I'd like to officially call this work session meeting of the mayor and Council the order at this time I'd ask everyone to please rise for a moment of Silent prayer and our reflection as we continue to think about the conflict in the Middle East the United States military personnel who have recently lost their lives and the safe return of all hostages please move the FL to the of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation than please ex behind you the main hallway and to my right your left into the courtroom New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advance notio and attend any meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest for discuss are act upon in accordance with this act the mayor and Council of the B the Milford have caused notice of this meeting to be published but having the date time and place thereof posted in the B Hall and notices have been sent to the record and the Ridgewood news the missioning of this governing bodies provide essential services with the establishment and implementation of public policy that will safeguard infrastructure provide Fair honest courteous and Professional Services establish a sense of trust and accomplishment between all residents and do research and prudent planning seek to minimize RK while improving our services we sensitive to the needs and satisfaction of our taxpayers while realizing that this governing body cannot be all things to all people within the revenue constraints imposed by state mandates economic conditions and prevailing attitudes about taxes at this time I would ask the cl to please call the rooll councilman sanen here councilman saki Hy pres councilman ducky here councilman gry here councilman Seymour here Council President Grant here mayor Pino here okay first thing on the agenda tonight is a proclamation for Black History Month Office of the mayor Proclamation whereas the history of black history goes back to 1915 and was first celebrated in 1926 whereas in 1976 President Gerald Ford issued the first African-American history mon Proclamation whereas National Black History Month serves as both a celebration and as a powerful reminder that black history is American history and black culture is American culture and whereas understanding black history is important to understanding our nation and whereas it is appropriate to acknowledge and celebrate the immeasurable contributions of black Americans honor the legacies of achievements of generations past recognize past Injustice and confront injustices that still Fester today whereas whereas we are committed to advancing equity and racial Justice and whereas an African-American burying ground is recently discovered in the mil that is believed to date back to well before 1883 and whereas we support the recognition and acknowledgement of its African-American burying ground in which enslave people were buried whereas the bur of New Milford wishes to honor the history and contributions of African-Americans in our community our state and our nation now therefore I Mayor Michael patrino Mayor of the B the Milford Proclaim February 2024 to be Black History Month and encourage all residents and businesses to celebrate our diverse Heritage and culture and continue efforts to create a world that is more just and more peaceful CH forgot to get she thank you okay under unfinished business may you get a motion for the approval of the minutes from the January 22nd 2024 public session meeting second all in favor all Iain any oppos and one extension okay we have one ordinance for adoption tonight and when the clerk gets an opportunity i' ask you please read the ordinance an ordinance to amend chapter 2 of the revised General ordinances of the b m Milford entitled Administration thereby amending subsection 2-40 free public library purpose of this ordinance is to reduce the number of Board of Trustees from 9 to 7 at this time I would ask for a motion to open to the public for a public hearing on this ordinance second second all in favor I any post ladies and gentlemen of the public if anyone has any questions regarding this ordinance now is your opportunity to discuss it seeing that no member of the public wishes to discuss discuss this ordinance I ask for motion to close motion second all in favor I I anyos may get a motion to adopt this ordance on Final second get a roll call please councilwoman s yes councilwoman Roy Hurley yes councilwoman Duffy yes councilman gry yes councilman seor yes Council President Grant yes under the new business we have introduction of ordinance 2024 col 02 and when the clerk has the opportunity and ask please reading the ordinance Capital ordinance to appropriate the sum of $71,000 for the replacement of lighting at La barar Field in B for bman Milford in the county of Bergen state of New Jersey and providing that such sum so appropriated shall be raised from a county Grant and from the open space trust fund of the borrow purpose of this ordinance is to appropriate funds from the buron county open space Grant and the bur new milford's open space trust to place lighting at La Barber field with energy efficient life features fixtures may get a motion to introduce this ordinance on its first reading motion may get roll can I get a question sure uh what's the breakdown of the funds between the two sour the grant is for $33,000 so then yes thank you I think we're on a second no one roll call right uh yes councilwoman sanus yes councilwoman saraki Hurley yes councilman Duffy yes councilman gsky yes councilman Seymour yes council president C yes the public hearing on this ordinance will be at our February 26 public he the second ordinance of for introduction tonight is 2024 col 03 and the cler has the opportunity I pleasance an ordinance to amend chapter two of the revised General ordinances of the bman Milford entitled Administration thereby amending Article Five entitled boards commissions and committees purpose of this ordinance is to cify the compeition and duties the various standard communes within the B may get a motion to introduce this ordance on First Council Miss yes councilman s Hy yes Council m ducky yes councilman gosky yes councilman SE yes council president yes the public hearing for this ordinance will also be out of February 2016 and the last one up for introduction tonight is 202 404 when the clerk has the opportunity so please read the ordinance an ordinance to amend chapter 4 of the revised General ordinances of the par in mford entitled General licensing thereby amending section 4-19 entitled