statement of compliance with the Sunshine Law this meeting is being held in accordance with the open public meetings act an adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as required by law specifically the annual notice was emailed to the West csex Tribune and the Star Ledger on January 2nd 2024 and the 48 hour notice was emailed to the West essic Tribune and the Star Ledger on June 26 2024 the agenda and resolutions for the meeting are available on www. Livingston nj.org certain portions of this meeting may be closed to the public for the purpose of personnel Andor other matters as outlined in the Sunshine Law decisions made Andor discussed in closed session will be made known to the public at a later time notice to members of the governing body and Township staff any use of electronic devices during this meeting shall be used solely for the purposes of Township business and any Communications are subject to the open public records act to the extent possible this evening's Township of Livingston council meeting will be live streamed via Facebook at www.face.com back Livingston Township NJ questions or comments will also be accepted by mailing live comment at Livingston nj.org by 4M on the day of the meeting each speaker should follow the rules of order in Livingston code section 2-5 uh roll call Carol council member bani here viea present Klein here Deputy Mayor mhart here mayor Anthony here uh can we all please stand for a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the rep for stands one nation indivisible andice for okay uh Essex County updates we don't have Eileen here today um we're up to proclamations and presentations we have the new Township report a concern platform for residents is that Adam there you go the floor is yours Adam as we've discussed uh the new program that we were installing and that's going to be rolled out through all the Departments as gov pilot um today we're going to be talking about the report of concern uh this gives us an online form mobile reporting app a mobile inspection app uh reporting backend reporting property profile tax assessment information and map layers um so this is a very interactive program uh for everyone to use and what I'm going to do today is kind of give you a walk through of where it's on our website how to put in a request and um have us kind of work on it so so the first thing just to so that you're aware on our front page of our website we have a new symbol uh it looks a little exclamation point where the yellow arrow is uh you'll click on that and you'll go straight to the report of concern uh page this is the online document that you'll start you'll begin to fill out this is a location based program and so as you put your location in it show it'll pop up onto a map you can then put a description of the location so depending on if there's any details that need to be shown uh there is you know in the front of the property along the street uh if you want to get more detailed you hit the edit button here highlighted the yellow arrow and then you can drag and drop exactly where the concern is once you do that you can drop down to the concern types uh today I'm putting something in for property maintenance a sidewalk complaint from the township uh you drop that into it's just a drop- down menu with all the uh complaints that we have um the next part is a description of a concern so tripping hazard in front of the building uh where the benches were previously located you fill out your identification uh the only thing that is required is an email address so that uh response can go somewhere we don't need your name uh we'd appreciate your name and phone number and address but it's not needed if you'd like to be anonymous just need an address and then at the very bottom uh you have attachments where you can upload a picture of the in uh the concern or uh the problem or even a document hit the bottom submit button and then you'll get this response your concern has been successfully submitted you can print a copy so you have for your files um but this is what will show up on the screen what you'll get in your email is this response um this just basically tells you where this concern is going uh this particular concern is going to Public Works there's a phone number here and it also references that you just follow up with your number that you've uh you were given and you can follow up with that department um with this it's the gov alert and this is an app you can download in the Apple store or Google play uh it has an icon which is this one here uh once you click the gov alert app you can open it up um it will pinpoint where you are so you're not going to have to look for locations it will show where you are you can type in a place where you're at if there is a concern that's already there it'll show that something someone's already put one in and you'll be able to see other uh uh reported concerns once you put that in you select type of concern uh just with your app you'll be able to go down click whatever you need um put in an image if you want uh your name email telephone number uh submit buttons at the very bottom you submit it and then you get the same kind of screen with the thank you so ad question please so I I don't I don't know if this is possible but if I'm thinking about like functional use here I would want to have like people download the Livingston Township app and then have access to this a lot of people aren't going to know to access a whole different app to report a complaint like in other words is there some way to structure a link to this off of our app the lon Township so if you're using the uh the Smart View of the Livingston web page so if you go to you know Livingston nj.org on your phone it's it's built so it will show up