i al to the United States America to the stands na God indivisible withy and jusice for all this is a meeting of the Hillsdale burough Council on this 12th day of December 2023 notice of the time and place of this meeting has been provided to the Ridgewood news and the Bergen Record a copy was posted on the bulletin board outside of this meeting room and provided to any interested parties please silence all cell phones please wait to be recognized by me during the public hearing and public comment part of the meeting just state your name and your town of residence roll call please council president D Roa here council member Escobar here council member Fox here council member horbath Pres council member Lundy here council member chimu here mayor ruko here first order of business is the initial public comment period time limited new topics only uh please uh confine your uh comments to what's on the agenda there'll be a second public comment period at the end of the meeting or toward the end of the meeting where you can comment on anything I don't see anyone in the audience in person nothing no okay so I close the initial public comment period next order of business is the professional support uh from our bar engineer for the month of November our Engineers are here good evening mayor and councel good evening Nick so since it's the last meeting of the year I wanted to provide a little bit of a recap for some of the paving we did this year since to me that was one of the the highlights of this year we we did a lot of Paving in town um under the uh 2022 dot project we paid Shadyside Lane Alpine Terrace and Sierra Court we also paid a total of 27 roads under the Riverside Coop contract that totaled almost 23,000 ft of road or 4.3 miles under the fall Capital Paving project we paided an additional 12,000 ft or 2.2 miles um and I just want to note that this is a tremendous amount of Paving to get done in such a short period of time and I think that's a you know a really good thing that we did there especially since Paving in the prior couple of years was I think under because of all the corre yeah and and the um the the two latter projects that I mentioned the uh the Riverside top and the fall Paving project that all addressed the roads that were disrupted by utility work so you know it was a much needed Endeavor and uh it was it was great to get that done um for the fall pting project we completed construction on that last month we're still wrapping up some final punchless items just making sure that all the odds and ends are taken care of before we issue a final payment um and then we will be closing that project out shortly for um Centennial Field we had held a meeting with uh representatives of each of the uh Sports divisions recently Gathering a idea of items that they would like to see happen at Centennial Field and we took that a wish list of items and created a cost estimate for it um and now we're in the process of refining that cost estimate nailing down a scope for the project so we can put together a design proposal which will be prepared shortly have you distributed that wish list to members of the council we don't have a formal wish list it was it's just like notes that I took you'll price out each one of those wishes then correct so we're putting together a total cost for the whole project for all the wishes for every everything that was even discussed and then from there we narrow it down eliminate things and come up with the final scope for the project okay before you eliminate things will you be sending us the full list wish list with all the costs uh we certainly can yeah you intending to we can if you request you I think it would be worthwhile for the council to see that okay um and then the uh the the last item I want to discuss was the Beachwood nature trail um for that project we completed a draft set of plans and specifications uh we have handed those plans over to the environmental commission they're reviewing those plans I understand they have some comments we are going to be meeting with the environmental commission at the end of the month to address those comments and then hopefully from there we can uh submit to the DP and get that project moving and that is all I have any questions from our members of council just clarify on the wish list for uh Centennial Field because we will be going out to bid sometimes in January uh the prices the descriptions and all that will have to be uh confidential uh so we can give it to the council but it will have to stay within the council absolutely any other questions thank you thanks thank you Nick uh that brings us to committee reports Council and Roa uh just two updates from last week uh attended the local Board of Education meeting last night uh not too much on the agenda but they did thank Nicole class the outgoing uh uh board member and Rec commission also met last night um they went over the holiday uh tree lighting which was a success I think the tree look great this year um and they uh discussed uh some budget items um and I gave them an update on where we were at with the centen the Memorial post the field meeting that Nick described with the Sports Association uh presidents excellent thank you Anthony councilman Escobar councilman Escobar I'm uning him M I don't think he can talk I don't know if he's on a fire look muted maybe he can't I know but I unmute him and he mut so maybe on call on a fire call okay councilman Fox nothing to report councilman Horvath nothing to report councilwoman Wy I have nothing from an additional from last week councilman TR Muk um Library board met last night it was the um last meeting of the year um they um said that they did very well during the year um with their um fundraisers and and um the different events that they had um they um presented us with like a list that showed you know how many programs they had how many people attended and so the numbers are are are way up um and