e e all right yeah all right okay this is a meeting of the Hillsdale burrow Council on this 9th day of April 2024 notice of time place of this meeting 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 and wait to be recognized by the mayor during the public hearing portion uh and the public comment part of the meeting you will need to state your name and town of residence for the record will the clerk please read the role council president Escobar here here council member Fox here council member lendy here council member ooso present council member ruko here council member troh Muk here mayor sheinfeld here will we all please rise The Pledge would you like to leave us I pledge to the of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all we have an appointment tonight but he is not in attendance so I guess we're just going to motion to approve him um it's for Matt C Koopa CA not sure on the pronunciation does anyone know no um do we have a motion to approve motion second second will the clerk please read the role council president Escobar yes yes council member Fox yes council member Lundy yes council member Oso yes council member ruko yes council member chimu yes yes okay it passes um uh approval of the minutes we don't have any to approve initial public comment um it is um can we well before we well I guess so all right let's do the initial public comment um we have a motion all right does anyone wish to speak anyone anyone no okay um we're going to do a waiver of the reading of the full budget for 2024 21 uh 24126 do we have a motion motion second second clerk please read the role council member Fox yes council member Lundy yes council member Oso yes council member ruko yes council member choim Muk yes council president Escobar yes yes the waiver passes before we move on to the public hearing of the 2024 Municipal budget I have something I'd like to read into the record um if we didn't spend a dime on new programs or services our expenses would still go up that's because items like existing contracts and borrow wages go up every year and those expenses need to be covered we have five choices three immediate and two longterm for how we convert cover these Bill these built-in annual budget increases one we could cut services from other programs already deemed worthy of coverage examples of these programs are Senior Services summer camps or Road improvements two we could take money from our Surplus which would otherwise be used for unanticipated expenses or emergencies a potential drone study would have been funded from such a surplus using surplus funds to fill budgets leaves gaps uh that Hillsdale it leaves gap for Hillsdale making it financially vulnerable if an emergency should arise and third we could raise taxes to cover bills over the long term municipalities can expand their tax base and save money for their residents by creating taxable properties our economic growth and development committee is focused on finding ways to grow and improve our tax base economy and business opportunities while also maintaining the character of our community and I look forward to their proposals finally we can execute execute shared service agreements with other municipalities entities and the county to create savings through synergies in this regard I pleased to announce that the county should have their high-speed fiber dropped outside burrow Hall by the end of the month we're one of the first towns in Bergen County to enter into a highspeed fiber shared service agreement and I know our borrow facilities are going to realize tangible savings from this program we are also actively seeking shared service agreements with a NE with neighboring municipalities for our volunteer Ambulance Corp getting a second rig would allow the Ambulance Corp to Bill insurance companies each time our team responds to a call the potential offset and savings for such a program could be dramatic let me reiterate Economic Development and shared service agreements take time and cannot be tapped in due to meet our immediate economic needs I thank the finance committee led by budget chairman roko for their work I thank the ba Mike gasali for all the time and effort he put into this document and I thank our CFO David Young for his efforts David I am more and more impressed with you every day that goes on and I'm so thankful for my predecessors for having the good sense to bring you on board um at this time I'd like to ask for a motion to open the 2024 Municipal budget hearing to the public motion second second Council uh will the clerk please read the role council member Lundy yes council member Oso yes council member ruko yes council member choim Muk yes council president Escobar yes yes council member Fox yes okay uh the meeting is now open to the public if anyone desires to be heard on regarding the 2024 Municipal budget please say your name and wait to be recognized once recognized state your name address to the record anybody nobody I have oh we do okay we have a hand up my hand Jonathan good afternoon Mayan J just to theet theg presentation Sal by 6.7% group grp medical insurance up by 17% State Health Benefit 24% so the question question comment to that is how much how much those inreased to incre in hill we have the CFO if you want would you like to answer should we just uh David Young CFO B of Hillsdale I can't give you a specific number because I don't have the specifics with me uh but in response to Mr Joseph's query um Pro probably a bit um we've probably got six incremental head count um in terms of full-time people who are now getting benefits um so that is a significant Chun chunk of that um Mr Joseph I will get that information off to you I think we have your your email address here so we can get that information to you in specifics but it is is a fair amount of it is in additional headcount full-time was that was was that unanticipated was that filling gaps for people um it's a we we incremented the police force so that was incremental bodies we added the DPW um we took some part-time people on some staffing we had in town hall and cre Creed full-time positions there as well um so it's a variety of different places where we've in incremented head count great great thank you does anybody else have a question very thank you very much is that it okay can we get a motion to close the public hearing on the 2024 Municipal budget motion second