okay I'm going to call a meeting to order roll call please miss ballesa present Mr dno here mayor Morgan here Mr jrey here Mr kogan here Mrs mcnight here let's salute the flag Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all this the public mean that b Council B rep County Union state New Jersey adequate notice has been given in courts appe 1975 CH 231 then an annual notice or revision was made in conformance to section 13 of the ACT okay uh before we do anything we had two individuals in the buau that passed away this past week one is Leo Pano who is a longtime member of our diversity committee he taught Italian classes at the uh Senior Center for many many years uh just a terrific guy and um he will be sorely missed the other is Hugh kahill and um he was a personal friend of mine uh he was on the fire department for 17 years um he um he was at every Community event I could think of which the fire department uh participated in just a terrific guy he happened to work at UPS like I did uh unfortunately he never made his retirement and um I don't know exactly what happened but they found him on the side of the road on the turnpike and and um he will be sorely sorely missed by a lot of people in his community and uh I wish both individuals families um the Comfort to know if they need anything from us we're here and the community will stand behind them like we do everybody else so if we could have a moment of silence please thank you very much now for a little happier note is that uh we have a group of young individuals here tonight um and that is the a um um musical choir and they help us every year out at the uh tree lighting which is the night of a thousand stars we thought it be nice to invite them and give them certificates of appreciation so Amy if you could come up please uh are all the kids here or they I see oh I'm I'll tell you come here yeah so I will give you all of these and say thank you so much you've been doing this for how many years five years five years and I you know we really appreciate you coming s participating in in our activities and you know what it's good to have the young people involved in our community so I just want to thank you and let's just do this and take a picture and I know Maran likes to take pictures [Applause] too more pleas thank you thank you very thank you want say if you want to say a few words you wel it's our great pleasure to perform for the 1 uh night it's night yeah so every kid enjoy M to serve the community so we will keep doing that thank you so much thank [Applause] you now we have have a big award coming up um but we're we were going to wait for assembly woman mat cud so if we could just do a little of the uh burrow business first and until Michelle come she's on her way so if if if you guys don't mind okay um let's go go to the uh public hearing on ordinance uh 2402 please read the title an ordinance granting renewal of Municipal consent to Comcast of New Jersey LLC to construct connect operate and maintain a cable television and communication system in the B New Providence Union County New Jersey can I have a motion please so moved second I'll second that uh what this ordinance is is uh granting the contract between Comcast and the bur of New Providence and I think it's a duration of 10 years yes okay so if anybody has a uh wants to make a comment on this ordinance and this ordinance only please raise their hand seeing no one I declare the public hearing Clos uh roll call please Miss B I Mr dno Mrs jaffre yes Mr kogan Mrs mcnight yes I'm an appointment for the mental health awareness committee for Bill seroin I have a motion please so moved I'll second that uh all in favor yes I no so be it sustainability Amy Marshall motion please all in favor I yes no so be approval of minutes for February 27th motion please so moved second second all in favor I yes no so be it uh March 2nd some moved second all in favor yes I no so be it okay we have correspondence from uh PSC psj public hearing for clean energy future program New Jersey American uh following for proposed uh rate change I guess they're going down right okay mhm Jersey Central Power and Light uh public hearing for Energy Efficiency and conservation plan Township at chadam for storm water control same Township at chadam for flood plane management bake River Coalition uh membership um Board of adjustment uh six Wellings road to install a generator Sophia monska about uh Highway uh traffic concerns on the high school drop off uh Dan Badgley about tree preservation removal ordinance and Paul I think you're working on something with that and state D is requiring every town to uh adopt a tree removal ordinance they have template and it's quite involved so we've started to work on it thank you I appreciate it okay uh P Valley Water Commission uh Little Falls hydroelectric project Jersey Central Power and uh zero emission recovery charge Board of adjustment for 49 Maple a there's Michelle okay any comments on the correspondence no seeing none um let's go we can go now to uh our Awards um uh last year uh the Governor uh had a we value our veterans award and it's bestowed upon individual communities who have actively acknowledged and appreciate the sacrifices patriotism and courage displayed by those who have served in the military towns are evaluated based on specific initiatives and the Providence has taken various commendable actions to honor our veterans these initiatives include veteran only parking spaces Memorial Day Parade Veterans Day event and ottering uh veterans and Hometown hero veteran recognition uh banners and I know all of you personally uh we go back a long way folks and uh every time uh one thing I think that's not mentioned here is your uh Flag Day ceremony where we retire to flags and that has to be one of the most heartwarming ceremonies that I have ever been to and it shows uh a dedication and our how much we value the veterans now here we have executive uh director Dylan uh chba from the Department of military and Veteran Affairs uh Union County Commissioner Kimberly uh pal uh Mau uh Jeff Smith of the Union County Office of veteran services and we also have our assemblywoman and a member of the veteran services committee Michelle matutas so if you could all come up with the uh veterans please [Applause] all right so so good evening everybody as mayor Morgan mentioned my name is Dylan chorer the executive officer of Veterans Affairs at the New Jersey Department of military and Veterans