commercial and movie filming purpose of this ordinance is to modify the Burrow's existing commercial and movie filming ordinance to facilitate the Burrow's pursuit of the film ready designation from the New Jersey motion picture and television commission making a motion to use this ordinance on first reading second a please councilwoman Sam yes councilman saki Hurley yes councilman Duffy yes councilman gry yes councilman Seymour yes council president gr yes once again this ordinance will also be have a public hearing on February 2016 okay item number one is NJ do fiscal year 2024 Boulevard Phase 2 administrator thank you mayor um as you may recall we had um made a Grant application for um Paving of the boulevard for a certain section from Henley Avenue to the front of 451 Boulevard it is a DOT application we requested $359,500 and were awarded a grant of $186,900 of the grant reest um so we have a few options there's actually three different options that the engineer has uh scaled the project for us the first one would be uh from MTH Avenue North to 451 Boulevard option two is from lomoth Avenue North to approximately 502 Boulevard and option three is from 451 Boulevard to 66 Boulevard so the here's where we're at in order for us to do the entire project the B would have to fund the balance um with a bond ordinance or Capital Improvement fund money and question they they did do a new construction estimate and have scaled it back to uh $234,000 but depending on you know so there's a a difference between what we would owe between the 189 and the 234 and then the engineering costs would be on top of that as well um I'm sorry did no okay so my question to Mayor and council is how do we want want to proceed and I had asked from the dpw's perspective if we only had if we couldn't do the entire project because we weren't willing to bond the balance you know which would be the best uh which which is in the most need and the answer was from 451 Boulevard South to approximately 616 Boulevard just south of Duke Ro was what was proposed um that would still involve some financing from the mayor from the b in order to cover the engineering costs but it would be much less than if we would have moveed forward with the entire project ideally we'd like to move forward with the we would like the DPW myself would like to be able to do the whole project um the other option is to fund more into our road program budget for the year in order to cover the balance the choices you gave us was that the full and then like the middle and then like not funding at all okay because you listed addresses and I don't know so it says Henry Avenue North shamith Avenue has been peeved sometime within the last few years and is in good condition so they revised the scope to Mammoth Avenue North to 451 Boulevard which is an approximate distance of 2,150 Ft and that construction estimate is $234,000 and the engineering for that option would be $78,000 for design and bidding and construction Administration 34 and getting charge 78 that's oh wait sorry 58 sorry 58 even then that's yeah you say that's option one that's option one call should be made that's 292,000 and we have questions every time yes thank yeah then we have option two both option two and option three are the approximate same linear feet so that's why I had asked out of option two and three which would be the most important and so option two is MTH Avenue North to approximately 502 Boulevard and then the other option is from 451 Boulevard South to 616 Boulevard and which is which is the engineering for both of those turns out to be uh $51,000 which section is it's the same section it's the length of it so op one was 2,000 something the second op option was does it say was it like 1 yeah 1,725 ft okay so it's 500 ft less and option three is the same distance it's just a and mean no matter which part of the project we do the grant stays the same yes and then the difference yes so the low what's the lowest cost I mean if you're going to just if we're going to decide on just the lowest cost what option so option two or three have been scaled so that the construction will be covered by the grant the engineering would still be funded by the bar which would be $51,000 yes as opposed to5 so that come out CIF or a bond or a bond yes okay the way I my last information is this year uh DPW is looking to spend $110,000 on Paving I mean this is going to go before the budget committee and everything we haven't totally discussed it I just have information at this point however we're asking for more than 100 10 I'm getting there okay okay we might be getting ahead of ourselves we two different things stick with the difference is another $507,000 to do the project right we're fing above the ground because we didn't get the whole Grant so are you is anyone around the table considering the whole no wellar from what I I mean ideally that that is the way to go it's you know it's even where it's really it's not it's not even the whole project they eliminated 500 ft from the project to to get to that point it's one of our busiest road we have so I'm sorry what was the total project for all three a total amount for all three projects our portion of the largest piece would be 105 we would have to put in and the best case scenario in order to do any that makes any sense at all would be $51,000 my feeling is you go to 51,000 we haven't seen the budget yet for this year so I really know how that's just it I'm trying to give some information it's interesting to be talking about it in this at this point in time because normally these things are talked about in a vacuum not based upon the the budget and I understand that they're all related but it is a separate discussion because when we do road projects that we get grants for the way that we Finance them generally is with a bond ordinance we've just been very fortunate in recent years that we've been able to cover our portion with left over Road program money Capital Improvement money we've been making a very good uh distribution of the funds that we have at our fingertips but at this point in time our road program there's much less Surplus in left over Road program than has been in the past so well it seems we need toe I think it's important the that's my that come total 350 that we're thinking of it would be it could be look like completely separately yeah it could be because the 350 that we're talking about is money that we're looking at for the next topic of conversation I just know that sometimes we do it we dual Road program