all right good evening every everyone and welcome this is a Township council meeting for February 13th 2024 this meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings act this meeting was included in the annual notice the meeting schedule set forth in resolution R23 277 adopted at the Town council's regular meeting on November 21st 2023 advertising the official newspaper on December 21st 2023 December 28 2023 January 4th 2024 post on the bulon boards outside the municipal building and has remained continuously posted there in addition a copy of the annual notice is and has been made available to the public and is on file the offices of the Township Clerk please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance ALG to the United States of America for it stands indiv thank you madam clerk councelor Cummings absent Deputy Mayor Hurlock absent councelor price Abrams present councelor Russo Pres pres councelor slager absent councelor Terry present mayor Spiller present thank you very much uh we have the uh we'll move the agenda of flexibility we have the minutes from nove from December 19th 2023 and January 2nd 2024 and January 30th 2024 um and I so move second it's moved and seconded any questions concerned modifications seeing none all in favor please say I I I opposed no extensions thank you very much um we have those as well uh we have um uh I'd like to do go to next a proclamation this Proclamation is in recognition of Black History Month and whereas Black History Month is the month in which we bear witness to the progress richness and diversity of African-American achievement and whereas during the 1920s an African-American named Carter uh Woodson created and and uh promoted negro history week which was celebrated in February because it included the birthdays of Frederick Doug Douglas and Abraham Lincoln whereas in 1976 the monthlong celebration was implemented uh as a time for Americans to reflect on both the history and teachings of African-Americans a history which goes back thousands of years beyond that of slavery and includes some of the greatest most advanced societies uh the human uh the history of human existence has ever known whereas black history is American history and the contributions made to our nation by people of African descent are numerous and vital to the fabric of our society whereas celebrating black Black History Month helps us to appreciate the diversity and character of our of our region and highlight the importance of sharing our cultures customs and traditions with those around us now therefore the mayor and the Council of the township of Montclair do hereby declare February is Black History Month in Monclair and we encourage everyone to join us in this month-long celebration as we learn more about the collective Ingenuity creativity culture and traditions of the rich African-American Heritage we call upon all Americans to learn more about the history of African-Americans and to observe this month with the appropriate programs and activities I so move second and I'll say this I think I think as it's noted in our Proclamation uh important to note African-American history is American history um and certainly very very uh important for us to to kind of recognize that put these pieces together um I think now more than ever when we see in so many spaces and places people looking to uh rewrite history or not teach a full accounting of History uh more than ever it's important to voice uh lend our voice with proclamations and other pieces to show um this is uh American history uh this is African-American history uh we want to make sure that all of the uh positive contributions that we' have seen over the years are uh explored taught and students see themselves in the curriculum that they learn about each and every day in school um and certainly even uh The dark past of this of this nation uh is not glossed over but also noted so that we uh recognize the work that still lays ahead but thank you very much everybody and that's why we do Proclamation such as this thank you mayor I just want to note that this is the anniversary I was told yesterday on February 12th which was my father's birthday so I never forget Abraham Lincoln but it's the5th anniversary of the founding of the NAACP and Roger councilman Terry's been president of the NAACP till recently but I think rajer you can confirm for me it's the 115th anniversary founded in 1909 and that organization is the oldest Organization advocating for people of color it was started at the time when I think a lot of lynchings were going on and there was a lot of uh Unity among Jewish and black community Christians Jews all groups to try to stop that so that's another thing we can commemorate on the 12th of February thank you mayor absolutely thank you very much Bob and my grandfather Albert ER Terry senior was one of the chared members of the founding group here in M CLE and that was in 1912 thank you all right uh next we're going to move on to pending ordinances for second reading we have pending ordinance 0 241 which is an ordinance supplementing chapter 190 housing of the Township Code and I so move oh second um it's it's moved because then we have an open then we have a public hearing on it thanks it's moved and seconded without objection I'm going to open uh the public hearing is there objection to the public hearing seeing none is there anyone wishes to speak on this uh ordinance seeing none I'm going to close the public hearing any questions concerns comments my colleagues seeing none Madam clerk councelor Cummings absent Deputy Mayor Hurlock absent councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo yes councelor shager absent councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes next is pending ordinance 0242 which is an amendment to the salary ordinance the offices of professional employees in International Union Local 32 uh for 2019 through 2025 I so move second it's moved and seconded without objection I'm going to open the hearing to the public is there objection hearing none I'll open to the public any wishing to speak on this ordinance seeing none I'll close public hearing any questions concerns comments seeing none Madam clerk councelor Cummings absent Deputy Mayor herlock absent councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo yes councelor slager absent councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes uh next I'm going to open for a public comment on any agenda items so if anyone has any comments on agenda items please come on up State the agenda item you wish to comment on and give your comment so please come on up uh for agenda items please make sure you fill the signin sheet next to the council um for for your comment U please limit your comments to 2 minutes and again note the agenda item with which you wish to address please may and members of council my name is Alex Morgan chair person of mon gr control board I'm here I'm here alongside my dear colleague Vice chair uh Tony Martin and tonight we're going to talk about uh why you see some amendments in your agenda tonight regarding montclair's rank Control Ordinance so uh part of our responsibility on the rank control board is to review the ordinance once a year to make sure that um everything checks out if there's any amendments issues that we we see that that's a recurring is issue and and to bring it before the governing body and with these recommended changes that we've submitted for this year um you'll see the addition of the definition of a tenant um adding the duties of a rent control administrator and you'll also see increasing the late fee for uh from $20 per dwelling unit to $200 per dwelling unit and the reason why we're recommending that change is because um according to the Monclair rank Control Office 17 77 total letters were mailed out to landlords asking to register 732 landlords have registered and 334 properties have been deemed exempt from the rent Control Ordinance today there are 4272 Family Properties 91 three Family Properties and 9 four Family Properties 23 multiple apartment dwellings and 101 mixed use commercial properties that the rent control administrator has not been able to contact their resp their respective owners so it means that these properties may be uh may be uh covered by rent control may not be but the office has been having issues contacting those owners so in this situation um increasing the penalty would incentivize these owners to reach out and and connect with the rent control office and file the rent registrations um Tony would you like to say before maybe before switching because you'll get your own two minutes yes Alex I you said some data real quick I just wanted to get it down 117 we can thousand whatever submit that yes yeah there was just one section if you know what you read it was like a couple of data points I just wanted to understand so so 1,717 total letters 1,000 were mailed out to landlords asking them to register their rent asking him and her to register their rent landlords as best we know okay that you know we're making history here just finish you I want you to have your full two minutes I just want to let him finish telling me what he said so 7 out of that 1,717 uh letters mailed out two landlords 732 landlords have registered okay and 334 properties have been deemed exempt from the ordinance however there's still 4272 Family Properties that have had no contact with the rent control office so they could be exempt they could not be exempt but there's no there's no communication and that goes for 913 Family Properties 94 Family Properties 23 multiple apartment dwellings so buildings that are larger than than four family uh four families and then also 101 mixed use commercial properties that the rank control office has not been able to contact thank you very much thank you so quick quick question on that too um and you can both app on this um one of the pieces I guess as you know as you noted as best we can tell and and we're we're making history appreciate your guys efforts in this so thank you start there thank you for your work on it um what what are you what kind of indication are you getting that the increase like late fine would be the thing right cuz I know we built in the ordinance right if you don't respond to this um then when a tenant you know wants to file something or does something you know you can't increase you don't get the um um uh uh uh de uh vacancy um increase that you would get if you've been filing you know there's penalties if you will built in if you don't file so what what what makes you think that the $200 would be more of a penalty or incentive I guess we'll use that word interchangeably um than some of the other things that were built into the original ordinance this is our thinking um number one we need to get the word out to all landlords we're struggling with that we know that um Mr Scott and de Malloy are working on an information campaign but we still feel that there are a lot of landlords that don't know where regist to get to your point where registration is particularly lagging is among the smaller landlords those are the ones we having more trouble reaching and uh we have smaller numbers of them registering so um we thought our thinking is that if we raise the penalty from frankly a very negligable $20 for failing to register to a more substantial number like $200 this would generate compliance um so pardon my so our indications uh from the community as to how to get better compliance we don't have any what do you but I'm a little concerned I'll just say it like when you note that you're having a hard time reaching and it's the smaller you know individuals um we're trying to get the word out you all the all the words you just used and we're going from hey I get it you increase the penalty but quite frankly pretty big right 20 bucks to $200 right big jump um but if we're not getting to them if they're not aware of it if they're not you know by all indication it's not that they know and they just aren't doing you know we don't know if they know right how how do we I mean I I guess there's a little bit of a concern that I have of jumping to that kind of penalty on the small mom of Pops if we're worried that we're not even reaching them so that they're aware is there another you know way you know working through the manager that we could get you know into their um you know other methods that you guys have thought about or looked at or discussed maybe we could get that notice into the water bill like you did with leaf blowers um I still feel that two years after implementation and all these letters have been sent out that we probably need to increase the fee for late registration um and I think the majority of the board feels that way um a lot of people as like you or me um kind of just might ignore a lot of this unless we got to notice that it's a that it's a fairly substantial fee for ignoring it um hate to be a hard ass but um I think that that's where we have to go um Alex than you Tony the only thing I would like to add to is when it comes to the late fees right we don't know if we don't know if an a property owner is aware of rent control or they're just blatantly ignoring registering that that's the issue that that we face today right there's been a lot of press around the rank Control Ordinance we're not sure if people are unaware or they're just not registering but right now there's there's an incentive for property owners to not register and ignore the ordinance because there's no real penalty for them at the moment well should we this is what I started with though shouldn't we be highlighting and maybe it is with a registered letter or something you know certified mail or something along those lines which is a cost to us right as a Township but then you know someone has received this or signed off on this but including in that some of those pieces that we built into the ordinance which is if you fail to register right you don't get the benefits of right the vacancy de control uh uh and and and increase you don't get the uh benefits of if you have to make a hardship improve you know all the things that we built in like if you're not registered you don't get that um and alerting them to there is there are penalties because all of a sudden when you want to do blank and someone you know comes to you with it and says hey they're they're raising my rent by blank or they're trying to do this and they say yeah because it's been 5 years or well no CU you didn't register you know so maybe in a registered letter uh certified letter making people aware of the penalties that do exist because they do exist it's just not the late fee penalty you know because I'm just a little concerned that if we're not sure they're getting this even to raise it 200 we're we're going to be sitting here with 427 properties that owe $200 instead of the tell you this though to counter that argument the landlords we have on the rank control board are frankly a little irritated they've registered they've paid their money they have complied and so why do all these other landlords not have to it's a matter of fairness oh I agree with you I'm just going with what you said like we're not sure if they know that's the one bit anyway any other questions for my colleagues yeah I just want to I just want to thank you both and ahava who started this entire U tomb organization tenants organization of Monclair is here but you know you guys are doing a lot of good work last just a year or so year and a half two years so we want to make sure this is done right so I think maybe the best thing is to postpone or table this you know and then continue working on it there's only four of us here tonight so we shouldn't make any final decisions so would that be okay with you to a that's what we would suggest all right thank you yes please any other so so see I I think not just table ex but if you could work with the manager to see what are some maybe we end in a middle ground right maybe it's a $100 fine but also we're doing a certified letter and we're you know some let's look at a couple different strategies I think because we're all in agreement right and agree with everyone else who says it's not fair some aren some AR all agreed but if we're just not sure we're reaching them I think maybe one other good faith attempt where we try a different way which is put it in the put it in some of the other bills as a notice right in in a water bill and a sewer bill let's put it in there I think that that's not really a big cost to us um and with with though I would ask you guys to to kind of put some of the things that do exist as the penalties if they don't register some of the benefits that they don't receive um and then maybe you know you're sitting here and you come back a year from now we say there's there's still 200 not registered okay all for $200 or whatever you know whatever it is but what but I think we give them a fair shake at hopefully getting informed but we'll look to you to come back to us with that I think you're hearing that's the yeah and may for May I I I would I'm okay with tabling this I would like to see if anybody else wanted to comment on it we'll take that as well and then you know I'm thinking of a springing kind of thing like we're going to give them this one bit of notice and I don't mind if it Springs to $200 if we give them the opportunity to cure