all right good evening everyone uh this meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings act this meeting was uh included in the annual notice of the meeting schedule is set forth in resolution R23 277 adopted by the Town Council it's regular meeting of November 21st 2023 advertising in the official newspaper on December 21st 2023 December 28th 2023 and January 4th 2024 posted 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 available to the public and is on file the office of the Township Clerk please join me in the pledge of Allegiance IED Al to the flag of the United States of America to the for stands one nation indivisible and justice for all Madam clerk roll call please councelor Cummings present Deputy Mayor Hurlock absent councelor price Abrams present councel Russo absent councelor schlager here councelor Terry here mayor Spiller present thank you we move the agenda with flexibility uh first we have been presented the the minutes for February 13 2024 are there any uh Corrections or additions is so move second all in favor please say I I opposed extensions thank you very much appreciate that all right uh I I know as we uh begin today we do have the mockler ambulance unit with us and uh want to come forward and uh just to share with us some of the the wonderful things that you guys do to serve this community really appreciate that some of the challenges of course that we all face together and ways we can work on that um I just want to say as we begin um you know kind of knowing and seeing where so many townships are uh throughout the region specifically with uh getting the service that they need uh you guys are providing an invaluable service to this Township and I know uh including the surrounding area so just want to start by saying thank you um and certainly uh know that we partnered in the past whether that's with with vehicles or or space or other um other pieces we certainly want to make sure we do all we can I know there's some opportunities maybe around insurance and some other things that we can really help make a difference in your budget and also being very mindful of our uh the tax dollar budgets that we look at as well um but but certainly um I think there's room there for us to continue to grow and continue to support one another so I just want to again say thank you and with that Mr Leo would you like to add any comments yes Al Lear read what you said and also uh say that on our agenda tonight is a u resolution awarding um part of our op opioid settlement funding in which we're giving a $100,000 Grant to the ambulance Squad so um they provide a vital service on a variety of fronts and we are very very happy to work with them and hope to forge an even closer relationship uh in the coming months we'll offer turn over de please thank you very much for having us I'm Chief James Maza of the monair ambulance unit and we have a lot of great news just makeing sure I can hear you there you go thank you all right I'm Chief James Maza the Monclair ambulance unit and we have a lot of great news to share with you this is the stay of our unit Montclair ambulance unit has been montclair's sole 911 ambulance service since 1953 I hope my talk tonight sheds light on what it takes to ensure that an ambulance gets to your door when you call 911 in a medical emergency we have been part of the Montclair Community for 71 years but we are not a department of Monclair Township we are an independent 501c3 nonprofit while the people of Montclair see us as an essential service the state of New Jersey does not while municipalities are required to provide and fund police and fire Services they are not required to provide EMS and New Jersey isn't alone in this only 13 or 14 States nobody really knows the number for sure designate EMS as an essential service we have evolved a great deal just like Montclair from an agency that didn't allow women to work on the ambulances to a highly diverse staff that's 50% female and 35% people of color an independent 501c3 nonprofit agency Montclair ambulance unit provides the skilled reliable professional 911 emergency medical services that residents need expect and deserve our primary service areas are Montclair 247365 and Cedar Grove from 6 a.m. to 6: p.m. daily we also provide Mutual Aid EMS support to more than 20 neighboring communities last year Montclair Township provides our fuel and leases us our building for a nominal fee while I wish we didn't have to bill that we could provide Ambulance Service to the people of Montclair for free EMS is not free a new ambulance cost $350,000 and Staffing operating a single ambulance for a year cost half a million dollars then we have all the other expenses that come with running nearly 5,911 calls for service our budget for 2024 will come in just under $2 million roughly 34 of our budget will come from insurance billing and that covers our staffing the other 25% comes from fundraising your support of our fundraising campaigns covers everything from Building Maintenance to medical supplies to ambulance repairs and everything else every other nonprofit has to pay for we've built a terrific team our four ambulances are staffed Around the Clock by 45 plus paid career emergency medical technicians one to two Crews of EMTs are stationed at our Walnut Street station around the clock every day of the year and one crew of EMTs is staffed in Cedar Grove from 6:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily I have a great team of EMS leaders around me our leadership team is made up of six highly trained emergency managers all our EMTs we have on staff two Deputy municipal office of emergency management coordinators three New Jersey Task Force One members five New Jersey EMS task force members with six additional applications pending one New Jersey certified emergency manager one FEMA Advanced public information officer one Masters in Business Administration one Masters in Emergency Management one Master's in public health and five Bachelor degrees we also have five New Jersey EMS task force apparatus on site as an agency we are extremely data focused and we believe in data transparency we make every strategic decision from Staffing to how many ambulances we have to what kind of events we will cover Based on data some factors we consider our call volume the busiest times of day the nature of our dispatches and the needs of our patients of course we never released patient identifying information last year we projected a 20% increase in our call volume it actually turned out to be 25% and we developed a program to increase our staffing by 20% during our busiest times 600 p.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and all day on Saturday we applied for a grant from partners for health foundation and they granted us $80,000 per year for two years to help us expand our service to accommodate this growth in demand without the funding we would be unable to to meet the ever growing demand for ambulance service in Montclair and we are so grateful in 2023 our 911 ambulance Co volume went up 25% to more than 47911 calls that's an average of 13 911 calls a day just yesterday we respond to 16 calls in 12 hours we respond to every type of 911 medical call from a sore toe to a cardiac arrest we handle Strokes chest pain car accidents Falls and illnesses we are still handling cause for covid flu and every other illness that's passed around in February here are some of our numbers in 2023 we responded to dispatches for 1,090 General Medical calls for a sick person 436 Falls 270 motor vehicle crashes 265 intoxicated patients 116 traumatic injuries and 58 cardiac arrests for the first time in several years we did not deliver any babies in 2023 no two shifts are the same and we never know what we're going to get we are in a dangerous business last year we reported six incidents of assaults by patients against our EMTs we secured grant funding from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey to provide crucial self-defense training and Ballistic equipment for our EMTs we do not provide non-emergent transports to doctor's offices or rides home from the hospital we are 100% 911 Agency on average we transport an onh housee person every day last year approximately 1,000 of our responses were for patients who relied on Medicaid for their health coverage in August 2023 we are providing n we began be providing 911 ambulance service to Cedar Grove from 6:00 a.m. to 600 p.m. daily we did several great fundraising events with local businesses including mclair Brewery cycle bar Montclair cilantro on Lime taco truck and the Walnut Street Fair where we had a dunk tank outside our building and the deputy chief and I were dunked so many times that we had to take the next two days off to recuperate while I'm willing to do it it's hard to believe I have to be dunked a thousand times to raise money to fix an ambulance in 2023 we provided emergency planning and or standbys for 14 High School football games more than 70 Wellmont shows events and concerts Montclair Pride JazzFest the Walnut Street Fair numerous weather events and the funeral services for two firefighters tragically killed in norc we participated in several events with the police and fire departments the Garden Club the Montclair History Center and Van vleck house including Mr Bunny Springtime fund the Halloween scarecrow contest and Trunk or Treat where we decorate one of our vehicles as a little scary um item we have big plans for 2024 we expect to respond to over 5,911 ambulance calls this year we have a new training center in the former United Way building on Fullerton Street we hope to train 500 people in CPR first aid babysitting and other important certifications these training center classes are fundraisers for Mau we have a $350,000 fundraising goal to make ends meet here's an update our fundraising efforts last year we raised nearly $320,000 in individual contributions grants events and other fundraising event efforts we received nearly 1,000 individual contributions from Montclair residents like all of you thank you for your support we literally couldn't do it without you your support makes a big difference right here in Montclair our fundraising priorities for 2024 are building maintenance we have nearly an $8,000 plumbing repair coming up in our 118 year old building it has a lot of character and character is expensive replacing a dead ambulance we put $40,000 into it last year until it finally gave up this month dropping our Fleet from 5 to 4 a new ambulance costs about $350,000 safety equipment upgrades specifically to our stretcher systems which come out to about $70,000 per ambulance and other expenses that every agency has to pay we do have to buy toilet paper after all how can you help respond to our spring fund Drive letter challenge a friend to a head-to-head fundraising challenge on our website at Monclair ms.org visit our website to make an online contribution host a fundraising event with a local business follow us on social media at Monclair EMS and share our content sign up for a CPR first aid or babysitting course help us get our message out tell your friends why you support ma we are working hard on advocacy for the EMS profession as a whole ensuring that lawmakers understand the state of EMS in New Jersey we feel that EMS should be designated an essential service that EMS should have access to federal state and local funding and that the state's Medicaid reimbursement rate should be increased we have met with congresswoman Cheryl and her team stay assembly woman kazos Gill and her team Essex County Commissioner Brandon Gil mayor Spiller and several Essex County government officials including the county health officer and County Administrator I get the same questions pretty frequently so I thought I'd just go ahead and answer them now people ask us why is your call call volumes up several factors are at play here during Co people were not to their regular checkups and chronic issues like high blood pressure weren't being treated by doctors those untreated conditions are becoming an issue today the population of Montclair is increasing so the demand for ambulance service is also going up montclair's population of unhoused people relies on our service more frequently than those with safe and secure housing and every EMS agency across New Jersey is feeling the impact of the increased call volume this means that our neighbors are reaching out for assistance more often and if we have an ambulance available we provide that assistance can't you get federal or state funding unfortunately EMS agencies like ours are only eligible for 1% of the federal funding that fire departments qualify for and there is no dedicated funding on the federal side for EMS the total amount of federal funding we are eligible for is less than $6.5 million nationwide at the state level EMS is not designated as an essential service and there is no State funding that would help us to run our Agency New Jersey's reimbursement rate for patients who rely on Medicaid or transport was set in 1994 and is only $58 plus $150 a mile it hasn't increased in 30 years I was still in grammar school depending on who you ask we are either 49th or 50th in the country for how much we can get reimbursed for Medicaid the heartbreaking part is that we lose the most money when we serve the patients who need us the most also because we Bill and pay our staff we are not eligible for the state training fund that provides free EMT training we can only hire people who are already trained and certified as EMTs we have actually been rejected for Grants from private foundations for some crazy reasons for example we've been turned down for Grants because we don't serve one specific underserved population rather we serve everyone who calls 911 for an ambulance equally it pains me that we can be declined for funding because we serve everyone equally residents Wonder Don't my taxes pay for you while Monclair Township is supported of ma provides our fuel and the use of the building for a nominal amount we are not we are an independent agency Monclair ambulance unit receives no operational funding for Monclair Township or residents taxes we are not part of the township or the fire department do you take volunteers we will absolutely take volunteers who are already EMTs because we aren't eligible for the state training fund we can't train people who aren't EMTs but yes if you're an EMT and would like to volunteer at Ma we'd be happy to talk do you Bill for your service we do do bill patients insurance Medicare or Medicaid for ambulance service billing ensures that our staff of 45 career professional EMTs get paid and we can fulfill our mission of providing prompt skilled and reliable 911 emergency medical service to our community while I wish we didn't have to bill that we could provide Ambulance Service to the people of Montclair for free EMS is not free an ambulance cost $350,000 and Staffing and operating a single ambulance for a year cost half a million dollars why are you covering Cedar Grove many other communities ask us for help regularly whether it's for one or two ambulance calls during a busy day to cover a large event in town or to help alleviate the increasing demand for ambulance service the township of Cedar Grove opened a request for proposals for