okay good afternoon everyone we're about to get started if we can find our seats silence our cell phones like I'm about to do greatly appreciate it okay good afternoon everyone we are on the record today is Monday the 11th day of December in the year 2023 this is a city council Caucus meeting of the Jersey City municipal Council we had a scheduled 4M start the clock on my cell phone is showing 4:03 p.m. may we have a roll call for the commencement of this caucus council person priner here council person bajano council person SLE yet council person Solomon here council person Gilmore not here council person Dees here council person Riva here and council president wman here we have six council members in attendance at 4:03 p.m. on behalf of council president wman members of the municipal Council in accordance with the New Jersey public laws of 1975 chapter 231 the open public meetings act also known as the Sunshine Law adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the posting on the bulletin board of the first floor of City Hall the annual notice which is the schedule of meetings and caucuses of the municipal Council for the calendar year 2023 and filed in the office of the city clerk on Thursday December 15 2022 in addition at its time of its preparation the agenda of this meeting was similarly disseminated on Friday December 8th 2023 at 5:55 p.m. to the mayor Municipal Council business administrator Corporation Council and the local newspapers and posted on the city's website so I can certify as to our total compliance with the Sunshine Law council president before I turn it over to you I just want to make a special announcement we have a birthday in the house of one of our council members so please give a nice little warm happy birthday to council person priner who wants to celebrate their birthday on of caucus but anyway all right with that being said I'm gonna turn it over to council president good afternoon our first director director Shay good evening council president president pro tempor members of the council the Department of Public Safety has one resolution before you tonight it's item number 10.14 uh resolution 23- 917 this is a resolution authorizing an award of a contract to turn out fire and safety for the purchase of uniforms for the Traffic Unit Enforcement Officers through the sourcewell purchasing Cooperative so it is a Cooperative purchase not an not a bid for the Department of Public Safety Division of police these are for are civilian traffic enforcement officers they're the high visibility uniforms that keep them safe it's in the amount of $1,480 and covers the uniforms we should need for new hires all year turnout is a local vendor which everybody knows it's not about turnout but just um we councilman Gilmore and we discussed this in the budget hearing do do we have the budget request while the public safety director is here is that is that back on the agenda I didn't see it but I didn't know what to for that you from the appropriation trans yeah it is not on this agenda okay I just want to be clear because I thought the budget office had said it was all right that's it that's it director yeah director you never got back to me uh still working on that different issue not to be done here okay thank you council president a Merry Christmas since this is the last meeting before the holidays thank you we that's me director k wait we don't have good evening president Waterman members of the council I have eight items before you today first one is uh 1016 23919 resolution with authoriz order a contract to the gispie group on the Hunan County Educational Service Commission HCC to deliver equipment and perform Services associated with the floor of the deescalation center services in include polishing 26,600 ft of flooring and 300 linear foot of residence floor repair for crack repairs total amount of the contract is $245,900 questions next item 1018 23321 921 resolution will authorize the award of a contract to Rich's tree service for the pruning trimming and removal services Citywide under the New Jersey state contract the total amount of the cont contract is $400,000 is is this the same vendor we've used in the past or is change excuse me c this the same vendor we've used in the past yes same vendor yeah okay in are we generally happy with the work that they've been providing for us yeah based on the amount of trees in the city it's it's obviously beyond what our local our own people can do but yet there's been no issues um you know the forest has expressed that he's satisfied with their uh pures okay and and their focus is you know you know if we have you know really large trees that that are internal team doesn't have the capacity to do is this the group that focuses on them yeah there's I mean we have a limited amount of people assigned to forestry so and based on the tree uh pop tree canopy in the city it's far beyond the scope of what they're able to perform so um these people come in and uh do the necess trimming and and other issues if we have storm problems they'll also supplement All crew during those events corre thank you um 1019 23922 resolution will authorize Award of an open and competitive bid contract to Continental Hardware to provide Lumber and Associated business material building materials for the Department of Public Works amount of the contract is $296,200 78 and 20 23923 this resolution will authorize Bo of emergency contract to Amber Air for the purchase and installation of two new boilers at two Jersey City firehouses located at 152 Lincoln Street and 468 Ocean Avenue necessary to protect the healthware welfare and safety of our city employees toal amount of the contract is $673 2893 is that engine 22 yes it is did did the I assume the the current boiler is is nonfunctioning yeah there old you know these are some of the older buildings and and you know what we're doing I put in the budget request to actually hire an internal agac person that can make sure that you know these um old buildings and and the units itself are being serviced properly you know cut down on the course so hopefully it'll be approved okay thank you um Greg 1021 2 just a minute Greg I just wanted to just add maybe next year when we come back um I mean I'm sure that there's a lot of fir houses engine 22 is really in bad shape maybe if we can sit down and we can get uh like bids on they basically need a whole new everything in that Firehouse the the facilities out of the 26 plus firehouses we have each one has its own problems actually we're trying to put together a program there may be some available cdbg money so Chief Dilo Dilo and I have been working on it to see if we can at least um you know use some of that funding to repair these buildings they will alternative Century buildings for the most part like the police stations um let's see 23924 1021 resolution will authorize a month-to-month extension not to exceed 3 months effective on December 14 2023 to Amber Air LLC to provide HVAC and boiler maintenance for City armed properties total cost of this contract shall not exceed $80,000 with a temporary incumbency of $330,000 from the DPW operating account uh 1022 23925 resolution will authorize the award of an open-end contract to Northeast Auto Parts LLC under the National Association of State purchasing officials for the purchase and delivery of various automobile parts for the city's vehicle Fleet total amount of the contract is $1,400,000 1023 resolution 23926 resolution will authorize the award of a contract to Morton salt for the purchase of deliv delivery of rock salt to a Cooperative agreement between the city of Jersey City in Hudson County total amount of the contract is $800,000 and the last will be 23931 1028 resolution will authorize the award of an open-end contract to persistent construction for snow removal on a public bid total amount of this contract is $1,128 with temporary in coverance in amount of $10,000 will be established under account 01201 26292 394 thank you happy holidays to all hello Council hi hello everyone we're doing agenda number 1031 resolution 23- 934 this is a resolution authorizing the implementation of the first renewal option of a service agreement with Empower formerly credential Insurance Company of America this is for the voluntary DC plan for the voluntary Jersey City defer Compensation Plan questions thank you thank you happy Holidays happy holidays