or project and we don't go far enough and we're like we should adjust doesn't go away have to be addressed so might as well do in one project it's always next year though so we're talking if we do the whole thing it's going to be 292 this one is connected to going to be $115,000 yes which is not considering you know not Chang it's an important decision but like I said it's not going away this project is ConEd for the grant I think we move forward with it but on you guys do you need an answer I am looking for direction because we're kind of in a holding pattern at this point all what were your thoughts on this did you say you wanted to go with it uh I would have gone with the we're going to be doing a lot of Paving over the next several years Chris was alluding to that that we'll have a discussion about that it's still in the budget committee and stuff we still have to talk about it and present it but to give an Insight psng is going to be Paving our roads but not not this road I not this road I'm I'm I'm but I'm talking in in general that it's still going to cost us money money is money so you know that that's the point I'm making but psng over the next two years we generally commit $350,000 between 3 and 350 every single year per V well 25050 but our taxes were higher last year than they had been in the few previous years so to me that's a concern well the bonding it's not going to affect doesn't go away the bonding is not going to affect your tax is what we do now won't affect it for another 10 years I thought you weren't in favor at this point of bonding yeah I was I'm trying to keep bonding as low as possible but we could keep it I I think we could probably do about a $750,000 bond over the last five years I I saw that we reduced our uh debt by over $3 million or approximately $3 million so we could do my feeling is and again I'm just throwing out numbers because we haven't really sat down and you know gone through it 500 to maybe $750,000 in bonding of that three we we're talking about using $350,000 this year and in the next two subsequent years which we can't plan for okay but the whole idea is with psng Paving psng Paving will only be paying being half the road we know that looks like garbage okay when they do that this is so another top there another topic but asking the question well I'm kind of asking the the amount of money in the line for the paving you're saying here's a Paving project and the DPW is going to PVE this I'm not tring to minimize the that Financial consequences you you should be looking at whether or not we need to do those part of the project or this part of the project that should be the and if the answer is I want to go out and take a look at the road and we can talk about it at our next meeting but we'll just wait a couple weeks and do that but it should yes the money has to be considered but we do have a grant for $189,000 from the do that we want to make the best use of $186,000 do that we want to make the best use of there's no doubt we need to use that money the question is do we want to go spend 101 $115,000 or do we want to go $51,000 right the difference is the part if you go 51,000 the other part does not go away it's going to have to be addressed yes so my feeling is we have the grant want a motion yes make a motion great motion just go for it go for it recommendation of our administrator and our man and our DBW and our DBW and that will be considered when they go to put a Paving line put the money in their line you're spending 100 out there right so if you want to talk about money okay that's that's that's where we'll get that from okay is there a second on ry's motion second itoll call sure councilman Sam yes councilman srai Hurley yes councilman Duffy yes councilman gry yes councilman Seymour yes Council President Grant yes okay only number one we got a pre number two guest System modernization Program administrator yes mayor yes well uh the mayor and I both sat in on a meeting on February 1st with public service to talk about work that they would like to do um in you know for the in the bow um to the B does it in benefit we currently operating on a quarter PSI gas system they're proposing to upgrade a number of streets which I have a list of um with 15 psi to the newly installed area the higher pressure is much less likely to have a chance of water infiltration into the pipes they're less prone to leaks and breaks due to weather safety valves are installed at the head of each service prevent gas flow in the event of gas service damage on the property gas meters are moved Outdoors to eliminate high pressure pipes inside homes outside gas meters will also allow M readers to read from the outdoors and allow for the gas to be shut off in the event of emergency um all services within the replacement area will receive new plastic Services which will have the capacity to supply gas to any equipment or Appliance um Chris when they in 2016 they did not I thought they did the entire town they only did a section of town they did sections yes everything they do in sections and there's still sections left over after this project and the streets that are involved are Asbury berley um East Woodland penley uh maybe MTH Pleasants Clinton it's a it's it's a significant area of the Town um that they're proposing to do the work in and this is this is an add-on to their particular funding that they have from the BPU for this because um they basically had wrapped it up but there's so much more to do and they granted them an extension and so they're offering opportunity for us to get in on this extension and if if we pass then they're going to move on to the next town but it looks it would look like uh tentatively a start date of late summer early fall 2024 um and completion you know in 2025 now as you know we did something similar like you said a few years ago and um one of the tricky Parts is we have an ordinance that says if you open up more than a certain piece you have to do curv to curve replacement and public service says it's just completely cost prohibitive in order to do that and for that reason that was was one of the reasons they bypassed us because we we had an understanding the last time that they were in that did not turn out the way that we were told it was going to turn out and so we um kind of put a pause on whether or not we were going to continue to work with them but in recent times with this project in particular we've talked to some of the other towns that they've been in and what they've done is worked with the town to use