nicely on your phone right if they click on that link it just goes into a Smart View to fill out that form okay but the there is no Livingston app so there and there's not going to be a liming I thought we were redoing the Livingston app and would incorporate these things so the Limington app is not is going to be like doesn't work anymore we're not going to have a li app so Civic plus it's only going to be the web page yeah Civic Plus instead of creating apps for all of their uh websites they've made everything uh mobile compatible and so as you look at the website now everything then drops down and you can just pick and choose what you want to do okay may I I have a couple of points here uh first of all thank you Adam this is this is great I know the township and the town manager's office you all have been working on it m um so this is great work uh couple of things first is of course this needs to be known for our uh residents that you know this is an easier way there is an easier way yes where instead of waiting for you know making a phone call or you know trying to leave a message or anything like that you have it right here correct uh can you also discuss a little bit maybe quickly is that you know how how it gets assigned so basically Township residents when they put in the quest don't have to worry about how it goes where it goes how it handles but that's something that so the backend system uh has everything set up so every concern has already been routed through a department it starts at the person probably that's going to address the problem first and then we'll go through an escalation as the problem is not if it's not being taken care of um it it yeah it's all done within the back end the nice part about this is uh supervisors of every department will have kind of that global view where they can look at all of the concerns that come in and we they can address any situations or things that may not be getting done or addressed fast enough so it gives us kind of the nice reporting on that side as well but everything is all mapped out on the back end and I think it's good thing as well is that it has a reference number so if anything has has to be referenced to it is it is available one other question is what if if there is a there is a concern not listed pre-listed uh let's say dead tree there is a other catchall kind of thing so if they put it in there it will be routed to the appropriate Department great thank you no problem Adam I have a question to piggy back on uh councilman Klein a person does not necessar or resident does not necessarily have to download the app as long as they can get into no I'm talking to the go the pilot app is an app so they don't necessarily have to to to download that as long as they can get into our website it the link is right there correct correct thank you yeah and the link is I mean I showed you the easiest and most uh easy to find one there are it's throughout the website we've changed every link to report the concern the the township um this is great that we're putting this out and you're going to doing the presentation I think it's fantastic we also should be advertising in local papers and uh you know saying this is you know this is what you're GNA be able to do from the web page on your on your phone right our our public relations group is going to help us make sure we're really yeah we're really putting this out to the town so that people understand how to use this new function absolutely yes all right thank you good thank you was trying to send you a a fake uh problem as a test here but uh thanks appreciate it thanks for all your hard work on this too thanks all right um we have the approval of the minutes motion to approve the minutes of the June 24th regular and Conference and June 24th close session I'll second it uh all in favor any opposed no okay we now have the ordinance 17-24 to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limit limits and to establish a cap Bank yeah so uh you'll recall um councilman bani might not be aware of it but certainly the rest of you have every year we do this the state uh automatically builds into your cap at two and a half percent and if you pass an ordinance you could go up to three and a half% on a cap uh it doesn't mean you're necessarily going to spend it and in fact in the proposed budget we're not spending it but it does allow you anything that you don't use to put into what's called a cap bank that is sits there for two years and they kind of roll over and Purge that does give you some flexibility uh let's say you have a more difficult budget year in the future you have that cap Bank available to do it uh certainly we recommend doing it um again this year we're not I think we're littleit 470,000 under the cap uh but we recommend doing it anyway just to establish a cap bank and that has to be introduced prior to the budget right so then I need a motion to introduce this okay motion to move I need a motion to move y motion to move second um this we need a vote right we need a roll call on this yeah I'll do the roll call okay council member bani yes Viara yes kleene yes Deputy Mayor Minard yes mayor Anthony yes and the uh hearing the public hearing will be August 26 great all right now and Barry like you said that's just something to do I don't think we're over we're not on the cap uh we're not U again I think we're 472,000 under the C under okay but it just puts it in the bank for a rainy day okay and the second reading of that is the same day we're doing the budget right the 26th of yeah right before the okay so Caroline the next one the municipal budget uh yeah for the 2024 Municipal budget the first resolution is 20 4- 177a introduction of the 2024 Municipal budget by title moving on first reading second