clerk please read the role council member Oso yes council member ruko yes council member toim Muk yes council president Escobar yes yes council member Fox yes council member lendy yes great um we'll move on to the adoption of the 2024 Municipal budget um motion we we we'll do discussion after we question uh yeah I had intended to do the budget presentation that's linked on the agenda before the public information um but in view of the fact that it's already available to the public I would just be repeating things um I'm content to just continue on uh on the agenda uh okay because it is available and it's and there's no point in me reiterating what's already there okay so can we get a motion motion second second uh this is to close the public hearing this is just open well no it's closed this is for us to to open discussion amongst ourselves before we consider oh okay what okay well no discussion well we'll do discussion after we do the motion the resolution is for the adoption of the budget there is a motion and a second that's for that resolution uh however you're right instinctually which is that now that there's a motion and a second it is open for discussion so I would like to make that open for discussion you have uh there's a motion in a second on the adoption of the municipal budget uh as we know from Roberts Wes discussions take place upon motion second so it's open for discussion among the members of the government Department do people have comments yes I I just have a general question to the finance committee speaking to the mic I just have a general question to the finance committee and um I wasn't uh able to sit on in all those discussions that were had I just like to know was there was there a consensus among the committee uh to um support this budget uh going you know going into this vote can I answer it was a consensus on the committee to introduce the budget as it was presented to introduce the budget yes but today today we're voting on the budget right so nothing nothing on specifics just on the fact that it would be going forward introducing I mean introducing was last time today is adoption but my question was with regards to adoption was there a consensus amongst the committee to adopt the budget no I don't believe there was I'm I'm sorry I didn't hear you whether or not the finance committee had an agreement that they were to there was not and and can I ask why there wasn't I'm going to assume that it's because some people had although on the committee and although working to bring the best possible budget fourth they may have had some concerns Miss Lundy am I mistaken in that no I I think what what I'm asking that there some some items that I should further consider um if there wasn't a consensus there there no no please no I'll I'll answer the question throughout the budget process and throughout several finance committee meetings I was under the impression there was a consensus um upon introduction I think we found out that there may not be a consensus to adopt there were not many items that I would say somebody found objectionable I think there's one or two in particular they were not brought up really at all during the discussions there were no Alternatives offered to fund the objectionable or questionable item um I don't think that there's anything comment if I'm sure you went through the presentation and went through the budget I don't think that there's anything that you would be concerned about or you would find objectionable do you have a question or anything that if there whatever if there was a particular item that is preventing well I think when we when it comes time to the vote to adopt you'll find that out okay are you good I I think I'm good yeah any body else have questions comments well since I don't get to vote you're going to have to listen to me for a couple more minutes again again I I look it's my only chance I don't get to vote on any of this stuff so okay the budget now up for consideration is the most important resolution we deliberate all year it's a statement about who we are and what we prioritize it's a vision for what we want Hillsdale to look like several years down the road everyone up on this Daya should and will be held accountable for how we address the budget let me make a blanket statement that I think we can all agree upon no one anywhere in Hillsdale including every member on this governing body is going to agree with everything contained in the 2024 budget with that said the residents of Hillsdale have the right to expect their mayor and councel to come together and create a sound vision for our community that vision is reflected in and by this budget we are elected to make tough decisions to prioritize certain projects and even delay others as the economics of the day might require people have asked me if I'll support the budget if it raises taxes for the things the council did last year when I wasn't in this position in fact three members of this governing body had no vote on anything that happened in 2023 because said members were either not in their current roles or not here at all I won't play politics with something as important as our fiscal stability I won't abdicate my responsibility by simply saying prior councils created the current situation and then refused to support a budget which raises taxes or cut services to make up for what was done in the past we deal with the world as it is is not as we want it to be when driving we quickly we quickly glance in the rearview mirror to see what's behind us and to act if a dangerous situation is heading in our Direction but we spend most of our time looking ahead through our large front windshield if we only focus on what's behind us we are certain to get into an accident as we move forward the ironic part of this situation is that the budget is referred to as the mayor's budget yet I'm shown it after it's been worked on by the finance committee the CFO and the ba and I don't even get to vote on it that said I support this budget because it's a sound package that focuses on our immediate needs while also being designed to look ahead several years to anticipate as best as possible where we'd like to be ideally this budget will have unanimous support from the council I say to my colleagues tonight that it's not good enough to say simply vote no I will ask you what specific things you would change to make this a budget