ambulance service we won the bid and we entered a three-way partnership with their Township and Cedar Grove ambulance and rescue squad to provide service from 6:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily it's an example of how we can partner with neighboring towns and their EMS agencies to ensure that their residents get uninterrupted Emergency Medical Services those Partnerships can be a blueprint for future shared service agreements that increase the sustainability of the entire EMS system why aren't you all volunteers EMS in New Jersey was founded on a rich history of volunteerism and most of our EMTs myself included have worked as a volunteer EMT and other agencies Monclair ambulance unit hired its first paid administrator in the 1960s and by the 198s was operating as a hybrid agency with both career and volunteer EMTs on staff today only two of our EMTs work as volunteers initially e initial EMT training is a 210h hour state sponsored course then those who pass the class take the rigorous National Registry of emergency medical technicians exam to become certified nationally only 67% of the nrmt exam 67% of people pass the nrmt exam on their first try most the MS agencies require a 12-hour shift on the ambulance either during the day or in overnight in 2024 with many households requiring two full-time incomes there is no time for this significant time commitment ask yourself if you or any of your friends could find time for 210 hours of training pass a rigorous National exam and then work from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. every Tuesday for free for our EMTs this is their job their career and it puts food on their tables and pays their bills all around us volunteer agencies are closing their doors or at least cutting back on their services because recruiting and retaining new volunteer EMTs is untenable increased call volume and increased operating costs require expansion not contraction and agencies must be positioned to scale up why do you do Mutual Aid because we only respond to 911 calls we can't predict or control when many calls come in at the same time for 71 years we have provided Mutual Aid support to neighboring towns when they needed another ambulance and most other towns do the same for us in 2023 we serve 22 other communities from a wildfire in West Milford to nearly 400 other dispatches all over Essex in neighboring counties in summary I've been in EMS since I was a sophomore in college the rest of our team has worked as volunteers or career EMTs from many agencies across Essex County while our job isn't for everyone it's in our blood it is a rewarding and fulfilling as it is challenging we welcome you to come visit us to our historic station house and meet our team maybe we can plan a fundraiser together my email address is Chief Monclair ms.org we know that this is an election year and we remain as a nonprofit apolitical we assume that anyone who cares about this community recognizes the essential role ma plays in Montclair and we invite every public servant to discuss how our organization runs how we support the township and the people of Montclair and how we can forward strong Partnerships moving forward in my nearly two decades of EMS experience I have had the opportunity to work several very different EMS organizations and it is my opinion the ma the ma team is the best most professional strategic creative and high functioning team I have ever been privileged to be part of thank you for inviting the Monclair ambulance unit to speak this evening we are grateful after all we literally couldn't provide EMS without your support thank [Applause] you well again I'll just start by saying thank you and certainly having you had those conversations and ask some of those very questions appreciate you guys sharing that with the public at large and um you know I think a lot of those things are surprises especially when you when you consider the state and at the federal level it's not considered you know an essential service it's kind of shocking but um you know that's all the more reason why we all have to work together to make sure the services are provided and we thank you again for doing that any questions from my colleagues uh Council M Scher I I also give you send you a big thank you you've been to my house twice over the last 31 years and um you everyone was extremely professional and and I was so grateful that you were there to to help us um on those two occasions so I had a question about the hospitals in the area do you get any support from hackensac Mountain Side is a hackin sack Hospital which is a huge conglomerate across the state do you get any support from the hospitals and and and those I don't know what St Barnabas is or St Joe's but um so I was wondering about that so A situ getting support from the hospitals a lot of the hospitals do provide their own EMS Services um they typically will do transport non-emergent transport or Critical Care transport we have a very strong relationship with Mountainside Hospital we have done some of their CPR training and we're exploring some other opportunities where we can partner with Mountainside and I would say we have a very strong relationship with them uh they've donated for some of our fundraisers and things of that nature and also do you do you have a I'm sure I know they're expensive but do you have um somebody to help you with Grant applications per you know per per Bono or any support to my right is Kristen Ryan she's our director of development and public information officer oh great uh so she handles grant writing fundraising as well as any public information or Outreach and to my left is Deputy Chief Michael Craig uh all the data I've given you I have Michael to thank for he crunches the numbers and helps run the operations terrific thank you councilman ter again thank you for your work in the service you provide uh I can remember as a police officer back many years ago we used to do a lot of the buggy lugging ourselves because we had station wagons then so I know how difficult that it could be so um thank you very much I have two questions uh when you charge somebody you said you charge their insurance uh is it a standard charge or are there different prices for different types of incidents so that's a great question there is a standard charge there's a flat rate charge to load a person into the ambulance as well as per mile if somebody refuses medical attention there is a different charge much lower than if they go to the hospital and then there is other charges based on uh if medication is administered or if they're getting oxygen versus not getting oxygen um that that would be the uh charge set up we have and uh do people get a choice of what hospital that they want to go to great question uh that within reason so there will be a few times where we'll put closest hospital restrictions so if we have inclement weather a large storm moving through we might say you should we need to go only to the closest hospital uh there's other times where we may suggest a person go to a say a Trauma Center or a burn center or a pediatric center based on the severity of whatever we've been called for or the age of the patient um but we will typically go we M from Montclair we will go to Mountainside St Barnabas clar Moss St Joe's East Orange General all the hospitals in nework we'll pretty much go anywhere and with a valid reason as supervisor's approval we we'll go further than that you know if somebody has a very special circumstance we'll go up to hackin Sack or Mars Town Overlook again incredibly special circumstances as opposed to the generic 911 call okay thank you very much Council price saers thank you mayor and uh really very very much thanks for um what you do and for for coming to educate all of us and and the public listening um so you know the thoughts just have come one is so someone dials 911 for an emergency if they were living somewhere else they might go to in other words how does it get to you versus some other um some other service that provides this so the not to get too nitty-gritty but when somebody dials 911 the call gets routed to a public safety answering point if it's a Monclair call the Monclair Police Department would then dispatch us to the call I see um or Monclair will get a call from another Municipal saying do you have an ambulance available they will call us and ask if we are available and if we are and we can send somebody okay so the police are the central first 911 responders and then it's directed so I see okay um thank you the other is um you know you spoke about how it a relationship with Cedar Grove happened to come about and I think expanding and all that it's fraught you know in certain ways you'd have to have a bigger budget more people but maybe there's efficiencies and so is that something you've kind of grappled with and considered other towns I I think there is no one- siiz fits-all um piece that would solve the the crisis EMS face as a whole uh I we are open to collaborating on either a more expansive policy and regionalization we're open to just helping them when they need help it really comes down to what any individual Community needs and what they would see that they need and how we can best assist them so ultimate question so what is your annual budget uh we are finalizing that number should be finalized this week but as I said it's approximately just shy of $2 million and that's annual right yes sir and so with the Ceda Grove are they paying you guys yes sir and what's that amount um that would be $30,000 a year so nothing compared to the amount of services that you provide them it it's we're getting assistance in the form of space we'd have to rent space there obviously if we weren't receiving that assistance they are the SE Grove Rescue Squad is leasing us an ambulance for a dollar a year um I I think it's a relative amount it's not I would say it's not nothing and in your location I remember a couple years ago there's some issues with the pipes and the structure has that been taken care of the there was a sink call there last year that was taken care of um the structure still probably does need some addressing uh we the plumbing problem looks like it's a pipe issue as well out to the main and so one of the things with Miss tally was there's a potential possibility of being able to use cdbg money because you're in an area that qualifies for cdbg money but I think there was a there was a the need of maybe if you guys were able to be a polling station that was one of the conversations we had with her so I think Mr Lola or that's something to look into because then that's that's a considerable amount of funds that could help with the structure of the building I believe at one point we were a polling station it was removed cuz we're not ADA Compliant well that's the other part right how do we make you ADA Compliant to be able to be in that position yeah it's 118 years old that probably would be a a big cost prohibitive is my guess yeah any other questions well again I'll just say this um you know thank you thank you for the service that you guys uh all do and uh really I know the residents rely on you obviously in the time of most need often times um and uh you know we'll all keep a a listen out let us know if you deliver any babies in the upcoming year we'll keep an ey for that one we absolutely will all right thank you thank you guys appreciate thank you for having us okay um moving forward on our agenda we have ordinance 0243 which is an ordinance to amend chapter uh 32 7 vehicles in traffic on Township prohibit stopping and standing on North will uh North will Street on Bloomfield Avenue to Glen Ridge and is so move second moved and seconded without objection I'm going to open for hearing is there objection is there anyone wishing to be heard on this matter seeing no one I'm going to close the hearing anyone else wishing colleagues wishing to speak on this yeah so what is what does this mean when you said prohibit stopping and standing at all times on North Willis Street is this it means um I know you have the benefit of hearing it last time the right now as you may know there's it is not allowed but we don't have the ordinance so it is uh police cannot enforce what we already have right now so by passing the ordinance they can enforce what we de facto have listed right so I'm saying people standing on the street or no no no cars oh the cars so basically stopping and standing mhm okay so no double parking yeah or like stopping in your car you know and stopping there constructing traffic yeah right okay yep that's hard to do there's a lot of parking there no parking any other comments on this one seeing none mam clerk councelor Cummings yes Deputy Mayor herlock absent councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russel absent councelor Scher yes councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes next is ordinance 0244 which ordinance amending 0207 creating certain offices positions and Employments in the township of mon Clair County of essics and fixing the salary ranges thereof and I so move second it's moved and seconded without objection I'm going to open uh hearing on this is there anyone wishing to speak to this item seeing none I'll close the hearing any comments questions for my colleagues so again I think this something I probably missed from last time so is this adding a pargal or is this a what what are we doing here correct exactly so we're adding a paralal to the Law Department correct okay and do we currently have one we don't no we do not okay I don't want to say her names where's K uh assistant um not apparently ministrative assistant okay what's the salary range yeah it's listed which is consumate to their experience will depend on the the range that we get them any other questions concerns comments seeing none Madam clerk councel Cummings no Deputy Mayor Hurlock absent councel price Abrams yes Council Russo absent councelor schlager yes councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes thank you all right uh next I'm going to open it up to uh any public comment on agenda items uh please go over to the clerk sign in if you've got a comment on agenda item please list the agenda item you'd like to speak to um and uh please keep your comments to two minutes please hi guys uh Eric deato 25 Norwood Avenue it's a very small group tonight so I will be collegial um I just wanted to ask about r 24065 which is the non which is the non-public bidding uh award to the government uh strategy group on reviewing our psng bills um it just is an interesting item to me it's $32,900 and uh if you uh Mr manager could just walk us through it a little bit because I would just say first of all I would totally do it for 32 on the nose um okay but if you could just tell us what it is what it's uh we currently have on the books an outstanding balance with psng of $972,000 as of the end of 2023 there's been an ongoing dispute whatever uh it was brought to my attention by someone who happened to see the huge pile of unopened bills so I decided that no matter what and this has been dealt with by various people over the years that it was time to resolve this issue once and for all I'm not saying we owe all the money we may owe part of the money but ultimately we have to sit down