second okay uh council member bani yes Vieira yes Klein uh I'm abstaining I have not had a chance to review the documents that were sent today Deputy Mayor mhart yes mayor Anthony yes resolution 24- 177b establish oh I should mention also the hearing the public hearing of the municipal budget will be on August 26th at 7:30 p.m. great thank you carolen uh resolution 24- 177b establishing 2024 Municipal open space tax rate move it on first reading second uh council member bani yes Vieira yes Klein I'm sorry this is for 177b yes yes Deputy Mayor mhart yes mayor Anthony yes and uh resolution 24-1 177c Computing 2024 reserve for uncollected taxes moving on first reading I'll second it council member bani yes Vieira yes Klein yes Deputy Mayor Minard yes mayor Anthony yes all right uh quick question Barry on the municipal open space tax rate we do that every year or did we do it annually um and I I did want to note uh only because the the motion was on first reading both uh number two and number three they're just One-Shot deals their resolutions and they're already adopted there is no second reading public hearing uh but yeah the the ordinance by which they uh the town by referendum approved the open space authorized open space tax I believe up to three cents per $10000 of valuation and establishes that it's set annually by resolution now this is only one cent per 100 but you could go higher but that's that's what the recommendation is and we had moved that from five to to one but we could go to three could conceivably the referendum had approved okay mayor yes um through you may I ask um Barry that when you do your presentation that you you you talk about the three parts of a tax bill one being the municip municipal part one being the school tax and one being the county tax uh because you know what when people see their tax bill automatically they think hey town hall is taxing me this much when really we're probably the lowest piece of the the the tax bill and uh you know I don't know in the past if that's really gotten communicated to our residents but can you somehow figure out a way ofun I know in the PowerPoint I always have a slide up front where does your tax dollar go and has a pie chart and shows how much go to the school but I can certainly provide some additional emphasis I've also done some research and was very pleased to find um not only is it the smallest part of our overall tax bill at least as of last year our Municipal tax rate portion of the levy was the second lowest as a percentage of the overall Levy of all the towns in Essex County so we have the second lowest Municipal portion of the Livingston tax versus every other town when when are you doing the user friendly uh is that are you doing that at the next meeting or is that I the presentation will be done in connection with the public hearing at the next meeting on the 26th uh we can the user friendly budget itself is on the 26th okay yeah thank you what one more request adding on to councilman be um if you could also Barry put a chart together as well during your presentation or an or both of you um to talk about the dollars that uh we do not claw back on on tax rebate uh you know tax appeals it's a very important number that I believe the community is not aware of how much money um when we pay out on the tax appeals that we pay 100% of the money back and we don't claw back from the board of V or from the county all that money claw back a very small percentage I think from the board of yeah no and it's um I think that's a good point in terms of getting people to fully understand the impact in the taxes and to your point um all the tax FS we're obligated to fully refund with no ability to get back even though the county and the Board of Ed got their share great thank you all right that'll be on the 26th yeah yeah I was going to make a motion to open uh the meeting to public comments on agenda items only I'll second it all in favor okay any opposed no okay so now we're at a public comment on agenda items only anyone have anything sure come on up a and address or name and town uh Lawrence Barnett Windsor Drive since 1983 anyway I better put on these I know the feel this was my letter to the editor of the West Essex last week this is for this is for something on agenda items only excuse me this is only for agenda items only oh you're talking about the this part I thought this was the second okay after all the start arces no problem what we just discussed this isn't on it but there's a general public comment at the end at the end of the meeting at the end of the meeting there'll be time motion to motion to close the meeting um public comments for agenda items are second I'll second it all right uh any oppos no no all right now we are up to the passage of ordinances uh Carolyn the first one this is ordinance 15- 2024 amending and supplementing chapter 316 order of The Code by adding a new article five replacement of lead service lines okay motion open discussion uh motion open the discussion public hearing on the ORD public hearing sorry sorry I'll second that okay all in favor I I motion to close public hearing on ordinance 15 2024 second a motion to move yeah you need a motion to Move Motion motion to move a second to move motion to adop motion to adopt same thing okay council member bani yes motion to adopt Viera yes kleene yes Deputy Mayor mhart yes mayor Anthony yes all right now we have one for introduction Carolyn the next one all right ordinance 18-202 amending chapter 170 article XX storm water control of the township land use code may need a motion to introduce and set a public hearing motion to introduce I'll second it okay uh roll call on that council member bani yes Viera yes Klein yes Deputy Mayor meinhard yes mayor Anthony yes and when