gon good evening councel even I'm coming to you to um request that we untable two items uh 11.2 ordinance 22-8 and item 11.3 ordinance 23-17 um we came here earlier this year and the reason these were tabled was because at the time we hadn't decided whether or not we were going to uh subcontract the lead inspections or bring it in house uh since then we have decided that the best course of action was to bring it to my department uh We've also been working very closely with the Ba's Department to come up with a comprehensive plan to make sure we get this done properly including seeing how many people would need to be hired to get this done in an adequate amount of time uh since then we've also uh secured two grants that would cover all of the employees that we would need plus the fees because the fees outside of the city would have caus uh constituents up up to about $450 to $500 per inspection doing the in the city is only going to cost them about 250 per inspection so with the fees plus the grants we've done more than enough to make sure that we've ensured that this wouldn't cost the city anything and so now the best way to move forward we believe is to bring it back to our department and untable both of these items director Richardson I know it's 11.3 city ordinance 23-17 what was the second one oh I'm sorry 11-4 I'm sorry I said two and three but it's actually three and four three and four okay thank you director do you have the Personnel for uh for these lead inspections yes so all together what we was going to require to get them done because we're looking at we did the count and right now we're looking at about 28,000 units that would need to be done of course this was supposed to be done by June of this year so we're behind so to get ahead of the game we're looking to hire at least 10 which that would be six inspectors for clerks we already have the two inspectors actually coming next week we'll have the two clerks hopefully coming before the end of the year and then once we ramp things up we'll bring on the more employees as things so make make sure that they're we're ready for them well my last question is being that you have so many units then are these employees seasonal or are they full-time all full-time and then the units are going to have to be inspected every third year thank you guys happy holidays Sinda good evening council president and council members lucenda mclin um before you just on one item today which is item 10.17 resolution number 23- 920 this is a resolution authorizing the award of an open-ended contract to Clark Mahan landscape for the 2024 general maintenance of persing field and Gateway Parks this is a uh was a public bid and Clark morningand um was the uh respon of bidder and they are already underway in the city on additional parks that um we are already Contracting Services on to supplement our staff and we are spreading it now to two additional parks for 2024 Christan yeah uh that's the last question she has yeah lenda where are we on the reservoir the ice skating ring I got three call today from people up in the Hypes um councilman for res for recreational ice skating we were able to work with Newport skates to provide recreational skating opportunities it's not a rink that we are running ourselves but it is the opportunity and the um conversation with regards to the significant Capital expenses at the rink is certainly ongoing um at the uh Reservoir I believe that the department of infrastructure um continues identifying uh the appropriate design for the uh the bridge to make the wraparound on the walk way and I know that that project is about the ice skating ring the ice skating ring councilman the ice skating rink is is significant financial lift that we need to have a real conversation with the city to identify funds determine how much money should be expended on site um and determine what really we should be fixing um it is not in my capital budget within the department of recreation and instru and Youth Development excuse me to be um putting forth the significant amounts of Monies to repair the rink at this juncture so we did make sure that we had recreational skating opport unities through a partnership that we made with a private entity at Newport Skates um I look forward to continued conversations on the ring so we can return it to reality for the city but I'm not prepared at this juncture councilman to tell you how I'm going to be making that happenend I just have one question uh this this maintenance contract this doesn't have to do anything with the clay for the ball fields or anything like that it does not count some in the um uh lining and the clay for our baseball fields for our other athletic fields stays inhouse with our um athletic field maintenance teams thank you Council happy holidays to everybody council president before we call up the next um director just wanted to record for the record council person Ridley in attendance at 4:08 p.m. and council person Gilmore at 4:10 p.m. so we now have eight council members in attendance good evening everyone um have three resolutions this afternoon um the first one is resolution number 23- 915 agenda item 10.12 and uh this is a resolution to authorize Municipal Council to discharge the morgage encumbering the property at 224 Pine Street in Jersey City um this homeowner received a loan in the amount of $4,000 for the golden neighborhoods home ownership program and all matters and reference to the mortgage have been satisfied and the city is therefore obligated to execute the discharge of this mortgage the next uh resolution I have is resolution number 23- 916 agenda item number 10.13 and this is a resolution for the municipal Council to authorize the award of $ 63,360 .93 cents and the execution of a subrecipient agreement with the Jersey City housing authority to administer the city's United States Department of Treasury emergency rental assistance program and this is the second trunch of funds and the last item that I have for you is resolution 23- 942 that is a agenda item 10.39 and this is um requesting a resolution of need from the city of Jersey City regarding the development entitled Birchwood at the Fairmount Hotel um as of 10923 the New Jersey mortgage Finance Agency announced a program entitled the urban preservation program where they have $80 million of funds available to um property owners whose affordability controls are set to expire um this property the Fairmount Hotel affordability controls with the city of Jersey City are set to expire in November of 2024 therefore making them eligible to apply for this program um the request is for um the city council of Jersey City to sign off on this resolution of need saying that there are work of upgrades that need to be done at this facil facility which would allow the owner to apply um for this pool of grant funding to extend their affordability controls so this where's this establishment at um this property is located at 2595 John F Kennedy and we are discussing 59 units of senior housing it's some of the only it's across the street from vyd mcginness building and they're in desperate need of upgrades everything from the elevators on oh so they need a local resolution to say that for us acknowledging that the need is there for them to do the work in order for them to submit that with their application from the funds this is not a promise that they're going to be in receipt of those funds this is just an agreement that they should be applying and that we also are confirming that they currently have affordability controls that are set to expire okay thank you every much and uh Merry Christmas happy holidays good evening council president and councel it's been a while it's nice to be in front of you again I'm here for item 1015 resolution 23- 918 excuse me it is the payment to safare uh for the um maintenance of our radio re um system I know it says Public Safety communication and Technology Center but this is the radio system for the entire city uh we maintain an excess of uh 3600 uh radios for police for fire for DPW for um board of education for mua and it goes on and on and on it's a it's an important maintenance contract director it says it's a claim do we have an existing contract with the safe Weare yes uh yes we do for a couple others what happened with this one is the department budget was actually under it was underfunded and and I have to say one