so I think um they're they're thinking that you know people are starting to get really back into going to the library it's sort of postco it took a while to get it sort of ramped up so I think it's really getting there and so they're looking forward to next year they they really think they'll be uh you know um back to um part if not you know better than than the way it was and um um basically the you know new year is going to come they're going to elect new um um representatives and new president and so on the officers um and then they'll be planning for their activities for next year again I just always want to say people should go on to their website because it's a very robust website it has a lot of of of events um there's a Museum passes on there that the library actually pays for and I don't even know if people know this but they they pay for these passes that you then go to the library and you get them and then you can go to a museum and it doesn't cost you anything so um but other than that um it was really a sort of wrapup for the year and uh looking forward to next year that was it thank you uh coming back to councilman Escobar okay we'll move on then um I have one thing to report since this is a report section um this morning I attended the weekly Bergen County leue of municipalities meeting uh all the officers and members adopted unanimously in a bipartison fashion a resolution in support of Senate Bill 3739 that would delay the fourth round of um affordable housing obligations from July 1st of 2025 to July 1st of 2028 it also urged the creation of essentially like another COA I guess uh of an administrative agency uh that would determine and monitor the affordable housing obligations for each municipality the goal is to bring a uniform Statewide approach to the issue of affordable housing consistent with the New Jersey Constitution this is a an obvious defect in the process that we that we've been experiencing for the last eight years uh with the Court's involvement the absence of COA although admittedly COA didn't serve itself very well for quite a few years uh causing the U uh the courts to step in um but I think things have gone off the rails um in another Manner and this is an attempt to try to to get the the train back on the rails so um again it was a unanimous vote uh they will um we're being urged all the municipalities are being urged in Bergen County to prepare individual resolutions for from each of our towns uh in the hope uh uh you know that we could have some influence on Trenton um I'll prepare that resolution once I get the the wording from um the r municipalities I hope to have it on the council's agenda for the next meeting December 27th if not uh I will pass it on to the uh new Council uh that's all I have to say that brings us to introduction of ordinance 2322 um an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 63 of the code of the burough of pale um be it resolved that ordinance number 23 22 does now pass the first reading and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a special meeting of the mayor and Council on December 27th that'll be a zoom meeting and at said time and place all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same and the cork is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance in the Ridgewood news once at least one week prior to set hearing with a notice of its introduction and of the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage do I have a motion please motion second okay any further discussion on this just a by means of background this is remarkably like the the ordinance that we adopted at the last meeting but um I vetoed it because I wanted to prevent a legal quandry that our attorney and the VA agreed would exist if we had adopted that version um of the of the ordinance um I'll be meeting this later this week with our police chief to get a better understanding of answers that I opposed to the police committee at the last meeting um I've already signaled my approval um for a second Lieutenant position um called for in the uh in this ordinance 2322 I signed the promotion of Sergeant Travis Woods and his employment agreement I didn't date it because I wanted to make sure the date was consistent with the approval of the ordinance um as I and it will be dated when that ordinance 2322 that we're introducing tonight is ad Ed uh as I'm sure uh it will be by the governing body on December 27th um I also expect at that meeting that uh Council will approve several additional new hires that increase the size of the the police department um it's my belief that in a decision of this magnitude not only do the residents need to understand the rationale which I think the pr Chief will address um but also the financial implications we we owe the uh the taxpayers that transpar Arcy so I'm working as best as I can with the information I have uh to update estimates that I did quite a several years ago and I'll have them ready for the December 27th meeting um that's all I want to say on this ordinance deping on what one else was just to add anything please do so otherwise we'll go to a roll call vote roll call vote please council president josa yes council member Escobar council member ES bar on council member Fox yes council member Horvath yes council member Lundy yes council member to that ordinance is introduced five Z I would put one exstension at this moment exension or ABS how how would you normally like AB absent okay okay that brings us to our consent agenda there are a number of resolutions there I won't read them uh would anyone like any of them pulled for walk consent or separate discussion I would like to pull R23 311 um just so that the terms of that can be summarized before we vote I would like to move that to the offc consent part of the agenda everything else then we'll take a vote on the consent agenda R 23300 through R 23312 minus 23 311 do I have a motion motion second roll call