will this second reading this will be uh having its final hearing on August 26 okay great thank you Carolyn all right we're now up to consent agenda for Resolutions all matters listed with an aster are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the council and will be approved by one motion there will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the governing body so requests in which the case in which case the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda as part of the general orders Caroline I think we're pulling 181 for tonight resolution 181 is going to be removed from the agenda okay and know councilman one that was mayor I would like to uh 189 for 189 yeah I know uh Caroline what was what were you saying second yeah so resolution 181 is going to be removed from the agenda and resolution 189 will be pulled from the consent okay anyone else want anything P or no no good all right so you want to read did we pull another one J yes that's call that's call it's not no okay um okay I'll read the resolutions if you'd like sounds good okay resolution 24179 authorizing 24 2025 recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities Grant application resolution 24-180 authorizing the award of a contract to M2 Associates Inc resolution 24182 authorizing a contract extension with Raritan Group Inc resolution 24-1 183 authorizing a contract extension with core and Maine LP resolution 24-1 184 authorizing a contract extension with Ferguson Enterprises LLC resolution 24-85 authorizing the award of a contract to Brent Material Company resolution 24-1 186 authorizing the award of a contract to Ron Group Inc resolution 24-87 authorizing purchases under the Bergen County cooperative pricing system resolution 24-1 188 authorizing purchases under the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey purchasing program resolution 24-1 190 resending the contract award to American Asphalt and Trucking LLC and resolution 24-1 191 authorizing the award of a contract to s brothers Inc need someone is there a motion I'll make a motion to second okay any others no council members bani yes Viara yes Klein yes Deputy Mayor mhart yes mayor Anthony yes 189 thanks Carol pull resolution 24-19 supporting installation of crosswalks by Essex County at East Cedar Crossings at Royal Avenue in Brookside Place uh open for discussion motion motion motion second second any discussion yes uh mayor if I if I um this particular resolution has to deal with East Cedar Street um unfortunately um a couple of uh weeks ago um there was a fatality on that uh that road it's a very fast Road um the accident had nothing to do with speed at that time however it was an accident and um it's one of those roads that needed to be looked at and I I just want to thank uh a couple of people for coming out uh it's a county road so we needed to call the county but um I know Russ Jones was there along with our our police chief Gary maruts uh and his two captains and I also want to thank uh sanie Vargas from uh the county for sending two of his people out um what's going to be done over there is um new crosswalks are going to be designed um safer crosswalks uh for people to cross the road as well as uh new striping new pain on that road um to delineate um right side left side uh crosswalks and and everything new signage um is going on over there and I also do want to thank our Police Department who who constantly monitors uh that street for Speed I know they can't always be out there but it is a fast Street and uh this is just what we need to do is we actually need to pass a resolution to ask the county to come out and do work on that street because it's their street and I know in August um that's their next meeting so I'm hoping that this will be on their um their agenda in uh for their August 14th meeting thank you any other if I may so I would like to Second um councilman VI's point there uh nice for County to come down uh we do the assessment and I completely agree this resolution resolves the the challenge that we have there uh we have as a council here I mean we we do look at uh safety as as as a number one item and I think as soon as we saw this this was uh something that that that's that's showed a uh you know a sign that something need to happen but uh this is as councilman VI said it's a county road so there is uh a process which the county has to come in and and assess and do it we also have across the bo several County Roads and State Road as well so as part of I just want to remind uh the residents here that this Council has passed the vision zero uh which actually looks at all of the complete streets policies and all of the streets across the board in the town so this there will be a larger uh effort as well along with this and just want to highlight that part take the opportunity here thank you m um any other comments no I do want to say that yeah I I'm gonna I'm in support of this I'm certainly in support of Essex County's installation of additional crosswalks at at this location and several locations including uh installation of pedestrian signage uh on this County Road and other County Roads and from my understanding we passed this resolution um giving the okay um for the county to fix the county roads so any no other comments okay so we need a vote on that council member bani yes viea yes Klein yes Deb mayor mhart yes mayor Anthony yes all right a motion to open the meeting to the public portion on any subject second any opposed no all right Lawrence Barnett Windsor Drive Livingston this is a letter I wrote to the editor of the West sassic some of you might have read it already some maybe not title is unreliable utility as everyone aware is aware there was a major outage that started in the evening of June 26 during