Affairs by out it is an honor to be here tonight not many towns receive this recognition it's a testament to this community's willingness to go above and beyond to serve the veteran community so anytime you get the chance to present this award really is an honor um not just for this culminating moment of presenting the award but for all that you're about to do and continue to do for the veteran community in this in this area so thank you for having us thank you let's do this you guys come on why don't you move around to the other side so you can we go around to the other side yeah CU then there's more space you go first must be water on that side yeah and not only no awarded this but Michelle you want to uh present this one we have a citation here uh for the town and I'm going to read it by the uh comment I don't have my glasses on let's see how well I do you want commendations you want glasses thank you everybody's given their glasses okay commendations and praise are extended to the burrow of New Providence my hometown yes it by the citizenry of the 21st New Jersey legislative district through their dedicated representatives for their continued commitment to veteran residents who have served our nation exemplified by the earning of the we value our veterans award in the state of New Jersey [Applause] congratulations you know it's not allten you get recognized by the state the county you know and it it's just a great thing and you've all been great Partners working with us with all these things so thank you [Applause] congratulations you too this is yours I will hold that of course thank you so [Music] much very nice maybe I'll see you guys a little later we'll save your seat perfect very nice and I want to thank also thank Alison Smith our community activities director because she coordinates everything that happens with community events in in our our town and um if it's not you know she's very involved in in um in the Memorial Day Parade everything uh we can't do it without you Allison so thank you okay let's get down to council business administration Lisa thank you mayor got resolution 20249 this is a resolution proving agreement with the spy glass Group LLC to provide audit of telecommunication services for The Bu of improvidence uh spy glass is an independent auditor that will analyze the bur's primary telecommunication Services accounts uh such as voice data Internet Cloud Services licensing Mobility uh goal is to seek cost Recovery Service elimination and cost reduction recommendations so hopefully uh that audit will lead to some cost for us okay thank you finance Diane thank you mayor resolution 2024-the payment of the attached bills payable list and the amount of 2,971 9421 significant items include our March appropriation for the Board of Ed in the amount of 1,411 46 um $998,000 to depository trust for principal and interest debt payments are March appropriation for our Memorial Library in the amount of $ 98,2 58 and um $45,000 from the New Providence affordable housing um the funds to be used to repair the barbes manor roof and this was paid from the affordable housing trust fund okay thank you uh we have some raffle applications Robbie's World Foundation ra1 1210 Our Lady of Peace church R ra uh 1211 1212 1213 and 1214 and we have an application for limousine license for Summit Express for Shahed acum uh all these uh applications have been properly reviewed vied um resolution 098 is a resolution appointing um Mary Joe Sedano as a crossing guard from uh March 13 2024 to December 31st and now we go to Public Works Alex thank you mayor um first item authorization to advertise for summer health in the department of public courts this is to request permission to advertise for seasonal summer health position in the dep Department of Public Works the position is 40 hours a week the salary range is between $17 and $20 per hour depending on experience applicants must have a valid driver's license at be over 18 years of age uh resolution 202499 resolution approving requisition r2400 519 for Pierce Eagle Equipment Company an amount not to exceed 6,799 80 for a 400t inspection push camera for the wastewater treatment plant uh this is sourcewell Co-op contract number 12721 auu so this is to request uh permission to use Capital funds to purchase a push camera uh for the wastewater treatment plant the camera enables the Personnel to inspect 3in 4 in and even 6in sewer lines at different B locations uh traditionally they have called an outside contract contractor to do these smaller type inspections which cost the burrow upwards of 100,000 $1,000 each time uh the current camera is not suitable for the smaller pipes uh and it's designed for eight 8 in and and larger so this will allow for more timely responses to problems occurring within the burrow we we call it in the industry a SE snake but I here we call it a push camer this because we don't use salt water resolution 2024 D100 resolution of approving uh requisition r2400 545 for okay this is an Italian name uh choka for of Flemington in the amount not to exceed [Music] 58922 for 2020 Ford Ford F350 pickup truck for the Department of Public Works MCC PC contract number 15-c item number 12 so this is simply requesting permission to purchase a pickup truck for the DPW using Capital funds this replaces a truck that was purchased back in 2012 thank you we get good use out of those trucks hard to get yeah very hard to get it took us what three four years for the last one okay uh we we have a discussion item on the community pool pedestrian bridge and we're lucky to have Marie and Andy here tonight welcome thank you uh thank you for having us tonight as you you can see I'm here tonight kind of more for a historical purpose the pool Bridge which goes from the pool parking lot to the pool also Services the high school that bridge has had issues over the year The Rains the weight limit ring has changed we're on that bridge it handles both chlorine truck traffic and it handles garbage traffic plus DPW trucks no other cars with vehicles go over there so you do need to get vehicles over there probably about five to eight years ago there was a discussion between then burough Council and the pool board about making that bridge much more decorative if you're going to fix the bridge make it decorative and there were some things done to it they put some new fencing on it they tried to make it look nicer at the time they had talked about possibly a brick face a stone facing