thing sitting here about teamwork in this city thanks to Kyle and Danny and and Jesse uh Rivera are are bit getting this this done it's I have to thank them because they really worked hard with me to get this through okay great and and I just want to make sure obviously that this is fully Incorporated in the 2024 budget great thanks thank you have a Merry Christmas everyone afternoon council president Council um I'm not sure if any of you have met Dr Cron Dr Siran is the acting director for animal control so he is currently practicing as our health officer assistant so he has a health officer license Works directly with Paul Bell and Boyer and will be moving to the shelter on January 1 and so we came to present and this is his first time presenting to council so I wanted to introduce him to all of you uh present the appointment of the Animal Control Officers uh that are starting next week um so that they're ready for January 1st um it's a resolution appointing the officers with the authority to investigate and enforce animal control laws of the state and certain ordinances on behalf of the city of Jersey City this allows them to get their badge and write the tickets starting January 1 it's item 10.10 council members oh sorry good afternoon council president members of city council I'm joined tonight by the director of senior affairs Joan eckelson uh resolution 23914 agenda number 10.11 a resolution of the municipal Council the city of Jersey City accepting a grant and authorizing the execution of a grant agreement with the county of Hudson Department of Health and Human Services Office on Aging uh the grant period is January 1st 2024 through December 31st 2024 in the amount of 1,1 154,155 with a minimum 25% required match to make the program whole of $84,700 Wheels program uh congregate nutrition and nutrition education and I will let Joan briefly uh discuss the socialization and Recreation now we do very well with socialization and Recreation anytime I seen you gets on a bus anytime a senior goes to a senior center does any activity we get reimbursed $30 person we just have to enter them all in the system so this allows us to continue all of our programs and if anybody wants to see we have all the numbers from last year the trips and everything by Ward yes we we have all this okay this has all of our figures but um this is allows us to continue all of our programs thank you John give it to um Sean he'll pass it to us thank you Laura and good evening council president and Cil members I'm here for item 10.6 resolution number 23 -99 a resolution granting veterans exemptions for local property taxation pursuing title 54 colum 4- 3.30 um veterans who have been total disabled service cond are entitled to 100% of the exemption in the principal residents these exemptions are for two properties uh one in 451 malerie Avenue and the other one in 25 Fon Avenue Unit 2 the total to be cancelled is $6,998 questions thank you happy holidays sure good afterno afterno council president council members I'm here to present three resolutions the first one is resolution 2396 agenda 10.3 this is a resolution to cancel any balances or credits with $10 or less the next one is 23- 907 10.4 this is a resolution to cancel tax salale certificate 2022 1308 which was Golden Era it's uh water and sewer charges and the last one is 23- 98 10.5 this is also a resolution to cancel um a certificate 2020 1340 this is also for water and sewer charges can you explain what happened here so the water company certifies charges to us for tax sale there are sometimes things fall through the cracks where they put the charges on the wrong parcel or the parcel um is now condos it's different reasons but they reimburse we don't we don't have to pay anything out it's the water company that does okay um I do want to bring some well I mean I've spoke to the MUA about this um so before these these water bills go to property Lanes um there seems to be a lag or disconnect between when the the the the property owner pay the water bill here versus when Viola get it um I have a have had a personal issue then I've had two in instance with two different constituents it's not being triggered immediately or within a proper frame so what that means is when when you pay it Viola don't know that we paid you guys I don't know where the disconnect is but it becomes it becomes a hassle because you gotta constantly call people and say hey I it was paid on this dat look at the receipt and stuff like that so we can I mean I don't know if this within your jurisdiction of making sure happened but saying that you work there we can figure out a way where it's paid it can be immediately triggered to the water company because to them is an outstanding balance and then you get that what it's like another another charge because it's like you didn't pay before so they certify the charges to us we have no control we can't see what payments taxpayers have paid we don't have access to their system no I'm talking about once it goes into into the tax sale process yeah it's out of the Water Company's hand it comes to us correct correct now what I'm saying is there's also a period that we're able to pay before it goes to the actual tax sale some residents pay at that juncture but it's not immediately recognized on Viola's behalf if that's something you have to talk to the JC mua about that's that would be okay when they pay us because of the pending tax sale we notify them within a day and then we wire the funds to the MUA oh so they're notified if if they're a tax sale candidate only say that again just so we clear so the record reflect this because this is I'm sure this is not what happened can you just repeat what you just said if they're a tax sale candidate which means that the M the violia sent us a list of who were who is delinquent when the homeowner pays or the mortgage company pays we send an email to the MUA and Viola saying who paid that day and then we wire the funds to them within 24 hours I need that to be clear or within 72 hours usually it's usually two or three days okay thank you thank you happy holidays holiday Matt good afternoon Council I'm here on two items I'm going to start with resolution uh item 10.38 number 23- 941 this is a resolution of the municipal Council of the city of Jersey City redirecting the planning board to prepare an amendment or revision to the Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment plan uh this was previously authorized under resolution 23-05 and uh upon coming back to council with an ordinance uh the ordinance was adopted ordinance number 23-21 uh this is uh an ordinance to restart that proc process or I'm sorry a resolution to restart that process um so if this resolution is adopted uh the Amendments contained in the original or presented to the planning board and Council would be scheduled again before planning board so M you so we just we just did a plan and the council voted on it is this the one um that's not over um yeah that's what then we we just voted on that that site right it was uh ordinance 23- 021 so it was uh this year that was in a so what why are we like how do we get it did we leave something out did we not in what what happened uh I am not uh particularly uh informed on all the reasons why we're restarting this process um well we we can't just be wasting taxpayers money starting process is over without explanations and you were all sent a memo this afternoon on it just check your inbox it gives over the full reasons for the the ordinance it's procedural at the end of the day is is procedural well for the record can you just just State like what like what's in it so the matters in litigation right now okay read the memo all right all right okay if you have any questions too you know you reach out the law department or the B and we'll get you see any answers for it all right item 4.9 this is a second reading ordinance for number 23-1 124 uh my my attendance was requested uh today that's that this is the new yes question I have something yeah um so uh there were two uh small issues that we were working out with the applicant that had been um brought before the council it came as a as a um a late edition at the last meeting and uh it's very small minor changes uh to the six Street Pier and to uh just guaranteeing the right of The Pedestrian passageway through the mall to the pass station um we sent a planning to review