by a certain amount of time like that's what we can be putting into the notice so let's let's kind of work in the next two weeks to see what we can tighten up in the ways the mayor and others suggested thanks agre has to be an incentive that's the thing right thank you so we're not what are we what are we doing then we're not we're wait for the other public comment else there is anybody anyone else wishing to speak to any pending agenda items see okay Sarah Avery and I'm speaking on the Aubrey and rker resolutions uh the majority of this Council repeatedly fails to demonstrate an understanding of the impacts that conflicts have on our Safety and Security and how collusion dismantles safeguards designed to protect us we have paid Aubrey $58,000 over three years with little to show we paid them throughout 2023 for the hate crimes Grant what value did they provide if Lola stumbled upon the Grant in a drawer especially given the fact we paid Aubrey for months for a project manager and months of client meetings 13,000 to apply for D storm water grants yielded no Grant funds only technical assistance 5,000 for the urban community forestry grant that was completely written by Town staff they charged us less for flat fee Grant applications there aren't any facts to support Lori price Abrams vague insistance that Aubrey has provided value to this community the Riker Danzig not to exceed C of 75,000 was exceeded by over 85,000 the RFP for the legal services contract requires the law firm to advise the town when they have provided services within 70% of the not to exceed cap the vendor is to stop all work until the amendment is approved by Council today is 8 months too late rker exceeded 70% as of June 30th and continued to provide services totaling over 100,000 any attempt to approve this resolution is illegal and unethical who would pay a vendor for services that are more than double the contracted amount taking risks with our Safety and Security has real consequences to the community thank you well I agree with you we shouldn't be giving so much money to Aubrey and we shouldn't be giving so much money to D Riker dancing so when we get to that I'll be voting no mayor council good evening good evening thank you for uh letting us speak about the ordinances I just read the uh new business ordinance uh 0243 and it says the west side of North Willow Street as I recall the west side of North Willow Street already has no parking standing on the west side is it the east side that the ordinance is addressing and if it is I believe there are two spaces between the parking lots between the corner and the opiz lot and then opiz has two or three spaces in front of it and then maybe one in front of that where the new apartment building is I think you're speaking on the east side if you're saying the up side the east side is where there is currently parking the west side does not have parking Mr I was also going to ask questions about this to tell you the truth Andrew so yeah the west side I had I had questions myself as to the whole street as it's described you know up to Glenridge Avenue um you know we got the memo from our engineer on this um but I really haven't had the opportunity since I received the packet um to to chase it down so this may be another matter we may choose the table after we get some more information okay I I would I would look at it so to your point um and I think the answer uh you know specifically often is it's not allow you see the signs that are there but if we don't have the ordinance that backs that up we can't enforce it okay um so it is to your point that side of the street is you know already no stopping and standing right um but specifically there when you're looking at I'm looking at it again right now as a review of it the the police feedback and you know um the engineering feedback right here uh basically looking at this saying that it it is the it is that you know West Side that they're talking about referencing here um so again I would lead it to believe that it is because we don't have an ordinance that backs that up and probably some other little pieces in here but it is the west side that they're talking about so it's not the east side that that parking I just wondering yeah it's so I would just note it shouldn't inter you know if you're thinking it's going to change that it is not um again I believe it likely is because we don't have an ordinance on that or some tweaks on you know some pieces around that but it is the West Side everything in here notes West Side so you have to go through what the engineers wrote up about what's existing I'm looking at yeah yeah which should be done in order to enforce it with PD yeah um this ordinance change will allow the Monclair Police Department to provide stricter enforcement in the area so little it's I'm sure than of what I'm saying um just a hopeful thought is that on the other side of Bloomfield Avenue South Willow Street in front of to South Willow there's signs all over the place people park there all the time blocking a lane of traffic if both sides could be included in that since they're pretty much in the same frequent used very busy area off of Bloomfield Avenue Mr Leo I'll ask you ask the police department and engineer to look at that side of the street which is we spoke before the meeting oh okay good we'll get back to that well I think we we move this and if that one separate because this is where we do not have an ordinance on this I'm not sure we wouldn't have an ordinance on the other side we might it might just be an Enforcement issue just it's just introduction today so it's okay thank you sure thank you hi I'm Christina Thomas JD MBA MPP most of you know me as Chrissy and then I'm running for mayor this year I'm a 54e resident I've attended meetings for quite some time and I'm always astounded by the wealth of accurate information provided to this Council by concerned citizens who research every issue for you so that you can make informed decisions your choices are often disheartening as a Council you decided to limit our time to 2 minutes to speak about specific agenda items which is contrary to the applicable law nonetheless abiding with your arbitrary and capricious limitation resolution r438 is a resolution authorizing an increase of 125,000 to the contract for Riker danzic for calendar year 2023 in 2024 this is disturbing because as you're required to know not to exceed contracts require increases before the work is completed any work they did beyond the contract increase before the resolution may not be paid it begs the question then why if the original contract was for $75,000 in 2023 this resolution increases it by $125,000 for 2023 bringing the outside Legal Services contract to a whopping $200,000 for 2023 our in-house Council Mr Burr is paid approximately $130,000 per year Plus benefits and Gina DeVito is paid about 60,000 Plus benefits and rker is but one firm this municipality uses many outside firms on top of paying for those two in-house attorneys M deito at least is our municipal prosecutor paid separately per session and please don't forget the GIF our insurer to whom we pay a premium and possibly a deductible depending on the case so this means the services were already rendered in 2023 despite the applicable law that says funds must be encumbered before four Services may be rendered I work from Mar Carter in English and I have my own practice at 96 Park so I don't know how we can do this I know how to read contracts why don't you thank you okay with that we'll close uh comment on agenda items moving forward on our agenda items specifically uh we have ordinance o0 2403 which is an ordinance to um amend chapter 327 vehicles and traffic this is the North Willow one and Bloomfield AV Glen Ridge I so move second it's it's moved and seconded any other questions concerns comments so as I noted I I will um it's on first reading and so I will you know move this with us tonight but I do want to ask for some clarification myself of the engineer so sounds good any other questions concerns comments seeing none Madam clerk councelor Cummings abs Deputy Mayor Hurlock absent councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo yes councelor Sager absent councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes and Mr Lolo if you can look on South Billow uh as as was noted there if you just check if that's an Enforcement issue or we also don't have an ordinance that notes it thank you um next is ordinance 02 2404 which is an ordinance uh to amend 0207 which is creating certain offices uh in employ Township of Monclair and fixing the salary ranges I so move second let's move in seconded any questions concerns comments I do um Council price Mr B I I didn't know if anybody in the office at present has the status of a paralal or the whole point is that we have a staff member but we don't have a paralal we don't have a paralal position so there's no paralal in the law this would be just to create that first thing that's to create the position very good thanks good any other questions my only question it again is I thought we had a paralal who's the legal assistant in the York she's the administrative assistant in the office she's not a paralal okay but we did have a paralal years ago I remember I am not aware of that counc M I think there was pargal you should have one so I support it but that may have been in the uh that person might have served a dual dual position I um as par as the she was the administrative assistant but she also had a paralal certificate so she could do both she could fill both UH responsibilities when she was uh the uh assistant for Mr tulac and Mr carasic any other questions no seeing none mam clerk councelor Cummings absent Deputy Mayor Hurlock absent councelor PR Abrams yes councelor Russo yes councelor schager absent councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes uh ordinance 02405 we already noted uh they're going to take a closer look at and work with you uh mola and we'll look for to seeing that coming forward next we got resolution R 2434 which on Rising the application to the New Jersey clean energy program I still move second moved and seconded questions concerns comments All I just want to really acknowledge what you know this is we are we're applying for um a community energy planning grant program I'm pleased again that we have an environmental Affairs coordinator there was a period of time where that position had been left open and I think we suffered for it and I think we're doing good work that Lisa's uh you know helping to develop programming and to bring dollars for it so yep agree y uh I think we're see application so um all in favor please say I I post extenstions thank you very much uh resolution R2 2435 which is rejecting the bid proposal received for custodial Services I so move second it's moved and seconded questions comments um seeing none Mr bur do we need a roll call on a rejection of bit or we just I do roll call all right Madam clerk councelor Cummings absent Deputy Mayor herlock absent councelor price Abrams yes councel Russo I just have to ask a question again because we have outside custodial Services that's what this is right yes sir we we contract out we're rejecting this bid for what reason again we're rejecting it because we're rejecting it at the recommendation of the purchasing agent because of some confusion as to the Exact Staffing for some of the different facilities so we ask that rather than uh going through a bid process Etc that we reject the bids and start over again because I'm looking at there's 12 bids am I right 12 vendors that apply yes sir with varying prices mhm one was way up but my question again is you know I I'm I guess I'm old fashion but I like to have our own staff do these things and have the contract out but it's just Contracting out as long as the people are getting paid a decent wage living wage and they're getting you know benefits of some kind but if they're being in any way exploited by the people who run these companies you know and they're just using people who will accept less money that's you know it's not a pro-union thing uh and it's certainly not good for those folks but I'd like to look into this somewhere so we're rejecting this and we can revisit it right yes okay I want to do that thank you councelor Russo yes yes reject reject I'm sorry councelor what's your vote I said yes because I want to reject it okay councelor slager absent councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes next is resolution R2 24036 which is authorizing uh the township of Mount Clair submit a Grant application for New Jersey Department of Community feris attorney for local Recreation Improvement Grant ISO move second moved and seconded this is for uh S Pool Improvement project Etc any questions concerns comments seeing none um again the grant uh application so all in favor please say I I I post extensions thank you very much next is resolution R2 24037 which is resolution uh authorizing the award of a contract to the ARB group for the township grant writing services for uh calendar year 2024 I so move second let moved and seconded questions concerns comments yeah here's my question do we reduce the amount is that what it looks like yes we did reduce it to 50,000 to 38,000 to 38 okay still higher than most other towns are paying from what counselor Cummings who can't be here now was concerned about as I was concerned about um I hate to punish the company for something that you know people are saying there's conflicts so but if they're doing a good job and if they're paying less I don't know um mam clerk no I here's my question what is the status again if they're working on that grant for the $300,000 for anti-hate are they involved still with that they're working on it got the grant that would be under this uh under this resolution so this contract with them would allow them to continue to implement ment that Grant and any other grants work yes cuz I want that Grant implemented I want something done with that money so I'm I'm conflicted because I want something done I want this group to be doing it I want this to get done but at the same time there were questions raised about this group all right go ahead call the rooll I I have a question approximately how many different grants are they working on approximately what you that as of the end of the last year I think there were five okay and it's an ongoing process we meet with the committee and then we go through all of the potential grants then we apply for some we refer them to all the Departments for uh comments so say it's it's an economic development Grant or it's an environmental Grant they then refer if the council's interested to refer it out to whether it's Lisa Johnson or Janice talum ever for their input as whether or not we should do this how it fits into what they're doing Etc if we're in agreement then we make an application for the grant mhm thank you so there's is a very set process that we use Council okay Madam cler counselor Cummings absent Deputy Mayor Hurlock absent councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo no councelor slager absent councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes next is resolution R 24038 which is resolution um to amend the fair and open uh professional contract for rer danzic a conflict General litigation attorney for uh calendar year 23 is so move second move seconded any questions concerns comments yeah it's another contract for outside attorneys that we're paying too much money for so I just can't I can't see us continuing to do this and spend this much money so I'm voting no on this I just I did it last time I'm going to do it again I don't know why when a vote is taken like this with four of us here the three is a Maj considered a majority Mr attorney sorry when there's only four of us here and I vote no and three vote Yes it's a majority a majority it passes even though we usually need four when all of us are here if you have if everybody's here you need four yeah so I'm saying that three if three vote Yes and I vote no it still passes yes you have a more than half of the board of the council seated I should know that I'm just trying to do that more than half of the council is seated so you just need a majority of the pre of the council members pres so I'm tilting at windmills but I like Don kyot okay go ahead uh Madam clerk councelor Cummings absent Deputy Mayor Hurlock absent councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo no councelor slager absent councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes next is resolution R 24039 councilwoman price a would you do the honors sure um Bill list resolution or 24039 whereas invoices against the township of Monclair in favor of the following persons for the amounts set opposite their respective names have been received duly audited and found correct now therefore be it resolved by the Council of the township of Monclair in the county of Essex that set invoices B and they are hereby ordered paid and that check be drawn by the finance department to the order of such persons for the amounts respectively and here and after stated on the computer print that attached here to and made a part hereof bill is date 213 2024 total amount 3,233 755 49 and I so move second any questions concerns comments seeing none Madam clerk councelor Cummings