please council member Escobar council member Fox yes council member Horvat yes council member Lundy yes the exception and the payment to Har FL council member choim m yes council president josa yes okay so that consent agenda is adopted five nothing um moving back to the r 23311 this is a resolution authorizing the shared service agreement between the bur of hilsdale and The Bu of Westwood for municipal court services um I asked that if you pull it just so that I can quickly go over the terms of that uh agreement which is referenced in the resolution but not attached to the resolution uh this is a good thing for the burough of Hillsdale uh it will result in savings of about $70,000 annually um the courts themselves will not merge uh the identities of the Westwood and the Hillsdale courts will remain separate but their business will be conducted in one building uh Records revenues fees fines will all be administered separately um and it is the staff of the two courts that is going to be combined uh and merged and they will all be employees of Westwood um Westwood is going to take responsibility for ensuring compliance with all the standards and and um training and certifications that we would have done had we kept uh the court here in Hillsdale um Hillsdale will reimburse westw for its portion of the shared municipal court services staff and they'll figure that out based on a pror share of actual cost of the court operations as determined by the percentage of cases that are attributable uh to Hillsdale and that basically summarizes it Mr bur administrative anything else I've omitted that you care to say about this resolution very good very good so um do I have a motion motion second uh roll call please council member Fox yes council member Horvat yes council member Lundy yes council member chimu yes council president josa yes council member Escobar no okay so that resolution passes five nothing one one absence guess that brings us to our second public comment period uh any topic can be raised by a member of the public just state your name and town of residence okay not seeing or hearing anyone we'll close that public commentary brings us to council commentary um I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas uh both on the council as well as to all our residents um as Tonight is the last inperson meeting of the governing body for 2023 I'd like to take this opportunity to note the departure of two individuals who serve on this de um for a combined total of about 15 years if I calculate correctly both as members of the council also as Council presidents councilman Anthony D roza has served the council continuously for the past nine years is that right Anthony hope got I think it's 10 10 um he served on a variety of committees took a variety of laas and roles but a recurring theme of his tenure uh as councilman has been his association with both the recreational assets of the town as well as the ambulan service uh he served as council president uh for at least a year the council will certainly miss his perspectives and input on an array of topics um I thank him for the time and the effort he devoted to making the bur a better place within which to live and particularly for his dedication to improving our athletic facilities a challenge that occupied a great deal of his uh time in the last couple of years um the people of Hillsdale owe him a debt of gratitude for his service on the council and for his leadership councilman Horvat has served 6 and A2 years on Council serving on a variety of committees also for a year as council president during that period of time he also put in many hours as the photographic chronicler I guess I call you um of events involving council members bur employees and many many residents in town if there was a photo opportunity that he could employ his skills to make others look good he was there enjoying every minute of it and doing at Pro Bona uh his passion for improving the train station and a desire for public referendums on big expenditures was always evident as was his loathing of property tax increases um I thank him for his service for the residence of hillsil especially for uh I guess instigating initial the initial instigator for the 125th anniversary celebration for the uh for the town uh the residents owe him a dead of gratitude as well for his service and his Spirit of volunteerism finally as this is my last in-person meeting as mayor of the buau I'd like to thank the residents of Hillsdale for their support over the past six and a half years in my tenure as mayor it was truly an honor to serve the people of Hillsdale in that capacity never did I think when I moved here back in 1981 at the age of 29 with my expectant wife that I would ever become a councilman or even a mayor at that point um serving has given me much insight into how towns operate and why decisions are made both for the good and for the bad I met hundreds of people I suppose I never would have met otherwise um and was blessed with the opportunity to learn from them and and often times to help them in any way I could um The Book of Ecclesiastes says that to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under Heaven the time to step away from the position of Mayor was evident to me these past two years however it suggested in an Old Shaker song The Dance goes on since the voters have chosen to continue to put their confence confidence in me as a council member for the next 3 years I look forward to this new session um with a renewed sense of purpose um councilwoman Wy okay um first I want to remind everybody that on January 6th the environmental commission will be holding their styrofoam Drive in the um West slot the time there'll be a flyer coming out with the time I believe it's 10:00 but I'm not 100% sure of that that yet um I do also want to thank be gasali on successfully doing the court shared service because I've been through at least four bro administrators