possibly painting it do something and at the time it was very cost prohibitive for a number of reasons one is the bridge had some micro cracking in it micro crackings are very very fine cracks that you can see if water gets on the bridge and that's we're going to talk about in a second and we decided not to do anything for cost in for that years have passed by probably least eight years ago and now the bridge has a lot of micro cracking if you look at the sides of the bridge you can see it looks like a white spiderweb that's the eff effervescence from the concrete coming through and shows you where the cracks are so that cracking has gotten pretty bad Marie worked through ouru Engineers produced a report and basically we want to talk to you tonight about your options to that bridge whether it's going be the type of bridge you have now more decorative or some other type of bridge like the ones we did on the three Bridge Replacements that were destroyed by Hurricane IA so if there's no questions I'll let meet take do you have any questions on any of that when was The Bridge originally installed BK so that bridge probably goes back to the concrete Channel which is in the like late 60s early 70s so that's an original original connecting Bridge done as part it was an Army Corps project that actually did it they it was I thought it was even earlier than that when they when the pool was built if anybody would know you would know yeah right mean was it there when you were in high school oh way before yeah so so that's when I was keep going to The [Music] Bouch thanks bud you're aome you the other Bridge the remember what's that the other Bridge you replaced you helped us with a lot of historical information Yeah well yeah ever since I can remember as when that pool was open that bridge was here so I think the the brid the pool was opened in like 62 61 something like mean the bridge has reached its life yeah abely you have to replace the bridge um you can continue the limited traffic you have across it for deliveries we're recommending like a monthly instruction on it but it has to be replaced so you have more information yeah so we went out and did a um we had our structural guys go out and do an inspection on it and um you know doing the best they could without you know being able to see in between some of those beams those the um the concrete underneath is actually some um box beams which I think our structural guys determined that it has to be at least before 1980 so that would lead to what you were saying um there's no drain holes underneath so it's hard to see what's actually going on inside you're not really allowed to um actually have those kinds of of um of box beams anymore so um you know we they came up with some ideas of ways to replace it um and also recognizing that you guys have a pool there there's a reason for it it's not just the pool it's the you know the kids that are parking in the parking lot need to walk across that stream to get to the school and um it is a it is a vital artery way for you guys to get where you need to go so does it need to be closed right now we do not believe that it needs to be closed right now but you should probably be looking at doing something as soon as the pool season closes you should be ready to plunk that bridge out put a new one in um some of the ways that we can do that would be like a um a prefabricated kind of bridge which would allow you to have you know maybe two weeks of downtime you know let's say a month just to just to be on the safe side but um you know it would be something that you know very similar to what was done over at the Commerce Drive is a Commerce Drive or is a Commerce Street Commerce either Drive okay so you know that the bridge that you replaced over there it would be that same kind of of bridge um that would that would be something that you would you would be able to put in there um rather quickly you could put in a a concrete bridge um that would probably um cause cause some more interruptions it would be a lot more expensive we determined um so we didn't actually do too much in-depth look at at what kind of replacement that would be because it really isn't um it doesn't really fit your needs um so anyway we there any question questions on on that par because I do have some I have some roundabout ballpark numbers so those those bridges one like that on Commerce is that strong enough to withstand vehicular traffic on it well it wouldn't be like the one that's at Commerce the learn at Commerce is actually a truss bridge and this one would be steel beams underneath it with um the superstructure on top the railings and all that so it would be something similar to the um to the one that's over at Commerce Street but it wouldn't be exactly the same because you're right we need to we need to drive your garbage truck over there it's not a big garbage truck but it is a truck um the DPW uses that bridge to access um very right so um so that you do need some access there so um the bridge right now is rated at 15 Tons so um I believe that when we sized it we looked at um at a at a 20 ton bridge going across there but um and if there was ever flooding like we saw during Ida that type of bridge would be okay I mean either type of either type of bridge would be fine okay the way it is now like it kind of goes up and up I guess right so the one the one thing that just going back to the Three Bridges we did as part of hurricane they have to be put back in the same basic geometry and height as they were before you can't allow any more or any less order to go through so it has to maintain the basic shape the height the opening has to be the same that's state regulations and we're doing this as an inine replacement you pop it out pop it in no other perms I me let me ask you a question the foundation walls the abutments right abutments y are they going to have to be changed or no so you're just really taking that one out and putting it the uh prefab in well you bring up a good point too because right now the abutments that the you know the seat that the whole Bridge sits on right the the the substructure the bottom portion of it that's in good shape right now but if it's left there to sit too long all of that deterioration that's happening on top and that the way we can tell that it's deteriorating is there's Pooles on top which means that there's something going on underneath it it's that's just a sign that something else is going on all that efflorescence the white