figure out how much is owed and negotiate with psng uh to at least resolve this once and for all and I uh GSG um there's a gentleman who works for Al Steinberg who was a member of the uh he was the uh head of the local Finance board he was the head of local government services he literally wrote the book on government Finance has relationships with psng and was recommended to me I've have experience with them that's been positive and my goal is to get this off of our books one way or another as soon as possible I would just another followup which is does that pile of bills represent a failure on our part or psng part what what why do we have that pile of bills I had about a hundred envelopes like this I actually thought about calling the customer service number and asking to talk to someone so when they saw one of the bills is $753,000 just to see the reaction I would get but this is a failure on our part for not resolving this one way or another I'm not saying we know it all I know there were conversations before but it fell by the wayside and it's going to be resolved thank you very much can I can I speak to that sure comment so Mr deato I'm speaking directly so when we had an operational finance committee um one of the things that we were looking into was addressing this matter because as Mr said it's been a a longstanding issue but clearly as you know Finance has been disbanded hasn't been working together probably for over a year and a half and so that led to no action being taken on this so that to Mr L's point it was something that fell to the Wayside but it wasn't not something that the current group was not looking to address at a time over two years ago and then the other then the other part is these are like I believe they're like 99 utilities that encompassed his full bill so there's a whole bunch of of research that needs to be done in terms of the way the billing is done so it's not as simple as that this is just one bill that comes to us and so there's a lot of work that needs to be done a lot of research needs to be done in terms of getting all of the documentation that adds up to this price but we do they do owe us the money and so I think this but there are some conversation we had about this we owe them money or they owe no they owe us money they owe us it is legit Bill if it's a bill we owe them money well I'm saying it's it's it's a it's a so they owe us money for this for that we don't the the full amount is that what you're saying H I'm just I you lost me there that we they are US money no I'm saying this is an opportun there there's money out there that we that psng you want to go after to see what it is that we owe them correct we need to figure out exactly what is owed legitimately and hopefully negotiate if we can even lower number correct to make this go away that's yes that's what I'm right exactly better yes thanks counc I have a question when you said there are other utilities involved like what what does that mean like that I think you mean multiple um meters right say it again it's that's not one meter it's multiple meters different locations Etc yeah I think the number is like 99 yeah I don't think it's that high anymore but there's multiple meters here but it's it's got to be fixed Mr PA you know as that review or whatever is going on to make sure that we do negotiate that and appreciative of that too um and make Mr fan I know some of these things come to you but I know we had seen you know Verizon bills Etc that were languishing some others but if we could make sure all of those types of things are reviewed in some way so that we get a hold of you know what what what is the deal what's going on I appreciate that that's my goal but I I think um since we're on this conversation um I do think this is something we need to pull and have a discussion about it um because as this is stated it's this is not a professional service contract and we put this out as a no bid contract and non-fair and open and that's not what this is um so there's several questions I had about this in terms of a um there are many firms throughout the state that do this kind of work I know three are avid exchange Troy and Banks and Marti and menic um I did not see anywhere on gsg's website where they've done this before and so and I also have an issue with the fact that GSG recommended Mr Lola to be uh to work here and for him to go out and provide them with a non-fair notop contract to me is troublesome and so I do think we need to pull this and have a conversation cuz I have a concern because there's a clear conflict of interest and in my opinion if we do not do this this is something I will be sending to the state ethics board and the local Finance board to review because the manner in which we're doing this is um it basically this should have been sent out for an RFP to have companies who have expertise in this to do that so I'm just letting everywhere in here know that and thank you just just just to be clear here all of this was done in consultation with the law department and with our purchase our qualified purchasing agent aleros it was done by the book there is no conflict and with all due respect counselor um if we're going to talk about ethics issues ETC under the Faulkner act you're not supposed to be talking to various department heads without my permission I've alerted the council this on several occasions which obviously you choose not to abide by but if we're going to make threats like that it's not a threat it was a threat cuz we were in a meeting where you specifically told me that I could talk to any director I wanted to about your work and the work that you're doing and I believe Mr Terry was in that meeting and I said to you okay I'm going to take you up on that so just like I reached out to Mrs Miss R about this I reached out to miss abar about the fields so all I'm doing is what you told me I could do no I I disagree with that but so are you saying you did not tell me that we talking about something very specific to me I could reach out to any director but more more than that this is what I want to say not to this right here this is for the council the specific citation here njsa 4A 1126 that says basically why this is not a professional service contract Pro Professional Services mean services rendered or performed by a person authorized by law to practice and recognized provision whose practice is regulated by law and the performance of which Services requires knowledge of an advanced type in the field learning acquired by a prolonged formal course of specialized instruction and study as distinguished from from General academic instruction or prip and training Professional Services may also mean services rendered in the provision of performance of goods and services that are original and creative and character and recognized field of artistic Endeavor so in this particular whereas in the Clause of this njsa 40115 applies to Professional Services this does not fit that and the other question just similar to when we had other has anyone seen the GSG proposal okay PA would you like to speak to that I have the GSG proposal right but we have to vote on this we haven't seen anything again another area of concern and then the other part is this when things are done like this most most firms get a percentage of savings of what is saved and we're paying a fee regardless of that savings these are all things that may sound like munisha but to me it's a it's a practice that is has some historic reservations in terms of like how we are operating by giving out contracts without sending them out to proposals to get qualified professional firms that do the work that we're looking to get done in this particular case I don't see that so do we have any other townships that GSG has done this for I didn't ask you didn't ask okay so why how can we say that they can do this work qu this is what they do they do all kinds of General is your microphone yes it is sorry about that yeah good question I mentioned before counselor and and one of the reasons why I didn't go through the art the process you described is by the time it went out and by the time we had a selection and by the time it got through the finance department it would be July okay this is this is not about this is about finding out what the problem is and not having the people who are part of the problem decide who's going to decide if they were part of the problem if that makes sense so when did you decide we needed to do this once I found the the the pile of bills was brought to my attention so when was that within the last month about a month ago but right before the LA the last January meeting which I think was January 30th or 29th so considering where we are now you didn't have enough time to send something out to RFP to come back with represent who with companies and firms who do this if you knew it a month ago why didn't we put this on the agenda a month ago as I just said counselor I thought this was the most efficient way to do this I believe that this organization is more than qualified to do it and as I said as I just said and I will repeat I do not think it appropriate that the because I know you're reading the the cfo's talking points that she sent to I'm not reading the CF talking points what I'm reading I what I'm reading what I'm saying is a I asked the question do we know of any other municipality that G SG has done this for well M I'd say just just let's answer just answer the questions and let's move did GSG recommend you to be our town man our intern manager from what I am told yes okay so you know that answer and again I go back to a month ago you realized we had this outstanding bills and you wanted to do something about it that's not enough time to send this out as an RFP no but now is excuse me here we are a month later and now we saying it's too late you want to get it done expeditiously I want to get the I want to get the million dooll bill off of our books councelor that that sounds great go diverting the conversation I'm not diverting the conversation coun no I'm not what I'm saying is you knew a month ago that this was something you wanted to handle and instead of sending out an RFP to get that done you decided that GSG was the group that you wanted to do yes and so this is an organization that's not that we have no understand or no information that they've ever done it before yet there are many state agencies who who specialize in this so why wouldn't we send this out to RFP to get organizations and firms that specialize in it why wouldn't we do that we've had enough time by then if you sent it out back then we'd had rfps already I know the fact that is may have been languishing around for three or four or five years doesn't seem to be of much concern but I made I made a decision my but that's not true it wasn't a concern it is it is we are going to have one time I'm sorry Mr Mayor he says it's not a concern as I explained to you and I believe Mr Hurlock and the mayor who was on the finance committee with me at the time this was something that we were trying to get addressed over two years ago then the finance committee was disbanded for several reasons whatever and we had and it felt to the wayside it wasn't addressed and now I compliment you for finding it but what I'm saying to you is a very simple fact why did we not send it out to get a professional firm that specializes in this type of work and why does it go to GSG it's just listen to me it's an issue of of of paying a company that recommended you to work here to do work that they don't do when there are companies I've asked you to find some firms find some townships that they've done this for you said you don't know I've asked you why wouldn't we go out to get this done by a professional firm that specialized in this that's that's you so on this Council to determine whether or not they're okay with that I'm not I'm not to the point to like I said this is something that I will be filing with the state ethics board to look into because it's wrong we need to get professionals to do this and it adds up over time it's very similar to as my issue last time with the AR group we wanted to give him $50,000 we turned around gave him 35 we didn't give anyone any money it's a not to exceed amount we okay we said that but we also said that one of the reasons we didn't want to compare them to East Orange and nor is because East Orange and nor had grant writers on staff but when I called the mayor of East St and mayor of the nor they both told me no we do not we just have the Arby group so this is a continuation of that as far as I'm concerned to the council I'm letting you know this is something is going to the state ethics board thank you counselor we appreciate you letting us know and we'll move on to ordinance 0246 which is I have a question I'm sorry on mayor um the thing that's really troubling here is how on Earth could we have piles of bills that have gone unpaid for years H how does that happen I don't have that at my house I have to pay we have to pay our bills how did how does this happen so Robin there's uh how does the finance department allow this to happen well that's part of what we're going to find out so Rob we have a whole department that pays the bills um I I don't I don't get it I I don't get and there's other bills this is this is this is horrible horrible has gotten to this point I'm not I'm not Mr laa you know you've only been here a short time I don't get this I don't get it we have a bill list every month excuse me we have a bill list every month it's this thick I read it every single time I'm here for many many years it's millions of dollars every two weeks every three weeks and we don't pay the electric bill and the gas bill well I I I I'm flabbergasted I'm flabbergasted and and that we're even in this predicament that we have to hire somebody to straighten out the bills I I I where is and and and another thing if I can ask in a night like this where we have something on the agenda like this and we've had many many other things in finances why isn't the CFO here why isn't she here to answer our questions the buck stops with her it's her Department why can't or or her design why doesn't anybody ever come to from to to help like next meeting I'll have her here I I there's don't understand Miss CH comes you know um you know the Mr absar comes from the water department I I don't get this I don't get this so maybe I I it's boggles my mind I'm sorry it's I'm very angry sorry I AG well said and to your point Robin so I checked with other towns yeah and this isn't an anomaly that's why you have so many companies that do this work because so many bills there's so many bills and so many things that are that are doing this now in our case again this was something that we were looking into handle two years ago now that doesn't absolve that it hasn't been handled but we were looking into it finance department got disbanded and it's going Comm got disbanded and then to the question of why the CFO isn't here anytime she been she's been invited she's been here so it's not as if she doesn't she hasn't shown when she's invited and so that's one thing but I think what we need to focus on as a council is are you willing and open to giving a contract to a company that according to Mr Po does not know has ever