on Friday and then we discussed Monday everyone the applicants said they were fine so what we'll do is just email to the Law Department to your review for make sure it's uh substantial or not substantial and then I'll email to the full Council so you just can see that it's very minor language changes but I we we had wanted to make sure that those were done um before uh second reading and defer to the Law Department if this is substantial or not do we have the changes councilman Solomon I do but you don't yet because we were're working on them today but I will make sure that they're emailed to everybody very good thank you thank Youk you very much you have a nice solid Jennifer good evening Jennifer Dro from Municipal Court I'm hearing two resolutions today um the first is item 1025 resolution 23928 it's authorizing the renewal contract for J printing company for the purchase and delivery of the Pats polythermal paper rolls this is for a one-year contract in the amount of $ 57,58 that'll be effective January 1st the paper rolles are used to P the paper rolles are purchased by the court and provided to the parking authority so that they can UE their electronic tickets so if we vote this down there's no more parking tickets well I have quite a supply already but I'm sure that'll happen soon no no electronic parking tickets but I'm sure the police Department I'll hand WR those for you looking for an early Christmas Pon Council um the second item is 1026 that's resolution 23929 authorizing the renewal of the power PLUS translations contract for interpreting services for the court the court is required to provide a certified and experienced interpreting service during all Court sessions this is a one-year contract as well in the amount not to exceed 80,00 000 and is also effective January 1st with a 45,000 temporary incumbrance welcome have a good night hello council president council members um I'm here with a first reading ordinance agenda item 3.1 or 23-25 it is amending chapter 160 for fees and charges um updating and introducing new um fees actually there are three different things happening so the first thing is updating and adding um administrative fees for the Department of infrastructure um for multiple items that include uh dumpster permits traffic permits uh uh application development application review and then Road opening permit fees and I can go through each of them separately if you'd like uh the second thing is um establishing a new fee for vehicles blocking bike Lanes across the city which is something we spoke about in my budget hearing last week um which is a fee that that did not previously exist that we would be establishing and then the third thing is removing outdated Clauses in the municipal code um which are problematic for work that goes on in the city right now one of those includes the ability for anyone um to close a street for a period less than two hours without a permit which we think obviously should not be happening anywhere um and the second Clause is the ability to wave um a contractor's requirement to have to repave a street if the street has been recently repaved within the past 10 years so we think that any time A Street is dug up a contractor should be required to repave and full um that previously was waved in the code so we're just taking out that Clause so those are the three things happening in this ordinance and youting um speak speak a little about so now what have any um consequences we have for people who OB struck bike Lanes now is there's no violation at all there's no violation in the code currently so there may be other ways for um enforcement officials to issue violations based on title 39 which is a state statute things like um double parking or a vehicle idling or other things that they may be able to use as cause but specifically for blocking the bike lane or double parking in the bike lane is not something that's covered by either the state statute or our current ordinance and the violation is going to be 175 yes how much is a regular double parking ticket um it's much lower uh it's around I think the state statute is $54 the Law Department can confirm we are being consistent with our neighboring city of Hoboken their violation for double parking in a bike lane is um $150 what's what's the justification though because if a if a car is double park it cause a safety Haz it in general so now you're double parked in a in a in a bike lane um I mean I'm not saying I'm Pro or against I'm I'm just trying to figure out what would be the rationale for it to be more than if it was regularly double parked sure there is quite a differential in safety when a person who's on a bicycle is in the travel Lane and has to Veer out into um a vehicular travel Lane they're more exposed to a possible crash and conflict points um and and the risk is not as high for someone who would be already in a vehicle veering into uh an adjacent lane or an oncoming Lane and really the justification is for us to try to prioritize the users of the street that are the most vulnerable um who may be more prone to conflicts and so that's the reason we wanted to make the high the fee as high as possible I mean and and then we would also like to update similarly fees for vehicles blocking across walk that's what I just as dangerous as well as Vehicles blocking a bus stop or a fire hydrant however those two or three elements are governed by State Statute and so we've been advised by the Law Department that we cannot change those however this is one that doesn't have specific language and so we can establish a fee that we think is appropriate for that so so let me ask your question what happens when the bicyclists like Break The Rules like is there any way that appropriately can does so to answer to the the question to the Law Department uh how do how does that happen do can the Jersey City whoever gives breaks the law the bicycles break the law like they often do can they just like uh get a ticket and it's 100% so we just want to make clear I want to have that on the record so that I could reach out to the public safety director and say okay do we have because it happens a lot I mean I know that we're really doubling down on you know the motor vehicles right but they the B the bicyclist really really break a lot of rules here we want to make sure that you know it goes both ways they're required to follow all the same laws that a car would for example traffic signals stop signs everything else police could absolutely give them a ticket for it perfect I appreciate that John you expect them to enforce this this is ridiculous uh the bike Lanes have created traffic congestion and everything else they've caus a load of problems none of them come down my block none of them ride in a bike lane they ride in the middle of the street they ride down the wrong ways nobody's going to enforce these laws that's I would just like to say that currently after many years of us getting criticism of not being able to establish bike Lanes in neighborhoods that where we currently don't have all of the support for converting um roadways or redesigning roadways where they would impact traffic we have now been working on upgrading the bike lanes that exist in Greenville which will not be protected so we are just taking the bike Lanes keeping them as they are but upgrading them with a higher quality material on several streets in Greenville however as we are doing that a fee like this will help ensure that even when a bike lane is not protected has no sort of vertical element or delineator or barrier to prevent um vehicles from encroaching on that lane that there's still some mechanism to discourage that behavior which can be very dangerous for people so that we can encourage more people toide so that is really the justif justification behind it where in places where we cannot build protected bikeways where there isn't the support for it that this is another way to help ensure safety and that the lanes are kept clear in any way possible do we have um I know you said the bikes are supposed to follow the rules of the car but do we have anything on the books with regards to bikes using the bike lane yes are they like is there any uh fee that we impose on bikes that aren't using the bike the bike lanes because that's part of the uh the real problem is a lot of the bikes aren't using the lane when the lane is there like you know certain