cracking that's on the side that's all an indication that there's some chemical reaction inside happening that's causing it to deteriorate so all those kinds of things are little um Clues to us that that things things are deteriorating on it but they haven't reached that that support structure if you change the if you have to replace the support structure all of a sudden all these numbers that we talk about all of a sudden go up um yeah and what one of the things too is that I know you guys had talked about maybe putting some brick facing on those abutments the problem with that becomes is that you're into into permitting issues because now you're you're reducing I know it seems like a little bit but it's six inches of a brick face on one side and six inches on another side now you've reduced the the opening by a foot yeah um and that's that's where there's um there's a problem with that and Mar just compared to the other The Three Bridges we replaced as you mentioned just to confirm yeah this one preab Bridge can be delivered the the current Bridge gets shut down so we don't have to shut it down and wait and wait and wait because at the last time we were uh Bound by um construction delays and deliver yes well the idea would be um you know you authorize us to start doing design we work with um a a pre-fabricated um Bridge contractor they would be able to manufacture it and you'd be putting it out to bid to get somebody to actually construct it and actually do the construction on it um and so if you start start that whole process now they can be working on manufacturing it over the summer while the pool's still open come September October they can take out the old bridge and put in the new one with with little Interruption and the difference in that was they were an emergency so the had to go right to work on it right away on this one they can stage their work so they'll know the bridge is waiting and then they'll take the old bridge off make any repairs to the bment once they can see what's there right and then within a two we period Then do bridge B so that's probably 30-day construction project day no and I appreciate the answer on the beautification or the stone facing but you could could you landscape around the butman somehow as long as you stay back out of the bank in some way yeah we were we were talking about that that you could probably do like the um the U the side faces of it right you know the part that doesn't actually encroach into the into the I think that's the isore is the ABS the bridge itself is right but it needs Public Safety First yeah that's right that's I just want just one Crystal Clear again you saying no emergency um people can still use it that there's no immediate safety concerns I thought I heard you say limited access from just what you have now from a vehicle standpoint correct more limited or no just the limited access you use it for now that can remove which is chlorine trucks garbage trucks and some D does it make sense to explore alternate rout to get stuff on that side of the bridge whether it's coming in from another Direction and not put that added stress or that's not needed you're saying right now it's not need we we're recommending having our Structural Engineers they did a good Baseline a month ago once a month just going out and Tak an ey out to make sure nothing is and obviously this will all be coordinated or communicated to the pool board as well I would imagine making sure that everyone there is on board as well okay thank you so I guess this what happen after Labor Day after after the pool closes okay all right we we need discuss first yeah so so there's options about what you could do um you know there there's um this you could just do a a Steel Bridge just a a plain Steel Bridge I'm sorry painted Steel Bridge that would be um about 450,000 and that's we're we trying to give you a a number that's encompassing all the design the construction um you know our soft costs and that as well okay um turn key What Turn keyy Turn Key yes there you go um and a galvanized um um Bridge would be about SE $475,000 um a galvanized and painted structure would be $550,000 these are all engineering estimates right we haven't put that out to bid or anything um expensive paint and if you did um very quickly and then um a pre-cast um concrete one as I said was that's that one a little more intensive probably about 800,000 thank you and what's the difference between the the lower two the so um the the painted one um would not be galvanized steel um so that one that would that would just be painted and you know the galvanized steel is actually a sturdier steel go with the galvanized steel you don't have to yeah the bridges you that you did in Ida were all galvaniz Galvan painted right galvaniz not painted the differential there is like the sturdiness and the longevity of it I'm sorry doesn't rust but it doesn't rust so it increase longevity also have to coordinate with the board of I mean that's a busy time too after Labor Day KS that and football actually and football season too right unfortunately there is no good time to do yeah you have to wait which time you want to do it yeah I think the key is getting Bri right then you move on and then we'll figure out the next step right then we get scheduled both the school and the pool we can have burn de setad of means with both we can meet and kind of get a schedule maybe the school can have their games away the first half of the season the next half starts a home and then away so you know this is all subject again that this bridge every month looks good and so far so good and we would be able to obtain it in the fall it's not like supply chain issu the sooner we get started the better right so we have to get started on it every month that goes by it's one less month you closer something obviously because there's urgency and safety aspect that our Capal our finance team would have to integrate into process well we already have the capital so okay awesome thank you thank you very much I remember you bringing this up in 2015 did and said another 10 years right just you're a couple years short okay uh Council committee reports um Public Safety uh operations normal uh they did have a a cookie with the cops today at veterans or Centennial Park and I have to tell you it was very well attended so um and we're looking to do interviews for a new police officer um next week so that's about all we I have in yeah and they also have their annual