done this work which you want to recoup when there are plenty of organizations and I Nam three firms that do this that's what their job is this is not gsg's job this is not what GSG does so you have think about that so when so when you want to go out there and get it do you want somebody who knows how to do it and has done it before and has done it for communities like ours or taken a chance well I don't know if they've done it think about that okay and that's not anything to absolve anybody or to say other than this is what it's important that when we get this type of information that we read it and I will tell you personally yes I look extremely close at all things that we're doing to GSG because of the fact that they recommended Mr laola and I don't think he should give any contracts to a company that recommended him to us because that just reeks of pay to play okay um next is ordinance 02 2406 which is an ordinance amending 0207 which creating certain offices positions Mr Mayor I hate to interrupt you and especially since I just got here but you're still on public comment according to Madam clerk uh was there other public comment on there's one other person sorry go ahead thank you thank you hi my name is Bonnie Fogle 16 Forest Street um I'm commenting on the last item on the agenda I uh I read the agenda very carefully as soon as it comes out and I'm talking specifically where it says executive session and there are no agenda items um a couple of weeks ago in preparation for the February 13th meeting um there were no agenda items yet at that executive session a matter concerning the planning board was discussed it was voted on and furthermore uh a retroactive appointment was issued for somebody on the planning board um uh I'm I'm not uh making up laws I and I'm not going to quote the whole thing but the New Jersey statutes annotated 104-113 at the end of their statement makes three comment three statements one is minutes must be taken and kept from executive session meetings I've never seen any executive session meetings must be on the agenda no vote can be taken in place in executive session all votes must be done in public session laws were broken by the three actions taken on February 13th in your executive meeting executive session there's nothing listed for tonight's executive session can you please let the uh people know what's on your agenda for your executive session tonight don't we usually name Personnel or something there yeah it is okay so um thank you for your comment are you going to answer the question we'll answer at the end of comments thank you any other comments on the answer of public comments after the executive session on the end of these comments here these okay um seeing none no others wishing to speak I will close public comment to answer that specifically uh working backwards yes we do always list exact exactly what is to be discussed as is tonight another example of it any of our executive session um uh uh ordinance that you uh resolution that you see specifically lists they're all listed as a sample there and then specifically the one to be addressed has it underlined and notes it uh that's the format that we use every time and it was the format used in previous meetings and the format again tonight no votes are taken in executive session that is why we always come out of executive session if any votes are to be taken those votes are taken in public session not in executive session um that answers uh that question there as well okay um moving forward we have ordinance 0246 which is an ordinance to amend 0207 which is creat certain offices positions um and Employments in the township of mclair County of Essex and fixing salary guides uh thereof and I so move second it's been moved and seconded any questions concerns comments councilwoman price thanks so um we did receive a revised document um so it had said senior Municipal tax collector and the new ones just says senior Municipal tax assessor are those the same position by a different name or a different position councel what this does is creates two positions uh there are nonunion positions um what's that non nonunion positions these are administrative positions um it is my intent to then um hopefully at some point take people who currently serve in very similar position positions who were are are paid far below what they deserve and then um promote them into these positions leaving their current positions vacant but not to be filled um uh they are two people who between them I think have well over 50 years of uh of uh of of service to Monclair um as a matter of fact on the on the second position for the superintendent Recreation the person has been here 32 years is the backbone of the department it doesn't even make the minimum of what that salary is and it's an outrage to me that these people are so grossly underpaid and over the next few months you will see other positions where we see people who I believe some in unions some are not who are their responsibilities and I know we have Union contracts Etc who are grossly underpaid they are primarily women and primarily women of color and it is my goal to fix that thank you um we may have to do a whole study at some point as our titles of just a mishmash of of things that have been added for the past 40 or 50 years they don't match responsibilities we have salary ranges that are huge we really need to assess all of these positions so people are adequately compensated and have the ability to move forward or not but it's not it's not you know somebody who's doing it similar responsibilities in one department is making $30,000 more than someone in another department so my goal is to fix these uh these these issues and um we're going to do the best that we can to fix what we can quickly and then I think I'll have a proposal for you at some point to hire a company that comes in and just does a full analysis we're not civil service so it's really just our own system and I I think over the years the system has become broken I think the titles don't match the technology and everything else you know the fact that somebody could be 30 5 years in the exact same title and be at their Max salary for 25 years is insane to me they make it some you know uh um small increases but but it's an outrage if you could work at this town for 65 years and be an accountant I mean 65 for 25 years as an accountant and you're not making $65,000 a year there's something very very wrong with that and hopefully we'll be able to fix the bigger problem but this is one of the first steps that we're going to be taking thank you but I have aight a slight my question was that we had a piece of paper in the packet and then the one that was handed to us has a slight M was a tax assessor I'm asking if a tax collector and a tax assessor are the same thing or they two different departments okay the tax assessor just right what is that wrong the tax assessor is the person goes out and sets the value of your property they work for us but they're independent they're part of the government and the tax collector is the one who collects your taxes ET thank you councilman ter when when you say non-union are they in an administrative like type position yes sir okay and these people should have been in administrative titles okay 10 or 15 years ago any other questions yes so we have a tax assessor correct yes and the senior tax assessor that we we are creating will they report to the tax to tax assessor yeah they report yes of course so the title seems to be when you see Senior tax assessor that seems to say that the tax assessor were reporting to the senior tax assessor so I mean just it's just the tax assessor is the tax assessor so that anything flows from that so I think everybody understands that that's I consulted with him before we created this title yeah I had so my again when you say senior tax assessor that just from a title alone seems to be that person is superior to to the tax assessor so I think there may be a consideration to tweak in his title number one because again a tax assessor is here why is a senior tax assessor here I think I mean you know I was a deputy editor and it was a senior Deputy editor and the senior Deputy editor was above me so I think that's that's one thing be that as it may the tax assessor's office we're going to go back to this again from my understanding that is a division under the finance department and so my question is have you discussed this with the CFO no okay so now I go to judge patillo's order which clearly stated one of the issues with currently operating with the CFO was her not getting things to do her job that's not my order that's the judge's order so if you're not speaking with the CFO on a position that reports to her and again I'm talking to the council here this seems to wreak of the same issue that Gottis in the problem we have with the CFO and that this is not giving her an opportunity to do her job and so so just from a that position the other thing we have two positions here and both indiv idual no issue with however how many folks do we have at the top level of the of there of their steps that are in Union positions like them um I don't know the exact number but quite a few so ultimately if we move these people right now if I'm a union rep I'm coming to you tomorrow and saying why am I not getting the same opportunities for others even though because you said it we have a lot of people who've been in jobs for a long time but we've identified two who are going to be elevated to another level and given position and so how how are we going to how are we going to rectify that with the others who you want to take care of down the line as opposed to then giving us a full assessment of people in this positions that we want to so we could know because these salary ranges are significant this is significant amount of money that it end up being well these these two positions these two people and subsequently positions in my opinion should be administrative positions they should not be in the unions given the their vast responsibilities and qualifications secondly is we are creating these positions and hopefully moving people into them but we are not deleting their current titles okay so Tech techically the titles will still remain with the Union they will not be filled but they will be there so you see no potential issues with the Union asking for similar treatment for others who at the top of their step in this position look they can ask I have yet to have any Union come to me well we haven't done this until today we we're potentially not doing this that's not my point my point is I've never had any Union head come to me to say that they think any of their employees should get more money I mean there's there's contractual limits here but that doesn't make the situation you know in my opinion fair and these are two people who should not be who should be uh in the in in administrative positions when I said to you about doing a study of titles Etc I think we can solve a bigger picture there are some glaring problems that I'd like to address quickly and that's why I'm doing this regarding your other point um I I will just say this is that under the statute I'm the town manager and I'm the person in charge here I do not I do not have to consult with any department head I don't have to do and just because there's past practice doesn't set some kind of precedent and I already told you I'm not going to discuss what what the court has said if anybody thinks that's in violation of what the court ordered they can go to court I'm not going to argue that I can't I can't operate in a situation where every move that we make and everything that we do is in the context of a lawsuit government doesn't shouldn't have to work that way but unfortunately here it it sometimes does I'm doing my job I'm doing my job and my my responsibility is to make these decisions make their recommendations present them to the council and if the council votes if you agree with me the votes are yes if not no but I do think these are glaring problems and honestly in these situations in terms of consult ation with department heads sometimes the problem is the department head sometimes there's people in those departments who are underpaid and I'm not going to ask in my opinion as as the town manager that somebody who's here you know who was a who was a certified uh uh Municipal tax collector in New Jersey who passed one of the most difficult uh test in the state who's been here 25 years and in my opinion is grossly underpaid that I have to get someone's permission that's not going to happen I'm not asking that's not what my point is my point is that a the title senior tax assessor seems to indicate that she is above the tax assessor it's not the the the two employees particularly for here I agree with you they deserve what potentially happen but a concern I have and I and I I guess maybe you don't is that does this put the township position where the unions will have the right to ask for similar changes to other staff members who at the top of their step that's just the question I have to you but then I go back to the title again and I don't know if anybody who's a one level below someone who has a higher title than them so that's just a simple I don't think that's not a hard fix to make and but then I also want to make it clear to the point that yes you have every right you are the manager and but directors also have jobs to do too and while you don't have to worry about past practice we do because there is a lawsuit out there and a judge clearly told us how we need to operate and you're in that position to operate that way so I'm worried about being put at further Jeopardy by these actions and this Council needs to be aware of that because our decisions are ultimately were the ones that put us in a position so that's I'm not really speaking to you Michael as much as I am to the council so that they really pay attention to what we're doing and again I asked them to think about it senior tax assessor we can make it senior assistant Municipal tax assessor I don't see why you just me a municipal tax assessor that's the that's what the senior the senior title itself the word assistant right so you you you do whatever mayor we can make senior assistant it's non-substantive so that's fine y okay um the title bees for then Senior assistant Municipal tax collector tax assessor okay all right so we have it as senior assistant uh Madam clerk councelor Cummings yes Deputy Mayor herlock yes councelor price Abrams yes Council Russo absent councelor schlager yes councelor ter yes mayor Spiller yes uh next we have our um consent agenda we move through here um we've got a couple other ones in there um that uh um we'll see if they get added want to add in consent agenda without objection there's number six which is resolution R 2455 which is just to appoint the municipal registar if there's no objection We'll add that to the consent agenda and and uh certainly as we go through and the manager uh noted this at the start Mr de Mar I don't think you had a chance to hear the ambulance unit came in uh did a wonderful presentation um certainly on the um you know just a great work that they do certainly serving this community and and others Mr Leola noted at that time um to to to