a storm well maybe not everyone that that's because the township of Livingston is serviced by two utilities Jersey Central and pscj the east side of town is psng territory where there are 8,508 customers over 5,000 poles 119 miles of wires the west side of town Jersey Central territory is 3,800 customers 1,600 power poles 43 miles of wires so Livingston has two to three times the area and cover that Jersey Central has that night there were a total of 2,459 outages and every one of them was in jcpnl territory it doesn't take a genius to realize that something is seriously wrong with because it was the same storm for both sides of town now I've worked for pscg over 32 years years before I retired a few years ago and I know what the problem is jcpnl does not have redundancy like PSC and G has in addition I was out for 44 hours and it was caused by a power pole on Hillside Avenue near Hobart Gap that had a tree branch fall on it and it bent over and then finally it flipped over the thing caught the wires were burning the next day there was a police car parked there watching the fire of the pole and the wires I know because I took a picture of it I walked because I live a block couple blocks away I walked over there and was talking to the policeman I said where's jcpnl they're just letting this thing burn out of control nowhere to be seen so like I said I had 44 hours of outage things got thrown away there is a series ious problem with Jersey Central because a lot of people don't have generators so they had the same issue as me but I'm surprised nobody else ever wrote in uh what I'm asking is is there a way the Town Council or the town manager can start an inquiry into this unreliable utility so I I'm going to I'm going to jump in on this um I was well aware of what happened just let's go back one second so while the poll fell over you're absolutely right the poll believe it or not actually was owned by Verizon not by jcpnl there was jcpnl equipment on a Verizon poll oh so they were renting space just so and it took a while for JC pel and Verizon to talk to each other so with the help of our Township manager um we actually were able to speak to the jcpnl and the Verizon reps and to make sure that within two hours after that phone conversation came up there was someone at that poll and some of the people in the Coventry section got back online quicker than the people who live in the on Hillside and east and west and north in those areas it took an extra day or so so we we are aware of that as well as a followup to that which I believe everything I we know what you said we know about JC pel versus PNG um I reach out to assembly woman Rosie boli who lives here in town and who also was affected by it as well and last last T Monday Tuesday Monday Monday Michael Monday I'm sorry because we usually meet on Monday so um last Monday a meeting took place at the assembly women's office here in Livingston councilman Vieira and myself attended uh there was two representatives from jcpnl uh one is our local rep and one is his boss who actually used to be our local rep um we had a really Frank discussion and we conveyed exactly what you said I had gotten 15 20 phone calls from people in the Coventry section one or two people who live on the hillside and that in the East and the West area and I conveyed exactly the phone calls that I got and we said this is really unacceptable and the turnaround is unacceptable and what was even more unacceptable is the communication the communication is really the key to this um nothing's going to change by the next storm we we know we know what the issues are the equipment the the lack of service in this area we know that but the communication is really the key and the conversation that took place at the assembly women's office with councilman Vieira was all about communication how to better communicate to their customers what is going on and to try to figure out how to change it they have applied for I think a $935 million was that the number that he told $935 million um U um Grant from the BPU in Trenton to upgrade all the systems whether they're going to get all that money come the funding season I don't know but they they've requested that and specifically to upgrade the sections that include the the living St area so we've done we've already been proactive um to your request and I've already met with two people from BP from JCP well they also aren't they still using the mall for staging area for their trucks and Crews they they do um they do I think pscg uses it also because pscg actually owns part of the the mall there's a there's a few miles of radius that they that they belong as well so they use it as well you know my my concern was what I don't when I when at the meeting I asked why is it that if one of your polls goes down if one of Verizon's poll go down why can't JC panel or PSC and G who may not be as busy that day obviously psng may not have been as busy that night why couldn't they come and fix it to help the residents why is it always very territorial why is it always about is it your poll that's actually was kind of the questioning that I went after because I don't understand that at all if a poll is down and it affects people it shouldn't matter whose poll it is the idea is to get people back up and running as soon as possible and that's and that's so that was my questioning um and obviously there was a lot of Legally legal stuff that went around the answers to that and insurance stuff and payment stuff that they gave us about I get it but I said to them I said you bring in trucks uh First Energy Corp they bring a truck from Ohio all the Ohio and other states for these for these um for this cause I go you have PSG who might not have been as busy because maybe they weren't as