areas I understand but when the lane is actually there we have a lot of people that aren't using it yeah I believe somewhere in the code I don't know exactly Which chapter it's in um there are regulations that say that when a bike way is uh present that people on a bike are expected to use that bike way when a clear or protected bike way is not present or when there's a dangerous situation without um a clear bike way on a street per title 39 a cyclist is allowed to take the lane which is the vehicular Lane if that is what they need to do in order to pass or travel safely think we're going to be rich no I think we need to reassess the fee Jo right another question is uh I mean I'm I'm maybe I don't know who to ask this for but you one of the things that's like great you know for the bike L is when you guys put that Jersey Barrier you know that really protects them so I don't know how expensive that is you know if we can do Jersey barriers throughout what's concerning is that we alter roads you know for the bikes and and that's a real big problem when we use Road diets you know and we alter roads and it's causing a big problem you know at least in the downtown area thank you director thank you Ryan Danny y I don't care good afternoon Council I have one item for your consideration agenda 10.24 resolution 23927 this is a resolution authorizing an amendment to a Professional Services contract with epic Management Incorporated for the continued Professional Services related to our staff augmentation project for various Park improvements um it was a year contract they ran out of time for uh various reasons um so by extending this at no cost they're going to be able to see these projects through uh next year question thank you Brian thank you Vian H it is good evening Council evening I have two items for this evening first item is 10.1 which is resolution 23904 which is the special item to for me to put the current Grant the new grants in the current budget um there are five um new grants that we're placing in the budget um four are for uee um and one for recycling tonnage U's we have um the special improvement district which is 1 1 million 50,000 we have a micro business um micro business real estate which is 800,000 we have a small business incubator which is 75116 and then we have U marketing which is 1 6 million all of this um funding is actually through um J um JC EDC where we accept the money on their behalf and they perform the work and we reimburse them the next one is item 10.2 which is resolution 23 9- excuse me 9005 which is the amendment of our current um Grant consultant who's um Grant right their contract we had to add $74,000 to their contract and the reason we had to add $74,000 to their contract it was because of we had four outstanding grants dating back from 2018 until present for the fire department that we had already spent the funding for but we had not gone to the federal government and asked them for reimbursement now what the understanding is because of the change in um positions in the fire department and there was some retirements and some people were promoted um these grants weren't addressed in regards to the draw Downs so our um Grant consultant um Grant right has been working on this for approximately two months they've been working with um Chief um Hart and chief Jan and we to date we have have um just about captured all of the funding that is due to us all of the um so the total funding that's outstanding that's that could be due to us is $8.1 million um and we've recaptured probably about 80% that's due to us so some of that is going back to the fire department it goes back into our budget yes it goes back to the fire department okay yeah yes it's it's the fire department right it's the fire department there is one for the police department and but that's more current so it's not a big threat we were at the point where we were going to lose this funding and we were going to have our actual funding suspended from um FEMA if we did not address these grants they weren't going to give us any more funding so what so as leadership changed the the the like there's no structure like when someone leaves someone follow and take should take over yes so now um um director gandulla has um put in place where the reporting will go through someone and so and also um the federal government acts for this also that is not some it's not a uniform person it's a actual City employee that's non-uniform that would report to um FEMA so right now we have our grant consultant doing a report and then once um the um Administration identifies someone outside of the um fire department then that person would be responsible for the um um reporting along with the Grant's office I I think more than a person the process right because the person is going to come and go right I would have been I lost my mind if we lost out on all that money because somebody left or somebody got promoted and we didn't make sure we did our due dilig um so I just hope we we we straighten up or strengthen that process whereas though it's the next person up we are doing that in the Grant's office currently we are we have been working diligently um the past six months since um I've since um staff has been added we have been working with every department and trying we have policies and procedures now we've been working with them to make sure that they are updated on updated on their reportings and that we know exactly what is outstanding what has been reported and you know exactly what we because we just had a meeting about this not even right before this meeting and and compliance is a big problem when it comes to the Departments we get the money we get the money was compliance but we never go back to we never go back to capture what is owed to us so we spend it but we don't go back I would just say councilman in um the Department of Finance budget hearing I went over in detail like what we're looking to do in the grants division historically we were decentralized we left a lot of the management to the department so ultimately with Vivien our staffing and some of the levels you will see some of the changes the system changes that we'll need to do Grant is a complicated space there's a lot of compliance pieces but you know luckily to Vivian and my team we were able to capture back and not lose that money and then the interim of covid and people you know it's it's reality right and government were tied to paper and people and not systems and we had that happened um in the fire department people left and we worked um to recapture those funds thank you Danny good afternoon Council good afternoon I'm here to present one item for your consideration it is item number 10.7 resolution 23- 910 it is a resolution authorized in calendar year 2023 appropriation transfers for the office of risk management Insurance Fund commission any questions I have a related question I I had a constituent reach out who just had a settlement approved by the city in November and uh he was hoping to receive the check um I can email you the information afterward but but I just wanted to see if this transfer would help facil absolutely so this particular transfer councilman um there were seven resolution that was already approved by this Council okay so I I'll email you his name pleas just to see if we can this will help and he we can get him the check before the holidays absolutely thank you thank you thank you Christine good evening council president council members I have one item for you this evening it's item number 10.8 resolution 23- 911 this is a resolution approving the appointment of individuals to the Jersey City arts and culture trust fund committee uh there are four positions that are open for the twoyear term those members are Joseph Harkins serving as the mayor's designate and a voting member for a term of two years an Marley serving as a design for Ward C for two years Sandy Martini serving as a voting member for Ward D for two years and nobuki takan serving as a voting member of Ward e for two years question thank you thank you holidays Armen uh good evening council members I'm here for two items the first is the second reading on the MUA franchise agreement I think it's item 4.1 ordinance 23-9 um I have Dennis en right here with me and John mckenny from the Law Department who help worked on this franchise agreement so I just want to hear any additional questions