try and uh get some settlement dollars into them and that's also in item number nine resolution R 2458 which is a resolution to pre-qualify and award fair and open Professional Services contract to the mon ambulance unit um the ess6 health and Recovery Center service the township is the opioid settlement fund implementation program so without objection I'll add that to the absolutely Mr Mayor thank you for the heads up I'm sorry I missed that part of presentation I was at a town actually in court with clients all day today in Philadelphia but I see members of the Monclair and unit are out there Chief Deputy Chief and members of the the team thank you all for your service you do a wonderful job for our community thank you thank you thank you Mr Mayor for the heads up Mr Mayor I do want to put forth a request to pull r 24065 which number are you talking about here 16 number 16 consent agenda is numbers 1 through 12 okay okay um okay so with that we have uh items 1 through 12 moving is consent agenda and I so move second moved and seconded Madam clerk councelor Cummings yes Deputy Mayor herlock yes councelor price Abrams yes Council Russo absent councelor schlager yes councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes next is resolution R 24062 which is a resolution authorizing awarding and contract to land associate architectural Design Services for the Police Department 911 migration is so move second it's moved and seconded any questions concerns comments seeing none uh I want to if Mr Li you could just explain what the Dispatch Center is in other words it's um we're relocating the dispatch back from the fire department to the police department so it requires a certain amount of build out design yes okay does this also connect them two or is it still still separate I believe it's still separate so can you find out for me mhm mam clerk councelor Cummings yes Deputy Mayor Hurlock councelor price Abrams councel Russo abson councelor schlager yes councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes next is resolution R 24063 which is authorizing the award of police off duty management uh contract to extra Duty Solutions uh through competitive uh Contracting I so move it's moved and seconded questions concerns comments seeing none Madam clerk councelor Cummings yes Deputy Mayor herlock yes councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo absent councelor schlager yes councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes next is resolution um R 24064 which is a resolution authorizing the use of competitive Contracting for consulting services with the township for Professional Services uh as Section 8 hearing officer accounting services I so move second move the seconded questions concerns comments who's the current section 8 hearing officer M leul would you like to speak to I don't know the answer to that so who's been handling these Services uh Madam attorney I believe this is the Section 8 off uh uh hearing officer correct this is can you explain this one please the Section 8 hearing officer that's so you're asking it's a yearly appointment I don't know his name can you get me his name sure thank you this is right I understand it's question right that not this just to note I believe this past year was Mr Billy if I'm not mistaken okay and just for clarity that is not this for everyone listening so okay um any other questions comments on this Madam clerk councelor Cummings yes Deputy Mayor Hurlock yes councel price Abrams yes Council Russo absent councel schlager yes councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes this is resolution R 24065 which is a resolution authorizing the award of Professional Services contract without public Bing to government strategies group to conduct a financial review analysis of the outstanding invoices from Public Service Electric and Gas Company I so move so I ask that this be held because again as we stated earlier they have no experience or not shown or demonstrated we haven't seen anything that said that Mr I know you want to debate but as I moved it let me see if there's a second and then you absolutely can debate is there a second I'll second it let moved and seconded please comments so everyone heard what I said earlier about this and heard the response from the town manager that no he doesn't know that they've ever done this I I did I did ask and they did the same thing in Edison recently so Edison Ed as one town that's good that you got that but again my my still go to the fact that we have to deal with the fact that this is an organization that recommended him to work here and now he's given them a contract and it's consistent with the fact that there are professional organizations that this is what they specialize in do and I think if we want to go after this amount of money for what we need we should do we should get the companies that do this the best any other questions comments councilwoman price abam uh yeah so Mr Lola um and I think you just made reference to it in the earlier conversation but um can you clarify I think you indicated there was a person on the staff there I don't know if you knew him or you knew of him and that it's it's within he has expertise in particular and because you knew that right and you said he has a relationship with psng did I I believe the companies at least the ones that the CFO had referred to suggested to me are just pure forensic accountants they go back and just do it you know take the bills and figure out what it is there's other parts to this which includes dealing with psng help me to negotiate figure out what the issue is and Mr Steinberg uh I believe was the first director of local government services with the the head of local Finance board so maybe it was it was actually when I spoke to our our current Auditors and I asked them specifically do I need to hire a forensic accountant they they did not believe that we needed to do that and they also suggested that Mr Steinberg could do the job that was Mr swisser from sley Clooney I had that conversation with who who who was the person who you said you the conversation our auditor our auditor so the auditor recommended right he knew that we he knew I knew them recommended Mr Steinberg to do it theyve also done the same thing in Edison forensic accountants of course any most accounting firms could do do a do a forensic examination of the books but there's a lot more moving Parts here in terms of the the government aspect of this and why it wasn't fixed and how this happened and you know having an exception in our audit on schedule a22 that we owe $280,000 when I don't know if that's an accurate reflection or or or not you know so I wanted somebody who can come in here and and deal with all of the parts of this and you know I I had a conversation with some from PSG because I was meeting with them on something else who allegedly was part of these in-depth conversations who really had no recollection of what this was about so this I'm not quite sure how far this goes back because for those of you who are here there was litigation involving uh two different I think third party um consolation and uh and and another one and uh those there were lawsuits and those lawsuits are settled so I'm not quite I don't quite understand why this issue still exists if those lawsuits were settled and and everything else so I just okay so and yeah you know I did call you earlier to letting people know cuz I also wondered what this is about and I didn't know the context people who had been on you know the finance committee at one point apparently were privy to it but I I had not been so I was inquiring in that regard you did explain this to me um I wanted to clarify though this is a flat fee we're paying them they're not taking a percentage of whatever else there is or some in some fashion they're not they're not there's no that's that's the amount of that they they don't get any percentage on the success fee okay well that's was alluded to and I wanted to make sure what the terms no there's no percentage on it no I'm not a big fan of success fees for the most part so uh thank you thank you any other questions for my colleages um one Qui coun Mr I just so I just from my own mind um your your salary that you receive here is you're paid through the township of monair let let me clarify this for maybe the fifth time okay I have no relationship with GSG other than getting a phone call to see if I was interested in this job I have never done work for them I've never been part of their company I have never sought work from them that I have never given them a proposal I received a call from Mr hartnet the late Mr hartnet at one point asking me if I might be interested in doing this and I gave him a resume as I said at that time I had not met or heard of any of you I don't think I met anybody in person before I got the job so this was totally out of the blue I have no relationship I don't work for them there's nothing there they don't pay my salary they don't go through my salary I think they were paid somewhere between $2 and $3,000 because they successfully recommended someone for the position okay and I also did work with them here because as part of that there was another contract that they were awarded that that ended at the end of of last year and that work was done but um and I was not part of that award but I did work with them and was very satisfied with their work the people who work there have Stellar reputations in the state of New Jersey you can call around to any town and ask them about the people there and uh whether it's Al Steinberg or Kender Roberts or anybody else they are the cream of the crop when it comes to government Consulting so I have every confidence in them okay any other questions uh councilman Terry yes I do have a question and you did say also that you uh spoke to the Law Department did I hear that or I heard that wrong this was Don cons aleros who's our our our qualified purchasing agent is a stickler and I worked hand inand with him to make sure I was in compliance with the law okay it was also reviewed by uh Township Council I am confident that we followed every step of the law in terms of this okay so that's right then and there Al is the the one who makes those decisions we don't go back at him and say no we're not going to do it that way Al said this is how it can be done and this is how it was done okay any other questions yes I I know you asked a lot of R Mr Deputy Mayor yeah uh thank you Mr Mayor um mrito if you could just comment for me on whether there's been some questions I appreciate you asking that question Robin that you just did and Mr Lola your response sorry to make you do it more than once um okay do we see any issues here from a conflict perspective legally no we see no conflict issues thank you so I'm just going to emphasize once more that this is not a professional service contract which is a rationale for the non-fair and open bid and a clear conflict and so Mr Po just so I have this on the record um and this is what it's about did you consult the CFO on this recommendation I made her aware of the recommendation that's the same as a consultation yes okay any other staff member uh I spoke to the obviously to the purchasing agent uh someone else who works in purchasing I believe I um the the controller was also part of the conversation because I invited them to my office when I found out about the bills and uh uh asked what this was and how it could be and I you know with all due respect to them basically got a big shrug so so just for clarification are you saying yes that you consulted the CFO on this a consultation is did I talk to her about it yes no because I actually earlier when you said you said you did not and now you're saying that you ask me that about the position so I'm talking about the contract with this I'm talking about this right here contract so you did consult her on this okay thank you you're welcome Madam Clerk councelor Cummings no Deputy Mayor Hurlock yes councelor price Abrams yes councelor Russo absent councelor schlager yes councelor Terry yes mayor Spiller yes Nexus resolution R 24066 councilwoman Scher would you do the honors oh yes I will thank you thank you mayor whereas invoices against the township of Monclair in favor of the following persons for the amount set opposite their respective names have been received duly audited and found correct now therefore be it resolved by the council to the township of Monclair in the county of Essex that these invoices be and they are hereby ordered paid that checks be drawn by the finance department to the order of such persons for the amounts respectively and here and after stated on the computer printout attached here to and made a part hereof this bill list is dated February 27th year 2024 for 1, 63,000 $241 49 and I so move second seconded any question questions concerns comments seeing none Madam clerk councelor Cummings no Deputy Mayor Hurlock yes councelor price Abram yes Council Russo absent councelor schlager yes councelor Terry yes mayor spillard yes uh thank you very much before we go to um open public comments I'll just uh say again to the ambulance un as you saw today through our actions we're happy to be able to support additionally financially so um you know hopefully we're we're helping you along your way to that that that goal uh to help with that budget um certainly we continue and will continue to support you in our other ways uh with property other other things you noted uh but also publicize you know the great work that you do and hopefully get others to contribute and I know through the manager we continue to look at some of those other pieces that we had all spoken about which is insurance overlaps and things that we might be able to do in Partnership um and certainly I think we'll all look at it especially as you note the vehicle that you noted you know finally going Kut um you know looking at some of the other options out there uh to try and acquire vehicle in partnership with other towns Etc I know we had some loose conversations so ongoing but happy to be able to get some of that uh over to you guys tonight thanks okay all right with that I'm going to open up to public comment anyone wishing to speak to public comment please come over and sign on in and uh offer your public comments hi everybody I'm Jonathan grouper um and I'll start asking a quick question is how many folks here have been to The bonsel Preserve great three how many folks have been okay that's a great showing um it it is the best kept secret in Montclair uh Mr Hurlock knows it well he's been our advocate for it um we have a request to present that has been in the works for a long time now U just for whatever reasons and um not because of its merits uh the quick history of what's going on is that The Preserve had a sewer line going through it from the Town of Clifton The bonsel Preserve is this Oasis it's this little Pearl in the middle of Monclair in the top of Monclair um that is um the only unmanicured Park we have okay it's it's it's a little patch of wilderness and um it's it was uh it's been under a lot of different stresses um from you know being a Suburban park preserve um and um first and foremost was it had a sewer line going through it from Clifton and Clifton stepped up I'll say