absent Deputy Mayor herlock absent councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo yes councelor slager absent councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes uh next we've got discussion items M Le obviously we've uh reviewed these in our packet and and can read them there but if you have anything else to add to each of these items as you go through quickly we'd appreciate hearing it the first is resolution authorizing a fair and open competitive Contracting Professional Services contract is cgpn LLC for affordable housing agent affordable housing Home Improvement program administrator um they were the only uh this was this was uh put out uh to bid and they were the only um respondent and they have worked for us previously and they have done a good job and I um and that's uh thus they are on the agenda item number two is a resolution awarding a contract to sanitation equipment Corporation for the provision of one rearload or truck for Montclair Department of Community Services in accordance with sourcewell national Cooperative contract we are part of this cooperative and we are purchasing this vehicle in the amount of $314,800 to keep it in house is making sure you don't fall behind on that so just noting it as you do that so but excellent thank you resolution Waring contract to store store tractor company for the purchase of one grounds groundmaster tractor for the Department of Community Services in accordance with ESC and jquad bro contract this is another Cooperative contract a joint purchasing Alliance for the purchase of this equipment in the amount of 38,1 14874 number four is awarding a contract to Edge business Alli liance LLC for the Monclair parking utility uh financing accounting reporting and payroll services and that is in the amount of $40,000 number five is resolution awarding a fair anop contract to Matrix Matrix New World engineering land surveying and Landscape architecture PC for environmental remediation projects at the Monclair DCS yard at 2 219 North Fullerton um and this is the amount of [Music] $5,495 the next is a bid rejection uh resolution rejecting bid proposal received in bid 23-22 23-23 for the purchase of vehicles for the Township Fire Department pursued to njsa uh 40 A1 uh 4A colon 11-13 d2c which is they aren't able to deliver the vehicles in the time in which the bid specified number seven you get any sense by the way on that with um like the I'll use an air quotes because sometimes we're getting T this at times but the supply chain issues and other pieces are we confident that someone else would be able to meet those time frames according to what I'm told yes yeah okay is there any value in moving this tonight in other words it's a rejection so it's yeah we're starting the whole the process has been is prepared and ready to go again so hopefully we'll have some be able to purchase it from someone who's able to deliver the vehicles I think counc is just noting does it help us at all if we reject this today or it doesn't help doesn't make a difference it allows us to move forward I think it's more of a an internal we're rejecting the bid we can't rebid something that's so is it is it helpful to you if we do it today am I right move it tonight so then or you can move to the oh that I'm sorry yes you can move it tonight that's correct y I'm Sor do it so I move move D and seconded any questions concerns comments uh seeing none you said vote on the rejection so we'll do it again let's vote on it Madam clerk call the roll on that councelor Cummings absent Deputy Mayor Hurlock absent councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo yes councelor slager absent councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes good number seven is a resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract to Edmonds gvtech for support and maintenance a proprietary software of Township Financial Utility Billing tax collection and accounting services in the amount of $ 27,1 120 um have we used this in the past is the same one of tech I'm sorry it was 33955 with additional average processing fee for a total now to Ace $63,000 well it's 33,000 and then another 30 for processing 27 and change it's approximately 2260 a month so it comes to 60,000 altogether right 63,000 this is to help everybody be able to pay through a um portal portal right for you know technology which is a good way to do it all but you feel this is a reasonable amount the finance department does okay I mean we don't have to do an open bid on this because it's no it's I believe because it's it's proprietary software they're supporting proprietary software so they don't have to bid well I'd like to be sure that if you read the third paragraph counselor it says the provision under the law the provisions or performance of goods and services for the support of Maintenance of proprietary computer hardware and software is an exception to the bidding requirements of the New Jersey local public contracts law well let me ask you then we're just reviewing this for next meeting right yes so can I get a little more information from the CFO that's all okay have her tell me something maybe she can make a call to me is that okay got to go through you to get that or fine number eight is a resolution authorizing the use of competitive Contracting for consulting services for swimming Lessing instructions yeah I had a question because um we outs we're Outsourcing swimming lessons that don't lifeguards usually do that or our lifeguards or what what is this just tell me a little more about this I can provide you with some more information for next meeting counselor yes Outsourcing swimming lessons Okay number nine is a resolution ution authorizing emergency purchase pursuant to njsa 48 callon 11-6 to repair severe icing conditions at 31 Parkway Montclair uh there was an emergency uh uh back in I believe it was in November and um uh DCS engineering Etc had to address this emergency and repair the road and it was a it was in the cost of $18,350 now I just want to ask Parkways that little Street off of V right am I right we don't have the council person from the second ward here am I thinking of the wrong Street Long Edgemont am I right edgmon park Roger you know the town better than anybody right Parkway the little street is that little Street runs off Valley near the um Edgemont Fieldhouse down to Edgemont right Parkway am I right I'm wrong yeah I don't know that little streets Parkway yeah well I wanted to know are we just doing something in front of one specific address that's all I'm asking we're going to do a repair okay for ice in front of specifically 31 Parkway that's what I want to know is that what that is or was the whole street a mess in other words shouldn't it be where it was fixed was in front of that residence yes but it was a major problem that had to be addressed I think that's yeah I mean I I think that's the street I'm talking about okay thank you all right park parkwise across the street from Edgemont par yeah I you know just so you all know there's a a man living at number seven who looks just like me and everybody says that must be you Bob and he's real nice guy number seven it's your do you want to make sure the ice is cleared up at his house too thank you number 10 is a res excuse me a resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract to Delta Dental for Delta Health insurance for calendar year 2024 in the amount of $327,900 77 what is this what am I do you want want us to just move number nine being that we it was emergency work and we had to do it already that would be great yeah I so move second move and seconded questions concerns comments seeing n Madam clerk councelor Cummings absent deputy mayor lock absent councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo say Delta dentl no what you no 31 Parkway what are we on 11 nine you're on nine still no nine was the parkway yeah we're just vote they're voting on it tonight just because it was an emergency oh so we're going to care of that street my fav it happened already it was an emergency okay so yes yes yes sorry I'm already on to the next one councelor slager absent councelor ter yes mayor Spiller yes number passed Delta now we're on number 11 wait wait wait what happened with Delta all right that's just on the agenda for next meeting right but I want to ask about this sure okay Delta Dental so our this is for our employees to get dental insurance right yes so it's a company that provides Health Care Dental Care to employ where they get it for free as part of the package of benefits as employees or is it something they have to pay into or you know anything about this I believe it's provided to the employees so it's something the town absorbs the cost we already we have our existing contractors with Delta there's there's two parts to this one part was a flat fee one actually was a slight reduction so the numbers were extraordinarily competitive so we're recommending that we continue with Delta okay so I think I think everybody should have dental care I just had a new Crown $2,000 you only get about 2,500 is the cap on the what I buy insurance you know because they never covered Dental Care under Medicare and a lot of programs it's outrageous that this country has Medical Care excluding dental care for people but I want to ask the mayor how he got Dental Care through this program don't shake your head a lot of people don't have dental care they need Dental Care especially older people they need dental care cost so much to get implants to get crowns to get cavities fill to get all this work done it's horrendous if you don't have your teeth you can't eat as you get older you lose sight you lose your your teeth you have intestinal problems I got them all fixed I got a cataracts removed I got six implants and I just told you I went through the big operation got rid of the appendix got rid of the sigmoid colon I'm in great shape that's why I'm staying here now I want to know if the dental care that our employees get is because they're full-time employees and they get that as a benefit yes all right so how come a part-time employee any council member particularly the mayor could get that coverage somebody's got to answer that question for me because it's been bothering me for months all I can tell you gent rece any benefits at this time worth $28,000 okay I never got that I was never told I could do that and I wouldn't take it anywhere I don't think it's right I mean I think everybody should get it everybody should have health care should have coverage it's Medicare for all is my belief but how could we be giving money giving a $28,000 in Dental Care to anybody sitting up here good news uh councilman I couldn't agree more in that uh I think everybody should have health benefits and everybody should have dental benefits everybody should have medical benefits uh happy to run on that in 2012 and fully believe that today does that mean did you take these benefits that you shouldn't have are we on okay I rest my case I've never been a lawyer I made my point shouldn't be taking it shouldn't be getting it part-time volunteer employees here number 11 a resolution approving participation with the grant program ministered by the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety Office of the Attorney General application for uh funding in the amount of $45,100 uh with with um uh which is an ongoing um uh Grant and the total of the grant is has been is now will be up to $455,500 and this grant is for for what again the partment long safety attorney general where I worked for 15 years is giving us a grant for what it's it's it goes to the police department it is to fight increases in violent crime the money is derived from um forfeiture funds dur criminal uh criminal uh matters when people are convicted or sometimes not convicted and the uh it is administered through the Attorney General's office and our funding are we're eligible for a funding level currently in the amount of $4,150 thank you you're welcome number 12 resolution amending the fair and open contract of clear jacobe Al aier Jacobs LLC is special councel for labor and employment Labor Relations and affirmative actions and ethics for calendar year 2023 it is an increase of $1,557 126 for a total amount not to exceed $ 6,557 126 now let me ask you didn't we discuss last time that there were two law firms that were going to do our labor right ask the town attorney again there two law firms that we said we were going to use for labor but there's only one here that's for last year's contract Bob there we're increasing their not to exceed from 2023 oh so this is last year's bill which we've got to pay more for for Clear jacobe okay thank you okay and uh uh the clerk passed out another resolution for consideration for next meeting resolution designated BPP Holdings LLC is redeveloper for Block 3213 lot two and block 4202 lots 4.01 and 4.02 and authorizing the execution of a Redevelopment agreement this has got to do with the development mhm it's actually authorizing the negotiation of a of a financial a financial agement with them they're they're being named as the redeveloper so we can negotiate with them it's not an approval of an agreement and we're not going to we're not approving this tonight this is for next meeting yes sir it's not for tonight this is on for discussion for tonight for discussion for tonight unless the council wants to take action tonight it's on for discussion for tonight I don't think with only four of us here we should even discuss it let alone take action we should have the full council's input on anything like this so what's the reason this came up tonight hand it to us right here the last minute it's to get it on the agenda so you can discuss it and put it on for a vote next meeting but I had no I had no forewarning or any um uh prepping for this or you know I mean it just hit me it's like so many things have been thrown at us the last minute I know it's not midnight we started real early today so that's good but you know sometimes at midnight I've been handed resolutions to appoint a committee or something without being vetted enough so I would suggest we not do any discussing this tonight until we have all five all uh seven council members we only got four of us tonight I've never seen such poor attendant so I don't know what the reason is I just want everybody know it's my Valentine's Day is my anniversary okay so tomorrow I could have taken off this weekend this whole week okay um anything else you want to share on this one I just want to share that under the law um once someone is named designated as the redeveloper then they have to pay all of our costs moving forward in terms of attorneys fees Engineers Etc so the sooner from a budgetary point of view someone is named to negoti the better it is understood so great thank you m appreciate that um next we'll go into uh public comment all speakers must complete the signing sheet next to the uh clerk over there uh and if anything You' have to say we have three minutes for public comment good evening Eric tomato 25 Norwood Avenue in the First Ward like many people moved to Monclair I came here a decade ago with the assumption that the township was not only an oasis of beautiful streets diverse schools and nice restaurants but also of elevated Civic life unfortunately I discovered this was not really the case at least when it came to government instead what I found was the same political boss culture the payto pay pay to-play contracts patronage cynical voter disenfranchisement that makes my home state of of New Jersey a punchline and a cautionary tale now after some years of local activism in these areas I've decided to take the next step and put myself forward as a candidate in the upcoming Township election to serve the people of the First Ward and to try to solve some of these problems working from the inside I have a bit of a reputation for saying the quiet part out loud and I'm proud of that but I also know that being a good legislator means doing more listening than talking and being able to work with people that you don't always agree with I can do that I think in part because of the professional experiences I've had over the years sensitive work involving National governments here and abroad and international organizations like the World Bank My overall goal is to see a council that prioritizes the needs of residents over the political and business networks that tend to run things in our part of Jersey but I have other priorities as well on issues ranging from the sharing of pilot funds to the schools to the many ways we can make Monclair a genuine leader in environmental sustainability Equity Aging in place Traffic Safety smart development the list goes on the next Council should ask whether our current form of government is optimal and grapple with issues like a potential future in which daily commutes to Manhattan are rare and self-driving cars are common but it can't do any of these things if it remains bogged down in its current way of doing things as we move into the heat of the next campaign it will be natural for people to focus on personalities and the game of politics but I hope we can also spend time talking about ideas and data and how to solve and anticipate problems and to add clean good government to the many other things that make Montclair such a great place to live