who have started that and didn't succeed in getting that done so thank you appreciate it um I want to wish all the residents a Merry Christmas and lastly I would like to I don't even know where to start um with councilman D roza we met has to be 15 years ago maybe when our kids were playing baseball we both sat on the hbsa board together when he came on councel he recommended me for the rec commission that was me that was you um I sat on the rec commission and then I appreciate all that you've done for the town all the service you've always been a voice of reason levelhead sitting up here on the D and I always do appreciate your perspective you will be missed thank you C uh so just a reminder that Santa is coming around on fire truck um beginning Monday on the east side of town um since this is my last regular council meeting for a while I just want to pass along some thoughts uh 10 years ago uh the 10 years that I've served on this day have been some of the most frustrating the most challenging and the most rewarding of my life I've been frustrated by how slowly the wheels of municipal government can grind and been elated at the things we we've been able to accomplish things like improved Public Safety with police and schools and impr improved ambulance response times trash collection two times a week reliable leaf and leaf and snow removal more robust town events were poised to make significant investments in our in our recreational fields and facilities and reasonable Redevelopment that will bring over $30 million for the burough to reinvest we've solved the parking issue with Demis Farms improved the relationships between the Bur and its volunteer organizations and navigated through the co crisis I've been doing this long enough to have seen several administrations and live with the decisions previous of previous ones some of what I've seen is an extremely conservative approach to fisal spending resulting in investing the bare minimum in an effort to keep taxes low while that's admirable and make mer residents feel good in the short term the long-term offense effects are that at some point we're faced with multi-million dollar projects to direct the neglect of regular reinvestment in town a few sitting on this day as today still support that extremely conservative fiscal mentality the council 5 as they referred to us in the papers and from this Pulpit had been vilified by them because we don't completely support that thinking accusing us of being Reckless and non-transparent I just want the residents to know that the majority of this Council has the very best intentions we we're not C with on spending and we're not hiding anything from you we simply believe that you will deserve tangible substantive results for the harder taxes that we all pay I've worked towards that and I'm proud of the work that I've done to my colleagues on the day the burough employees all burough volunteers and burough professionals past and present who I've had the opportunity to work and consult with I thank you for your time your knowledge your dedication and your friendship to Denise our Boro clerk thank you for keeping us informed and in line I often wonder how you do it all uh to our B attorney Mark M thank you for your knowledge advice and especially the respectful manner with which you interact with the public to Mike Cali our B administrator I knew from the very first conversation that you were going to be a catalyst for change for this burrow and I was happy to be a champion to bring you aboard uh to Mayor Al shinfield and councilman elect ooso I wish you the very best of luck as you embark on this endeavor know that I will make myself available should you have any questions or wish to bounce ideas off of the residence to the resident of Hillsdale thank you for your faith and trust in me someone once described the role of the council member to be as custodial meaning you're entrusted with responsibility for the safety and wellbe wellbeing of the residents for a certain period of time and then you pass that responsibility on to others to continue that time has come for me I look on this I took on this responsibility and Hope of leading Hillsdale a little better than I found it I believe I've done that I've taken my role very seriously and done the work I believe Hillsdale is now poised for significant future growth growth that I'd like to believe I've helped initiate thank you very much Merry Christmas and happy New Year thank you councilman councilman Horvath thank you mayor there's much gratification in serving and there's much um I've been much satisfied and I'm glad that I could have been service the holesale and perhaps I may be able to do so again in the future I'd like to thank everyone who supported me I'd like to thank everybody on this Council for doing their due diligence and job properly and happy holiday to everyone thank you councilman councilman Char um I would like to uh thank both Anthony and zultan for their time and efforts given to us on Council as well as to the residents of Hillsdale um it was a pleasure serving with both of you and I wish you luck on your future endeavors I'm sure that I will continue to cross path with both of you around town and somehow I'm sure that you will be involved again in some aspect of um hillsdale's uh life day-to-day life um and I just want to wish all the residents the staff uh Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year thank you councilman councilman uh Fox I just want to thank uh councila and councilman hor for their service to theale your dedication will never be forgotten thank you thank you councilman uh councilman Escobar I guess he is permanently out there okay um so next order of business is an adjournment um so I'm looking for a motion to adjourn motion second all in favor all opposed we are adjourned the next meeting is Wednesday December 27th at 11:00 a.m. a zoom meeting only thank you good night good night that