more than Monclair has to be blunt uh Clifton has put $5 million into relocating that sewer line because it was uh busted and it redirected It Around The Preserve with a technique called horizontal directional drilling it goes underground and with gravity so it was an expensive project and the tail end of that project was to provide us with $300,000 of restoration we have 300 trees and bushes to show for that very proud of that and that led to this Renaissance at The Preserve where a slew of people have now come out to recognize it to take care of it we have ongoing invasive species projects cleanup projects Boy Scout projects all kinds of stuff because people now are aware that The Preserve is worth preserving okay now one of the main features that came of this is that at the Northern end of The Preserve in its wisdom Clifton picked that stretch of property to put this sewer line and in doing so it took back land that the residents of Clifton had usurped all right the Clifton residents had taken their properties and spread into bonsel and the previous Township attorney helped us to re re possess our property there and plant some of those trees into that area Okay this was an en ormous effort that we've been undertaking that we finally realized and we have trees planted there we have uh Native grasses the problem is that now those same properties are beginning their slow migration back into The Preserve and so I'm here to ask that we get a split rail fence to mark off the northern Edge Of The Preserve it's not that expensive it'll help us to complete this project we would appreciate the council's approval of that and this is The Preserves 50th Anniversary so this is our request for a Victory lap for this to be part of what going to mark that for us okay 1974 so I put that to you and I hope that you'll all give that your thumbs up thank you thank you okay yeah I'm gonna just if I could Mr Mayor and Jonathan you know I love you we've been working together for 12 years plus I just have to clarify something that I would respectfully disagree that Clifton's done more than us they were originally going to put a pump station in the middle of your preserve and it was only because of me and my relationship with mayor Grabowski that it became a gravity fed line absolutely so I just want to I don't like to Ho toot my own horn when I'm up here at all I'm it enough if I have not tooted enough it's because of Mr Hurlock that I can say everything that we just did Mr Bianco and I did walk the property not too long ago and there were some areas that we had some concerns about putting a split rail fence even to disturb the natural landscape that was already there but I'm happy to work with Mr Lola going forward to get that addressed in the next four and a half four months not that I'm counting no I'm just saying until July 1 but we'll work on it Jonathan for sure and if I haven't stated enough it's because of Mr Hurlock that we accomplished all of this we're very grateful to you and also for the Outreach to Clifton yes very much absolutely and you've done a great job too thank you thank you everybody good evening my name is Ben Rich I'm for live at 27 James Street I'm co-chair of the environmental commission and we just completed our Monclair climate action plan and so I've just come to formally present it to you um in July 2021 the Town Council passed a resolution for the environmental commission to write a climate action plan uh and to do this we work together with local environmental groups such as Monclair climate action the Sierra Club Northeast Earth Coalition uh the League of Women Voters and the sustainability coordinat for the um town of Monclair and it was a significant effort that culminated in a thorough report with action steps for Montclair to be a leader in climate mitigation and adaptation uh the climate action plan is based in the latest science and it focuses on the one main thing that we need to do to reduce carbon emissions which is to stop burning fossil fuels and um primarily in our buildings and in transportation so at this time the best way to do that is to Electrify everything that burns fossil fuels and then produce our own electricity or purchase electricity from renewable resources so the sustainability coordinator for the township has been highly effective in receiving grants to install necessary infrastructure to Electrify the Township's Fleet to all EVS uh which will save the township money as it has other towns already so be sure to please be sure to fund those projects as we get the grant money uh that will'll save big in the coming years um possibly the most important action for the town to take though is to ensure all future managerial hires have a strong Environmental understanding and drive to make the necessary changes uh to our buildings and transportation systems instead of remaining in the status quo having people who know what they're talking about and know to make these decisions that are already in those positions is critical um and at this point really my only question is whether we need to have a vote to adopt this or um endorse it or whether this is a document that we can publish on our website yeah thank you I I know that uh some conversations the councilwoman has had um first and foremost I want to say thank you by the way to you and the committee um you know uh certainly Suzanne and and Lisa and everybody else who's been part of the work and and your time you've put in thank you so much um I I think as we as we look at it um and as the councilman notes it will note I'm sure there's a couple pieces that you know might want a little bit more review on a couple tweaks potentially um but then I think we would bring it back to this body whether or not it has to be voted on I think it's a good idea to kind of put into you know the record if you will that is part of our plan um and then um you know have it have it officially be our our action plan that sounds good councilwoman yeah if I yeah Ben I really just so for those who don't know I don't know how long your tenure of service has been but you know as uh sat through many of the meetings I don't make everyone I every time I go I'm very happy I've been there to listened to the very thoughtful group people around the table who are sitting right there uh who are just really grappling with the challenging issues of um you know what it means to be environmental stewards and and what kind of policies and Etc so I to the extent that you've been this leader uh a co-leader but um really I know someone who's taken it on very seriously it's a personal passion and uh a lot of professional expertise you bring I want to thank you myself and um I want to thank you also for this plan because I know it was something I would say was collectively birthed by a few handful of people with um with a lot of work and um so I think you know it's very nearly there there may be a couple questions and Lisa had raised that we might want to end up bringing back to the commission to look at um if that's the case I mean it sounds like you're you're leaving the position but you're not leaving the area I hope right well in 3 days I'll be leaving the position but you won't be leaving the area so you can come back when we finally do it we can thank you again if you're available but I I do want to really recognize um the tremendous work that you and the people that you've worked with have put in yeah this is this has been a passion project for uh over two years and and so I'm really proud to be bringing it forward to you all and I hope you've had a chance to read it and um it's it's high quality work uh because it's been a collaborative effort absolutely so I think I think I heard her say stay close or if you get on your motorcycle and go very far you'll come back right I'll come back right absolutely thank you welome back to you on those pieces thank you uh good evening council members and Mr Mayor my name's Jared d I live at 41 North Fullerton right up the street uh I thank you for your attention and for your willingness to lead I'd like to present to you as a Montclair resident my strong opinion on the matter of the flags currently flying over Monclair and specifically those flying from the public flag pole at Monclair Center at the southw southwest corner of Bloomfield Avent Church Street currently this flag poll features the American flag at top the flags of Ukraine and Israel in my opinion while individuals have an integral First Amendment right to hang any flag they choose even the most provocative or controversial on their private flag pole or to wear any such flag on their sleeve public flag polls must be reserved for just one flag the one incontestable flag the one that is indeed provocative for many Americans but not controversial as it is the one that quite literally comes with the territory and that's the flag of the United States of America while certain public spaces must be and often are designated for protest and debate and for making political and sociopolitical statements the likes of which go to the heart of this nation's founding and ongoing shaping public flag poles must not be in this time of great division in our great and greatly troubled Nation we must as ever preserve and protect those dates and occasions those spaces and symbols that Galvanize us As Americans our flag is what one such symbol among the most important whatever else it symbolizes great Wars and great tragedies triumphant history and tragic history outside of questioning the very concept of nationhood and boundaries it is irrefutably the flag of America we are all Americans and we all call America our home recall the chapter in our history that included an attempt to argue the very essence of the stars and stripes in the fundamental meaning of America Americans declared so-called Civil War on one another and killed one another in record numbers I do not believe invoking our civil war is hyperbolic at this juncture flying the flags of other nations makes political statements and to do so in a public space imposes such statements on the residents from above so to speak and opposed as opposed to making space as the township seems to have done on the very Cor corner just opposite the one in the question where at the intersection of Bloomfield and Church in South Fullerton I've witnessed many times opposing groups making their statements with full opportunity to debate and with no conflict that I've seen I might add also to State the obvious there are truly no flag poles tall enough to represent All Points of View and invariably some groups feel left out and resentful according to our own Monclair local from three March 22nd of 2022 I'll be done in one second the only written responses to the article describing the initial raising of the Ukrainian flag in Monclair Center were in a bridged form what about the igar and what about the Tibetans this is clearly no solution thank you thank you thank you for thank you before you uh walk away I I think Mr D you're describing the flag pole that is on private property because the flag pole that's the other place you're describing really at that Hub around you know Church Street South Fullerton blomfield Avenue there were different flags I think we've kind of come to conclude roughly what you've said very beautifully uh that you know maybe we don't have to try and represent every thought because you know we have one symbol I'm not sure mrpo I believe that's where you had landed as the manager but I wanted to point out that what I think you're describing is the one that's on top of anthropology which is that private properties uh that that that property owner's private property I'm very glad you're bringing that to my attention because I made was confusing I think I made several calls to this Municipal Building asking if that flag pole was indeed public or private and I got no calls back so I had to assume that a flag poll in such a prominent space indeed in Monclair Center was a public flag pole I appreciate your time I hope you'll considerate your thoughtful words okay thank you well [Applause] said good evening uh my name is David corage I live at 58 tuxedo re Road I'm also uh the president of Monclair climate action among condition being a Monclair resident um I just want to very briefly first of all re re uh reinforce what Ben rich said I hope you will guys will uh sort of adopt and vote and make official of the climate action plan and then follow forward um in terms of follow through policy or if you for the next four months then whoever follows you including you Mr LOL help make it a real priority going forward is something that the town can integrate into policy not just have on a piece of paper um members of MCA were involved in sort of cooperating and helping that to draft and would be happy to serve as a resource so that can be at all helpful in uh in in in your sort of ruminations on it but I do want to speak uh to actually one particular climate plan that actually a climate issue that does come up there and that is um taking a asking the town to take an even stronger stand on behalf of creating a bikable and walkable Community this is not a new goal as long ago as 2003 more than 20 years ago in the sustainable Monclair planning guide they called for a creation of a bike route north south through the town and nearly every planning document since then including the climate action plan itself put forward by the mon environmental commission emphasized active Mobility uh you all have created the vision zero task force which I actually appreciate um but given how long the way has been and the urgency of the climate crisis I want to just step up and say I hope you'll continue to make this priority for the for now and for the future councils um this is a climate policy reducing vehicle miles traveled is by promoting aptive Mobility is one of the most effective things the town can do to promote climate action it's within our control but it does require creating infrastructure around town to bring out the cyclists and Walkers that are there I bike around t bike around town regularly I actually bike to work pretty regularly and I can tell you even with the basically non-existent bike infrastructure we have adults and kids bike around pretty regularly you see high school kids biking to school you see people biking around and this is in fact that's not necess safest I've Al also almost been HIIT a couple times coming out Claremont Avenue so protecting people people making it safer and easier to bike if you do that they will come out I promise you um I would also point out that according to Census Data according to the safe plan 10% of monair households don't have um H cars and in my the W where I live which is the fourth W that's 20% of households do not have cars so for these households making Monclair bikable and walkable city is essential so for all these reasons I urge you uh to keep pushing to develop a strong plant and not just not just reduce that so obviously that's important but after you promote biking walking through changes to infrastructure such as Street diets protected bike Lanes bump outs and so on thank you very much thank you um hello Council uh we're here today to address the current status of women field um first of all having to play at a field with Nish Wayne that's