in thank you I want to warn you when you're a council member you should always have your pen with you it's actually not my pen and if anybody wants to sign a petition you can't sign petitions here in the council chamber I believe that's the rule right Town attorney I I'm not aware whether that's the role Bob so I'd have to do some research on that whether you could get a petition signed in good evening mayor counsel and Mr administrator um in regards to this latest snowfall um previously I talked about the overnight parking issues in the neighborhood south of Bloomfield Avenue Fullerton South Willow Union Street Gates Avenue uh needs to say things have snowballed in the point to there were many cars at least nine that I counted that were left overnight parking so the plows could not clear the streets from Curb to curb which can become a problem if we get another snowfall on top of this uh South Willow Street is 4T narrower now because and it's only 26 ft wide to start and that's on the traffic side the parking side they didn't get to the curb at all because were cars park there so same thing with Union Street wasn't able to clear it from Curb to curb those two streets are used for alternates for fire trucks getting up the hill when there's an emergency because it's usually not taken when Bloomfield Avenue is blocked up um just something to make sure that it's done when there's a no emergency the call outs and if need be the police over the loudspeakers hopefully not at 1: or 2 in the morning and um someone also should go to two South Willow Street and inform those administrators that their residents cannot park overnight without permits so that those vehicles are registered so they can be contacted when they need to be moved otherwise they should just be hooked up and towed into the uh yards so um I'll give you a c you know get did did a good effort but I think in the last two years with the limited amount of snow that we've had we've forgotten some of the practices that worked well when we were getting a lot of snow thank you Mr Leola on that front um I know we put out the notices right that we reminded Vehicles we also put out where people can park Vehicles right um we also open up uh some of the decks right to allow for that as well well um to the point um you know I guess maybe it's a conversation with uh police and others I know we're we're all hesitant to just tow vehicles but if it's uh definitely announcing and then maybe getting back to some of those practices I understand the concerns you're sharing it's a narrow Street you're talking about it we me can I add one more comment um last week I talked to someone who had parked overnight and when I mentioned the overnight parking they were totally oblivious about it they lived in two South Willow for 6 months and said I never gotten ticket overnight I said you've been lucky yeah it's two separate things but I I'll note if we can you know certainly have the conversation with South about the snow removal uh and removing all vehicles during a snowstorm which I do know we you know publicize quite uh robustly but if you can just uh you know to the point um you know certainly I noted it even driving over the street much much narrow um I'm going to add if I may as well um is it's also building management you know like if we have do we have list like that because I'm on the distribution probably the people in this room are all getting some kind of messaging you noted May or from the from where we put it out it's on the website you might get the push notice Etc but for the people who haven't signed up in some fashion or don't go looking for it you know there's there's just infrastructure I guess in terms of apartment buildings and others I don't know what we have registry of it's not quite like that formal I think but there maybe some informal things that we should be making sure you know that their targets of ours there should be someone to receive that stuff so it would hopefully take care of some of it anyway thank you hello excuse me yes it's one of those days okay so it's a beautiful day actually good evening mayor and Council let me go to the beginning I stand here in front of you as a monair native my family has been in this town since the 60s many before my name is aava fad one flow most people gracefully call me aava I'm the president of the tenants organization of Monclair the group that with a collective of caring Mont clarans brought you rent control thank God after what I've been told was 50 years of off again on again getting stomped out Etc we didn't have social media back then and we are grateful for everyone who came before us and tried digging in their heels for a good cause I live in this wealthy town just like many of you watching and listening I was not born with a trust fund I paid my own way through my alma mater Temple University and mclair state I had a handful of academic based scholarships and grant money after graduating from monair high school in 1993 I am Gen X I'm not a genz or a millennial but I love to work with them as well as genen Z and the generations ahead of me I was out on my own paying rent and bills since the age of 19 I know the struggle and I also know what it's like to Triumph I've still found a way to help others along the way and also up until this day and going forward that specifically said was for my friends who've been approaching me outside in shops in town asking me why more people my age are not here in Mont cleair advocating I answered you all as best as I can I see you and I hear you although I'm far from a dog you could call me an underdog many of the tenants who come to join us are too under and they need to rise above their challenging circumstances be they temporary or to the contrary long term this does not have to be the norm we are here to help you get out of the storm uh well maybe even be the eye of it one thing you can do is commit commit to yourself commit to help commit to pay it forward we are not a willy-nilly group the tenants organization of mon Clair is here to help you even while you recoup tenants organization Monclair gmail.com 9739 36884 for our Google Voice our next meet and greet will be on February 24th please check the @tom advocacy Facebook and volunteer to help thank you all have a good night my name is rabi shason I'm a 20year resident of the township of Monclair I'm also now as of January the chair of our Township's Civil Rights Commission and so I think all the counselors and the administrator as everyone is familiar what the Civil Rights Commission is uh tasked with addressing including eliminating discrimination recommending ways of working on addressing programs to reduce discrimination reducing tensions between communities and organizations across Montclair and recommending improvements in policies and Advising the council accordingly I know all of the counselors and and the entire team here has been very supportive of the rebuilding that's needed for the Civil Rights Commission and councilor Abrams has been a part of that and Advising on that um at this point the we I have a vision and I think a lot of the counselors that are remaining on the commission have a vision of driving this Civil Rights Commission to really become a leader in the state of New Jersey as far as the promotion of civil rights and really setting an example for the rest of the state in order to do that we look to your guidance and support to bring additional Commissioners we have supposed to have 17 we have seven right now given uh a large number of folks who have now left uh addressing kind of geographic diversity demographic diversity um diversity of viewpoints of ideas of communities to really uh represent this Township given all the wonderful values we have here and thereby uh really take that to the next level so I wanted to state that for the record and and I hope to get everyone's support especially the counselors here in in bringing that commission to its full strength thank you thank you Rie before you leave yeah before you leave I know your do your daughter your daughter was a student was it Monclair state or Monclair high school she wanted to serve on the committee remember and and I where's she going to college now yes she's at the University of Toronto okay but you know we try to consider we really we really didn't want to have too many relatives uh but you're doing a great job thank you for taking over from Christa rap report who did a long period of service it's unusual to have somebody service chair for so long so good luck to you thank you and say hello to your daughter thank you and I look forward to your support in getting counsel yeah we're going to get those appointments don't worry good evening my name is Lonnie summer Padia and I am a resident of Montclair um tonight I would like to address an issue that affects the Montclair community and the values that Montclair residents share and hold dear whenever anyone is asked why they chose to live in Montclair almost always the answer is we moved here because we wanted to live somewhere that is diverse safe has good schools and a sense of community I have lived here since 2018 and until recently I never doubted that Montclair was delivering on each of these attributes for the most part um that my family had sought out recently we we have seen an increase in Acts of Jewish hatred in our town unfortunately this is not unique to Montclair but I feel that given the history of diversity in Montclair we are uniquely poised to address these issues in a way that perhaps other towns are not and I am holding on to that hope Montclair is a town that has a black lives matter sign on virtually every other lawn and we pride ourselves on this very fact many of us myself included have stood in solidarity and marched in BLM protests again something our community takes pride in self-included I am here as someone who has and will continue to believe that black lives matter and as someone who recognizes the ongoing systemic racism that exists and as someone who who has and always will stand against all forms of Injustice and hate last week was BLM week of action in the Montclair public schools which is not new to our district we have Incorporated BLM week of action as part of black history month since 2021 however this year the website for black lives matter at schools contains content that is explicitly anti-zionist and anti-semitic as that term pertains to Jewish hatred the website was promoted and utilized by the district and was also provided to students and families While most of the content on the website was not concerning and essentially the same as in years pass the new content that is anti-zionist and anti-semitic was not denounced by the district nor were any measures taken to deter or alert students Educators or families from utilizing it the concern was discussed amongst many in in our community and and was discussed unfortunately in a divided way and was also discussed at last week's Boe meeting now mayor Spiller we are all aware that you are not only our mayor but also the president of the the njaa upon learning about this concerning content and doing my due diligence to research and understand how this content was incorporated and researching who and how this website with the anti-semitic content is being promoted and Endor and who is endorsing it I came across the njaa social media accounts to my surprise this same website black lives matter at schools was posted to the njaa Facebook page attached to a post that state that encourages njaa members to utilize the content in their classrooms in furthering my research I also learned that New York City Public Schools created their own BLM Education website to promote and disperse the BLM resources for schools while excluding the anti-zionist anti-semitic content I urge you to take that down off the njaa Facebook page and to please denounce it strongly and reach out to Black black lives matter at schools and tell them that you will not be promoting that website until they take that content down we need your solidarity we need your allyship I appreciate everything you've done to stand up to anti-Semitism up until now I urge you to do this thank you thank you Lonnie um I just want to thank you because I wasn't aware of what what happened in the schools in that regard but um I don't know if it was two years ago now but I I helped to create and draft um a proclamation for Jewish heritage month which is in May we don't have to wait for May but at the same time you know I think there's conversations and I'd be glad to speak with you about that we can make some time great thank you Sarah Avery Irving Street uh one year ago today the CIO purchased $46,000 worth of Cisco security software that included two shiny new firewalls less than a month later March 9th the firewall was breached Mr Lola insisted at the last meeting that we went by the book we did everything according to the law it is not legal to embezzle funds on June 30th Spiller and Burr withdrew $459,000 without authorization or CFO certification what book does the town follow if the town did everything by the book why wasn't the March 9th Cyber attack reported how can the same attorneys Dei Hunter and D philippo that work for njaa also negotiate the PBA contract the 2019 contract handed the MPD a 25% wage escalation that has cost this community Millions while the MPD by their own admission did less to nothing for the last 3 years and Spiller has the nerve to say we have to pay more if we want enforcement after staging his selft tribute at the last council meeting is there any doubt why the MPD packed the room is there any doubt that he is buying future votes with our tax dollars the February 5th Star Ledger editorial focused on Shan spiller's fail Chief among them his use of taxpayer funds to exact revenge on Steve Sweeny Garden State forward spent $6.9 million in the senate race to support Sweeney's Republican Challenger $5 million was spent on Advertising who even watches tv ads 5 million of our tax dollars meant to compensate the hardworking teachers of New Jersey pissed away Fran granny or LA lost but so did the teachers and the taxpayers and students of New Jersey and we stand to lose so much more the sunlight policy Center of New Jersey reports that Garden State forward gave $10 million to New Direction New Jersey run by The Bag Man Brendan Gil my own investigation reveals that Gil hasn't filed any reports since it's Murphy's pack and he's the governor I guess it doesn't matter when you have collusion at the highest level of government and lack leaders who respect personal and financial accountability the community cannot Thrive mayor Mr laul well I normally don't respond to the public at this point I I am offended on every possible level that you use the word embezzlement don't conflate what happened in March when the actual ha hack occurred everyone from when I got here in my review the notion that we would we would notify the FBI Department of Homeland Security go to our insurance broker all the lawyers that involved and somehow this was a big scam and just for the record I know that you're an accountant but the notion we'd have a hack and while they're negotiating with the bad actor we should put it on the bill list for audit purposes boggles my mind the notion that you take action on the bill list it wasn't on the bill it wasn't on the bill list while let me finish when it was when the negotiations were going on everyone wased provided everyone knew what was repated not accuse anyone of being emling money unless you can prove it so let the man speak yeah you're going toling money come with your proofs I know you're in a CPA or whatever you are come up with your proofs I have all the proof oh you have all the proof and I have I suggest you go to the US attorney of the prosecutor's office I have repeatedly asked for simply a copy of the ransom communication that's all I asked for so stop stonewalling just so you know I I oped the same information um my name is Christina Thomas I went to school here I went to Edgemont and mount Hein and Glenfield and the high school and I graduated in 1987 and because of the great education that I got here I was able to go to wesleyian and Penn and Georgetown and UVA and I got a bunch of degrees I got a law degree I got a master's in public policy and I got an MBA I can count and I can add I was told by one of the friends that I met while I was camp campaigning that I came off as rude when I said that we need to hire talented diverse individuals from within as required by the municipal code I apologize Mr Lola you are not just some random guy I know that you are I think you call him just a white guy just so you know go yes I said he was a random white guy from JY I know and you're I'm sorry I'm glad right you're from I used to run thee Park and I can take you to parts of New Jersey right you're from uh Union County right right so Union County and Hudson County are known as being less than uh as being politically part of the political machine and what I am is an advocate I am a lawyer I'm a trial attorney I advocate for people who can't always speak for themselves and most of the people in this town don't actually realize what's going on with their taxpayer money they're confused when Bob says why is Mr Spiller having his teeth paid for when he's a volunteer why did he take a payout for insurance