you could support don't tell us you just want to cut taxes because we all want to cut taxes now is the time to speak up for specific proposals I will say it a second time we deal with the world as it is not as we want it to be thank you and with that said I if there's no other comments to be made I think we can move on to a vote L clerk please read the role council member ruko abstain council member choim Muk yes council president Escobar yes yes council member Fox yes council member Lundy yes council member Oso yes budget is adopted uh clerk do we have any correspondence you look okay um any no professional reports no okay um let's move on to committee reports okay we're all right um council president Escobar you want to start reports okay councilman Fox uh no reports I just want to again commend the DPW for uh getting the fields ready for open today I think we did an excellent job okay councilwoman Lundy um as far as the environmental commission I just want to remind everybody that Saturday is the seedling distribution um it will be held at the train station if there's inclement weather it'll be at the library the first hour is for Hillsdale residents only no I'm sorry I'm talking about the SP my gosh talking about styrofoam Drive um no seedlings are available anytime for anyone um all right and also just remind everybody as far as the ambulance SC that on April starting Saturday April 13th all critical care and emergency is being diverted from Valley Hospital in Ridgewood to the new Valley hospital and pamis what what day is that sorry it's starting April 13th 13th wow April 14th is the full diversion so okay um is that it did you want to talk on and no that's all for now okay I'll do my commentary at the end okay Council manoso yes um had an opportunity to speak with uh Robert Lombardi superintendent of uh middle uh of the middle school and the grammar schools here in Hillsdale and uh the school board has uh agreed to a referendum uh vote date of uh September 17th um they're going to begin sending out Communications with regards to the option that was chosen uh that they're going to go ahead and support um had the rec commission meeting uh last night that the mayor was kind enough to attend um there was a representative uh from access for all there um he just pointed out that there's uh grants available under Jake's law that could provide us accessible playgrounds uh and then there's funding there that the state wants to give out we uh mentioned the hbsa there at the meeting last night and to give them a shout out as to the great job that was uh done uh with regards to opening day uh it was a big turnout uh the weather uh cooperated to a certain degree uh it could have been a little bit warmer but um but I think the kids had a great time and the fields held up well and it was a great job by the DPW to get that area prepared uh for that afternoon um uh Dan KY um went ahead and filed some op uh the paperwork for some open space grants specific to Beachwood Park um with regards to Summer Camps uh the two summer camps uh camp pasak and Camp Adventure sold out within a couple of hours uh County the rec director and the commission are going to look at ways to increase capacity there uh for the two uh part-time camps Camp field trip and Camp little hawks there is a couple of uh open spots available uh there is a brochure posted now on the municipal website under the recreation department uh it will list out uh events that are available to the public uh they went ahead and Incorporated that uh into the commission uh services and I think it's a it's a great tool so that residents can see the things that uh are open to them and then with regards to the summer concert series uh the first concert is planned for June 25th at 7 p.m it's uh the north Jersey concert band and it's mov movie night so you get to hear all your favorite movie themes oh yeah and uh that's all I have to report great councilman rogo no I made my reports mayor uh at the last meeting um if it's okay with you I'd like to just summarize the results of what we heard today at the Bergen County League of municipalities or would you rather I do that I think that's probably in the comments at the end just that's fine I think that's probably perfect thank commentaries um councilwoman truim yes um Library committee met on Monday evening um and they wanted me to share with everyone that it is National Library week on April uh April 7th through the 13th um the library opened a community seed library on the main floor donations were made by residents and seed companies uh library card is not required just fill out the borrower form and enjoy the opportunity to try growing different varieties of vegetables this year um also the library has added a new uh service they have a laminating machine and it's offered to the public the charge is 50 cents per lamination jacket um also uh Hillsdale artist Lois rou fond I hope I'm I said that correctly um is holding an informal reception in support of her watercolor exhibit and that will be Saturday April 13th from 2: to 4:00 p.m. and all are encouraged to attend to visit and to meet Lo and that's it for me thank you okay business administrator Gali quickly Mr Mayor we have a new business in town new me Nails and Spa uh salon at 321 Broadway Avenue Unit 5 uh the construction at the police department uh is completed we're doing uh the cleaning and the prep work for the furniture which will be arriving on April 24th and it'll take a week a day or two to to set up so April 29th we should be uh fully operational the lobby construction will be done by April 24th and same thing by April 29th we should be fully operational new Lobby new glass uh new desks uh I also do want to thank our CFO David Young the finance committee the staff uh for all the work that they did on the budget um it's a good responsible budget You by you by code is the PA's budget to present it and uh we we are I am I'm very proud of it uh we didn't need to close the gap in reference to the staff uh where we now have High Caliber staff with strong backgrounds and in the different fields we uh did raise the starting salary to attract you know more Talent uh so I think we are on Good Foot on good footings uh moving forward that's all I haveen mayor great excellent okay let's move on to the ordinances for introduction 2409 an ordinance amending chapter 71 swimming pool Commission