Road program money that the towns budgeted to make the most of the paving budget between what we have and what they have in order to make sure that we don't have half paved streets so one of the things that we talked about in our budget meeting was the DPW is making a very considered e effort this year to keep what they need or think that has to be done right now to a minimum which Irish said is somewhere in the area of $100,000 um but what we're proposing is that over the next three years we would budget the same amount of money that we normally do in our road program so that when the time comes to work with public service to paid these streets we'll end up with a significant amount of mileage with newly paved streets in town we're not going to use the money right away but we're going to build a uh Surplus for road paving so it'll be in our road paving uh Bank B is will maximize absolutely 8 8 Miles of roadway in New Milford that they're talking about in the contract that you have with PS does it mention subcontracting the work um well we don't have anything in place but we did talk to them about whether or not they would do the work or if they would contract it they've done it both ways they said for here they would there would be subcontracting it this is the road paving specific Bally this is the uh the gas replacing the they said they'd have three or four crews um and it would be 10 to 12 months and done in sections and likely to start in the fall of 2024 and when we talked about it they said they have a six-month window in order to complete Paving because we said how far can we push it out because we want to be able to maximize the amount of Bo program money that we would have available and if we have money from 24 25 and 26 that would make it you know more advantageous and they said you know their goal would be to get it done all in 2025 but it could be pushed to 2026 and uh if if that was what was better in terms of how the town wanted to manage it um wondering what kind of protections there are for the homeowners in case any damage occurs well they have to have permission from the homeowners in order to make the connections that's the same way that we did it the last time and they're on the hook for whatever goes on you know with the homeowner yes in writing they are yes I understand any other questions about that but I guess we would have been talking about this earlier except I wouldn't let them do have past They Don't Really likeo they have letters that you know they gave us form letters that they have that they would be sending out to Residents to letting to let them know you know what they would be doing and the fact that there's going to be traffic and you know heavy equipment Etc I remember that we good number two I think so any other questions item number three is DCA l r Grant so this this is a relatively new grant that we've come in contact with in recent years and last year we did it to replace the playground equipment at Prospect Park it's not insignificant but it's one of the smaller recreation grants with a maximum of $100,000 and it had a very short window in order to um commit so we talked about it in committee with the mayor the DPW John Hein and myself and our grants person and one of the projects that we talked about was to um add a volleyball field volleyball court down over by the basketball courts at Kennedy field and we did get um an estimate from the engineer for the cost of that work somewhere in the vicinity of um $83,000 which only includes half of the engineering because they the grant would cover a certain percentage um and there's a resolution on tonight's agenda to authorize this application in an amount not to exceed $100,000 way back in 1993 we had a volleyball court sand volleyball court which was great right volleyball is a need we definitely have we don't offer any outdoor volleyball in town uh we actually have the net we have the professional net just not not a nice place to put it this would cover um the sand the the borders fencing and keeping it safe so the volleyballs aren't rolling into the you know the road Rober Chester way and people getting over on a couple benches and a couple benches as you can see we're doing a lot is part of our high school abely so that application is due on February 27th and as long as everybody is in agreement and the resolution goes through tonight also we will move forward that's the area we've been working on that whole area down there which you see we doing the stuff with the pths and the chips and the wall and connecting things to Hard Castle P so it's just a It just fits really really nicely is it going to go in the same location yeah so it's next to the basketball cours building basketball cour everyone's good with it yeah excellent number four is the bur County open space Park Improvement FAL year 24 next year um this is another Park Improvement grant that we take advantage of every year um and the application we have to have a letter of intent done by April 5th with our application on May 3rd um and we're talking we were flowing around some ideas and we're looking for some input from the council it's a matching Grant it's 50 it's a 50/50 match so um and currently we have 54,000 $700 in our open space trust and we generally add about $20,000 at each quarter from the money that's how much are you using out of open space for the first thing we were doing why are we using some open space money on the L at no no something else no I read it in the in the ordinance for the that's that's that's what we're using I just want to make sure we have enough in the I just want to make sure we have enough in open space yes so you talked about it yet or I mean we talked about it I mean there's some big ticket items that we're interested in but uh some this grant doesn't necessarily cover some of those things and because of the um percent match that's required it's harder to look at some of those things um the Mayer you know had mentioned that we're looking at joining the walkways in the whole Recreation Area from the New Milford Woods over to Heart Castle Pond um but in talking about with the DPW they think that they could probably cover most of that in house so we want we don't want to necessarily use the grant opportunity for that so we were looking for some suggestions we have a little time people want to think about it have some conversations we could put it back on the next agenda I mean we could talk about it at the March work session and um I would love to meet with IA maybe with you and B about