why might they all get indicted except for Bob I apologize for my tone but I think it's necessary for all of you to do the same homework that all of us that get the agendas on Friday evening spend our weekends doing we try and inform you about issues and you ignore us we tell you that there's a contract that you're looking at that you haven't read that exceeds the RFP and you sign it anyway it's offensive to all of us so I'm sorry I offended you by calling you some guy from South Jersey I don't mean to offend any of you personally I actually liked when Miss Abrams stood up for her personal opinions about anti-Semitism I like when Bob stands up for what he believes in I like when Mr Terry stands up for the police and explains why we need things although I think we could budget it better that's supposed to be the job of our Township manager Mr Spiller is not supposed to direct everybody about what to do please vote for me for mayor and sign my petition thank you revisionist history good evening mayor Spiller in the Town Council my name is drik Lacy and I'm a proud I'm proud and lucky to have grown up in Montclair at Montclair High I've been a member of The Varsity soccer and baseball teams I'm also a student leader of the Montclair top soccer program and a and the president of the inclusion Club at the high school next year I'm excited to attend Wesley University and be a member of their baseball team over the years I have played a lot of baseball and soccer games all over New Jersey the only two Fields I've ever been scared playing on are Hillside and Woodman baseball fields thankfully for all the kids coming up the school district and Dr pwns have decided to get those fixed we were also happy when the school board voted almost unanimously in favor of fixing Woodman we thought we'd actually have a safe normal field to practice and play on I'm here tonight to ask you to please resend the stop work order at Woodman despite some terrible Fields my favorite thing in the world is to wear a monair uniform and compete as a mounty with all my friends this past weekend I saw our family friend Adam roie and I know Mr Cummings isn't here tonight but Adam Roy told me what a beast he was on the Hoops Court in the football field back in the day he also told me he was a leader he tried to listen I've tried to listen when coach Weaver and Coach Charles and soccer and coach gazi and coach geni in baseball talk about leadership they talk about it a lot they also talk about commitment and being about the team and not yourself they talk about the about sacrificing and competing well I hope all of you so show some leadership tonight don't let what whatever dumb arguments or who doesn't like who get in the way show us a better way our coaches talk every day about representing Monclair the right way and with pride we hope to present Monclair on a new actually safe Woodman field in 2 months please come together let the school district move forward with the with their plan starting tomorrow to get this done please resend the stop work order at Woodman do it for all the mounes who have come before and who are here now and who who will be here in the future thank you for all that you do for Monclair hello council members members U my name is Nate Omen and I'm a senior at mler high school and a member of the boys varsity baseball team I stand in front of you today as not just a student athlete but an advocate for baseball in our community I love the sport of baseball and it has shaped my future as I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play baseball for four more years after my high school career at Clark University as an advocate for baseball and other sports in our community I ask you the to the township to resend the stop work order on the Woodman Sports Complex it is imperative that the field Renovations are finished in time for the spring season for the sake of all athletes in our all sports as you may or may not know Montclair only has two full-sized 6090 baseball fields Woodman field and Nish Park this makes it very difficult for the five teams from through 7eventh grade to 12th grade to practice and play throughout the spring season but our base baseball program makes it work if the Woodman field and Renovations continue to be stalled due to the stop work order we may only have one field for the spring season as a senior on the team I'm fortunate enough to get first priority on the field I get to play on but I feel for the younger athletes in Monclair I know what it feels like to be in their shoes the last time Renovations were done on the Woodman Sports Complex was in 2019 I was in seventh grade at the time and experienced the challenges of the situation during that season our team rarely never got to practice that season we were stuck practicing on smaller fields and driving 20 to 30 minutes distances to play home games it was not an ideal situation for a seventh grader transitioning to the bigger Diamond it is something I hope that no other seventh grader has to go through again again I again ask for you the council to resend the stop work order placed on the Woodman Sports Complex it would mean a lot to the whole Sports community in this town thank you good evening my name is Benjamin St Pierre and I'm a junior at monair high and a member of the varsity baseball team never in a million years would I have thought that there would be so much controversy around something that seem so simple and straightforward to me our baseball field was not good it was dangerous and people voted to give us a new field we were so happy when we heard that news so it is amazing that we are now at a point that we may actually have no field to play on this year as someone who is trying to play baseball at the higher level in college my junior season is a huge year for me and not having a real field to play on and be able to uh like showcase myself does not feel right it is also unfair to all of our seniors that have already committed to play at the next level in college to not have a field for their senior year to get them prepared for college baseball and for the seniors that are not planning on playing at the college level this could be their last time ever playing baseball this also takes away from the sophomores and freshmen in our program they will not have they will not not have their own field to play or practice on and this will affect our program greatly for years to come the same thing is true for athletes and other sports who play at Woodman this whole process facing battles over Community input the size and layout of the field the Tes the trees and the turf the whole process is crazy but these issues were actually addressed and construction was finally started with just enough time for the field to finally be done for the season but instead we now have a half dug up field only four weeks before the season starts why because the town decided at the last minute to add a paperwork requirement and issue a stop work order and this was a requirement that could have been communicated months and months earlier so now what we wait for lawyers to fight it out at the expense of the community or do you lift the stop work order and actually give this project a chance to be completed in time for the season I'm asking that you lift the stop work order please find a compromise so that this can move forward in time for the season you know people keep talking about how this is a great learning experience for us kids to see democracy in action and it has been but I seriously hope that this has also been a learning experience for all the adults involved and that the same mistakes aren't repeated as you all try to finish other projects included in the bond referendum thank you for [Applause] listening uh good evening my name is Jesse Blau I'm a Monclair varsity baseball player and I'm a senior so this upcoming spring season will be my last and when the board Ed said that they passed the field and that we're going to get the turfield that we really wanted everyone was very excited it was it was a great moment cuz we worked really hard for it I mean we had we were staying up late on school nights being at board meetings and uh sacrificing sleep and homework along the way so when we saw that there was a stop work order in place we were all very crushed and disappointed because we would work so hard uh to get this new field for not just this year but many years we've won a new field and we finally did it this year and uh uh every kid on this team's fought for it everyone behind me all the parents they've just done a lot of work and to see the stop workk order in place is is very disheartening and uh we want to have a field that matches our abilities and spirit as a team and a field that embodies the drive for excellence all Monclair players have it is in your power to make this happen only if you put aside your personal differences and do what's best for the students of Monclair not in the following weeks or months but as soon as possible thank you [Applause] you hi I am not a member of the baseball team um my name is Richard Olman I live at 190 Alexander since 1996 uh this is the fourth time I've come to speak at a public forum about the topic of woodman field uh the first three times were to the Board of Education with regard to approving the project and I'll reiterate some of the main points that I made the last time I spoke which was November 1st the the most important thing we do as parents and as adults in a community like Montclair is to focus on our children what's best for them in the end that's priority number one and we mitigate the rest of our lives I mention that because it is that Community sensibility that allows so many of us in Montclair to rationalize the exorbitant property taxes that we pay because we have a public school system that for all its imperfections prioritizes what's best for our children it's a system that continues to split to spit out young adults who are quite well-rounded who have a sense of the many different people in the world around them and who we can all be proud of that was November 1st the night the Board of Education voted to move ahead with this project they were the body empowered to make a very tough decision one of progress to amend the rather embarrassing condition of woodman field that ex that has existed for more than 40 years when I played on the field in high school and they did I emphasize the date November 1st because after an extensive and passionate fight against this initiative against progress it was with surprise and dismay that on November 6th the Township offices suddenly began asking questions in creating requirements that in the preceding 18 months did not exist and these same requests and requirements became those that had not been applied to any of the previous sports facilities projects in the last 10 years not wung not Woodman the football field not fortunado not at all it doesn't take long to read the details of the lawsuit filed by the board to finish the project that they were empowered to complete it doesn't require expertise in the legal details of Equitable estaple or Equitable latches terms got to know to understand what's happening in this instance in sports it's an end run someone cried they found a sympathetic ear and now the parties empowered to do something are being held up literally and metaphorically by those who were unhappy with their decision work starts work stops work starts again work stops again and where are we going nowhere what aim to be progress in mounty pride is stalled the embarrassment that was the condition of woodman field is being replaced by the embarrassment that will be no field at all just piles of dirt that embarrassment should fall to the adults in this room and those who could move it forward but for whatever reason are not sadly it will also be born by the hundreds of kids who look to use Woodman for a variety of sports lacrosse track and field and yes baseball I'm almost done thank you these are the most prominent representatives of Our Town year in and year out and they are being done wrong by all of this so my ask to you is this do the job that you were entrusted to do enable the work that was begun at Woodman to be finished thank you thank you uh good evening I'm Tyler mat uh of Alexander Avenue I'm I'm going to put the put the point to you um directly I urge you to lift the stop work order uh at Woodman field and do so immediately tonight you have an opportunity here to do the right thing I ask you to do the right thing I ask you not to let personal Crusades or bureaucratic infighting Turf battles ironically Turf battles to stand in the way of progress and player safety that's what the issue is here I urge you to move ahead immediately you can do it you should do it it is the right thing to do and do it now thank you hi Michael St Pierre of High Street uh I'm a long resident of Monclair lifelong I went to school actually with David Cummings um I'm speaking here tonight to express my frustration with the continued delays and roadblocks that are being put forward by you to stop the progress on renovation of woodman field the conditions at Woodman that my son and his teammates have had to endure were awful and they should never have had to suffer through playing there now you will be asking them to play on even worse fields or have less practice time which could result in more injuries and affect their growth as athletes this could also affect their the rest of their lives we will never know how much or in what Manner but it is really disappointing that it could have been prevented your decisions are affecting the lives of hundreds of high school athletes in ways you'll never know it's really disappointing for those seniors that will not have a good home field to practice and play on these seniors had already had their freshman year cut short by covid so it's really a shame now to be impacted by your choices for some of these seniors it will be their last opportunity to play baseball it's also disappointing that the current freshman and JV teams will be severely impacted by your choices given the lack of other useful Fields this will affect the program for years to come I find this unacceptable as a parent as a lifelong resident of Montclair and as a former mounty I've seen the board of Ed's legal filing which says that the town had more than a year to voice their concerns about Woodman and and but did not express any nor did it require a hearing on the plan as it did for other referendum projects you issued permits for the trees to be removed you issued a stop work order shortly after that after a few neighbors had lobbied you which was after the contractor had been hired and started work then shortly after you rescinded that work order now after work is well underway you have issued the current stop work order and are requesting a hearing clearly there's a lack of consistency and Clarity here that needs to be resolved I'm especially frustrated because these delays are unnecessary and only serve to disregard the will of the voters which overwhelmingly approve the field renovation it also runs up the costs on the project and throws the entire Monclair baseball uh program into disarray both at the high school level and by trickle down effect at the junior mounty level it will also affect other sports such as track and field and Lacrosse these athletes will have limited practice time or no practice time at all which is critical to the continued growth as athletes and could lead to more injuries you should let the Board of Ed run its schools and manage its property to the for the benefit of the students you have the power to correct this I urge you to take the steps necessary to lift the stop work order on Woodman field immediately so construction can continue and there's at least a chance of providing a safe baseball field for 2024 thank [Applause] you good evening my name is Jody ason I'm a 15-year resident of Montclair my 15-year-old son has no idea what he wants to do when he grows up he has no idea what he wants to study in college but he wants to go to college why to play baseball if you ask him what he wants to do on any given day he'll say play baseball in season or off baseball is what motivates him it keeps him active it keeps him so social it keeps him mentally physically and academically on track he's been involved in the monair baseball program since prek and has never missed a season except for covid and over the years has played and practiced on every field in town as a family we've supported him from a young age and as a freshman at MHS last year he couldn't wait for the spring to again play baseball and this time play BAS with his MHS peers when he heard that one of the items in the bond referendum was a new baseball field he couldn't believe it it was like the MHS baseball team hit the jackpot a real Field of Dreams since the start of the approved project it seems like the Field of Dreams has turned into a nightmare how uncomfortable it's been to even try to explain to him why if a referendum was passed and approved why it keeps stalling he walks to Woodman almost every day at lunch or after school to see what's going on with the construction even as an adult it's uncomfortable to process and understand why if a project got the okay it keeps stalling if those involved made a commitment and approve something why are they