report that's on the website it looks great um so community activities uh registration for all New Providence Recreation summer youth camps and classes are now it is now open via community pass on the recreation website please call the recreation office if you have any questions uh the New Providence Lions will host its 55th annual Easter egg hunt on Saturday March 23rd which is in two Saturdays at Oakwood Park the event begins at 9:00 a.m. sharp and is open to children prek to second grade all new Prov Providence residents are invited to this fun event and a huge thank you to our Lions who run this every year it's a great event save the date for the annual Earth Day Green Fair hosted by New Providence recreation and New Providence sustainability committee this year's event will be held on Saturday April 20th in Centennial Park from 10: to noon and it will feature a fun interactive show for the whole family called saving the Earth together come learn about sustainability recycling electric vehicles and more that's that um we had a Board of Health meeting this past uh week um look for some Wellness Wednesdays posts um the uh new new Province the Westfield Board of Health who we are a part of has created these on Wednesdays and they're actually good information um and um what what did they say prasis um is actually uh gaining momentum there's a lot of cases so if you have a persistent cough it could be P pertusus um historical society's annual program will be on April 18th and uh finance committee we had a meeting tonight we're in good shape um huge thank you to our the burrow especially Jim uh Testa for putting a very comprehensive uh look together and um we'll be uh presenting that at the next meeting which is in two weeks and I think that's it okay Pete nothing report inde thank you mayor uh one more will thing on the board of health uh keep your eye open on the burrow website we're going to be posting information when covid clinics come up the westf Board of Health is still offering those free of charge regardless of um Insurance status um I had a diversity committee meeting last night um keep your eye open for some posts regarding um International women's month this month in March um things will be coming out about that and uh we are planning through the rest of the year with that committee but other than that operation's normal thank you Alex um think you heard about the bridge with respect to engineering today um just on the I don't know if Lisa was going to cover this but uh the library the recreation department the sustainability committee are having their first seat swap at the library where you get to exchange seats were you going to cover that or sorry that's on March 23rd between 2: and 400 p.m. at the library and and a huge shout out to our uh wav Water Treatment Plant sorry Diane you reminded me all that rain all that rain had to U work around the clock y but as always they first r okay Lisa what do I have I've got Municipal Alliance uh met on March 6 they are working on uh their goals working on their work plan and some of that includes some events that they have coming up M Monday March 18th is a parent Workshop titled mindful parenting and that will be in the media center um what else we have Naran training is going to be on March 27th at 6 p.m. right here in council chambers they do have some Nar Naran kits that they'll be giving out that night so it's like first come first serve I think they have about 15 30 30 a lot kids um and they are working on every 15 minutes which is always a big project for them this year it's going to be on May 22nd um and go they are working on it right now and the library board will meet next week so okay thank you br de thank you mayor um just a few things Quality Electric will be in the burre on Friday uh they'll be installing the rapid um flasher Beacon at um Central and Valentine so they had done some preliminary work and then I think they were waiting for pieces or something um so they should be finishing up that job on Friday um it's also my understanding that the work approved by Summit last um summer late summer fall for Division Avenue will start up again in April um as a reminder that's a shared uh project between the burough of New Providence and the City of summit um the city of summit is the lead municipality on that so and they have a lot more work that they're doing on their side of the road than we are but that should be starting up imminently um and um for anyone who has traveled Maple we well aware of all the potholes DPW is trying to um keep the road together until the dot project is um approved and um put out to bid we are waiting for the municipal budget to be passed um in order to put that out to Bid And once the um once the bid packet comes back and we award the bid we'll have to encumber the fund so it's it's important that we wait um to have the money to actually do that um and then just a few more things is the weather's getting warmer I just want to remind residents to slow down there's kids in the road there's bicyclists in the road um there was a tragedy um the other day in Berkeley Heights um and um just be mindful that we're sharing the road with other with other people um and just look out for the spring newsletter it should be out in your mailboxes in the coming weeks that's it I just want to uh say something about the Division Avenue uh I know a lot of U residents contact me about the vision Avenue I want to make it perfectly clear we were ready to pave that last year and Summit came to us and said you know let us take the lead we want it it makes no sense to pave half the road so we agreed with that we thought it was going to get we we gave our half of the money back in August I believe right Bernard and we thought it would be paid by Thanksgiving well it didn't turn out that way but I'm glad to hear that they're they're starting back up again to do what they have to do I know they're putting it sidewalks and tree work and all the things that we did two years ago so I'm glad to see that uh that's happening so for for the Maple Street project obviously after it's been out ballp Park we're looking late late summer probably early fall thank you one thing I I did hear from the police is that we saw a lot of PSC and G G trucks going down Springfield Avenue and they said they're pretty much done with all the work that they have to do in a burrow digging up the road so hopefully we'll get those roads paid pretty soon too so I know you and