that you may have um about this process I think earlier on in the year when we started the budget we understood that this was coming and now it's being presented so that we can move over and work to renew uh this agreement I sorry that question sorry um sorry um I guess the first question is what what is the status given the local Finance before the local Finance board explain I I'm Dennis enry from NW finan put your mic up we can't hear sorry thank you I'm Dennis andry from NW Financial or the financial adviser um the local Finance board action that would you don't go to them for approval or denial it's just findings so they had negative findings because they didn't understand it in my opinion uh but that doesn't prevent us from moving ahead with funding we can still move ahead with funding their their opinion is purely advisory so it doesn't corre that's correct okay um and then I know there had been some discussion with some some folks about the the you know the length right the you know could we do something of a smaller amount a smaller length of time um you know I think I I sort of posa that under the impression that before I came back to the council we were going to kind of discuss potential Alternatives that was drafted but could could you at least speak about um you know the length the 40 years and and um you know what alternatives were considered in terms of the timing sure we we looked at all the possible terms that we could we could consider but the issue is that although the I bank which is where you get most of your funding for capital is willing to look past the actual franchise agreement with funding if we have to go to market for anything that's not eligible for the ibank there are some projects in Q that would have to do that they the market won't look beyond that and we can't issue beyond the length of the franchise because they have to have the pledge of the revenues During the period bonds are outstanding so that that that's the trigger there that's the problem typically new Bond issues would be 30-year bonds so we suggested a 40e so that you know when you get to the with 10 years from now you don't have to do this all over again immediately and you know the capital program at the MUA is gigantic because of regulations from the EPA and the D we're talking well well into the billions of dollars right um I apologize so I had emailed the ba um on September 27th a series of questions and and my understanding was that you know they hadn't been answered because we were we were continuing to work on on options um so I guess one question is right now as I understand this agreement there's a $50 million upfront fee um how is that fee going to be paid uh the planning in um August when this was first on your agenda was that we would pay $30 million in 2023 10 million in 2024 and 10 million in 2025 and and how but I mean how is is the MUA going to fund that payment to us through the issuance of revenue bonds okay and and what do we anticipate the interest rate on those bonds being in today's market um 5% give or take and and what impacts will will this have on both sewer and water rates it'll be a pretty minor impact overall on sewer and water rates because the capital program is well again $2 billion is what's going to impact rates we've designed rates to go up at 5% a year and the franchise fee would be covered within that okay and um section 507 of the agreement says that if there's any outstanding bonds the city can't make any changes to the agreement that may negatively affect the mua's ability to pay off the bonds and um how long do we expect there to be outstanding bonds and if there are outstanding bonds during the entire extended term does this section essentially mean that the city cannot amend the annual franchise fee oh though though that provision was taken from the original franchise agreement it's not a new provision so anytime you make an amendment to uh make an adjustment say on an annual franchise payment because you you know there there's a need for more you really need to test whether or not there's still enough money to pay the bonds you couldn't take you couldn't ask them or you know put them in a position to pay more money than they and they need to pay the bonds sure I I guess but what's different about this franchise AG is it locks the annual fee in you know in the last one they all did but they were all locked that you know but they keep changing they've been changed three times at least since the beginning and they can be changed in the future that provision is just to make sure that Bond holders are protected okay so I mean obviously right now this this sets a fee and then it's it's a fee that doesn't change um but you're saying is 10 years from now the fee could be changed yes they could yes and and you would you have to get I assume both the city and the MUA to agree to rewrite it correct they they'd have to renegotiate it they you'd have to make sure that it was enough money in the MUA you know from their cash flows to pay for it and you could make another adjustment that's been the history of the of the franchise Fe since 1998 questions excellent comment the next item is 10.4 a resolution um oh sorry 10.40 a resolution authorizing the city to do an emergency appropriation financing of $21 million for tax appeal liabilities and uh General liabilities anyone have any questions 10.40 yeah 1040 resolution 23943 question we just start with can if the overview of what's going on so um this year in regards to items that were presented in Tax Court there are some liabilities that increased um historically or this year we were paying them as we went and as they came in came to refund but as things again still tribute to Co in the courts we got a lot more liability related to this it was about close to $1 million of refunds so in preparation and conversation with our financial advisor our budget consultant this was a recommendation of putting this forward in the event that we don't have overruns overe expenditures for our budget so um we worked out this financing to cover any shortfalls or gaps that we may have um as where we're at with the budget go ahead James can we one can we get a breakdown of every tax appeal that's sort of been been adding up to this this number yep um I'm I understand why why the courts and the like might be behind it's just it's a really really large number so if we can understand sure um whether it's commercial residential a mix of both both I mean it's mix of both and um when we went to prepare this resolution I asked should we upload it and they said we could provide it in the format of a memorandum if the council ask in regards to getting those details because that's yeah that would be helpful because we the resolution with no corroborating information and I think all come absolutely yeah and is it accurate to see you mentioned 11 million in in potential liabilities from the appeals um and then F this is higher than that is that simply to cover possibly higher tax appeals or or is it possibly covering other budget know shortfalls eventally well legally we prepared this to cover any general liabilities as well in case something does come but I I mean just Al Trish I was like did you get any information anything pending or any of vouchers and it really unfortunately is on a rolling basis we did attempt to try to collect this information ahead of time but we didn't get it we didn't get anything and so got to work with the assessor's office I got to work the courts to get this information so in the event that um that there are more I would say budg we would have to come back again next year um to cover it so and again you guys know we're preparing our financials we're getting things together we're getting the data in the budget to prepare for you guys so um considering this the end of the year I just don't want any surprises or grabs saying that we didn't prepare plan or present something to you um in preparation to cover some of all the moving pieces that of our Municipal budget and this would be like the um um cumulated absences this would be paid over five years is that accurate or yeah this would be paid over five years okay I mean I understand where you're coming from here I I question for finance everyone is just given interest rates are high yeah you know are we better off at a at a lower number with this OB you have to pay this back over five years