uh public hearing i al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands Nation God indivisible liy andice for all a public meeting B Council B count Union state New Jersey adequate notice has been given in accordance with PL 1975 chapter 231 annual notice or revision who made in conformance with Section 13 of the ACT uh we have a u ordinance 2410 please read the title an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 257 of the code of the buau of New Providence entitled vehicles and traffic have a motion please so Mo second second second okay what this ordinance is is uh limiting the parking over at uh High Street by uh the Mur Hill vet okay uh anybody having a comment seeing no one I declare the public hearing closed uh roll call please miss bisa I Mr kamsky hi Mr DNA hi mayor Morgan oh I'm sorry Mr Jeffrey yes Mr kogan yes Mrs mcnight yes okay we have uh approval of minutes for June 25th motion please so move a second well all in favor no so be okay we have correspondence Jon pnl uh proposed the right he right rate Heights boy it's hot uh New Jersey American uh proposed rate Heights uh the union battle County Board of Commissioners the kids Recreation trust fund and I know we we've already uh put in for that uh mayor monville to uh request to join uh affordable housing litigation uh Board of adjustment uh for maaka 41 Commonwealth uh mayor Mancini Long Beach um uh talking about want us to uh offshore of wind Projects New Providence Fire Department uh Kenneth Sky junior membership okay any comments seeing none we'll go to council business advisory boards let me let me take yeah I'm going to take this real quick if I may um so burn apologies because I didn't get a chance to kind of talk through this on Friday I was a little preoccupied with my my kids graduation party over the weekend you there yeah somehow I'm uh there's a cop we're up to there's just no heading who who it's assigned there's no heading on it it's un assign it's on assign I didn't know yeah no it's on assign so so I looked at it and I was just wondering you know my first thought was you know what why do we want our advisory committees at National Night Out um the National Night out's a night for our our police fire rescue you know Community event and you know I know we we've approved the diversity committee which I think kind of makes sense to be there um it's always good you know programming with the diversity committee was approved in February uh our Municipal Alliance always there which is also I think was more with the event itself but um in regards to all the other committees in my opinion you know I think we should be going through the committee and the council the aons right and they should be bringing those to to to the um to the agenda like which is basically what we've done in the past so you know I mean I don't know how you guys feel but in my opinion if you guys agree we should I think we should remove this from from the agenda yeah because usually it's the council liaison who at the meetings we discuss it at the committee meetings and in the case of the diversity committee the diversity committee at at the meeting with the liaison and the committee requested to be at National Night Out um we did not have that was not the case for the mental health advocacy and education committee we did not mention that I know we talked about it talked about it it was never finalized it was never finalized never on our calendar so we did not put in to have that um approved so I'm not really sure where it was coming from um but I agree National Night Out the intention of it really is to recognize and honor the First Responders um and this really seems to be a step not in that direction um so I'm not really sure yeah I I mean I can speak to the sustainability committee I I don't think we we had this on our calendar as to have it so is news to me that this is uh okay I do think though I think in future National might out it wouldn't be bad to have I know naen is 100% correct it's to it's for the First Responders it's a whole celebration of them and and all their service they provide but it is an opportunity maybe for the burough to promote whether it's Recreation programs or reverse 911 like that where you can do everything together Community related um committees I think it's a great idea um but yeah I think like I was telling like beautification committee I think wanted to do a table never really materialized it's like we were saying it's August 6 I think nobody like nobody up nobody owned up to like saying I can I could sit at the table so just kind of something that kind of fell away mistaken the PBA pretty pretty much Ry right yeah but also keep in mind we just had our first volunteer fair in January which was amazing that was a really great opportunity for all of our volunteer committees to to come out and you know we're always looking for volunteers there's no doubt about that so that volunteer committee I think filled that Gap and I think that was an excellent um an excellent thing I would love to have that again in the future and I think that would be a better placement uh for something like this the National Night Out so there really are no advisory committees that can so none of my advisory committees are going to be at National Night Out so who nobody put in for it nobody put in for this right I'm not really sure when sustainability was asking I didn't hear from anybody else so I asked Allison to write the letter for everyone in case anybody at that point wanted to um Municipal Alliance always um participates and they were also on the resolution when did do