Marie work your magic with them so I mean we paid 58 roads last year which is incredible so um okay we'll go to public comments um and I'm going to read this because um I've been very lenient and it's kind of gotten out of hand and I I watch all the council meetings in the surrounding communities and they they abide by this this is an opportunity for any member of the public to be heard about an issue that are not separate topics scheduled for public hearing tonight to help facilitate an orderly meeting and permit all to be heard speakers are asked to limit their comments to three minutes and may only speak on one topic um for night so let's uh let's go anybody wishing to address council tonight hi Sarah hi Mar Morgan Sarah Aon 99 cestra I know that was directed at me because I've definitely taken a lot of time and I appreciate it yeah and I've been very lenient with a lot of people and it it's really gotten out of hand so understood uh I just have uh a couple clarification points from the council meeting last uh two weeks ago and then a question actually see if there's any updates from one of the takeaways we had but um there was mentioned several times last council meeting that uh I was seeking uh taxpayer money to pay for personal property and I just want to absolutely or private property I just want to absolutely clarify it's not that we're I'm seeking taxpayer funds for private property is definitely for uh the burrow to pay for and take ownership of the storm water system accessories as we've been arguing and debating whether it's an accessory of storm water system or not and how it supports it and what purpose it serves Etc but part of what's damaged is absolutely an accessory to the storm water system which is the fence I mean it's indis indisputably part of the storm water system uh which has never actually been a question this questions we've been having and it is in the maps from the late early to late 1960s latest revision is 1968 so um according to the burrow that's before a house was built so uh the fence definitely shows there it's not detailed plan by any means or map but the fence is definitely there and uh so there was two points there and then the third point was that um there was mentioned the deed or uh the easement the deed for the easement for the storm water system area uh was to just clean the storm water system but it's definitely not just a clean and it states it this in the deed uh as we've talked about before to construct maintain drainage dishes so it is to maintain but to lay relay construct reconstruct replace repair operate maintain uh Sant sewers and storm water s sewers with the apperences which is Leal speak for accessories and so on and so forth but I just wanted to clarify those points um and then I wanted to ask if there was any update from an engineering Report perspective I will have to lead that up to uh mat Mr Rizzo Alex I can take it so um so Sarah we um Matt and I met with bernardet you saw Andy and Marie earlier this week uh we reviewed everything tried to look at every possible way that we could um help with with matters with the fence with the seaw wall and I think Andy or even bernardette reached out to Jimmy Johnson who remember we were discussing who put the fence in why it was there so I think uh the one message clearly we got back that the fence it was just repaired because a tree had fallen on it that's why you see the newer fence uh The Greener section there uh but in every case in every situation that we looked in finding way to help it's it's clear to me it's clear to Matt I I think uh everybody in the burrow that there's really nothing that we can do uh going forward that is that the fence is not um part of the if anything we would remove the fence for you uh if you were to do any other work uh to put up a retaining ball we would help Expediting the permits but apart from um from those two things I think we've exhausted every effort possible I've personally been out there twice with you um to see what what can happen and I think with both the engineering firm the outside firm all the legal advice that we received I think we've definitely exhausted every possible Avenue to to help okay so um so there was contact with Jimmy Johnson you were saying about the funds that's what correct me if I'm wrong bur to death that's what Andy Jimmy stopped in um unrelated to this and I grabbed him okay okay and he did he clarify that there was the whole like 60 70 foot section that Jimmy said the only reason that we replaced the fence was because a burrow tree fell on it and and damaged the fence and that's why it was replaced that did happen several times on sections of it but there was a whole 6070 section foot so you'll have to tell him the story or remind him cuz he'll remember this I was 8 and a half pretty much 9 months pregnant when we bought the house and and moved in and um it was quite a low fence um maybe I don't know three feet not even three feet from the ground probably and I had a toddler at the time two-year-old another on the way and I reached out to DPW saying oh you know is there anything we can do about this fence is quite low just Public Safety concerned about my toddler climbing it falling into the drainage area and as we were standing there looking at it me super pregnant a snake slithers by and I literally jumped my skin and he I think he had a heart attack because he's like oh my gosh are you okay because I was so pregnant but he would definitely remember that and then the subsequent replacement of that fence uh and making it higher for Public Safety purposes so I'd welcome a conversation further with him about it well Jimmy's not an employee anymore sure but he would be able to we we can't force him to have a conversation no that's fine but if we're relying and what who owns the fence now which wasn't well I have to go and we all have to go with our professionals advice sure and when you first came to me back at the National Night Out a few years ago and I I said I will do everything I can to help you out as long as our professionals say we can do it and if FEMA agrees they have it it's not our property and we cannot spend public taxpayer money on on private property and it's an easement we can just an easement it just means that we can go over it to do what we have to do to maintain that Waterway and to maintain the Waterway is that we bring in the front end loader and clean out the braid that's all we've ever done on the concrete channels uh you