and and we have some other liabilities in the next couple of budget Cycles I wouldn't want to go lower in the sense that we already know there's some things did make this meeting that needed to come on this meeting um there are other things that I can't predict and so this is legally allowing me to authorize uh let's to say a backup plan in the event that come next month or two months from now that we have to increase taxes greater than what we have we presented A Five-Year Plan with a at a 2% increase at what we are and that's what we're trying to do so I can definitely get you more of a breakdown in detail of you know the properties and who's in court and all those things but if I don't have it I can't give it to you not from our end though just make making that clear give it to us yeah that's what I don't understand I mean John mck's here he knows that when I asked maslo and I asked some of the attorneys to get me the information we needed it took me literally like 2 three months just to get a conclusive like analysis from what's pending I have no control over that is's nothing we can do John we get flooded with tax appeals every year so it's it really is kind of up in the air there's not much we can do about that except fight them but I mean we have to do something yeah put us at we have to do something we just can't keep accepting it okay what can we do don't necessarily accept them they have a right to appeal their taxes in front of the County Board um and the County Board is relatively friendly to the taxpayer so we are going to have some instances probably a majority of instances where the baby's going to get split and taxes might come down a little bit we need to gather the information that's that's part of our problem so what's taking us so long to gather that information because it it ties the financial department up and I believe on this one the issue was there were just simply matters that were still pending so the the data just wasn't there at the time that it was needed but I think it isn't for you John but like certainly someone the assessor or attorneys who arguing these things should at least know what the potential liability is and say okay you know you have your your range of outcomes you have a if if we lose these couple of cases we're we got to big you know a big big hurdle um and I think you know I I would I have been in pretty constant communication with the ba and the Law Department um asking us to prep um for possible tax appeals on Commercial Real Estate in the future given declines in commercial real estate values and today we haven't gotten anywhere with with those requests so it's just you know but obviously this is the reason why so so you're planning in advance and knowing that these outcomes could possibly not directly at you it's just globally like we need to know what our liabilities are and be able to plan for them sure on the larger ones I don't think that's necessarily as much of an issue it's just everything combined is what what hits us so it's we'll look into it we can discuss it more in the future doesn't help us today understand John you have to come up with some type of solution if we constantly keep accepting the behavior then they'll keep giving it to us like that's part of the problem it affects residents so it's not that all of these are results of us settling tax disputes it sometimes the County board rules in favor of the the person who's filed the appeal there's nothing we can really do about that except take it up to State Court from from there which we do on a number of them problem is she's not even getting information that that's that's that's like a window there she she's estimating because she hav't receed all the information she need to really do a correct analysis that's what we saying that's what we saying hey comment yes um like how big are the discrepancies like how from what from from what we projected and what they think it should be how how I mean we already paid out like close to 20 million this year this year um over over time and so the remaining of this and and when I tell you guys asking for the impation trying to get the stuff from the assessor's office I don't think that they had someone looking at this from an analytical standpoint versus a rolling standpoint so we're preparing this financing to get us to cover the gaps more so our tax appeals but also covering any general liabilities that you do have this me and again if and again we there's nothing I see you shaking your head but you can if we can afford it we can pay it right you don't necessarily have to do this but still where we're coming out of the pandemic and to council installments point the commercial market and taxes and course those are some of the things not just impacting D but impacting a lot of my peers that you know we sit here we raise taxes and then they go to court and they appeal and then we have things that we have to pay out so definitely taking deeper Dives with our liabilities and taking these practive steps measures oh is what I'm trying to avoid in the event that there's the other way you know we raise it in taxation to come next year but that Global compensation of what that's happening in the courts I have I personally have no control over that on another note too when we do actually enter into a settlement the rates are locked for a couple years so it's not like they can keep coming back on it you know Common you're in a tough spot but you really do a very good job you know I'm I'm really like you really knock it out the park thank you I'm trying definitely she needs that's the issue she thinks call me have a good evening happy holidays oh good afternoon Council council president uh I have two items tonight uh I will start with the ordinance that I'll be presenting on behalf of director Wong from traffic engineering who couldn't be here tonight um it is ordinance number 23-12 six uh and that is ordinance 3.2 uh the purpose of this ordinance is to designate Reserve Park parking spaces at various locations throughout the city uh all permittees have submitted applications for a reserve parking space that have been reviewed and recommended for approval by the committee at the meeting held on November 1st 2023 any questions all right uh the second is the resolution 23- 932 and that's agenda uh 10.29 uh this is a resolution authorizing the execution of a notice in Li of deed notice uh this is between PPG and the city uh this is an older document an older agreement um that started in 2009 and has multiple different um locations uh this is just adding an additional location near gari Garfield Avenue uh located beneath the hudsen BG and Light Rail overpass to this existing document right thank you happy holid good evening uh I am here for uh agenda number 1027 resolution 23- 930 the resolution off authorizing the payment of a claim submitted by intersection media LLC to prepare Graphics used in the resilient nor Eastern New Jersey action plan this resolution is to um this resolution is to authorize the uh just the payment of um excuse me sorry okay take your time Jersey City is the primary for the resilient North New Jersey Grant good time young lady you got it these people ain't scary up here oh it's been a day public speaking is not easy oh I know um uh especially following everybody who's just been so perfect yeah they've been here for a 100 years though so don't let them uh so New Jersey is the prime or Jersey City is the primary for the resilient New Jersey Grant following that um uh as Prime Jersey City is responsible for paying subrecipients or awardees as per the grant agreement uh our cadus is the Project Lead of the resilient New Jersey Grant and they hired intersection media intersection media perform services from September 22nd or December 2022 through October 2022 and the invoice is dated for November 2022 which makes this a claim due to the absence of a director in the division of sustainability for an extended period of time this invoice has yet to be resolved which is why I'm bringing it to you today okay great questions thank you man happy Holidays happy holiday when you don't get any questions you did a great job all right from the top so first reading ordinances 3.1 1 through 3.2 were touched on earlier item 3.3 city ordinance 23127 is an ordinance revising the street names and the Bayfront Redevelopment site on to our second reading ordinances item 