now caving to outside pressures we're not giving up hope not for him not for the team and not for the future of MHS baseball I respectfully ask all of the members of the Town Council to please lift the stop work order on Woodman field as soon as possible and let the Board of Ed manage this project that has already been approved and commenced let these boys be proud to be mounties proud of their school proud of their town and proud of the adults that made it possible thank you [Applause] good evening my name is David Su I live at 249 Orange Road um I've been in Montclair for almost 5 years we moved in August of 2019 shortly before Co hit um my son is uh going to be 15-year-old tomorrow uh it's his birthday my son when we moved here uh right before we moved I was a assistant baseball coach at inner city uh baseball team in Seattle at a high school we played on a dirt field that field is getting fixed and it's turning to Turf in one of the most environmentally conscious cities on in the in the country all of the baseball fields are Turf you might have heard Seattle Reigns a fair amount if you don't Turf the field you don't play and they are turfing the fields in those areas but the main thing that he learned with being a part of that that team because the team adopted him when I was the assistant coach he was a fourth grader they took him under his wing he learned how to be an adult to a certain degree he learned how to conduct themselves he learned how to show up to practice every day how to practice hard even when you weren't at practice he cares for nothing more than he cares about baseball and to prove that fact I just want to we have a family uh list and he puts his birthday list what he wants every year this is his birthday list a bat bag baseball sunglasses metal cleats molded cleat wood bat batting gloves a Bluer white arm sleeve and his big gift was a new first basement's SP you have the power tomorrow to resend the work order and give them a gift that could exceed all of those and I ask you to do so thank you very [Applause] much hi there my name is Jason Blau 38 Fairview Place I'm a 14year resident of Montclair I'm a father to two baseball players right now at Montclair High School and I recognize a couple of you from the high school CGI program that you judged um last month and thank you for that I thought you did a a good job very good job um so tonight I'm coming to you as a 50-year-old who has disliked politics since I was a young man my thought back then was what's the point nothing gets done nothing changes no one cares and somebody else is always interested in something else then I grew up I got older more mature and patient guess what I'm there again now the continuing roadblocks putting the place at wman F by the township is cruel and seeming out of spite and personally motivated the town people voted to do this work why is it being stopped look at the state of the site right now it's going to be a swamp soon we should all be embarrassed by that you walk by it it's disgusting it's like someone is trying to rub someone's nose in something and not letting this project happen why we're wasting so much money now on these delays I'm a construction manager in New York today I know how these delays work you're going to get hit there's going to be all these prices all these costs from the construction manager of all these delays but why it was already approved it was already going through why can't this project get done here it's a microcosm of issues in this country and it's happening here on a small scale is people other people's interests blocking progress please go behind closed doors and solve this in the next few days this is such I don't be bullies okay get the stop work order lifted do it for these guys who are a lot calmer and well spoken than I am and I'm so proud of them tonight and for the future kids coming up thank [Applause] you good evening my my name's uh Brad harsh I live at uh on Park Street and I have uh three sons that went through the Montclair Schools and one of them is currently a freshman at the high school uh in plans to play baseball uh before I go in and ask you to resend the stop work order at foot Woodman I want to first of all thank you for your service to the town we do appreciate it um but I want you to resolve or I'm urging you to resolve this issue with the Boe as soon as possible the project has been needed for a long long time uh one of my kids had oral surgery after taking a bad hop on the infield it went up to to his to his teeth he had braces he had to have surgery that day you can imagine the mess it was a turf field makes the game much safer for all the players uh some of the oak trees had to come down the Boe already made concessions on Field trees to preserve field size to preserve as many of the trees as it could uh and it also agreed to plant a bunch of trees uh some people were not satisfied with these concessions so it seems that they pressured the planning department to hold up the project the planning department seems to have reversed course in response to this pressure but it's been all all over the place on this issue the Boe asked the planning department in the summer of 2022 what approvals were needed even before the referendum was issued in November 20222 and Woodman was not identified the planning board president said in November 2023 that he can't force the Boe to come before the board I personally emailed the director of the planning department to understand the issue she told me the project needed approval under Section 34 uh- 34 347-1283 4-12 at all uh several comparable projects have been done in town without these kinds of approvals and on November 6th the planning department issued a stop work order but they rescinded it because it was issued incorrectly so they've been all over the place on this issue if the if the planning department thinks these approvals are needed it should have said so before the referendum was issued and if it didn't have enough information at the time it should have said so then too but given this history it's not unacceptable to me to declare that the approvals are needed now that the project is already underway and under a very tight timeline uh to be open for opening day um lastly I'll point out uh the people against this project have managed managed to be very noisy uh but don't be deceived about the level of support 1,200 people signed a petition that Woodman should move forward this number dwarfed the number of people who signed a petition against the project so please respect the wishes of the many baseball families that want to see this project completed for the spring season thank you again [Applause] oh should I start over all right good evening mayor Spiller and the members of the Town Council my name is Shay Bo and I'm a senior on the moner high school baseball team I recently committed as a pitcher to grenell college extending my baseball career for the next four years with a decade of baseball experience I understand the excitement surrounding this time of year athletes are eagerly anticipating the season our weight room is packed with players striving to improve and team communication is at an all-time high what adds to the anticipation this year is the idea of playing on a new turf field as a senior this marks my final opening day in my sophomore season we opened away at Nutley on a turf field last year we opened away at seeden Hall Prep also on Turf this year the schedule finally has its opening at home with the expectation being on our own new turf field while everyone is eagerly anticipating the season this particular game stands out opening against season Hall Prep is significant for a public school and defending our home turf adds to the magnitude we are aware of the the attendance the impact on our overall season and the opportunity to make a statement that this game holds my teammates and I have worked tirelessly on and off the field turning this season into more than just playing baseball having a turfield ready for the season gives us a sense of support from the whole town on the current monair Fields I've seen players get hurt Miss seasons and impact their promising careers I personally miss my whole sophomore season as a result of diving on the dirt in Montclair the district is finally doing what it can to prevent these injuries shouldn't everyone in town jump in to support this and make it happen faster please resend the stop work order it's disheartening that there is still a delay despite our efforts I don't understand why anyone would want to use legal props to stop something that promotes health and safety the bond referendum passed with a clear majority from the town the baseball field vote passed with a majority from the board and we now hope the Town Council will help expedite the process please provide us the chance to fulfill our dream of playing on a new Turf baseball field allowing us to make the town proud of our achievements this upcoming season thank you good evening council members my name is Owen Snyder I'm a senior at moner high school and I've played baseball for over 10 years I want to express what baseball means to me and my teammates who have played throughout little league and high school you must understand understand that baseball is a huge part of all of our Lives outside of homework and school it's by far all of our biggest time commitments during the season we spend even more time practicing and playing together than we spend with our families with the encouragement of our great coaches who challenge us to be our best every day our long practices push us to our limits playing for the mounties has taught me a lot about baseball and also about life I've learned to work how to work hard how to celebrate the highs and persevere through the lows and how to put my own personal goals second to those of the team I can honestly say that I'm a better person because of the things I've learned on the baseball diamond this new field is an absolute necessity for us we need a safe flat field free of holes where players and parents won't be embarrassed to play home games embarrassed we had a saying on the old field where Whenever there was a bad hop or skip we would say welcome to the wood and believe me it happened more often than not you have the power to change that with your immediate approval you can help us change that negative saying into a positive welcome to the wood by creating a field where me and my teammates would be proud to play on a new and dramatically improved Woodman field we've all been putting in a lot of work over the offseason getting ready for 2024 for some of us this will be our final season in Montclair for those of us who don't plan to play in college it may even be the last time we suit up to play for an an official baseball team please help us make it a memorable season by clearing the way for Woodman Fields improvements to get get completed as soon as possible I beg you to resin the stop work order on Woodman field the time is now thank [Applause] you good evening I'm Eli rle stalberg a senior pitcher on the baseball team baseball has had a huge impact on my life it's taught me perseverance focus and commitment it has provided me with relationships that I'll have for the rest of my life and it has changed my path to college I started out playing t-ball at Edgemont and have played on almost every single baseball field in this town I even got a concussion from a bat hop on Mountainside Park when I was in fifth grade before it became Turf I love playing baseball in this town and utilizing the many upgrades we have made since I started playing here almost 13 years ago I'm committed to play college baseball as a pitcher at Kenyon College in Ohio our senior class has three other kids who will play baseball in college junior year is widely regarded as the most important year for college recruitment at every game our parents had to get videos of us playing our best and hopes that it would generate interest from college coaches there are several underclassmen that have the talent and interest in playing baseball in college and this delay in work on Woodman field could be potentially damaging to their academic and athletic careers I would hate for my teammates to be denied these opportunities because of dysfunction from our town the town that we go out and represent every day and that we are proud to have played for since we were 7 years old I've been playing with these same kids for almost 10 years we have one season left together for many of my teammates it's their last season to ever play baseball we've been talking about how amazing this season could be since the moment last season ended we talk about what it would mean for us and Montclair and for Montclair if we could have a special season on the field that we helped get built we are urging you to stop the work to lift the stop work order on Woodman field this week thank you good evening thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight my name is Andrew Snider I live on Edgemont Road and I can confirm that it does in fact inter with Parkway uh back in yeah absolutely whatever it takes back in 2006 the township elected not to proceed with proposed upgrades and enhancements to Woodman field for nearly a generation and without necessary support from the town the field condition at Woodman as you've heard deteriorated significantly it even made a list of the worst baseball fields in America and kids got hurt because it was simply unsafe and now we find ourselves with an approved referee random to complete the long needed upgrades you've already heard the objections from the trees to the soil the playing surface to the fences and even the ticket booth it's an endless list and in this political battle they'll just keep coming but you have an opportunity to choose to either find ways to support it to lift the stop work order and help the project move forward or to continue to play politics and block its progress this one feels easy the money is there the plan is there and the completion of the project is well within reach but more importantly I think it's a huge teaching moment a chance to show these young men uh about our values given all the polarization of the world we live in today I hope you choose to set an example for them of what a positive and effective governmental process can accomplish demonstrate to them that democracy doesn't have to be about factions and obstructionism and instead that Leaders with the vergent agendas can reach across boundaries set aside differences and find a way to work together to unlock important progress with urgency and Pace that would send a powerful message and it might just be the most valuable lesson they take away from their time at Montclair High thank you hi good evening more baseball there are a lot of us um my name is Lisa stalberg and I'm the mom of senior mounty baseball pitcher Eli I'm speaking today also to urge you to the stop work order and allow Woodman field renovations to continue without delay our family has been in Montclair since 2010 when we moved here from New York City with our six-year-old daughter and our four-year-old son Eli has been in love with baseball since 2009 when the Yankees won the World Series and he became a Yankees fan Eli would set up piles of books around our small apartment in New York City and act as bases and then he put tape across the door um to act as a strike zone so that he could practice pitching we moved to Montclair in large part to have the space for him to play outside and to give our kids a chance to do the things that they loved and we've been so proud to have the um to have to have him wear the Bulldogs logo ever since and to cheer Eli and his teammates on in so many of the fields around town we're also proud to be part of a town that lives out the progressive values that we share we see it around town with lawn sidence proclaiming that black lives matter that Science Matters showing lgbtq Plus Pride um asserting that there is no room for islamophobia and anti-Semitism and anti-asian hate we also have been proud to be part of the Monclair schools that have taught our children to be critical thinkers and engag citizens I'm not only a proud Monclair Mom I'm also an associate professor of Sociology of education at New York University for my entire career as a sociologist I've studied the ways that schools and politics intersect I've studied the ways that um often in US history this has meant that PO I unfortunately gets in the way of doing what is best for students and their families that's what I see Happening Here by issuing and keeping in place the stop work order at Woodman field you're playing politics with our children and getting in the way of what's best for hundreds of student athletes now and for years to come what is more your actions are anti-democratic as others have spoken about our town past the bond initiative that funded Woodman Renovations with 84% support in November of 2022 inserting Town politics into to this work is interfering with the will of your constituents we have so much to be proud of in Montclair but the delay to Woodman is shameful unfortunate and entirely preventable I'll end with what with just a few of the wise words of our Town's most famous baseball player Yogi Bara there a lot of quotes to choose from here but the one I chose was when you come to a fork in the