of the borrow code to modify section 71-37 1--3 c beat resolved that ordinance 249 does now pass a first reading and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and councel in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue Hillsdale New Jersey on May 7th 2024 and at said time and place all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same and the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance in the Ridgewood news once at least one week prior to said 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 motion second second will the clerk please read the role I'd like to yeah um You know despite the verbage in the resolution uh or in the in the ordinance um you know and the haze that's created from the complete rendition of section that's correct um and they're replaced with nine words but I'm curious as to what a this this dis achieves it removes an unreasonable deadline that currently exists in the code which I think is the Stony Brook folks have to provide the clerk with their minutes I think 10 days after the meeting that's very difficult to do because minutes are produced and then they have to be voted on at the next meeting so I always thought that that that requirement in the current code was was Draconian um but I don't think it's an appropriate solution to just say to them um you they control a large utility over a million dollars of receipts and expenditures and then say well you've just got a reasonable time to produce your minutes I would prefer that the minutes be stipulated as being given to the clerk um 35 days after um the meeting or at their next meeting when they do review the draft of the minutes and approve them just like this body does the the other thing that the history of the of this group and other groups they're not alone the rec committee also does not always publish their minutes uh promptly so it seems like we're going in the wrong direction if we want to encourage these different groups to actually produce their minutes that's all I have to say I almost called the mayor I I don't think that there's any attempt to not publish the minutes this is being done in good faith what it's trying to thwart is certain Council people who request minutes in an unreasonable period of time or Badger commission members for minutes this will allow them to get them posted and they'll be posted on a monthly basis as they have been but they just don't want to be stuck to a very strict timetable but what is the um so this new ordinance what is it saying in terms it's saying that it'll be posted within a reasonable period of time the word reasonable period of time right right the the original ordinance says within 10 days of the meeting that but it's said within 10 days of the meeting but you could approve obviously impossible it's impossible because they approve them till the next meeting correct moreover if I may uh that standard doesn't exist under the open public meetings act for your own minutes your own minutes are within a reasonable period of time okay so same words why would the minutes of the pool commission be held to a higher St be held to a which is which is generally uh not as well staffed and as well adapted I imagine to the governing the body body itself which is governed by the open public meetings act which is a pretty hot piece of legislation it's in the newspaper all the time it's so I was asked to change it to a reasonable period of time um so 10 days went to a reasonable period of time okay I am happy to change it to anything else but it does not seem inconsistent with a good practice I also want to point out that the the pool commission themselves voted to make this change and then gave that information to the clerk and I guess for your review that's how as the attorney that's how you got it so the pool commission votes on their bylaws and right so I'm very happy to use any other language you want the intention was to make it longer than 10 days and no stricter than our our very own own rules good enough for us it's good enough for them so in either case that's the full explanation mayor uh I think there's a motion in a second before we get there I actually want to ask a question I was just checking with the clerk for how we do our minutes would it be unreasonable or not workable that we do it 10 days after the minutes have been approved since it's too vague otherwise if we say a reasonable time I think then as long as we qualify that qualify it that there is a meeting because by definition mean that there had to have been a meeting to approve it well I can I am happy to write as many words into this simple sentence as anyone what does r say I think it's just reasonable well then why are we holding them to a higher standard they're volunteers it it says once it's approved anyway they would come back and they have to yeah so why hold them to a higher standard once it's approved they're going to give them to us can I have the if they don't everybody has the same rights they have under Oprah to do in the event that we don't approve our minutes fast enough but again I don't have a dog in this fight I'll write any great number of words you prefer 15 pick pick them as you choose I would do a great many more than that charges per word in this particular body I have I have been the one that councilwoman Lundy is referring to because I have waited two months I have informed the bar administrator where are the minutes I've asked I've I've asked the the chairman of that committee um and they're they are tardy in producing their minutes so now to go in the reverse Direction and say well you have a reasonable time to put your minutes in I just don't think that's appropriate we are we operate here on this body to get our minutes out at at a reasonable period of time and we we me we've met him I don't think that we're behind in any sense so I'm perfectly happy to say 10 days after the meeting that approves the minutes I don't see what it did say no 10 days after the meeting it said 10 days after the the meeting it didn't say after the meeting after the minutes were approve the following meeting it doesn't it doesn't say that Mark okay if I can once they're approved there's no impediment to sending them to the clerk right right the issue is not that they are approved and held the issue is that they probably don't get done and put up for approval and that's why the code was so