sustainability ask for it week ago so was it at a committee meeting I don't know I was not aware I don't know because that's the course it should follow is through a committee meeting so if that wasn't the case then it shouldn't be on agenda chair those so I was not aware of that okay so I agree with you Matt I agree agree okay let's do a roll call so I can get it off the agenda Mr hi Mr hi mrno hi Mrs Jeff yes Mr kogan yes Mr yes okay Administration Lisa uh thank you mayor resolution 202 24-21 is a resolution of the B of New Providence authorizing the purchase of electricity Supply services for public use on an online auction website so this is uh the burough does this every year and is usually very successful in securing uh a low rate um we have they are given so the B's given permission to negotiate a contract if the U auction is in favorable so we have certain parameters certain kilowatts or less for 12-month term um certain kilowatts or less for 24 months 36 months 48 months and 60 months so we are authorizing approval for them to enter into contracts if the if the uh kilowatts per hour are favorable can I ask a question bernardette what what's been the logic do we go with 12 24 36 it actually it really depends on the auction um this is for for street lights oh for Street uh specifically for street lights um the auction people that we use think that the burough will save about $5,000 a year on electricity use um for just the lights I mean if you go longer it gives you budget certainty but then it depends but it could be more money so um once the auction comes in tomorrow morning Jim Tesa and I will sit down and we'll discuss where we we think we should end up thank you okay commun activities man thank you Mr Mayor uh resolution 212 is a resolution authorizing the application for the 2024 kids Recreation trust fund grant for the bar of the Providence uh this is an additional Grant um than uh as you aware we we've put for a grant to upgrade Oakwood Park with all new playground equipment uh it's kind of in progress this is um an additional $55,000 grant for picnic tables benches and some shadeed areas to um you know also add to that to that area so uh need that shade area yeah especially in that area with the kids for sure um very excited about Oakwood Park and and where we're going with that so hopefully that all comes through uh resolution 213 is a resolution authorizing the extension of lease agreement between the bur New Providence and the New Providence Community pool and Recreation Inc this is an additional 90-day extension we extended the lease uh prior to the summer season right they're in the middle of their season now so we're going to extend this to another 90 days uh and we'll sit down with the blue board and finalize the lease with those okay engineering thank you mayor resolution 214 resolution accepting the proposal of Ker's engineering and design Inc for professional Engineering Services regarding ping Wang property supplemental site investigation so kers has completed a site investigation uh report uh that's dated uh March of 2019 in support of this subject property uh the investigation to date has funded under a grant for the from the Hazardous discharge site remediation fund uh based on those results um a supplemental Grant application was submitted to njd in amount of $473 uh and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority will review for final approval resolution 215 resolution accepting proposal of coler's engineering design Inc for professional Engineering Services regarding ing replacement of the New Providence pool Bridge so this is the we've been talking about this resolution authorizing Colliers to prepare the final construction plans and Engineering estimate from permanent replacement structure that will meet the site specific needs this includes bid documents advertising uh reviewing submitted bids preparing recommendations for the a of the contract for consideration okay where we got Diane Finance thank you mayor resolution 2024 216 is a resolution requesting permission to authorize the establishment of a dedication by ryer for developers escrow funds pursuant to njsa 4A colon 4-39 and njs 40 uh colon 55 D- 53.1 and this resolution requests permission to set up a developer growth fund um during our state budget review this year we were directed to review our approved um dedicated writer list as there was a trust found account that was not approved by the state and um this resolution is just following the comments from the state to address this before the 2025 budget cycle resolution 20242 is a resolution providing for the insertion of any special item of Revenue in the 2024 budget pursu njsa 4A colon 487 CH 159 pl1 1948 my favorite one National opioid settlement 2024 and this is inserting $2,899 3 cents into the budget and that amount was received as part of the national opioid settlement resolution 2024 218 is a resolution authorizing payment of the attached bills payable l list in the amount of $889,000 7 which is payment three of three of our yearly assessment um payable to the uh the uh Garden State Municipal GIF our July appropriation for the library in the amount of 98,2 58 8 Whitmer Public Safety group in the amount of $ 48,2 7644 and that's um turnout gear and fire department equipment we have June garbage service for Suburban Disposal in the amount of $453 33.33 also Grant sanitation June recycling service of $ 32,44 wheel cults cult and Company um which is the audit of 2023 financial statements and preparation of our losap review report in the amount of $34,200 and our last one um of significance is to