road take it this is that fork and you have the opportunity to do the right thing by allowing the work at Woodman to continue for the safety and well-being of our children please do without demand without thank you Yogi also said it ain't over till it's over right didn't he say good evening my name's Andrew Lacy I live on Park Street it's with great optimism and hope that I address you this evening to request that you immediately stop the resend work order at Woodman the optimism stems from once again listening to these boys speak in a public setting advocate for what is right with immense pride and dedication for each other for their coaches their school and their Hometown the future is bright My Hope Town counselors is a function of my respect for the Deep history all of you have in serving Montclair not just as counselors but in ways too numerous to count for some of you it's been a full life's journey you are Montclair M's born and raised so I have confidence that you all rise to the occasion and do what is so obviously right and do what it takes to resend the stop work order and allow the Woodman field project to immediately continue you know this past Friday night I was at the uh Monclair High soccer banquet coach té Weaver a town treasur a man who also grew up in Monclair who came back to Montclair and is now an exceptional leader of young men gave a 30-minute speech that was gripping emotional and really captured what it is all about to go to Monclair high and to be a Monclair mounty his leadership challenges young men to grow as people to develop positive relationships to compete but be empathetic to handle difficulty with maturity and humility the same thing happens with baseball with coaches gazi and geni I think you see the results with these young men they bring passion and commitment to a job that pays a stien that if translated to an hourly wage would not be legal they do it because Montclair means something there is a history and standard of Excellence the baseball facility at Woodman has stood in total contrast to that standard it was inappro for high school baseball and dangerous thankfully it is now gone and will be replaced with something typical at other schools and safe now the only thing standing between that typical safe field that aligns with montclair's Excellence is you the Board of Education weighed the situation prioritize this field as a project in the bond referendum the voters voted decisively the Board of Ed overwhelmingly approved the contract in the face of vicious attacks from the neighbors one neighbor didn't even stop at the Boe they even confronted seventh graders with hurtful vitriol refreshingly the Board of Ed members up for reelection who had the courage to do the right thing one in resounding fashion in November I have confidence in the town counselors up there you are committed dedicated leaders you know the path here let's get this right let's get this off the agenda let's get this lawsuit behind us let's rally for these young mounties who Bleed Blue let's resend the stop work order tonight and make the whole town proud thank [Applause] you good evening I'm Evan rutell an an MHS parent and over the last four months I've watched and listened to these extraordinary young people make their case for a safe place to play the sports they love they found the courage to speak they've been respectful they've carried themselves with dignity I wish I could say the same thing about the adults involved at Board of Ed meetings we watch Neighbors roll their eyes and interrupt other speakers one neighbor who's a frequent participant here confronted a student speaker to tell him that he was wrong and that she does way more for the environment than his environmentally conscious parents do another neighbor who also speaks here frequently and told you recently that she loves you screamed at seventh grade baseball players 12-year-olds that they were going to get cancer from the turf and that their parents would never have grandchildren because the boys would be infertile those are the folks you've been listening to the rumors all over town are that you've issued this stop work order to appease those vocal neighbors to gain an election advantage to get yourselves out of a bad news cycle to hurt Dr ponds to put politics back in power above all else we don't know if any of those rumors are true what we do know is that you're preventing hundreds and hundreds of track and field baseball lacrosse football and other athletes from having the facilities they need to thrive to compete to push themselves to bond with teammates to be recruited to college to play the games that they love and most importantly to be safe you and the town of officials you appointed are standing in the way of that and when one of these young people is hurt because they haven't had the practice time they need or because they're playing on less safe Fields you will be responsible and we will remember we're eternally grateful to Dr ponds and the Seven Board of Ed members who prioritized student well-being and the much needed Renovations at Woodman and we support their lawsuit because for more than a year you had your chance to voice concerns and didn't you knew what was going on in fact you issued the permits for the trees to be removed at Woodman and now your delays will harm kids and cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars it doesn't have to be this way presumably most or all of you ran for office because you love Montclair because you believe that love local government can make lives better because you have pride in this town and its young people because you want to help and not harm because you want to solve and not cause problems it is not too late for that we ask that you put politics and ego aside find a solution and resend the stop workk order this week so that Montclair students have the opportunities and safe conditions they deserve if you do that you will have our deepest gratitude if you don't we will never ever forget thank you thank you [Applause] thank you and uh with that we will close public comments yeah I'd like to respond you can respond thank you like to respond uh when I was a kid the only thing I was interested in baseball cards Mickey Manel that was my hero and then Willie Mays so I had no interest in politics till John F Kennedy came along in 1960 and so I decided that that's what I like I like John F Kennedy and politics forget Mickey M when I was sworn in here as mayor in 2000 exactly 2000 uh Larry Dolby was here I know we just quoted Yogi bar who's a Great Hero I loved Yogi my father used to deliver the Yoo beverages to him up on Highland but Larry W was a great baseball star here and and in this month we should remember Larry do was a Montclair resident uh we dedicated the the post office Congressman Pastor gr and I were the only ones there from the area that were dedicating the post office for Larry Dolby several years ago in Patterson so baseball is something I love and from from the time I was a kid and Larry Doby being here when I got sworn in he always said to me because he was second you know after Jackie Robinson he always said Bob don't be second be first he was a really inspirational person and I loved everything you all said all of you as students you're like some of the students I have at mon State um I just don't want to hear such negativism towards each other and the thing that I sent to all the people who kept sending messages this day I'll just repeat what I sent to everyone was that isn't there a solution here we can have a win-win why are the superintendent the Boe the town manager mayor and Council not able to sit down together communicate with each other and theor neighbors as well as Sports Advocates like yourselves and resolve this conflict please communicate and take my conflict resolution class at Monclair state to achieve a win-win for all now that's just a simple message I gave but here's my point we are volunteer council members the full-time staff people who are paid substantial salaries and I'm talking about the superintendent the staff at the board of ed the the manager here Town attorney these folks should get into a room just like I think President Biden had gotten some people together to settle a strike and Governor Murphy also did that when there was the strike you get into the room and you don't leave until you settle it all these differences all these problems are political morass I teach political science but I hate politics I hate the way political people play games right now there's like a conflict between people over personalities and control as somebody said and all this Turf issue I want the Field built but I want the neighbors also to be respected cuz I had a problem like that when I was here in Montclair when they wanted to tear down three cherry trees on Bruce Road and Gordon Hurst Avenue you know where Gordon Hurst Avenue is CH tear down the cherry trees to make a parking lot for 14 cars all the neighbors were upset they went to the planning board couldn't stop it couldn't stop it was was allowed the the property had the right to tear down the trees but we all fought it we were very passionate and I knew what it meant because it ruined really the neighborhood now I don't want to see a big fence that's going to ruin 50 Property Owners properties when you mock the ticket booth it seemed to have some meaning to people that lived there for many years the trees yes we didn't cut as many but I don't know why we had to cut any if we're going to replace them all anyway so what do we need to cut them all down for so I have a lot of environmental concerns and I have a lot of respect for the neighborhood I went through it myself I have a lot of respect for all of you I'm just saying that we in Montclair should be able to get in a room and settle this so we don't have this continual fighting and delay thank you Council M I hope also that this situation is resolved you know uh I know that there's been some issues uh that are in the court right now so hopefully soon it can be I'm a product of mclair high school also and so was my dad my dad graduated 1939 I graduated in 1968 my two uh my daughter my son graduated in ' 89 and uh I have uh two other children that graduated in 1994 they all played Sports at marer high school like I've heard from a lot of the young people that without Sports I don't know even if I would have went to school you know that's how important that it was to me I heard a lot of good things how it teaches you uh leadership teaches you teamwork you know to be able to even sit up here and work together as a team a lot that I learn from playing football played baseball ran track you know at the high school also uh I know also a lot what a lot of people don't know that uh it actually infused the diversity at mocker High School back in the' 60s you know uh was mostly the town was segregated it was in like little pockets where people lived you know not many African-Americans lived in Upper M Clair so a lot of the kids once I got to the high school and Junior High School we played sports that's how you know I had an opportunity to go to other people's houses learn like you know uh where they were from learn some of their customs and to this day we are friends so do not give up on your dreams I do know it helped me to go to college by playing sports continue to do so but we we're not against you know uh children at all I want to make that clear I want to make it clear you know that's why I'm saying a little bit about my background you know that we're working together and hopefully that pretty soon that we be able to resolve this and uh I'll be one person when it's resolved to come up there and watch you play thank you uh councilwoman price ABS yeah thank you all for taking your night to come and be fully expressed about this deeply passionate matter um I think it's been articulated this isn't really a matter before the council to take action so I I know you came with the hope that we could sit down in a room and and make a vote or something but it's really not a matter before us nonetheless I think we all have heard you know again your deep passion your your pain over what seems to have been you know before you and now maybe not but um I I did wonder and I would think Mr manager whether this has been something that's been considered or possible but there are there are Fields you know that the county owns at Brookdale and at at um Glenfield Park I I don't know if there's any Arrangements that they have they looked into that these are just things that like those seem like possibilities if you're shaking your head so it's all been considered I suppose but I don't know that there's an action for us to take we share the Deep frustration you feel I do think there are more there is more than one side to the conversation but it's nothing I've had a part in or shaped and so we we will be very interested parties alongside of you we wish you all the best and you will continue to find ways to live your dreams I know but I I don't know how this is going to resolve or when and I think we all do care um it's just not a matter that's before us to really address so thank you uh thank you councilwoman um I'll just simply say this to first to all the uh young athletes who are here you know kudos for coming forward and raising your voices around something which which you're passionate about um I Echo councilman Terry's points in that uh as a high school science teacher myself longtime coach um you know I understand you know the value right that you guys are talking about and the passion that you have for for your sport but more importantly each other right and what that means for whether you talk about a senior year or you talk about those coming up you know you're always you're always caring about uh about your teammates and and those coming after you so um as the councilwoman noted though the challenge here is we have heard from a number of individuals on this issue but even hearing from them you know we we do not uh nor nor could we ever go in and say say you know while Council has decided you know issue tickets or issue stop orders or issue summons or issue like we we uh and I'll turn it over to Mr Leo to give his comments um the same way we can't go in and also say Hey you know ignore a ticket um you know get rid of this uh violation you know those types of things are uh built in a way that uh it's free from Council interference because if it were not um you could imagine where that goes right something along those lines um with that I think you're hearing from everybody up here um that we hope the matter would be resolved as quick as possible just as you would right none of us uh sat here and said man we really hope um this this field issue comes to the council so we can you know have a role in it right no um but um again when any Resident raises concerns to any of our staff any of our offices any of our divisions uh they have to hear those concerns and they they take whatever action um that they deem is appropriate um and then of course we we are informed of that right so um along those lines I I think it it's it's probably best at this juncture Mr Lao will turn it over to you and you can probably give it best accounting that anyone thank you mayor and I uh just let me give a little background here the issue of this this stop work order the mayor and Council have nothing to do with the day-to-day operations of this government this was issued they had no idea it was issued I didn't form it them it was being issued or it had been issued I'm sure the first time they heard about it was and they received calls from people like you just to give you a little background I've been here since August my reading of the statute despite what have what may have happened in previous years and what advice has be given is that law the law requires based on what was going to be done Zoning Board review that being said I understand the issue of of latches and for those what for those of you who don't understand what that means it basically means even if the the law says one thing or or whatever the statute says one thing because you gave me bad advice government I can go in and say based on that bad bad advice I should be allowed to proceed because I relied on that bad advice now whether or not that whether or not that advice was given or relied upon or is accurate I don't know the fact of the matter is the way the statute reads there is jurisdiction during this whole process and while in a perfect world we all would have liked to have that kind of interaction with the Board of Ed that didn't those conversations didn't start up until a few weeks ago okay so all the time this work was going on there there were no stop work orders you may find this hard to believe but the stop work order was issued because the contractor at Woodman field hired by the Board of Education tied in their water lines to an existing line without inspections or permits it's mundane it may sound stupid to you if you don't understand how construction works but the law is the law and the rules are the rules and just because it's the Board of Ed or anybody else if you're required to have an inspection you have to have an inspection if you're not allowed to tie into a water line you're not allowed to tie in the water line whether you're the Board of Ed you're the mayor or anyone else in this