know that's it yep the concrete Channel itself but definitely replacing and repairing SE property I I I I I wish I could give you a different answer and I feel for you but I can't do it um well the fence is definitely not my property it's part of the storm water system it's the the burough engineer had told us we we could go in and remove the fs okay if anything else was to be done again now they wouldn't allow offense in it's exactly that was DP would never let us put that fence in if it if it was today yes none of those things would be able in fact quite honestly D wouldn't have let us put in the concrete Channel I don't know about the concrete Channel I didn't ask that but Depp bur or the D Union County engineer who is in charge of all the permitting I mean she clarified for sure I mean yes you wouldn't be allowed like if you built it new you wouldn't be allowed to put a chain link fence in because of like it can snag on things but because it was built before 1980s it's absolutely allowed to be put in repair what we just said but yeah if a burrow tree hits that fence we can replace what was damaged right that's what we can do that's all we can do right so it could be replaced repaired Etc just with the chain link fence right that I I you're going to have to go to to the engineers saying I I believe their recommendation is just to remove the fence not to replace it that is that is their official statement okay and did were they able to answer those questions about whether that would be legally allowed and not just from a d perspective but also like affecting personal Pro like homeowner property and the impact it would have and the safety concerns again I think their responsibility is purely the Waterway that's that's all we the bur is responsible for is just making sure that we can get in there to maintain it which we currently have access from I guess this Mr witch and doll's property there's a gate there or they can just go in anywhere in the channel to get debris out um but at the moment literally uh and I and I want to reassure you they looked at every possible opportunity and as Al has always said we all want to find a way to help and find a way to resolve this but their recommendation is to remove the okay simply is there a doubt whether the burrow originally put in the funds I think every everything we uh I don't know that exact answer but it it's not our responsibity is basically what okay the professionals are telling us as we're just going round and round with this yeah they unfortunately we can't replace it and according to legal and and Engineering there's no way we can do it and FEMA you know they even said it's not our property so well FEMA just needed the burrow to say we own it and which because of legal that we don't own it so I that's why you're asking us to take ownership of that piece of property we do not own it and that that's the bottom line Y yeah I guess the whole thinking though is if the burrow is the one who put in the storm water system right along with the fence which is shown on the map that uh it wouldn't be then the homeowner's responsibility to maintain it or to repair it or to replace it that's right but your your wool isn't part of that system debatable that's what we've been debating for two according to FEMA okay but the fences right forget the fence you're talking about a wall it's they're right next to each other Sarah we've G I've spent hours with you on this I cannot use taxpayer money to fund private property that's the thing ille private property it is it it is your property right it's over my property but that doesn't mean the storm water system is my property or I can actually so the burough has all the rights I don't have the rights to do any of these things in that area we could go on and on it's not our property I wish I could help you out more I've done everything I could I've sent you to Senator Kane to try and get him to talk to FEMA to get it done for you they kicked it back saying they can't do anything there's no more we can do I wish I I wish I had an answer for you so I I think that's it I I I don't know what more to say well the problem hasn't gone away so we will do everything you can we can to help you with the permitting I think Mr Lynch said he would help in any way you can and you know you can go from there well I need the burrow to replace and repair its pieces of that system debate again whether the wall is but the fence is for sure I can tell you right now I don't want to drag this out it's not going to happen it's not our property and not our wall okay what about the fence the the fence uh like uh Mr kogan said if it was up to the uh up to now that they would recommend to pull the whole fence out well we'll talk about that further I guess there's really nothing to talk about well something has to be done so there is something to talk about until it's done but yep and I would definitely appreciate Jimmy's perspective on replacing that fence thank you yeah anyone else wishing to address Council hi Sophia hello you know what's funny I just saw John this morning I know what's the what's the uh right right John yeah okay do I have to State my name is that yes okay add so zofia mka 44 Radcliffe Drive um so I um submitted a a letter and I want to thank you because um it was addressed pretty quickly the situation that we had on our street so what's going on on Radcliff Drive is that apparently this was designated a drop off location for the school and for the past year at least I can't remember how long exactly it's been um it's just been a danger and I guess recently about a week ago uh they started cracking down on on illegal parking uh by students in other areas so the one morning our street was just lined with cars I couldn't back out of my driveway because the cars were parked on both sides of our street which is a residential street it's not really you know a large two-way Road um and the cars were backed up waiting to drop off and the problem there is that I guess it was designated as a one-way drop off but people drop off on both Corners by that bridge by Radcliffe and that is just another tragedy waiting to happen like you mentioned the thing that happened in Berkeley Heights um every morning when I drive there I just I see it parents are dropping kids off the kids aren't looking um they just cross the street the parents just pull out you have other kids that are actually walking and there are no sidewalks on that street right so you have