affected by the storm who are right here they could have helped well look I realized you know the storm was coming from the West so Mars County and out there was probably hit very bad I believe our town manager who lives in Rockaway was out for two days as well W with with JC p with JCP now so I I just want to let know I'll let the councilman speak as well I just want to let you know that we've been very proactive since that date and we are working together to try to get better we had already meeting I just want well if you need me on any of your you know councils or any kind of put together if we put a committee together it would be interesting yes I it's not a bad idea to think the problem with them is they don't have redundancy if a line gets cut the PSG can go around and circumvent that P Jersey Central can't that's the big problem yeah mayor thank you uh I can't add much more than what the deputy mayor had said but what I want to do is thank the deputy mayor for uh immediately contacting our assembly woman Rosie boli to get a meeting with the jcpnl people they were at the table and uh Ed thank you very much you jumped right on that and um the the only thing that I want to talk uh mention is that we did talk about communication and we we always say even up here communication is key to to our community and to our residents and at that meeting they actually realized that they were missing a key part of their communication so uh they're putting a new process together to make sure that anytime something goes wrong that the mayor and Deputy mayors of every town that they deal with are informed right now they they don't include the uh the Mayors and Deputy Mayors they only include the town manager so if they can't get in touch with the to manager uh or the uh Emergency Management coordinator of our town uh we're we're in the dark so um the mayor and Deputy Mayor will be uh also informed but today I was speaking to the uh somebody that worked at the West Essex um it wasn't Michael was another fellow he said he lives in wanaki and they're at the end of the jcpnl line and they're constantly having problems with it too you know thank you motion to close this oh I'm sorry no no okay now I'll make a motion to close the public for on any subject a second uh reports of uh anyone and got anything no I it was the budget for me I know thank you thank you you Adam no nothing great thanks very good all right uh let's see just keep going this way Michael um I'm not sure whether we had a meeting uh after the July 4th uh but I I want to thank the entire July 4th committee for putting on an awesome um day and fireworks uh it it's estimated that uh we probably had about 15,000 people um at our fireworks and uh they just did a a a great job and I just want to thank the entire committee um for volunteering um also um just want to mention that there's a um kuas Club of Livingston they have a golf outing coming up um uh August 12th um if you go on to their website you can get uh some information about that and um if anybody um can um Livingston neighbors helping neighbors our food pantry is uh in always in need of food so and there's a a drop box at our Police Department so um if you want to donate some uh non-arable Foods or and some foods uh uh at any time of the day or night there's a Dropbox at our police department but uh I do believe that they are in need of some uh some supplies thank you mayor thank you Sean um I want to thank Adam again I think that this initiative is something that everyone in the council you know one of the things that we do as a government is we we all think it's very important to be responsive to to Residents and um this system is going to help us to do a better job of being responsive and I just thank you for all your hardw work on this I know it's been a long time trying to put this all together there's a lot of moving Parts a lot of departments have to be involved a lot of planning so um I'm I think you know I speak for uh myself but I'm sure I'm speaking for the rest of the council that I'm really excited about this initiative and I think you know when you talk about where the rubber meets the road this is going to be the new place where that happens and it's really going to help us to take better care of the citizens so um so thank you for that um I wanted to just uh we got an email today an invite from the National Council of Jewish women who have this absolutely fantastic event I I believe it's a week from from Sunday um and it is uh an event that they're doing uh they do it every year essentially they build out an entire store for a back to school event so that a lot of disadvantaged kids from uh Newark uh essentially get on buses and go shopping for all their back to school backpacks and clothing and pencils and everything else you could want to go back to school and they do it every year and it's just one of the most fun EV that that uh you know I certainly enjoyed and love going and seeing all the kids light up uh and you know and you know we all get an opportunity to be a personal shopper for the kids and we take them around and we help them pick out all their things and it's really a fun event and it's just it's a wonderful thing that they do and I just uh I'm looking forward to that and I congratulate them on on keeping that going um I would say uh we had a chamber event last night um for the uh you know for uh all the businesses in town and uh it was lousy weather but pretty well um attended and uh thanks to Lum and bagel for um hosting that and to maner and CR who always does a good job running those events um and you know it's always a good way to highlight uh the event uh the different businesses in town and then also Network so that people can meet each other and um uh you know start