we can really be proud of so that that sort of is the transaction that's where we end up and that's where we are today and and the price is about $1,500,000 get all those steps out of the out of the bond but again our hope is that when we're all s done Sol property V majority time all that money comes back cler please report an ordinance number 24-20 84 ordinance authorizing the execution of an assignment and assumption agreement down to Redevelopment LLC pursuant to MJ 4A 12 A-1 EXC related to Redevelopment of track a has been duly advertised for consideration of passage on Final reading by title and Affidavit of publication on file okay uh now it's time for public comment on this ordinance if you wish to speak on this ordinance please come up to the microphone or put your hand up on the zoom button raise your hand button so and please state your name and address thank you m Kieran Crowley 218 Harrison Avenue um if I could deviate for 10 seconds thank you for acknowledging mental health awareness Mon and also I thought the tribute to judge hofman was fantastic I barely knew him but to hear people talk about your achievements and also your your humor you know how better to be remembered so thank you um so on the HP rad Ren um agreement thanks for that uh explanation I've got some questions sort of around the edges of I guess this this one agreement so um have hat Roden received any commitments from the B outside of just this one agreement so for example any verbal agreements any letters of intent or memorandums of understanding I don't know what would become public or not but I'd just like to ask that question is this agreement linked to any other moving Parts in this in this Redevelopment um what I'd be particularly interested in are there any changes ongoing or being discussed around the current Redevelopment master plan for track a so are the wheels in motion maybe are are some ideas out there maybe even verbally agreed to I'd like a response um and lastly on that question are there any other Financial incentives that have been thrown out or you know thrown out for a discussion or um maybe given verbal agreement um such as relating to property taxes um Pilots things that we've seen on other on other deals and then just one more question so um you explain the kind of complicated sequence of the property on Woodbridge is bought the business moves then we have an open property on Raritan what happens to the property tax bills and what needs to be paid for both of those properties once this agreement is executed there's obviously a period where there's there's renovation there remediation of environmental issues that sounds like two years of work to me do we does the bar still get the same property and land taxes for both properties during this kind of transition phase thank you I you w to yeah okay I'm gonna have attorney and your question um change up the format just a little bit because normally we get all the questions in and then we do a quick answer but because of the intricacy of this particular one could you um borrow yeah so there's one other agreement public grait the C team conditionally designated as the V developer of the entire entire area and so what the traditional designation does is it does two things one uh we exclusively negotiate with them so they have an exclusive negotiation period and they simultaneously fund the costs to the burrow through go PR so for example the negotiation of this these agreements come out of the rco agreement so all the Legal Financial Planning which is typical only transaction for the developer in exchange for the right for exclusive negotiations they Fund in escro accounts happens at the plan Bo I should also tell you that their proposal was one of many we went out through a competitive process receiv several proposals um the that those have not been yet revealed to the public um but those those proposals will at the appropriate time the balance we've had here is um we we haven't gotten too far into the negotiations other than that we know what their proposal is we know what they have in mind we know what incentives they're asking for we haven't really delt into the negotiations with that just yet because of the uncertainty of a property so they've been sort of cautious and limited how much money they want to spend on all this and weed so the cautious as well to try and secure the land um so those negotiations I would safe to say that they made a they put in a proposal with everybody else and made an ask and we haven't materially responded to that ask at this point in time which just work the do um I can't recall whether they're ask includes changes to the Redevelopment plan there may or may not be uh not materially for sure but they may and again all this would be revealed in the same way we're going to be soon doing what's happening on trick but we'll do a community meeting um to your question about incentives I explain that think they certainly made some ass because their proposal is also about how much money are they going to pay for our land uh what incentives they want so it's a financial proposal a development proposal U included who they were done so was a pretty robust proposal and all that will be red at the appropriate time taxes so for the for the time being um as long as groupers continues to own their property they pay their taxes just like always uh P&K that private property will continue to pay taxes for the period of time when the r when the property is within our when we own it there will be no taxes paid we we really do expect you describe this long time we our window expectations that that renovation will take um will be done by the Fall so we fully expect you know four four months or so our developer expects it'll be finished and then the TR there is we are working around their busy time too so that's has that comes into play so there are times we're trying to be least disruptive to re closing may maybe implicated by when is it going to have the least disruption on their business there's periods of time in the year we're trying to work through so we're trying to be a good you know a good partner in the process so but we do expect it to happen this year for sure but we are going to time it with when it works on and when it's least disrup business okay thank you D anyone yes I see uh Carl prey probably Mary forsberg as her hand up okay please just state your name and address