Quality electrical construct uh construction for $ 26,44 rapid flasher at Academy Street crosswork and it sounds a lot worse than it is so sorry my Ginger te isn't doing anything either okay we have uh raffle applications two for the bandwagon uh ra 1220 and 1221 and the PTA sot book uh ra 1222 and 1223 have a resolution uh 219 for new rules and regulations for the police department and they've gone over brought them up to uh State codes and it's been reviewed by our legal council uh resolution 220 is appointing school crossing guard yira Batista Gomez for a period of July 17 through December 31st uh resolution 221 is what we were just talking about The Pedestrian uh Crossing flashing lights over at Academy in Springfield as you know the thing was going on it it never stopped so we have to get it repaired Okay resolution memorandum uh understanding agreement between bur New Providence uni County police sheriff's department uni County uh police uh prosecutor's office Kane University Police uni County Department of Public Safety in Trinitas and that's to be in participation with the Live program okay and next we have Alex public work thank you mayor resolution 223 resolution authorizing the application for the 2024 Greening Union County grant for the bur of New Providence so this authorizes the application of the Grant in the amount of $2,500 The Greening Union County Grant allows every tree that we purchase as a municipality to be matched by Union County tree for tree complete with in ation by forestry professionals with a one-year maintenance guarantee that's a good one yeah uh resolution 224 resolution approving requisition r2401 1417 for Riverview Paving an amount not to exceed $125,000 for Paving of additional roads for the 2024 Road resurfacing project moris County Co-op number six uh simply additional money allocated in the 2024 Capital plan for road paving we're still waiting for a date for the contractor to begin the work uh resolution 225 resolution approving requisition r24 01353 for store Tractor Company in amount not to exceed $ 47,4 3.90 for the purchase of a of a Workman uh ball field cart escnj Co-op number 65 MCE ccps approving the purch of a ball field cart to replace the existing cart that is about more than 15 years old what's a ball field cart it's a cart that the DPW uses to go around to the baseball fields and to Mo Mo screen the infield equipment to line the field things like that last one uh resolution 226 resolution approving requisition r240 1475 for Cambria Automotive companies uh Inc and an amount not to exceed $282,200 6920 so this approves the purchase of the Peterbuilt model 548 truck for plowing this replaces the truck that was destroyed in the fire last year okay uh do Council committee reports before I do anything um sat day was a very sad day for America um president Trump almost very by the grace of God wasn't assassinated but Corey compor was his wife and two other people are in serious condition so I think we should take a moment of silence and um just just hope things come down thank you next meeting in August uh the public safety meeting met as many of you know who have attended the council meetings is that the police department is in dire need of renovation uh we've been we the council agreed to renovating this this area uh since 2015 we've been putting money aside so we would have we wouldn't get u a huge huge bill and we'd be able to uh get this thing done the right way um so next month next council meeting there will be a presentation by The Architects and I guess Keith and chief H Police Department yeah and the police department to go over what what they think they need and uh we want the public to be fully aware what's going on so there's no questions but I know there's that we we had a report where Homeland Security said we needed an upgrade things like like when we raised the windows here so people couldn't come in uh the police department all the windows are low so I mean it's things like that that the the bathroom facilities and locker rooms need to be be uh redone it's it's something that has to be done so uh that's for next one okay Diane anything um yeah yes thank you mayor um we had our uh bimonthly meeting with uh the Board of Health um there are our PSAs are still going out so look on the official Source the website and the Facebook and um I believe it's also on Instagram Pages like Deni fever is actually very um prevalent it's mosquito born illness and if you get bitten by a mosquito that has a mosquito has Denay fever then if another mosquito byes two they get it and pass it on so it's kind of spreading um and so stay well or stay by me because I always get bitten by mosquitoes so maybe you'll all be safe but certain things like that you know you have to uh be careful with um our contract is up at the end of the year um the Westfield Board of Health currently has nine towns involved in it and I think we are very well served um we are going to have additional information at the next meeting um which is in two months uh but they're looking for a fiveyear contract which would be um beneficial um they're moving all their towns to a 5-year contract that would be beneficial it helps us with planning and it helps um with a lot of information um so that's uh you know more later um and that's about it other than the Historical Society uh I think that we just wrapped up our they just wrapped up their um uh Cemetery tours and I think that John SP hour thank you shout out to him he's a a great host for those um and I think that's about it it's amazing you have much history we have in that graveyard yeah it's