to uh increase their business and the last thing I wanted to say is we just keep hearing about these great numbers in town about the precipitously dropping crime um and I really hope that uh that uh Chief maruts will come in uh and present us mayor if we can get that on the schedule um because I think it's important for the town to see that our efforts have been paying off and the hard work of the police have been paying off and the the um the uh light um excuse me the uh license plate readers uh that we've installed have really been a deterrent and even uh uh the front page of the West Texas Tribune uh this in in this issue just out uh this morning uh highlighted um a uh case of a stolen car coming off the highway entering into Livingston which was immediately pulled over and uh the person driving that car was arrested and prevented from whatever Mischief or or no good they were going to do um it was stopped so I think these initiatives are really starting to work and something really we can be proud of I know it's been an initiative that I was uh you know fighting for in spearheading and I'm really happy to see the results um thanks mayor um just one note Chief marshs will be here at the next meeting on the 29th because we're swearing in some newly promoted Sergeant so I'll ask him if he can can he take some time it's he beer anyway can you do with that yeah you're going to ask ask him that yes thanks and I think the West sess Tribune did note that he would be coming in at a future meeting so another plug to the uh the Tribune there thanks mayor thank you thank you uh Ed um just real thanks I just going back for to what councilman viea said uh the July 4th committee deserves a really special thanks for everything that they did um also just want to give a shout out to the DPW and the Livingston Police Department on that day as well they did a tremendous work um a lot of people in town and everything was handled very professionally as always and uh so we appreciate everything that they do um and one more event just to highlight uh Jewish National Fund is having this Sunday uh at Suburban Torah at 7:30 um some of the parent some of the relatives of some of the hostages uh who are still being held in Israel and we keep them in our thoughts and prayers and uh Michael ISO thank you for giving them uh the publicity and writing them up in that so very much appreciate it thank you great thanks okay yeah I I'll definitely second uh all of that was said uh especially July 4th committee 15,000 people is no small thing lots of towns around us they did not have the fireworks I think one of the biggest and the best decision that was made to pull the fireworks 15 minutes before and I think most of us would know that as soon as the fireworks ended the drizzle started and then it's it really was a downpour so it was a great call so all in all great work by the committee uh and excellent way of executing it lot of fun the entire enre day and it did not get ruined by uh a little bit of a storm that that passed through that night um I would also like to Second uh what councilman uh Klein said uh Adam great job about that uh that tool that we now have at our disposal but let's absolutely make sure residents know about it and make full use of it because it's it's something that is now in the in everybody's Pam you know poms to kind of you know execute on it on the website and just you know more of a self-service than anything thank you great thanks again Caroline anything nothing tonight mayor thank you great thank you uh counselor thank you mayor no report tonight all right great I think everything's been covered um but I do have to and and we did it we uh we did it up on stage at the Fourth of July um where we we kind of just jumped up there and thanked the uh the 4th of July uh committee 15,000 people it was awesome we got in before the rain we been lucky that way the Memorial Day Parade we got in between rainstorms there was a bunch of towns that canceled it I found that out on a on a mayor's call but the Fourth of July I think uh we do that tremendous um just a great job by everyone on the uh the committee and the DPW and LPD and everyone else oh and first aid too there was a there was an incident for that first aid had to jump in uh too so great job by everyone uh Sean you mentioned back to school and I gave you that email there thank you Adam uh the chamber thank you Monty and Livingston Bagel uh great job as usual that's become an annual uh barbecue in the summer and um Barry you're gonna ask Chief mous uh about the 29th to I already did yep oh you did yeah wow that's great um so anyway that's that's all one other quick note uh councilman ver reminded me uh just to make sure everybody out there anyone listening uh the summer concert series is underway two of them have occurred one uh was last night had to be held indoors because of the rain but there's still two more they have been moved to Wednesdays um because I think the the belief was a lot of people rot it down on the weekends in the summer so two of those to come and then August will be movie month and art month follows that or what no okay and mayor also just um there will be a u we're going back at the conference after this but there will be a Clos session with the topics will be affordable housing legis um affordable housing under attorney client privilege West H Gap Road under attorney client privilege and Oprah under attorney client privilege and that we will be going into close following the conference meeting that's great the three on resolution 24 192 and other than that that we no further action as governing body tonight other than to go into closed session okay so we will go back into open conference right now okay great thank you everyone for coming out for