maybe um just catching up with uh the money that we have uh for nights field to add you know plantings and trees and everything else it's very uh it's very car oriented there's parking everywhere it's very metall down there so let's find out how much money there is left in that I can get that information and then maybe part of that you know we are going to the Arts committee is is getting ready to use that space for some activities coming we next week he'll be back we not cover landcap I was going to say is this passive Park does this include any passive park or development of new parks that are for recreation or conservation purposes and expansion or impr Improvement of existing Parks eligible activities include construction of a facility for outdoor area for games and sports spincter sports boting picnicking fishing biking walking hiking swimming Etc installation of lighting and lightning detection systems and parking if it supports an outdoor recreation or conservation facility ineligible activities include construction of fully enclosed structures including but not limited to restrooms compensations maintenance and storage structions structures concession stands are similar and Rehabilitation on facilities that have already been developed with trust fund support less than 10 years ago put in planting think that's out of the question sorry I know plantings I'm thinking you know native plant garden or like Knight's field or like I I mean some of it but you know we're talking about a pretty large space and we have all of theer properties that would probably be would be good opportunity for native plant unque thing about night there's money that's dedicated that that cannot be spent anywhere else you have to get that money but I'm thinking maybe with all of your input um if we use the dedicated money for the landscape part the Big Trees you know we want by get some mature things there and then maybe if we had a walk way or some stairs going down from the whatever whatever we design or have someone look at that we could use part of it for that I don't know so do you want you want to put this on our March work session so we have time to look at things in town and yeah would that be enough time there let's meet next week there could be under I you might ideas I mean right sure the good news is that pretty much all of our playground Stu are in really good shape we done a lot of Replacements and we've taken care of things that were damaged or graffitied and right sensory garden might be kind of aens sensory garden be sensory it's just there's not a lot of um little kids activities those types of things be nice for the little on I don't mean babies like sensory Gardens are plan and Gardens people can actually i' have to show you some pictures on the next one of the suggestions an accept over here that's the only one that's really um over here because that's the only one that's really like du at this point for upgrading and I think he said that there was some one that was done somewhere recently that was uh pretty well received no no actually was or Bergen County they put in a I don't know exact term of it is it accessible I think so yeah I know where I right I don't know which park it is but I think or they got could be I'm not not sure but that was that was just something that they suggested so and then B has a whole we have some so take a look at things and come with IDE the one now is would be okay item five this one's Ry I'm I'm willing to help gr If Ever Needed G okay so uh we've been hearing for a number of years that uh that fire company one they are driving and answering calls with a 31y old vehicle as we've all heard some of the calamities that have happened with it uh one was on their way home from a fire the truck just died in the middle of the street so that was bad and among other things you all took the uh the tour and I appreciate they appreciated you all doing that so now um Jared bomb who is from Company 2 is leading the way he is the grants guy in the department and he's working with um uh let's the firehouse grants uh Dave Schwarz and they are going to uh apply for a grant to help replace this truck so just go back like in 2022 and 23 when the fire department came to our budget eings we said no truck no truck you're not getting it so we suggested that they go for um water rescue vehicles equipment training increase your membership blah blah blah and they did all these things so um we also um constantly emphasize the the need and the importance of acquiring the grants so they have done that too so here they are uh they've come back uh after a committee has done some uh research on types of trucks how loaded or how stripped Down May would be and uh Chris if you want to take over the sure I have it all here but it sound better for you I think so there you go um they've done their homework they came in with a couple of different quotes an ini E1 fire apparatus there was a $944,000 quote um and Spartan fire apparatus initial quote of $934,000 and they're proposing after speaking with um D Schwarz he's suggesting that the maximum ask would be $675,000 you'll recall that we did very well in a previous grant for a fire engine we got 750,000 but we also spent an additional you know 500,000 to that was the ladder truck which is the most expensive truck Inland fet so the way that they the way the requests came in is that the grant rning fees it's a $5,000 fee it's on on a resolution for tonight for approval to authorize uh the grant writer to make the application the grant would require a 500 a 5% match on an award of 675,000 which would be 33,700 and they would the lowest quote they had was $ 8.90 so they said they would need 215 in order 215 805 in order to that it to the lowest but they've asked they're saying the BS told expense if there's absolutely no changes before there's an award to for a fire truck which is at least a year away at this point would be $254,000 but they're asking for the mayor and Council to commit to 325 because as we all know um you know there's un unanticipated issues price increases the timeline for delivery is a approximately 24 to 36 months um so I think what they are trying to hedge against is they don't want to they don't want to get the Grant and have a specific amount set aside for the balance and have it come in at a higher amount because we're not going to be out to bid for a period of time can we back up a second you've thrown out a whole bunch of numbers and I'm not quite clear on them you talked about 5% that we would have the