um in this room look nothing would make me happier having dealt with all the people involved to make this issue go away and for you to be happy with the result now I could have said let's look the other way and what would have happened what would have happened was the people who opposed this whether you agree or disagree with them and I'm not going to tell you what how I feel personally but whether you agreed or disagree would have filed a lawsuit and the they would have gone to court and the court very well could have ruled that no there's jurisdiction send it back uh to the zoning board and we' back to square one we have given the Board of Education numerous opportunities going back for months about how to expedite this process special hearings Etc get it over with what that would have required is for them to go and present their case I don't think there was major issues here and it would have been stopped but it's it's basically they would have had to listen to the people who opposed to the project voice their objections they may disagree it may be redundant they don't want to hear it but that's just the reality I coming here was putting an - in situation I'm a lawyer I'm I'm charged here with executing the laws of this state and the law says in my reading and on advice of counsel that outside councel that they're required to go before the zoning board I think the only solution and my understanding is that the um Board of Education while having filed a lawsuit a while ago has now gone in with an order show cause hopefully a court is going to uh resolve this one way or another in a very short period of time that being said and I know I I don't want to repeat myself but this was not political the mayor and Counsel had nothing to do with this it had to do with one of our inspectors coming in and said they did something they shouldn't do so I don't know what my message to you should be is that sometimes we should look the other way look my message and look I would like nothing more I have two kids my daughter was a division one lacrosse player I get it I have to sit next to my my good friend uh right here whose son plays on one of these teams and I got news to you I've heard about this privately on several occasions she may not talk to me tomorrow I'm not quite sure but that being said I didn't know what else to do here except to say to you that the law is the law whether it's going to get zoning Board review whether it's having inspections or all these different things my message to you is I follow the law it may not make any of you happy we're in a predicament here that I think there's a little blame to go around and I can assure you that with all due respect to the Board of Education They're Not Without Blame here because we try to engage in conversations with months with for months and we're you know there was literally no response until sometime in I think mid January but I assure you we will do everything in our power whatever the court rules and with these inspections I look if we were going to be if this was a politically motivated thing this stop work order would have been issued months ago it was not and I can address the whole issue of of the trees and the dirt the tree application came in before any other application so they got a permit to take down trees perfectly legitimate but it wasn't because we were stopping the the project they said we're cutting down trees the contractor was very clever did the tree issue did a dirt issue and then came and said this is what we want to do if you want to talk to me after the meeting if you want to come to my office and talk I invite parents coaches all the players back there if you have any questions I I'd be happy but I honestly did not think I had any choice here based on what was happening but to to when I was told this desert a stop work order to say issue the stop work order but as for the people up here they had literally and nothing to do with this had no Advanced knowledge of it I didn't notify them afterwards so this is just where we are the place where we are stinks but it is where we are and I hope in the very near future we will get this resolved I'm I'm not telling you what you want to hear but I'm telling you my honest opinion as a as an attorney as a manager and trying to get to a solution here that hopefully we can all move forward so if you want to talk to me afterwards I'll be happy to come out and speak to you um if you have questions you can call my office tomorrow or or you want to come in to talk to me that's fine but I would be happy to do that and and you know we tried look if if we as I mentioned before if if I said just move ahead and look the other way and the opponents filed a lawsuit which several of them told me privately they intended to do we would be right back in the same place I encourage the Board of Education to take other steps in going before the zoning board they chose not to they followed the lawsuit so that's where we are but hopefully in the very near future we will have a resolution to this so that's it mayor and Mr I got to say thank you for thorough you know giving us thorough accounting um we appreciate that and certainly um I don't think anyone certainly up here I don't think anyone out there is telling you to ignore the law um we couldn't um uh nor I think would they so uh hopefully we do have that rapid resolution and I know you've always been on standby ready to speak to anyone at any time on this issue um and that I'm hearing right tonight remains so appreciate that okay I only want to ask the manager this um you know I think the Board of Ed and everybody has to abide by the zoning laws and follow the procedures and all of that but could just one one I'm not going to say bureaucratic because I I teach this people don't like the word bureaucrats but could one staff person just on their own make a decision without you the town attorney and maybe the department chair that that would be the department director of planning reviewing the implications of that in other words for somebody to go out and say something's wrong and stop everything now we want them to follow the rules and I think the board of vet is guilty of certain rule violations with the trees and you know I know the neighbors just wanted to have that little booth somebody here mocked it but it's a historical thing it had signatures and stuff and they just want to have it preserved they said that Dr Pond said yes he'll make sure it's preserved and then these workers there the people doing the work they just tore it down see these are little insensitive things that get the people upset so I am very sympathetic to the neighbors but I'm also sympathetic to the students and the the players and the families and I don't understand how one person could have caused this massive crisis and this hostility and conflict in our town I'm not saying you should look the other way or anything but I'm saying can't you and the superintendent get into the room and work these things out you're paid $200,000 each or more and we are not even involved I'm told by the attorney when I asked him we don't even have the right to to resend or lift what you're asking us to do even if we wanted to so I'm just asking why can't you I know you've tried to sit with the superintendent and we did have a good conversation lastation but I'm saying I would say you should walk over to 22 Valley Road tomorrow where he should you guys should meet somewhere eat lunch or do something or work it out and get this settle thank you mayor if I just may point out uh quickly um to respond to some of councilman Russo's comments uh the point that you made earlier is the construction official is the in is the individual Township uh construction official is the individual that issues those stock work orders pursuant to law he acts independently of the um Township so he's required to for as you said yourself mayor so there is no undue influence he he he doesn't even take uh direction from the manager so if the law is being violated construction codes being violated uh permits aren't properly requested then unfortunately he's got to follow the law and do what he's obligated to do so the council can't interfere and lift that stop work order uh it has to be um adjudicated by the construction appeals board and we are where we are um as a result unfortunately I can't go too deep into it because it's litigation we're in litigation and I have attorney client privilege with the township and I'm I I'm not at Liberty to discuss it any any further other than we have uh retained Council who is representing the Township in the um in the Boe versus Montclair matter um that's covered by the jip and I would assume at some point in time there's going to be settlement negotiations that are going to happen happen uh we have on our um agenda tonight and executive session where I will be updating giving the council a little bit more information on that and I certainly heard Mr manager you've offered in your conversations with the board with the superintendent multiple Pathways to try and resolve this as quick as possible um and hopefully they choose to take some of them sir I see this a lot of political and bureaucratic conflict just let's get it done all right all right with that thank you very much everybody appreciate that we are going to move into executive session as our attorney just noted um so with that um I will move us into executive session and again this is to discuss uh any matters um that again are for executive session pursuant to the rules and requirements of executive session under r244 and I so move second it's moved in seconded all in favor please say I I I opposed extensions we'll go in executive session we'll give them a couple minutes to get out and rest rooms for anyone else so we'll we'll break for a couple minutes thank you God all right thank you very much everybody and I appreciate you back Madam clerk um I'd like to move uh appointments to a number of various committees to fill those positions and thank everybody for their service I so move second moved and seconded um all in favor please say I I I opposed extensions thank you very much appreciate that everybody um with that uh just want to say to everybody I know briefly and it's a nice nice little hour here so Madam clerk uh any report no mayor thank you Mr manager just uh this morning uh I was here is your microphone on well I'll figure this out by time uh I want to compliment our uh uh uh DCS on the their uh efforts to remove the snow and uh doing salt and and clearing the streets today I was out there with them uh long before the work day started and uh I drove around with their uh the superintendent and uh they were working hard and I just want to complement them on a job all done agree fully um you know uh Granton I hear you know from the earlier conversation about cars being moved so they can fully get what has to happen but I did notice they had to navigate a number of cars this time and a lot of driving around town so something there we do need to address from that that earlier comment but in terms of the work that they did really just you know Stellar job again um and uh you know really a testament to I think some of the decisions we made ear early on to make sure that uh while I remember in 2012 there was a call to you know Outsource privatize and blah you know keeping them in the work that they do tremendous job so tell them thank you they're doing a great job coun M ter I had an opportunity to uh go to an eagle scout ceremony uh for tro 12 MH with three individuals that we put together Pro read the was a great ceremony uh I also showed them a picture of troop 20 which was the first African-American troop in the township of Monclair hopefully uh before the end of the month we'll be doing us a uh dedication to that troop and uh some of the members that uh were involved some of them included again uh my my dad my uncle was the first African-American Eagle Scout in the township of Monir and uh they went on to be Tuskegee Airman there's three individuals in the troop uh their last name Kenny their father uh started the first uh African-American Hospital in the city of newk so it's pretty famous individuals in there so I'll keep you up we'll talk about that a little bit more you know at our next meeting thank you excellent thank you coun Mara yeah I just wanted everybody to see this before I give it to the clerk to keep or to the manager to keep it's the check that the county gave for Monclair $190,000 in cdbg money I received this on behalf of the Town Council and town manager at the meeting the County held they do it every year uh this is money from last year so some of the groups that applied a lot of nonprofits applied for the future U money the cdbg money has been cut back over the years this is a Federal program which under President Bush was $6 million $6 billion nationally cut to three billion after he had say he had to spend the money on the Iraq War during the Bush Administration and what happened is it's gone down always always down more and more every year to the point now where our town gets about $300,000 the other town uh nonprofits are going to be each getting some money5 $10,000 each but this comes to the town so we could do certain public works and and other uh projects the only other thing I wanted to mention is it's not only is Lincoln's Birthday it was my dad's birthday and I have a picture that I got about my brother saved for my father's business in Newark when I grew up I was 5 years old and it's in a book about a Team of Rivals it's Lincoln a book about Lincoln by Doris Karns Goodwin so on on the 12th of February we should remember that's the anniversary of the founding of the NAACP old the Civil Rights organ organization in the country it's Abraham Lincoln's birthday the greatest President we ever had and I always remember being my father's birthday he was my inspiration in Newark growing up as a kid and so I just want to wish everybody Happy President's Day is coming up Happy Valentine's Day which is my anniversary and I'm going home to my wife now thank you councilwoman price thanks mayor um I'm just going to take the prerogative of of sharing that my my dad Shelley price Sheldon price passed away on February 3rd and I've just been sort of in that space for the last little while and as I was down I did see him earlier in in u the last day was on MLK day I was down for that long weekend um he lived down in Florida for a number of years with his wife um my mom they've been uh split he's been married to Adrien for about 32 years and and had raised three kids my siblings and me um for the first part of his adult adult life but um you know I know there's so many things that I owe who I am today to who he is and what he taught me and if I can say a little bit of a sense of humor and a little bit of smarts and a little bit of um card playing so those are just some of the the things that I will love and miss about my dad and um the time I had with my family I appreciate the great outpouring of support from so many friends and many of you here so um um just that's what I'll use my time to share thank you I'm glad you sh the sympathy to you keep symy appreciate that I'm glad you shared it because I think it's in those moments of uh reflection that they live on right and a little bit in new um Mr bur uh May normally I say no report but however today uh condolences to again to Lori and her family um I just want to take them this minute to recognize the uh Monclair High boys fencing team they came in first place in their District district 3 tournament uh last week um and they are moving on to the state championships my son Gavin is a member of the fening team the saber team and it's just nice after what we saw with the baseball team and how important sports are myself being a graduate of Monclair high school and a athlete uh a high school athlete also uh it's just nice that they get some recognition and it's pretty cool that they'll they state starts tomorrow so I will keep everyone informed on how they do once we uh get to the end well good stuff and always 100% appropriate to be uh uh talking about your kids accomplishments and everything going on so that's as you should be you know smiling ear to ear so we uh we wish uh good luck certainly um yep I I will just simply say to everyone as well um whether it's uh you know it's a little bit of theme but whether it's the the Boy Scouts uh you know and and uh everything there or or certainly the impact that parents have and uh you know the roles that we all play as we we we kind of go through through life here as we come up on Valentine's Day and we spend times time with uh those we love and maybe have a little uh romantic evening or a night out or a moment together um you know I think I just want to say to to to to you as we listen to residents here and come forward with the issues that they're passionate about uh I'm very appreciative of all of you the work that you do uh thank you for from staff all the way through and the work that you guys all do there appreciate it and certainly uh to my colleagues up here uh being out in the community and doing so many things and making sure we're uh we're trying to help uh where we can and uh make a positive difference so thanks guys all right with that I'll take a motion to adjourn good night all right great we are adjourned thanks all