it's really amazing actually there was sorry one more thing um uh the film ready we just Cindy Reese just sent something out to the businesses in case the businesses want to participate because you can have the municipality and then also businesses so that's you know alive and well and moving along so shout out to Cindy thank you for getting that done too okay Matt so first the the fireworks just want to mention uh we had a really great show I really enjoyed it uh I want to thank the burrow and finance committee as well uh for pulling that off and it's one of my favorite events um I really got a kick actually my son's a uh GNA be a junior he's a counselor for count counselor for the first time and uh and this happened with both my my other two older kids as well as we walk around Fourth of July all the kids are running around and this is around the time where they start to get to know all their Camp counselors and so they're running up to him and and he thought he was like the coolest thing in a slice bread because all these little kids you know were saying hi to him but uh yeah just a great Community event and uh just want to thank everybody for that um concert in the park last week uh Kinder hook played I thought they sounded great um the Lions Club grilled free hot dogs and I thank him for that uh Prestige Diner donated him that's cool endless hot dog yeah uh you know I did I actually got a chance to talk to a resident um that told me he grew up a new Providence and the band Kinder hook and maybe you know this I don't um used to be a really big band back in the day he was saying almost 40 50 years ago when he was in high school uh and they used to go down the shore listen to them play so he was having he was a real thrill for him so that that was kind of cool uh um and he saying I think it's 50th High School reunion I think is coming up so anyway um the next concert's the 18th uh we have uh alfante band coming so that's pretty cool and then the 25th asbery fever this is Mr D's one of Mr D's favorite bands I believe this is a the band I was thinking of you gonna dance that's is that the Bruce Brien cover band I think right excellent yeah they're really good um and just note you know if you'll mention this at all but 6:30 uh prior to that concert on the 25th is um you know the New Providence green challenge right so they'll do some Raffles and we'll talk about some winners there so so come early check that out uh lastly I did want to we did lose a Community member um s nesto s was a commissioner of our baseball league and uh I got to know him very well through through that baseball uh um he's also a coach of our New Providence Reds won multiple championships uh just a great Family Guy uh just a quick story um I was coaching my son and he's like hey I love the way you coach these kids I love the way you talk to them I want you to take the kids to Cooper town he gave me that opportunity and it was just uh I'll never forget it um and I'm sure my kids appreciated that opportunity to go to coopertown so that was pretty cool um so I just want to offer my condolences to the nesto family that's it um no I nothing new to report I just say you know stay hydrated and check on your neighbors inde pretty much the same operations normal um just everybody enjoy your time at the pool it's been a great season so far um not much just two announcements uh one is uh July 17th I guess that's tomorrow Tu Thursday Thursday sorry uh Presbyterian Church church is having the drive- through dinners again Wednesday that's tomorrow it's Wednesday those are Wednesday yeah today's the 16 oh sorry my anyway you go in through pic Street it's a great program and then the library is also having U uh a blood drive on July 30th 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. um I want to just give a shout out to Stacy M she's our library director she attended the American Library Association conference which is evidently enormous it's over five days 13,000 people attend she was invited to speak um and she spoke on community surveys surveys analytics and um using those those resources to really read uh your community and their needs and she used our library of course as an example um so I just you know so kudos to her for being invited to speak and represent New Providence in front of the whole country so it's amazing cool um and then lastly I just wanted to give an update um bernardet Diane naen and I have been working on the U BCC handbook which is the uh boards commissions and committees handbook uh we've been talking about it a while it is a lot of work more than we thought it would more than we thought it would be but um it is coming along and I think that everybody's going to be really happy with it when it's done we will have a template to give to committees and boards and commissions so they know how to operate how to get things done um we've got checklists in there and everything you would want so hopefully uh within a couple months we can roll that out to everybody great thank you okay bernardette thank you mayor um where to start um New Jersey American Water uh continuous daytime closures on South Street while they uh continue the Jack and boring underneath the bridge by the Murray Hill in that work is supposed to wrap up by Friday and they will be going back to night work starting next week um to do the tie-ins for the rest of the water main um this project is on schedule uh to be completed prior to the opening of school and once the trench The Trenches settle uh repaving of South Street should take place between October and November have they decided what they're