burrow would have to come up with automatically if there's a 67 $775,000 Grant award we have to put in 33 to 750 and then so where is the 205 215 come in and the 254 and then the 325 okay so the 215 comes in because their lowest quote that they received was 890805 and so the difference between 890805 and the 33750 they included the $5,000 but the grant writing fee is in the operating budget it's already B something we budgeted for but 2115 33 750 and the 5,000 comes up to the 254 554 which is the B expense if there's absolutely no changes before that they want us to go they want us to commit to up to $345,000 because somewhere in the bidding process when this happens the numbers will either go up or down probably up you don't want to get a grant and all of a sudden we don't have the funding for it so we don't know the cost of the truck that there no because it takes 24 to 36 months cost can go up over that time and so when you enter the contract for the truck it's not a fixed amount but we're not we that's the number we have today okay not a problem you know for December 20th 2023 but we're not going to be able to do anything until we know that we have a grant which could be 69 months from now and my concern about that is what if we don't get the 675 and they give us 400 oh yeah for sure we're not we're not doing anything to bond for this money today he's asking for the mayor and council's commitment that if they were to get a $675,000 grant that the M Council would be open to the balance of up to $325,000 is a 50% match not a 5% no is up we're covering not cover yeah so which is about half no no qu quarter a quarter yeah if the truck is 67 no that's the grant that's the grant 800,000 got the looking right now they're running between 9 and 950 okay and part of it has to do with the new emissions can I ask the question so when they go for a truck and say okay we want that isn't there a contract that we can't commit today to that quote they no I'm just saying I you that you're saying that there could be increases between now and when we're able to enter into a contract between now yes not when the contract no once the contract once when when we know we have the Grant and we've authorized the balance we can sign a a a quote from the the manufacturer and how long will this grant take or how long do we have till gr we have it's not let's see it seems like we don't really have a choice going forward like this m i you're shaking the head I think we should go and uh approve going forward with the grant money and see if we get to 675 if we get to 675 then we could continue on but I'm not willing to commit to but once once the GR comes through you have like period to accept the gr my my feeling is if the grant is 400,000 then the answer is but that's a whole different conversation a whole different conversation yes well that 31y old truck is pretty we need to we need to commit contingent that we get $675,000 gr that's that's the question before you but we don't have to put this in any bond money now at this point until anything we get the grant yes I get that L it says congratulations okay you're getting 675 this is just to apply every order is not Comm I just want to add like in the email he also says there could be a pass through expense from the mandated 2027 diesel emission standard changes made by Congress they do not uh manufacturers don't know the cost associated with the compliance so it's always evolving and safety standards are always evolving but you know you can't have I mean we all know about what this looks like we're talking about bunge cords and duct tape yep so we can't go on like that no we have to protect the would you like to make a motion yes sir I would like to make the motion that um what she said I said so the motion is going to be that the council commits to up to $325,000 and works with the fire department to pursue the grant which work was 315 325 is it 35 3 325 3 325 I need a second on that motion second second I get a roll call yes big numbers at locals councilwoman sanon yes councilwoman saki Hurley yes councilwoman Duffy yes councilman gry yes councilman Seymour yes Council President Grant yes good okay on to number six Community energy planning Grant Council thank you mayor well this grant the numbers are a little bit easier to understand and a lot smaller but the uh the uh contribution to our community will not be will also be as as generous and Grant as a new fire truck so um it's a $10,000 Grant to create a community energy plan so this is hold on Opera through the uh BPU um and the New Jersey clean energy program and what a community energy plan does is it helps a community to work toward a better environment for all residents using uh the state's energy master plan so basically in the state made a um energy master plan uh the county has um uh participated and created there the uh Bergen County has created an energy master plan I was not able to find a document to read it uh however what this energy planning process is um they're talking about lowering greenhouse gas emissions targeting to reduce energy use reducing emissions increase r renable energy that means um Community solar wind geothermal and basically the energy planning uh Grant would give New Milford the opportunity to review all the options and PRI uh designate priorities so this also includes uh assessing municipal buildings and uh looking towards uh creating priorities for um Energy Efficiency uh it also uh involves like planning for future buildings and um uh deciding how to uh create future ordinances if it comes to that but that's all depends on how they uh how it goes so basically this would be a uh a first uh generation Grant so that would be an you would create an energy plan and then following you would from the plan uh you would be able to apply for implementation grants so from the planning process there will be opportunities to apply for implementation funding which means let's say some building may need upgrad in Windows and that would help save energy right if so there there would the possibility to apply for grants for uh building retrofit lighting uh the DPW has taken advantage of some of this there's also opportunities uh let's see where is it implementation Grant um so it would be the wording here is implementing high priority high impact practical and cost effective municip projects supporting energy resilience renewable energy and Energy Efficiency so we would be able to review the Energy Efficiency of our buildings be able to make a plan to see where we need it