unreasonable this says within a reasonable amount of time reasonable amount of time it's not that they're not getting approved they're getting approved and whether and either they're not being sent to who the person who needs to post them or in some cases they are sent and they're not posted because there's other work that's being done again I'm not inclined to hold volunte to a higher standard than we're being held there's nothing to hide in the minutes there utility there's no taxpayer dollars involved I'm inclined to leave it just as it is okay so I want to comment then and say so if they're having a meeting on the March 1st and their next meeting is April 15th and on April 15th they're approving the the minutes from that March 1st meeting yes therefore now on April 15th and afterwards they can then submit those minutes but what if they don't have a meeting on April 15th and then have a meeting in you know September so six months there's no requirement like there's no button requirement like they are required to meet 12 times a year barring inclement I mean sometimes there's in WEA they meet every month necessarily that at that next meeting they have minutes prepared that's not what this says this says when they are approved right and they will always be approved not necessar not necessarily at the next me when is they are approved at the third meeting they have a reasonable time this this resol this ordinance from what I recall here whenever it is approved they have a reasonable time how about how about we just say which shall be filed with the burrow Clerk work within a reasonable amount of time after the meeting I have a question the pool commission change they voted they discussed this they voted on this they submitted it to us to for approval can we now go back and change what they did yeah well they don't write our ordinances the only what they would like is uh is of course a valuable suggestion but until they get to write ordinances they have to play by our rules um but I'm trying to craft something that makes everyone happy I don't and what seems that might do that which shall be adopted and filed with the burrow clerk within a reasonable amount of time after the meeting perfect why don't we just vote on it after first read introduction this is just introduction yeah okay which shall be adopted and filed with the burrow clerk within a reasonable amount of time after the meeting good after the first meeting I I I after the meeting it was approv the right after the meeting yes after a reasonable time they have to approve and file no it's it's it's no it's after they're approved they have to file them within a reasonable period of time they have a reasonable time to get it to our clerk that's that's not what I'm hearing okay that's exactly what I'm what I'm not hearing is again the issue is not that they approve them but then they just don't email them to Denise the issue is by the time they're done by the time they're on for approval by the time they're that's not an ever an issue they get approved at every month they approve the minutes from the me meeting before unless there is excuse me councilman R do you have something to say no I was talking to uh my associate here uhuh so um every every month they are approved unless there's something some substantive change where they say we're not going to approve them and then they would make those changes and approve them the next month but there's no question of whether they're being approved it's the fact that they're not being posted soon enough for councilman ruko well all they have to be is sent to Denise right correct is there a reason they can't somebody just can't do I objected that the point order mayor she just said they're not being posted to satisfy Council rugo it's not me this is a personal attack on me which is prevent which is prohibited by the rules by Robert's Rules of Order let's let's try to keep it away from personal attacks okay let's move on from certainly they're not being approved quickly enough for a council person who's emailing requesting them almost every other month point of order can you prove that well if you copied me on the the emails I could but since you didn't the commission you're the Li on they were voted to me by the commission head so yes I could prove it would you like to see the emails I have the emails and there were times when I asked the burrow administrator where are the minutes two months had elapsed and they weren't published this isn't going to be productive why don't we stick to what the what the resolution to this is I think we don't hold them to our high janner then we hold ourselves and the way it's written is fine okay so on was that the council president like to speak yes but we have to figure out what we're voting on first whether or not we're voting on as written so this is the introduction as yes you have a month until the adoption so between now and then we'll have a chance to go through it and make any other correction minor changes can be made and I would deem right lot of this relatively okay so as it is now then we have a motion we have a second we've had discussion let's put it to a vote council member choim Muk um yes council president Escobar yes yes council member Fox yes council member Lundy yes council member Oso yes council member ruko no the eyes have it and it is introduced um I welcome mayor I welcome any CH anybody that's got some some some modifications um to suggest please take them to the ba who will pass them along to burrow counsel okay we'll move on to ordinance 2410 for introduction an ordinance provide for for for and determine the maximum rate amount and method of payment of compensation to persons holding certain office and positions of employment in the borrow of Hillsdale County of Bergen state of New Jersey beat resolved that ordinance 2410 does now pass a first reading and that set ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and councel in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue Hillsdale New Jersey on May 7th 2024 and it said time and place all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same and the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish that ordinance in the Ridgewood news once at least one week prior to said hearing with a notice of its introduction and of the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage is there a motion