five teams including the junior mountaines which is the middle middle school team all playing on one field which is going to mess up a lot of schedules and also at Nish Wayne there's increased risk of injury which I personally have felt when uh in 2022 due to it being poorly maintained I sprained my M MCL while playing and there was overgrown grass um a turfield would be easier to maintain than a dir field and it would help improve player safety and um nobody wants to lose baseball at Woodman field so please make sure this project moves forward and thank you uh William black [Applause] hello Council my name is Roman hor I'm a freshman at moner high school and plan to play baseball this spring I'm here with some friends who also play baseball practice starts on March 11th and opening day is April 1st I know that work started to improve Woodman field but nothing has happened in the last 3 weeks I started a PO with other players at uh to get women field ready for the spring season it went out this weekend and we already have more than 1,000 signatures it started as a baseball players other student athletes and their friends not many supporters around town have also signed on basball to us is not just a game but also a way of being on a team and bringing together families this is not just about seniors who will play their last season this spring it's also about the Freshman sophomores and juniors who play baseball it's also about track and field kids who have no place right now and younger baseball players who want to play in high school in the future it's also about the families who get together around baseball please get this field done so we can have a spring season thank you hi good evening um I'm Lisa stalberg another Montclair baseball mom I spoke at the last council meeting and tonight I'm reading this on behalf of Jasmine hadari who's the author of these comments she's a Monclair resident and a junior mounty and Monclair Little League Baseball bomb who couldn't be here in person today and gave me permission to read on her behalf so on Jasmine hadar's behalf I want to read something that many of you and most residents have never seen it's on the wall of Montclair High School it's not loud or splashy but a small modest piece of paper it's titled fundamentals of Montclair baseball and it reads take responsibility for your thoughts and actions commit to a mission know why you play baseball what character traits you want to possess and what you want to accomplish in the game make your daily actions consistent with your mission play one pitch at a time confident and focused on each pitch as it is played with disregard for past or future pitches focus on the process of playing the game rather than the outcomes of your performance realize that you can't control what happens around you but you can control your response to it and you must be in control of yourself before you can control your performance develop your mental skills so that you consistently perform near the best of your ability and have something to go to when faced with adversity practice what you are going to do in a game learn each day keep it simple we took a picture of this and read it aloud to our kids we said kids this isn't just about baseball this is about life is this one in this one small simple document are enormous life lessons that can have an extraordinary impact on your life if you think this field is just about baseball and the consequences of the town's actions right now are not a big deal you're wrong this isn't isn't just about baseball but about the value the sport brings to our youth and the life lessons they teach that it teaches them that makes them into better people and the last thing our athletes should have to worry about while trying to learn these lessons is unnecessary dangerous playing conditions none of these student athletes should have to play on these unsafe fields for even one more season but now the question is not just what in what condition they will have to play but where will they play we are all watching my son who loves baseball and plays on Woodman field in the fall is watching my 88-year-old daughter plays baseball because as she puts it why would she play softball when girls are perfectly capable of playing baseball she is watching the rise of little league in Montclair has broadened the excitement AC access and diversity of baseball to the community with hundreds of kids playing this Spring they are watching the seniors on the MHS baseball team most most of whom will be eligible to vote in the spring elections are watching and more importantly parents and students across the community that believe in the power Athletics have well beyond the field are watching we're all watching to see where the Township's priorities lie especially when a vast majority of residents voted in favor of the field Renovations the scope of which were clearly stated in the Boe presentations in March of 2022 to include moving the field expanding the size of it and making it Turf the last minute stalling of the project that will now to cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars so far seems to send the message that you're not listening to a majority of your constituents I'll end with the first line of the fundamentals of Montclair baseball take respons ility for your thoughts and actions what a great lesson let these kids play ball thank you thank [Applause] you hi um good evening I'm Richard Olman I live at 190 Alexander since 1996 and I'm here to talk about Woodman field and what is seemingly now a case study in Dysfunctional process in local government I was here two weeks ago today when dozens of students and parents came before this body and implored you to do something about the construction that has been unceremoniously stopped tonight I have four points to make one thank you all for your service to the township yes you must think this is a thankless task especially tonight but for all of you it's one you signed up for campaigned for and were elected to represent the interests of Monclair as a whole but I didn't come here tonight to thank you number two I came here tonight to implore you again to do something to keep your word from two weeks ago and work together to resolve this mess at that time we were told the sole issue was a permit to tap into the water lines and the very next day I'm told the board's contractor showed up to resolve that permit but was told then there's also an issue with the new fence F seriously somebody's willing to go to bat and stand in the way of progress for that ratty silver fence that surrounds Woodman field like a Penitentiary we can do better was this process was this process perfect no but let me quote Churchill Perfection is the enemy of progress and for such a progressive town this is hardly progress number three legal proceedings we've heard a lot about that but legal proceedings shouldn't be the reason you're not working together as a body and with the O and with the Board of Education to get a solution this isn't a game to be played as we choose sides and decide May the best lawsuit win last I looked we're all team Monclair the more legal wrangling that happens the longer those mountains of dirt sit as an embarrassment to every single mounty past and present even more so when the spring Sports season begins and the baseball track lacrosse teams and more will stare at them and they will lament a season down the drain we're not asking you to skirt the law to look the other way we're simply asking you to use the law as fence posts to guide what should be a simple forward objective let the kids play my fourth and last point is that I speak these words not for myself but on behalf of every student in that High School one of them started a petition he was here directed at you and they've garnered more than a thousand signatures in five days with that with effort I'm sure that number will rise it will soar you see this isn't just a baseball issue it's a community issue there are a lot of people watching it's your time to step up to the plate and do something thank you thank you excuse me Mr just a quick question I wasn't here two weeks ago I did see the comment about there was something about off fence what is the reason why we're in this situation right now or is it is this in the courts is it what is it because to me this is really a Board of Education is their field and I just and between Planning and Zoning all things I'm just trying to get clarity because honestly I haven't been around for over 3 weeks and so what is the current situation uh the current situation is there was a stop AR order that was issued uh because of a connection to a pipe and there was also an issue with the height of the fence and I would have to disagree with the gentleman in terms of what the um contractor did or did not do we did have a meeting uh Township Council and I had a meeting with um with the superintendent of schools and his attorney last week it lasted about two hours looking trying to find a path forward here as I stated the and and we have another meeting scheduled for Thursday I'm not sure if it's going to happen because we are in court Friday afternoon on this litigation on the order to show cause um where there was an agreement made that uh no no further action will be taken in terms of the project on either side until we go to court on Friday um and as I explained last time there is a legal issue in terms of what the process has to be um the board of education did file a lawsuit against us and return with an order we had a return date of the order show cause set and that's Friday afternoon so hopefully the court uh will give us um some guidance there is also a third party called the champ PL is that the street of Champlain champ Champlain Conservancy which I believe is a group of neighbors who appros oppos the project Whoever has to join this litigation and um I can't predict what the judge is going to do but in these situations they usually allow that to happen so I don't know what's going to happen on Friday you know we are working closely with the board trying to resolve whatever we can and I I said then we can if we decided to let this construction move ahead this group of people are going to move forward file a lawsuit and we're going to be back exactly where we were on day one so we're we are both sides working very hard trying to resolve this none of us want this to go on and hopefully after Friday we can move on so as okay so there's the the hearing Friday yes and then with the matter of the uh the the matter of the connection to the waterline has that been Tak taken care of there's there's that and and and the fence issue but since the return date was set and both parties agreed that you know the court ordered us not to do anything to enforce anything and they ordered and it was agreed to that the other side that the Board of Education would not continue with construction until we were before the judge which I think is pretty standard in litigation so the judge can you know make a decision and hopefully after Friday will'll know where the judge is going with this um he'll he'll order a temporary order or not which perhaps will allow construction to proceed and he may deal with with the zoning issue later I don't know but that's that's where we are and hopefully in a couple of days we have will know something definitive I just want to get some clarity so judge makes a decision let's say the judge says they can go forward does the connection to the water then become an issue no then we'll resolve all of those issues with the contractor and get it started okay so that's then with the that's including the fence all those issues can be resolved once the judge say move or do whatever we'll resolve everything yes and then it becomes a matter the Champlain terrorist residents what is their issue um I I know they were initially opposed to the removal of the trees and I know there were there are some environmental issues they're they're raising I can't speak for them but they uh it's my understanding they have some of them have organized uh and they're called the Champlain Conservancy right and they are looking to be part of this litigation so then full transparency and I'm sorry I just wanted so regards to that point of the I believe what the body has heard is concern about water runoff from these fields these turf fields with past getting into our drinking our water wells has been one of the things that at least the emails from the folks seem to be so question was put to Mr Lola to Gary absar waterers to get testing done to determine whether or not P actually gets to our water well that terms what water goes to our houses because what I didn't realize and he told me so essentially we're going to try to test Woodman field and wat young and this would have been a great time do it because it's raining to determine how much P if any is getting to the water level to take that off of the issue because if it comes back the testing comes back and shows that there's no P that's getting into our water that comes into our homes I think that removes that obstacle because it seems we got multiple obstacles here one being fence water stop water and then the environmental and I don't know if any other environmental concerns other than water that's been presented presented to us do you that's what I I'm aware of all right so I just want the emails that I've seen don't just note those contaminating the water supply they talked about soil and other pieces right but it all comes to the soil being contam based on the field so we need what I'm saying but like mrar said and I wish we had done this months a couple of weeks ago but we didn't but the point is if we I think it's supportive on us because that's the part that impacts us is that you know if you look at we don't want to contaminate our water supply but we I'll just note councilman and thanks to Mr absar years before the state started requiring us to filter including to filter out right uh all of these chemicals we have been we have budgeted significant dollars for the filters over the years the building of those systems so quite frankly um they better not be in our water supply because we are currently filtering them out no but spoke to Gary and flat out said he doesn't know mhm because hey we we've never tested for p off of these fields agre so he's looking so he's going to the Wells that are connected to these fields and literally you know I don't want to speak but B bottom line is the P house could be at one level at 50 fet and it may be gone at 100 feet and where our wells are deep down so it's just a matter of just for those who are looking who are from Champlain Terrace everything I just want to get that taken off the table because to me that's the part that that this Council should be concerned about the other part with the field that's Board of Education and the part of the zoning and all that process that we whether or not the process was it just became crazy to me but the environmental part is the one that I'm kind of like like I think we need to take get some answers to mrar said he's got a firm that he feels a third party firm that can bring us back results after he does the initial testing takes two to three weeks sorry I know you guys want to start baseball but it but still