to be doing that so the uh and environmental and energy commission has um has reviewed this and they said that they would be interest they would be willing to support this um let's see I had a note there would be a committee so a committee can be created um and this can be composed of representatives from at least two of these groups government entities business community community organization residents and a transportation Partners sote the new committee then for that if we get the grant could be let's go back to what is the grant going to cover the grant cover Grant covers someone doing a study no we we get to create a a plan and it's a there's a a workbook to go through so it is uh yeah it would be the the the buau and and um yeah it would be to apply for the grant I'm I'm no no we get the grant to make the plan to make so basically the plan also reviews you know puts into uh uh the conversation puts everything into the big the energy uh sustainability and resiliency uh plan for the burrow like we get to put it all in a big plan Fleet do we uh upgrade and transition any of our Fleet to what we using $10,000 for to create the plan a document $1,000 is is it AIC gr it is a it no but like is it to create uh will you have someone um assisting in the grant uh in the um creating creating the energy plan for that what would the cost cover right so there it's C it covers administrative costs oh okay so don't you need to create a committee to who's going to apply for the grant we going to have a grant writer apply for the grant yes it would be yes Millennium would so so we get the Grant and once we get the grant we get the $10,000 then we form a committee I'm just trying to put everything together here and then the committee could spend it as they see fit to create this document appropriately as they see fit appropriately for any purpose related to the creation of the community energy plan including staff salaries overhead Consultants supplies and other direct expenses and the environmental and energy commission uh I brought this in front of them and they said that they would be willing to spearhead to this project the envir the sustainable Jersey the Green Team support that I would think getting a plan like this would be good for sustainable Jersey I would yeah and sustain it is a priority action for sustainable Jersey imagining it's like know like we have planning incentive status and that's one thing Marlin key always drove home us you guys have this you got a long time ago you are eligible for more of these categories more money and all other stuff that's what's going to happen with with something like this down the road right the plan will help the b in numerous ways and there's no match and we have people who are willing to make a motion you can make a motion you said I I make a motion that we uh apply for the uh Community energy plan I think Grant May a roll please yes councilman s yes councilman Roi H yes Council duy yes councilman gry yes councilman Seymour yes Council President Grant yes number seven 2024 budget update administrator yes this a very very brief report the budget committee has met sat with the uh CFO we went through the departmental requests um discuss a few things that we thought we needed to talk about such as you know Road program possib ilities for for going forward and we provide all the information to the auditor for him to drop into the budget document to just get us a sense of where we are and we're scheduling our department meetings for the DPW the fire department police department and library to talk about their individual budgets more in depth and um once we have those meetings and we can fine-tune some of the numbers we're also waiting for the annual financial statement which will give us information about our current Surplus Etc and we will at that point have something for the council to review and uh in anticipation of our introduction which should be by the end of March is the townwide reassessment happening this year yes happy to report uh the first step making that happen was to um redo our tax map and it was a long OS process that we went through with the engineer and we just recently got approval from the state and that is the key to us moving forward I hadn't heard about it I vaguely remember budgeting for it last year yeah we're well into it actually yes started we got into the budgeting for it and paying for it it's we're paying for it over five years and last year we put the first first uh installment for the Ral itself and then we added the tax map that we had to do so this year we're we're bud we're putting in the first payment for the map and the second payment for the re Val so when will it actually start it's going to start soon momentarily yes the assessor is working with the rebal company which we had a contract with since I think 2022 at this point yeah thank you and reminder this is State mandated yes we're actually behind we're actually behind because because of Co and because of extenda circumstances related to co your assessor has gotten two exens fromation yes right this was ordered by the county that we have to move forward with this okay okay item number eight is schedule updates Thursday February 15th is the blue lakr buyout meetings sponsored by the mjde it's from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. it is a virtual meeting if anyone is interested the link to this meeting is on the new Boro website on Sunday February 18 is the Elks pancake breakfast fundraiser sponsored by the new for tck elks is from 8: to 11:30 a.m. at the New Milford Teck Elks Lodge which is right down the street for more information you can go to the Elks website or Facebook page on Thursday February 22nd is Gibbs Night Out fundraiser sponsored by BF Gibbs PTO he is at 6 p.m. it takes place at the greycliff in munaki for more information you can go to the Gibbs PTO website or Facebook page on Saturday March 10th is new milford's second annual Crescent Moon Lighting a Sunday Sunday March 10th that's correct right Sunday March 10 yes it is the second annual Crescent Moonlighting sponsored by the New Milford public events committee it'll take place at 700 p.m. on the front of brall lawn more information will be up on the br's website and my Facebook page and this will also be a Food donation event so we're going to ask everyone who attends just to bring a canned good we'll have uh we'll have cans lying out and fill it up and the next day we'll deliver it all to the the mil food pantry there any other events in February or March