motion second second discussion will the clerk please read the role council president Escobar yes yes council member Fox yes council member Lundy yes council member Oso yes council member ruko yes council member choim Muk yes yes ordinance 2410 passes introduction um we're moving on to the consent agenda does anybody have something that they want pulled off the consent agenda is it all remaining on consent seeing nobody opposing that is there a motion motion second second the clerk please read the role council member Fox yes council member Lundy yes council member Oso yes council member ruko yes council member choim Muk yes council president Escobar yes yes the consent agenda passes unanimously nothing is on off consent it is time for public comment limited to three minutes on any topic um please state your name and town of residence for the record does anybody wish to be heard welcome hi um Bill Drummond excuse me 840 hillsel Avenue excuse me sorry um I wanted to just present some facts the facts that I see regarding the uh Tandy property um at 810 820 830 Hillsdale Avenue formerly 765 Hillsdale Avenue um so an open space Institute OSI report was completed in 2015 soil testing was done on 42715 and 10515 Tom grel of Ocean State or Ocean State of open space Institute told me that contamination was found this re report resulted in OSI and open space uh would not be able to fund that property for preservation the project without it would have to have been remediated by the Tandy uh at the current at the time Tandy owners um they refused to do it um and so therefore the funding fell apart and we you know the property was not saved um on February 3rd 2016 Frank was Z wrote to the pasc Press um telling them of the situation and why we can no the Hillsdale can no longer you know be involved in funding it or or open space be funding it um Tanny sold the property to Oceanside developers in 2018 uh and it was quoted as saying uh the best value in Bergen County and it was listed at $675,000 it sold for Less uh I don't know the exact amount but I think it was five something uh and at the in the ad it specifically said buyer must remediate um in September of 2020 Oceanside through ran commercial realy advertised the property for $1 million and stated they had burrow of Hillsdale and New Jersey D approval and that the property was quote shovel ready N squared purchased this property in a private sale not a public um it was not listed there was no signs on the property and October of 23 titled it November of 23 um on 326 uh this 24 I spoke to one of the current owners Jose who stated he was never given the OSI contamination report by ocean side and was doing soil testing to to assess the feasibility of uh building basements uh in their res residential homes um at 42 at 4 4224 the last council meeting um it was stated um by business administrator gas gasali I'm sorry if I pronounced it wrong um that N squared said to him that they had a New Jersey New Jersey D permit that's correct right um we are attempting or I am attempting to get a copy of the OSI report um the report is really owned by the Tandy family um OSI cannot release that report because it is um not theirs to release um the buau had a copy of that report I don't know where that went um I also don't really know how a d permit was uh produced if it if indeed it was produced to the current owner in squared um it's possible in my estimation that um they changed the the address of the property whether that could have been an issue uh from 786 Hillsdale Avenue to 810 820 and 830 Hillsdale Avenue that wouldn't have modified block and it shouldn't make a difference the lot the lot and block numbers are you know similar or the same um anyway um I just just wanted to put this out there um I I'm concerned about what's happening with the property um I you know I feel that they shouldn't be building on contaminated soil what that's going to do to the existing Wetlands or to my property I'm not it's not clear um and so I just wanted to present my my facts that I as I've seen them over you know I've lived there for 40 years so I've been through a lot with this piece of property and uh and it's uh you know it's literally a can of worms right now so so as of today no plans have been submitted to the town of to the to this uh uh there's no plans no DP permits that we have when he or they do submit they have to submit all the permits that they have with with the plan yeah so as of now we have nothing yeah yeah I know I know so I again I just wanted to present what I know this is good information for you you know for us also because you know uh you know very few people have historical knowledge of what going on there it's you know things get you know like just like the osr report like nobody seems to know where it is and it's not an easy easily accessible thing um I think eventually it will be gotten but um this is a high-profile uh you know property as soon as we see the plans or we get the plans in I think we should post them um online so it's available to the public I appreciate that because we do get many questions you know mayor on this right I you know I I I'm concerned for the I you you know o oh not oide but um N squared I mean I I TR I believe that he doesn't you know never received a report of the contamination and so in his and the fact that if he did get a d permit I mean he's within his rights you know but I guess but if there's contamination I don't know where that falls how how do you go back and say oh we made a mistake and did gotten a permit yeah right yeah we don't know if he has a permit we were told he has a permit but we haven't seen yeah I know I know so that's why I just wanted see the plans I just wanted to go over what what I what I know and this has been running through my head I'm trying to figure out going we are waiting as you are for whatever they're they're going to do we we can't you know yeah yeah it's a conundrum for sure yeah I appreciate it all right well thank you thank you thank you is anybody else hi there Chris Camp Hillsdale Raymond Street um just brief comment tonight thank you again everybody for your uh for your work on the the the budget and adopting the budget this year the comment is really just um we it seemed like we had a little more deliberation on uh a pool approving pool minutes the length of time that it takes the approved uh pool minutes than it