that I don't it seems like every other week there's another issue that comes up and this is one I want to get rid of so that then we're dealing with with kind of like bricks and mortars hopefully the judge will make a decision that can allow us to make some decisions and you're respectfully councilman coming not to put my lawyer head on but I'm going to not to take your thunder away Mr veto or Mr Burr I see in the in the back there I don't think it takes it off the table because given what I just heard about where the proceedings are currently right that doesn't necessarily the judge is going to say well Monclair just came in with a test result so that issue is off the table because if what happens that Mr Lolo said might happen where you have the residents entering into the lawsuit and I apologize to the player back there we will you know he started it though but we're going to get you up here um then it's not going to get off the table because the residents are going to come in and say well we have our expert who tested it and it's X it's classic litigation unfortunately I wish it was that simple but I have other questions that that I'm going to ask Mr Vito and Mr Burr but I'm going to let the gentleman speak first because he's been very patient so please and I just want to finally that we won't have the results before Friday we definitely won't have before Friday but but I'm just saying even if we had them it's not going to matter to the judge but right I'm not I'm not talking about the judge I'm talking about us I know but you're saying you're talking you want to take it off the table any com off the table it's as far as I'm concerned I can have a position no no you can have a position I'm not trying to ATT you David but you said about taking off the table and this la said it ain't coming off the table it's not that easy I wish it was and one of the things I let's let's get this young gentleman to come up please thank you m Mr Lac um how's it going I'm Dereck Lacy I'm a senior um I play soccer and baseball at the high school so I just want to reiterate what uh Roman started on and Mr om man just touched on um over the weekend I think on Friday Roman started a petition um and it was sent out to pretty much a lot of student athletes at the school and it's already gotten over a, and signatures um a lot being students um and student athletes at the high school um so one of the most fun things about playing at Woodman and I think we all know the problems with the old Woodman field but probably the most fun thing in my point of view is the the lacrosse team the boys lacrosse team walked past Woodman every day to get to practice in games to get to watch Young and the girls across team played on the other side so every day something was going on if the boys lacrosse team had a game um we were hyping them up as they walked by if we had a game they were hyping us up so it it's a lot of fun playing at Woodman with all the teams around and it's it's it's it's a really good Community um and I think that's that's really important um and it emphasizes that I mean obviously while this Field's going to impact us more directly um other student athletes and families want to get this done and I think it's important for the community to have a lot of teams near each other and supporting each other and obviously if we're at at Nish that's that's not going to really happen as much we won't we won't be able will do uh look be getting yelled at by our coach for watching the the girls lacrosse games during practice or or or the uh getting distracted by the boys lacrosse team coming coming by um but yeah I think what's really important is obviously this is a field that we want to get done but it's also something that's going to help build community and um help student athletes and students get closer and yeah I think that's the the main the biggest Point that's important well said thank you hi I'm back Eric de 25 Norwood Avenue again collegially I would like to push back on something that happened uh at the last meeting when several of you were not here uh in executive session uh two new members of the planning board were were installed and uh many people that I've talked to in that in the community of land use and development and stuff were quite put off by this uh and I know councelor Russo who is not here was also very much um two things happen one two very experienced uh and knowledgeable people with deep roots in the community and and and and profound knowledge of that of that business um were replaced by people seemingly without uh uh uh anything approaching equivalent knowledge and Roots one of whom I will just say seemed to be mostly qualified by being a a political professional sort of a political spin doctor uh uh won't say anything bad about that person I don't know them but people in this business um were not happy about this and I've talked to several the process was not good it was a four vote situation out of seven missing people it was done in the dark there was never any public hearing of these people I know that that's not normally done but it should be if you're going to put somebody on a board have them ask answer a few questions in public it also robbed us of the ability to have the perspective of some of our counselors uh who really know this stuff and I will actually toot the the Horn of my first W counselor Mr Harlock who I know and when I was talking to people in the last couple of weeks about this said was a very knowledgeable person so um you have four months left uh if we're going to have another set of appointments can we not do them in the dark with only four votes or a few votes and bring everybody in ask some questions uh like I like to say you know it's never too late to start doing the right thing thank you thank you anyone else for a public comment okay seeing none we will uh close uh public comment appreciate that and um Mr Le I think you did you know speak to the field issue if there's anything else you'd like to add I know wanted to get back to that gentleman who's there but if there's any other pieces I think you did speak to obviously with the counselor's questions I'm done Mr Mayor okay for me to go now on a couple more um thank you Mr Mayor and I was not not at the last meeting um so I I didn't hear a lot of the speakers but I did watch it at some point and I did get a lot of comments and emails and text messages and telephone calls and notes and magic marker and crayon and whatever um so I I I need to and I see you came up Mr bar so I thank you for that I know you you had a commitment this evening thank you for for coming what I would really like to know and I think I know the answer what is our Authority as council members here because we have several people coming up and you know the baseball players and I I feel for you all by the way for sure I I played third base in center field once upon a time I had a higher batting average than Mr Cummings who's younger than me actually but we don't want to talk about that right now you should have a large better batting average than I because I didn't play baseball see he he didn't make what he doesn't tell you all is he didn't make the cut okay but no anyway Mr you started this I'm going to finish all right do it it's just a friendly conversation David it's not personal but go ahead it's just funny I got a email the other day with the picture of the 1984 all Essex County football team and you know whose name was on that not Bill herlock well I I I hope he wasn't because Bill herlock was in Somerset County at a much bigger school which was Watchung Hills Regional High School I know some of you have heard it which was bigger than Montclair High School in number of people and a lot harder to make varsity teams Mr Mr what's your question he keeps going anyway Mr Mr Terry you GNA let him get away with this thinking that watch Young Hills is better than mler hod winning his program in the state of New Jersey at the highest level of the state of New Jersey I'm going to just let you finish cuz I do want to get don't let him talk about MHS like that stand up watch Young Hill he didn't make the he never made the cut he never made the cut watch H in football this year yeah we anyway oh wow Mr I made the mistake of actually supporting don't engage me did oh I'll engage you you want to engage now you're throwing the goet down now I'm not going to stop Mr Burr Mr Cummings may I continue can you please explain to us because I'd love to know and I know some of my colleagues and I have spoken about it what is our Authority here as council members with this particular issue I'd like to know because these people are coming up asking for redress I empathize with them what's so funny I don't think it's funny at all I'm not I'm not chuckling at that I was just chuckling at the point that you made earlier that I did have a prior commitment and since we have a host of Monclair uh high school student athletes here and I appreciate you do they all all know that I also went to I know his son did well I'm following you too Jesus David but your classmates had a fencing meet tonight at the SE the state semi-finals and unfortunately their Gall effort fell short so I let you guys know but they they fought hard and my son is on that fencing I know that actually I saw so just to report that that where I was and I apologize that I was late to the meeting as my father will father-in-law was giving me grief for coming to the meeting and leaving the fening meet uh to to respond to you Mr herlock we did have this conversation at the last meeting and I'm sure you heard it when you watched the meeting actually it wasn't very well done I'll be honest with that's why I'm asking it again but so the council does not have any influence over the process relating to the uh stop work orders and the permits that are issued by the township so what influence the council would have over the process is very little you you would be getting updates from from the uh Law Department Township attorney assistant Township attorney on the litigation and and how it's moving forward so I hope that answers your question much better yes that so legally we can't just wave a magic wand and say start don't worry about the fence don't worry about the pipe hookup whatever the issue is we don't have that Authority no you don't have that Authority okay that's what I thought I thought that was the answer but I just wanted to Teri and I hope everyone out there heard that we are with you believe me many of us were athletes Once Upon a Time some of us better than Mr Cummings but I'm not going to go there again I think you kind of did but we can't did I just do it I'm sorry Mr Cummings I got receipts but we we just want to let you know that we appreciate you coming here but we're not it's not falling on deaf ears okay this isn't like the Council of tyrants that we can just go through mclair and change things as we would like believe me some of us wish we could and again we empathize with you all and I'm sorry The Season's around the corner and this hasn't been resolved yet I respectfully think this is a board of ed issue which I think Mr Cummings had just said and has been alluded to earlier and that's really where it lies I wish I okay Mr bur wa sure who who you didn't let me to be a tyrant sir that I can just come through town and do whatever you wantu as oppos to Authority I'm sorry Mr problemist to for years thank you Mr burc I'll say this councilman Terry has a comment to make and and I'll I'll simply just note before you do councilman if you don't mind real quickly I'll say um as we did address this last time uh specifically especially when it comes to violations or anything like that just as it would be a parking ticket or any other violation um we have no ability to dismiss one such as that does have to go through the proper processes and channels um legally um that is there for everyone's protection uh residents and ours as well um that said as you heard from the manager working expeditiously to make sure any all issues are resolved that would stand in the way uh judge hearing this shortly and hopefully can move forward on whatever path is presented there um and we'll be well positioned to do that at that time but that's what we have the ability and authority to do and appreciate you making sure you're on it councilman uh councilman Terry I just wanted to mention also that uh the track team is affected you know and uh my granddaughter actually plays on the track team you know she uh is a shop putter you know and uh I hear it personally like when is this going to get done and uh as it's nice we're doing the best that we can you know as you heard it's in litigation so hopefully that something will come up soon and you'll be able to move forward I can only imagine you know being a senior right now how difficult that that is you know you wait all your life to play to be a mounty and play on the field and then something like this happen so yes we we feel it with you also us that have gone like Dave and and Paul and myself did gone to Mar High School my dad and mom went to marck high school so you know we're mounties all the way you know but you know unfortunately it is in litigation now and hopefully that something will be moved forward sooner than later thank you councilman um okay with that uh I'm going to move that we go into executive session so I so move resolution r 24067 as is printed in the document with all the reasons listed around uh um uh update on litigation and Personnel matters it's moved and seconded all in favor please say I opposed thank you very much everybody appreciate it we're going into executive session we'll take a uh five minute break everyone can use a okay uh with that I'll make a motion to come out of executive session so move we are out of executive session councilwoman I'd like to make a motion that we um the council reappoint Jennifer Otero to the Civil Rights Commission second Mo seconded all in favor please say I I I thank you very much with that uh Madam clerk anything no no report mayor thank you Mr manager to say new uh can you turn on your microphone Mighty by July I'll get that right uh just wanted to say you you got an email today that our new uh director of DCs Austin Ashley has started okay um and he came back for the second day which is always a good sign around here that's a good sign right good uh attorneys nothing to report from me mayor nothing thank you okay uh uh third third word councilman CHS um I have nothing further to report thanks fair enough uh councilman Terry no nothing to report councilwoman schlager no I'm good Mr deputy mayor in the interest of consistency I have nothing either Mr Mayor well I will I will just simply say this uh had the opportunity to be down at the governor's budget address today and listening to a lot of the things he had in there uh including accessory yeah yeah that's it accessory dwelling units uh the fiscal management that we've seen and we've done um it felt a lot like he was trying to copy what we've been doing here so yeah yeah right right right but I just want to note a lot of good things that were there that I had to be smiling about for here so uh with that good news um and with that I'll entertain a motion to adjourn all right all in favor I have a great night everybody bye