that I missed I'm sorry what were we say I said check the dates on the canned goods yeah yes of course please do not bring expired yeah we say of course but how many it goes on the F please do not bring old cans thank you number sorry February 27th the planning board uh will be meeting and will'll will'll continue to hear from burrow entities about their concerns on what they would like to see the master fine address so they all invited and the public is always invited to express their opinions in the in the um yes okay okay item number nine is Administrative report thanks mayor could there be more I know well I was going to say and it's good that there was a short report because I left it on the printer um other than the budget report that we just went over the only other thing that I was going to report on is the fact that we are closed on February 19th for President's Day and at the next meeting of the mayor and council is February 26 two weeks from tonight does everyone had a chance to look at the resolution there anything that need to be pulled for f further discussion and or vote very good why don't we quickly we'll go around the table give any highlights or anything really important on your uh committees or commissions and we're going to start with Council President Grant thank you so much mayor I want to tell you that the L's clinic on Saturday was wonderful we had a very large attendance there were a number of people from Bergenfield although most of the people were from New Milford and it's still warmest bab's Clinic we've ever had and I've been doing this a very long time so it was wonderful and thank you to the DBW again for arranging the setup which works so very well and to Jon La page who organizes it brilliantly and to um Marin Maharaj and mo for volunteering and Dr Carberry who is just always terrific thank you excellent okay let's go counc gron thank you mayor uh I've been busy with the budget and uh that's pretty much it up until now thank you plus he's on a cruise that's yeah was great uh thank you mayor the flood mitigation committee met and how to reorg Mr Richard lwi is the new chair congrat congratulations to Rich and the committee is excited to start the yeah excellent yep uh the green team is uh working on the uh TR the TR uh Plastics recycling program a community recycling program is very popular uh we have uh bins at the library the senior center uh here in burrow Hall and uh there's one at the high school as well so their collections are going there's about near nearly 200 lb of plastics col that's of the way right yeah 1,000 is the uh is the is the gold and we do request that when people yeah when people bring in bags people it's been really great people are bringing Full bags in uh but we do request that they're clear plastic bags uh because they're just um everything has to be clear plastic no no green plastic bag no garbage bags so just to make sure that everything is clean inside so that's a a request of the Green Team uh but otherwise it's going very nicely very well so thank you excellent I just have to ask where are we keeping like Curious mind where the people house is the way station and then it gets trans to I hope those bags are definitely clean since they're being stored so but we have to the green team has the re the reason for um the large bags to be clear is because they everything has to be delivered in clear bags Council s thank you mayor um just to reiterate and to which I'll probably be saying until June 8th we are having another Hall of Fame like we did last year so right now uh we're putting boxes at the library at the senior center here at the B hall for anyone who would like to put in a name uh that they feel should be part of the Hall of Famer and then it's going to be gathered uh these names and then eventually voted upon um the affair is June 8th possibly most likely at the Els Club um and it's should be a nice little evening out absolutely and you could also go I had posted it on the Facebook page you can just use the link and you could you could as well and it's on the website the yep excellent so yeah they could also be deceased one person one person want vote you want it that's it thank you you're welcome I'm going to hold my report for the next weekend um we have a pretty big Pro session and uh you know things are going well you heard it enough for me okay so great the only thing I will end is um I had before this meeting had sent out a post um garbage collection in the north end of town is suspended tomorrow it will be take place now on Wednesday the 14th so start Valentine's Day with B stre at 12:00 we got a call I said we definitely pick him up when did that change change on my way here okay who did you get a call no I was down DPW and so was on phone don't confuse anyone is guaranteed we're going to be picking up tomorrow while we are at this meeting we got notifications that school is closed tomorrow so the M public school district will be closed tomorrow so if anyone didn't get that message you're here here and the other thing I wanted to mention is we want to congratulate Captain van seders who graduated from the New Jersey State Association Chiefs of police very nice command and Leadership Academy great so kudos to him I think it's just Testament to the kind of police department we have and it's just it's just great and we're we're happy for him and C joury going the same that's terrific congratulations that is all I have okay with that I would ask for a motion to open to the public second all ladies and gentlemen the public we are open to the public if anyone has any questions or comment you get five minutes all we ask is you give us your name give us your address you have to stand up SP around three times and then click your R Sho together thank you I just want to thank everyone tonight it was interesting what I saw I learned a little bit and appreciate you hearing from me my name I'm sorry my name is D seral I won give you my address as stated and uh I enjoy that thank you mon usually time that channel so but thank you guys Valentine wife second L we going I'm going to ask for a motion to go into close we're going to go into close session and when we Clos we will take no action other than to adjourn we have to go on the resolution may get a motion to approve resolutions 2024 col 6 2024 col 75 motion second all in favor oppos a motion to go into close session second all fa can we take five yes thank you very much and happy Val and if we do get a l don't forget Prospect Park but we're not getting in