4.1 was touched on earlier item 4.2 city ordinance 23-15 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic regulations amending section 332 d 5 oneway streets in section 3327 prohibited turns at intersections and article 3 parking standing and stopping amending section 332-22 parking prohibited at all times to convert Wayne Street into a two-way street between Marin and Grove Street um sorry yeah I'm just GNA ask us if we can just defeat it um we emailed all the comments to traffic and Engineering um a couple weeks ago but as we all acknowledge it's been a busy month and we haven't gotten the feedback and instead of just like kicking it down I don't want the community to be like worried that they have to keep coming back it's just like let's defeat it we'll get the we'll get the feedback from traffic and Engineering when we get it in January and then whatever the plan is moving forward we can bring back whatever that plan might be so it just I just don't want to keep kicking it down because we haven't it's been a month and we haven't been able to get the feedback we we want so councilman is is your intention to make a motion to go to defeat the ordinance without holding a public hearing do you hold the public hearing just without the public hearing because we don't know what the ultimate plan is going to be so yeah so I'll need a motion from you in a second in order to do that um to not have the public hearing and just motion to defeat the ordinance and then I'll take a vote to actually defeat the ordinance okay Mo not now all right next 4.3 city ordinance 23-18 is an ordinance amending chapter 90 animals article 3 dogs and other animals section 12 definitions and chapter 160 fees and charges section 14 permits and fees subsection e animals to add and increase fees for animal control and animal shelter Services next item 4.4 city ordinance 23119 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic regulations amending section 3325 oneway streets and section 3329 stop intersections to convert bramall Avenue between Van Horn Street and Pacific Avenue into a one-way Street in the westbound Direction and convert bramall Avenue and woodwood Street into an Allway stop intersection Sean we're gonna um hold off on this one 4.4 um councilman Gilmore's office received some um feedback from some residents who don't necessarily live on Bram Hall but live in that immediate area so we're going to let the residents from brm Hall and residents in area kind of talk it out and make a decision on um how they want to handle this because this was a a request from the community um so councilman Gilmore and myself are going to have a meeting at the top of the year with residents and then we'll bring this back so is your intention to um carry it to the next regular scheduled meeting of the municipal Council which would be January 10th 2024 uh I hope that we can have the meeting before then that's the the intent is to have the meeting before then um so yes I'll say that I'll say yes for now excellent so I'll just need a motion for that to carry and a second next item 4.5 city ordinance 23120 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article two traffic regulations amending section controled intersections item 4.6 city ordinance 23121 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 3 parking standing stopping amending section 332-22 parking prohibited at all times and section 33231 parking restrictions for street cleaning purposes on Bennett Street between igy Avenue and Clark Avenue item 4.7 city ordinance 23122 is an ordinance supplementing 33 2 chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 3 parking standing and stopping amending section 332-339 and Newark Avenue and item 4.8 city ordinance 23123 and franchise ordinance granting permission to Deval Patel and J Rishi M men penny I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing the names pursuant to resolution of the planning board of the city of Jersey City under case number P22 d199 allowing the installation of Stoops bay windows and planting Beds which encroach and extend into the right of way beyond the boundary lines of lot 33 block 8502 and are for the benefit of lot 33 block 852 land now and formerly ofel and Min and commonly known as 352 pavon avue Jersey City New Jersey Sean yes on that uh council president to council persons uh council person Bo Giani had a a a question on that at the last meeting I sent you all the information on this franchise did you receive it thanks and just one housekeeping issue at the uh November 29th meeting you passed for first reading um ordinance 3.8 ordinance 23125 it didn't get listed on this agenda I'll look into that and make sure that we duly advertise the I apologize for that duly advertise the ordinance for uh a public hearing and final consideration um for the um for this Wednesday but I'll double check that I apologize okay and 4.9 which is which was covered early and I'll double check on 23-15 and we have our public speakers right now we have 36 speakers any questions or comments on petitions and Communications item 6.1 through 6.14 we have one offic of communications any questions or comments on 7.1 there are no reported directors our claims list is here and then on to are resolutions items 10.1 through 10.8 were touched on earlier item 10.9 resolution number 23- 912 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Jersey City in support of multi-use protected path on the 14th Street biod duct and items 10.10 through 10.29 were touched on earlier I item 10.30 resolution 23- 933 is a resolution of the council the city of Jersey City authorizing the support of applications to BRP Cove Point LLC and Affiliates for the incentive programs administered by New Jersey Economic Development Authority in connection with the Redevelopment of the property identified as Lots 25 293 and 31 also known as portions of block 219 01.01 Lots four and six within the Bayfront one Redevelopment area resolution of need concerning affordable housing at Bayfront item 10.31 was touched on earlier item 10.32 resolution 23- 935 is a resolution in memory of George funky Brown drummer and co-founder of K gang the most sample drummer and band in the world as a drummer I think that's amazing I item 10.33 resolution 23- 936 is a resolution honoring Timothy Tim Lawrence for his dedication item 10.34 resolution 23- 937 is a resolution ratifying the renewal professional service agreement with the law firm mcam Scotland Barm LLC to provide advice and counsel for certain Tax Matters next item 10.35 resolution 23-9 through 38 is a resolution authorizing the payment of a claim submitted by Ox blue for providing camera equipment and time lapse phography Services answer any questions on that if you'd like to discuss offline next item 10.36 resolution 23- 939 is a resolution renewing professional service agreement with the law firm hunt Hamlin and Ridley to represent the city of Jersey City and various police officers in the man of Leo pingston versus the city of Jersey City excuse me item 10.37 resolution 23- 940 is a resolution ratifying the renewal of professional service agreement with broch eler LLC to represent director of Public Safety James Shay in a matter of David goldridge versus the city of Jersey City items 10.38 through 40 were touched on earlier item 10.41 resolution 23- 944 a resolution of the municipal Council the city of Jersey City uh authorizing the submission of an application to the local Finance board presumed to njsa 4A colon 20 excuse me 12 A- 67g and njsa 4A col 12 a-29 and council members if I heard correctly is it Our intention to remove items 11.3 and 11.4 from the agenda to consider the vote if it is you don't have to answer now we'll just need a motion to do that um that was on behalf of director Richardson without hearing anything else may I have a motion to adjourn at 5:29 p.m. motion made by council person Riva may have a second second by council person priner on the motion to adjourn at 5:29 PM council person Ridley council person priner council person Bano Council counc person Solomon council person Gilmore hi council person de council person Reber and council president wman motion carries 80 with council person Cay absent to adjourn at 5:29 p.m. and again happy birthday to council person mea priner and remember teamwork Macy DreamWork have a great night go Giants Jennifer son is yeah see a charot