does then we got the discussion for uh related to the budget I it seemed like there was maybe some uh not complete consensus with how the adoption was going and and I think the public just be interested to know kind of like the ins and outs and like basically the risks the potential risks that the budget might pose just like with anything maybe this is my experience from the private sector talking but with with any big uh increase in any type of budget like it comes with an appropriate risk analysis about you know all the things that could go wrong especially you know uh when it comes to like we have the U the improvements of the the the field right so what are the what are the council's concerns about what could go wrong with that project what could increase the budget in future years how could that impact things going forward so I don't know if that's being safe for Council commentaries but just something uh listening and you know reading about what's going on that's kind of something I'm curious about being discussed and being open to the public that deliberation there so appreciate it thank you everybody thank you anybody else from the public only have one left in the audience no no just he spoke for you okay uh we will now close the public comment period and move on to council commentaries councilman ruko would you like to begin thank you mayor um I'll take you up on your suggestion with respect to the Bergen County League of municipalities that you and I had their regular breakfast monthly meeting um you and I attended um the um presentation was by Joe Burgess who talked about affordable housing uh the news wasn't any better than the last presentation we had uh uh a month ago um ba gasali is aware of the issues from his perspective of as the mayor ranf as you are um and uh Joe bur just basically stressed the tight deadlines uh almost impossible deadlines to meet um he went over some of the basics of the legislation um I've given a copy of what Joe's handout was to the Barrow administrator um and he can either send it to the full councel um and they can um can read it um and see uh Mr burgess's um take on on some of these deadlines um so I don't think there's any point in me going through all of the the um the comments that he made other than they were very very critical of the decision of the legislature to move forward with this in such a short period of time and to EST Lish these deadlines um I want to note your comments about the budget I agree with most of them um in terms of um needing to move forward with the budget which is why um I thought carefully about how I would vote I as a member of the finance committee did not want to vote no because the um there were concerns I have about the budget um and uh I decided to abstain because the budget although it's technically sound and very responsive to the desires of this Council um it raises aspects that to me would were a bit troubling um I believed that someone on the deis needed to demonstrate some concern over the size of the tax increase the lack of information that has been shared with the public to date on the projects for which Appropriations are contained in the budget um and the implications for future tax increases and that's that's really why I wanted to explain my abstention uh as a member of the finance committee I uh I worked I I want to thank actually all the members I think the comments were all very insightful uh particularly the uh the responsibilities that were executed by the CFO and by the Barrow administrator as Mr gasali said it's it's the Barrow administrator's budget um he's he's got the responsibility of putting forth the budget um and I think he did a good job given the uh parameters that he was presented with um in terms of and work and working with the uh the CFO to produce a budget that is uh sound from a technical perspective and it allows us to move forward um with the goals that this Council uh seems to want to achieve as well as some of the decisions that um it made uh not all of which I agreed with but that's uh water that has passed under the bridge can can I ask uh did you express these concerns in committee or with the yes I did I did and you didn't get a satisfactory about them but I you know the the pressure was well will you vote for the budget and I said I'm thinking about it I had to think about it um and I thought about it and now I have expressed what my vote is um and to to question one's motives is also not uh to be accepted here on the de um but I have explained my motives are and I probably will explain them even further in the coming weeks okay anything else no that's all thank you Mr Mayor Okay C alsoo yeah I just wanted to Circle back to that question that I had earlier with regards to the budget and asking uh for feedback from the finance committee uh again I I'm not on the finance committee I wasn't involved in the all the details and the conversations that had had been had um I had an opportunity to go through the budget uh with Dave and I thought it was as um John had said a very sound budget um I wanted to understand whether opportunities there were um and if there was discussion around things that could have been changed um I think that within that budget we have an opportunity to invest in our town um fields in in specifically um we have a um a good amount of money there so that we can do projects into the future um I think that this uh this is important to our town because I think that there wasn't much money spent over the last 10 10 or 15 years and the fields are not uh in condition that I would compare to other towns in our area um my daughter plays on those fields um I spend a lot of time on them and and I believe that the work that was done in the past has contributed some to those fields um I think that with the w weather patterns that have changed recently the amount of rain that we've had I think that that would the situation would be far worse had those other projects not been funded and paid for um so again you know I you know that feedback that I had earlier with regards to the finance committee I wanted to understand what specifically in that budget could have been that could have been changed uh that we could have considered um but I believe that John said it was a sound budget um I I I'd like to talk to him offline as to why he abstained again um but you know I feel that it gives us opportunities