kids walking not looking where they're walking on their phones and it's just um it's a menace it's a menace to the children and it's a menace to the people living on the street because the people aren't obeying traffic laws because they're in a hurry to drop their kids off and you know that's all they care about and they're not watching for the resident safety and they're not watching for the safety of the children even being dropped off so I don't know how that was designated a drop off spot but um I think it's very very unsafe so I know there was talk about the pool Bridge before yeah and I I know know so if if parking is allowed I believe for the high school students at the pool that's where we tell most people to right I don't understand why they're not dropping off right there because that's a safer safer location this is really a dangerous spot okay could agree with you more and I don't know why people don't do it it's an easier right access and and and you know I even asked my daughters because they both went to New go to the the traffic yes so yes we the policemen was there um you know and they were on it right away they put up no parking but you know we are concerned long term with what's going to happen down the street so I don't know if that's staying I don't know who determined that as a drop off location I I never heard it as a drop off location we neither did we neither did we and we were surprised but years and years ago I think I think it was years and years ago when Donna Zayn and Cecil we're looking at sapr to school they identified a bunch of different drop off alternate drop off zones all over yeah so this is this isn't really a safe spot don't know I think just don't want I think ever since I can remember occasionally you would see someone drop off right and that was fun no there it's there's like traffic there and like I said the people aren aren't paying attention they just you know drop off and go and they zoom out and they just pull out without looking and it's it's a real s on March 27th in the um where is it the media center yeah uh 7 to 8:00 Dan hen's going to be there with the traffic department okay to discuss all of this okay okay all right yeah that just came out today oh okay they're going to have so apparently they got your letter and they they want to address the whole thing about the pool Bridge 30 days or whatever right it's it's a problem there's no good way to there's no good time to put that bridge in so right right but no I I I know you're concerned so okay thank you thank you sure thank you anyone else yes C hi Kathleen Dolan 12 laal Drive I just have a question um there was a pretty extensive list of correspondents uh in the agenda tonight um how are the decisions made about what goes into the agenda what what correspondence is highlighted because I know that there's often things that come in that I know people have sent in things to the action line and it doesn't appear on the agenda it only appears on the agenda if it's addressed to Mayor and Council okay so everything that's addressed to Mayor and Council should be listed there okay that was just my question thank you so much anyone else wishing to address Council yes stand good evening good evening Daniel Badgley uh 11 Magnolia Drive uh I wrote the letter about the tree ordinance uh so I'm happy to hear that something is underway based on the model ordinance from D is that correct okay um there's a couple uh options in there um Provisions for a tree survey um which I think we you know should include in our ordinance um something that is not in there as an option that I think you know should be considered is a landscape plan showing where proposed trees would go uh just to make sure that they you know fit where they're supposed to and you know so applicants can you know either prove or disprove that they can or can not fit the required tree Replacements on their property and then have to pay into the uh tree fund um and then the last thing was the tree fund itself um it really only talks about replacement trees and maintenance of those replacement trees I think uh if we can include something about uh being used for you know anything tree related uh similar to what I wrote about in my letter um you know it could have to do with the uh the soil volume uh structural uh pavement over that soil volume especially in the downtown area I think that would go a long way for uh healthy trees in the long run so how about if we do this Mr badley I'll give you my card that's got my email address email me your thoughts because the template this ordinance is very I think intensive I'll call it um so there's a lot to it and I'm happy to consider I'm working with the engineer with it and I'm not going to remember for everything you just said so if you want to email me uh your thoughts on it and I'll communicate with you get something by May it's got to be done okay thank you Dan in your letter the municipality in Morris County mention the municipality in Morris County yeah that have this language already that I think you oh um it's it's part of the uh 10 Towns uh part of the um the Great Swamp Watershed so they put out their own model ordinance for this kind of thing for those towns that are within that uh Watershed um there there was a a town that I quoted um maybe I didn't mention the name it was by municipality count oh okay um that might have been Rand off yeah yeah okay I don't want to wheel somebody oh yeah so my my attachments you councilman there's and I think as Mr Badgley is saying there's you know a little I'll call it a grayer if you want that they can vary from town to town I mean you have a template um but I've also seen a couple I think you know they got away with cutting things short um and then I've seen more detail so um I'm working with Marie already and like I said I'll be happy to communicate with Mr badley and see what we can put together great thank you thanks thanks anyone else wishing to address Council seeing no one I declared a public comments Clos I need a motion for one through eight please Mo second roll call please miss bisa hi Mr dno Mrs Joffrey yes Mr kogan Mrs mcnight yes and before we uh go for adjournment I just want to W wish everybody a happy round Ramadan uh this is the first night and uh we wish all our uh Muslim brothers and sisters a happy holiday uh can I have a motion for a journal please happy St patri oh yeah well I kind of forget that one because you know but uh and happy St Patrick's Day