to confirm it to you for Denon Street um I have a couple questions that um in response to um what Mr Bowman had to say he's talking about swapping properties so does that mean that ub's will swap a property worth 500,000 for one worth 1.1 uh million dollar or and he will take on another $500,000 in debt to do that or is the burrow going to pay for that or is the developer going to pay for that I don't understand exactly how one swaps properties that are so unequal in value and my other question is um I mean I find it interesting that in track okay the burrow wants to buy all of the property yet in track C the developer of track C the farmers market that developer is basically buying property um some of it for well above its assessed value the dentist's office was assessed for $800,000 and he bought it for $1.2 million and I know there's other property in that area that has that you have expanded um and some of those people probably don't want to sell their property so to that mean that the burough is going to get into that um that real estate market too I I I don't think that the burough should be buying property like [Music] this thank you uh anyone else I don't see any other hands up here I'm going to move to close this uh section of public comments second all in favor um um attorney Bowman would you care to address what Miss forber question was yeah I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on whether or not the burrow should buy property that's a a policy decision we've made a long time ago and I totally endorsed it these projects wouldn't have on list we currently have no intention of buying properties nor do we have to uh on the track SE um as described the property owners a bunch of them we have our own to sell um that negotiation is much along and will be revealed soon hopefully um but the the the fact is when you're trying to do development you want to acquire the property you often end up paying a little more than the market it's just the way that's just the way it is in order to entice the property owners who are not necessarily interest in Sun so Mr has a very vable business I think he likes his location um so we're going to in device him to buy uh we have to pay him more than the market just how it works otherwise he would just stay um so that's really the place of AD mission to the process um again our our expectation is that we'll get that money back um through our land sale to the developer uh but but again the plan is not just uh to get our land price of our land back it's a bigger than that we're trying to jump start this section of the burrow that's clearly underdeveloped and in need of serious Redevelopment so we have a much bigger plan here um to that we're trying to achieve and overpaying for land you know sometimes sometimes part of that part of the price of achieving that and trying to particularly work with a proper owner and have him have his business continue to be viable who was probably more than happy to stay where he is so it's just if you want to do these things and you want to make this difference um which we're going to do absolutely um these are these are the hard decisions that get made every step of the way but we've done it every step of the way thoughtfully carefully we acquired the land we expect that we'll be able to sell it back and and it's also true because the land each individual property you might guess um it's much more valuable when it's part of a bigger assemblage right so an individual lot um might be worth X but when you put it into a larger assemblage where you can do much more with the property it becomes more valuable so uh I also believe that the value to that property today on its own is not the same as it will be as part of a much biger assemblage which is where we're trying to so we're creating value by caring and assembling it um which you know allows us to also pay more than the sort of assess value on the property um may I have a motion to adopt or reject ordinance number 242084 motion to adopt second roll call Council Cana yes councilman George yes councilman H yes council president H yes Council Kim Johan yes councilman St yes um resolution requiring a separate reading may I have a motion to adopt or re reject resolution [Music] amend the 2024 Municipal temporary budget so second Roman Cana yes councilman George yes councilman H yes council president H yes councilwoman cam Johan yes yes consent agenda resolution may I have a motion to adopt or reject the following consent agenda items 13A through 13k second Council can yes councilman George yes councilman H yes council president H yes Council woman kiman yes Council mic yes appointments at this time and now it's time for a second public participation three minutes per speaker on any topic subject to conclude at 900m comments from the members of public attending in person will be heard first followed by those attending via Zoom can you come up please speak into the microphone do we have no one in the audience Terry and I don't see anybody online and excuse me mayor I meant to mention we have five attendees on zoom and there's no one oh I I see a hand [Music] up uh Mary forsberg again um Mr bobman didn't answer my question about um what ub's cost of taking over pnk um Auto Repair I I I'm not sure that I think it's an appropriate thing for taxpayers in Highland Park to um to front 500 extra $500 I think it's appropriate for ubri to get this um uh property but I also think that this is absolutely a cost to the to the developer not a cost to taxpayers in Highland Park and and Mr Bowman did not respond to that in terms of what Mr ubri is going to actually have to pay that's bman you're right sorry um the uh Mr rub is going to get literally swapped his his building for the new building um with no money out of his pocket the burrow is going to fund the cost and then the all and all the properties put together we're going to sell it to the redeveloper which is why the taxpayers will get their money back thank you um okay see there's no F there's no one further to see no further one may have a motion to close public participation roll Council woman can yes councilman George yes councilman H yes council president H yes councilwoman Kim Johan yes councilman yes may I have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second all in favor I our next meeting is scheduled for May 21st at 7:00 p.m. thank you all for being here