into the future so we can go ahead and invest Council TR um I guess to continue on the budget line um so being a member of the budget committee um I know uh John ruko is the uh chairperson of the committee and councilwoman Lundy and myself are both on it and I I think that if I had if I was pressed to answer what would have been a point that maybe we didn't agree on I think it had to do with the fields if I'm not mistaken um and so which I understand if most of the people on the de and people in this town have have um expressed the desire that they want to move ahead with the plans that we have for the fields and so perhaps there are some people that don't want to move ahead with this type of expenditure um and and understanding that I think the majority of us have felt and chosen to go ahead with that um you know um Concept in the budget wanting to spend the money required to to fix the fields um so I think that could be a point of um that that we weren't all in agreement with um um so as far as the budget um again yes I too want to thank our CFO does a wonderful job um I do want to thank the other committee members of course uh Mike Gali uh instrumental in the preparation um and um I too think it's a you know we're using the word sound budget it's a it's a great budget uh doing the things that we want to do for the town for infrastructure and I think at the very beginning of this meeting the mayor made uh some very important comments that uh costs are going up and even if we did nothing the budget that we would have to increase taxes in order to meet these costs that are out of our control um so I think that's very realistic uh situation and position and uh I think we took that information and data and we put together the best budget that we could uh trying to keep all variables and constraints with in you know something reasonable and I think that that this budget does that it achieves that purpose um so that's it on the budget I do want to say that um Westwood uh Cinema is going to be having a there's a 37 minute documentary on Joan's story and that's the Joan delandro story it's called a daughter of mine and that is going did I say April 25th in the westward theater and they you know they the family would like the you know that you know to inform people so that you know people can attend um and I don't know if this is neither here nor there but it doesn't matter my daughter is getting married on Saturday wonderful congratulations and uh Natalia Troi Muk is getting married to Matthew weisen packer in the Dominican Republic she didn't get a much easier last name yes she's going from noones no Smith no we're going from choim Muk to W was and Packer um and in Dominican Republic and I want yeah and I want to wish them much health uh love peace and happiness in their marriage that's wonderful and that's thank you uh council president Escobar I rep all have to say okay thank you councilman Fox again I just want to thank the DBW for doing a stellar job with the fields for opening day it was a success and uh it was uh I'm proud to be hillso resident and and see everybody join in in the fun and I liked your speech as well mayor um I wanted to thank the uh finance committee and uh CFO David Young on Crafting a sound budget I'm just a little baffled and puzzled why the finance committee chairman who crafted the budget then abstained from it without any explanation being a champion of transparency I'm really shocked that he didn't explain his stance on why he obained but I guess we'll see at the next edition of the P mayor Roberts Rules of Order says you shouldn't be questioning the motives of existing council members I wasn't questioning the motives there was no question no question there was a comment is that is that all you've got for tonight yes okay councilwoman Lundy okay well not to beat a dead horse but I want to thank our CFO our ba and the finance committee for and I am I'm not going to say it's a sound budget I want to say that I'm really proud of this budet it increases Public Safety by increasing our police force by um excuse me appropriating funds for EMTs for the full paid EMTs for the full year by adding excuse me Fire Equipment replacing our flood siren and our fire siren and purchasing necessary fire equipment so it heavily um excuse me sorry there's a very heavy emphasis on public safety and that's something that we should be proud of it also allocates funds for much needed Field improvements and something that we've been talking about for the better part of three years and I'm happy that we're continuing in the manner that we said that we would be going and lastly I want to wish our mayor a very happy birthday tomorrow thank you happy birthday is that it that is all okay um ba gasali mayor very quickly since this is on the budget uh and there was a reasonable question from the from the public U Mr Chris camp on uh what's in it and what was wrong and right uh having worked on budgets for the last 14 years this is a sound responsible budget by all means it's a two-part operation one part is just maintaining the operation of borrow Hall uh the Staffing the salaries uh the insurance you just the operation side of the budget uh the second part is actually planning for the future the field we actually the CFO and I and uh members uh of the committee we planned out 5 years what will we can have a really slow budget this year we can have a small amount of increase but we'll have a bigger increase next year and a bigger one in 2026 if we we if we had if we kept a small one in 2024 so we had to plan five years out so if you take into account the first part of the operational just operating Bor Hall and provide the services that taxpayers expect us to provide that's one increase the second increase of that is planning for the future uh so I'm very proud of it uh I was hoping for a unanimous vote but 5 to one is good to go to Five to zero to one it's five to zero five to zero you are correct abstaining is not a vote right anything else that's it thank you Mr um yeah I just like to say that the these invest ments make our track Our Town even more attractive and I think that you got to continue to invest as a small business owner I think you got to continue to invest good anybody else comment no well seeing no more business before this body can I get a motion to adjourn motion second we are adjourned at 804 thank you for us for