going to do by o it's my understanding that they're going to use the existing water main that's there underneath olp to avoid um any other mishaps what happens if that blows I would have to assume um that they've taken everything into consideration and that that pipe was probably replaced with the bridge um 20 years ago so I don't think it's as old as the rest of the line not it would make sense that they did it that okay um to say Street bridge closure and Detour look to be at least a few weeks out uh when the bridge um closure for construction near detour signs will be placed up we'll have information out um currently final project coordination is still happening between Union County and the contractor that is not a burrow project that is a county project um and we have some say in the matter but not a lot um the contractor does have 365 days to complete the project and the clock started on June 19th for that um so if anything seems to be happening sooner um I'll let everybody know we'll put it out on the website Bern in addition to the communication to our resident that'll be heavily communicated to our our local business Community obviously as well yep um July 22nd we're having the pre-con meeting for the Maple Street Improvement project uh this project was awarded to Pino builders in the amount of $567,000 and consists of roadway improvements along Maple Street between central and Springfield um it includes milling and Paving construction of accessible curb ramps installation of granite block curb full depth pavement repair installation of various drainage pipes and structures and resetting of manholes repair of interior drainage structures and replacement of Inlet curb pieces um I'll have a better idea but the goal is to have that also completed prior to the opening of school so it doesn't interfere with saltbrook um Riverview Paving was awarded the state contract for Road resurfacing for the entire State uh this is kind of an unusual situation for us uh generally the state contract is broken up into North Central and South and mostly awarded to um three different contractors uh so Riverview has the entire State this year so we're having a TR we're having trouble getting us on their calendar for our road pavement um so the roads that are on the website are the roads that will be paved but I have no idea we still have no idea what time frame they're going to give us that doesn't seem it doesn't seem right correct correct and it's my understanding that they're not allowed to subcontract it out so it's them really MH okay interesting this time we have uh public comments anybody wishing to address Council uh please limit your comments to three minutes yes Kathleen good evening Kathleen dolan2 Laural Drive uh I wanted to ask a question about the correspondence from the mayor of Montvale about the request to join in the affordable housing litigation um there wasn't any comment about what the council uh plans to do about that have you guys made a decision well he want what they want to do is band a bunch of accounts together wants everybody to chip in $110,000 and then another $10,000 it's open in fact of the matter is this is a court decision that came up with this stuff how are you going to fight it in court when the New Jersey Supreme Court's the one who issued it it's it makes no sense we had the same type thing with the pilgrim pipeline what about 5 years ago and I said this is an open-end book you we give $10,000 next thing you know they're going to win another 10 another 10 another 10 we never got into it and what I said was correct and it's it's an open-ended book uh and the pilgrim pipeline never came anyway and these spent all these money but Newburn has has fought the affordable housing mandate for years they had a legal bill of over a million dollar it's not something I I recommend we do and the judge just ruled against of course there's there's nowhere to go you can have all the Consortium you want but you're not going to overturn the the uh the bill the only way you could probably do it is if the legislature uh pass law uh or we go to Public public referendum and let the people decide we're we're between a rock and hard place and I just don't know spending good money after after bad it it makes any sense we've talked to our planner planner said not a good idea so that's where we're at okay and and just a lot of questions open-ended questions like we don't know which municipalities are going to be involved in it or what happens if this happen there it's just it was very vague and just not a lot of detail I mean sometimes when towns band together like we have uh previously we got we uh a bunch of our our towns got together to to work with uh Jersey Central p and Lake to take care of different problems that's a whole different thing that's not a that's not coming from the courts and they they did respond very favorably at least in the provins but you know going doing doing something like this is I I I don't see the uh the yeah I really don't so okay if there was some reason that there was interest in moving ahead with that would that come to um a public meeting to share that yeah we discuss it okay as it's it's not likely okay well happen it's either yeah you go again you go into a lawsuit or you don't it it's very simple and if you if you want affordable housing where a lot of people do you know you're fighting against uh a segment of the population that wants it personally I'm not a big proponent I I don't care about the affordable piece but it's the high density piece that you have that's attached to it like we we're assigned 312 and we got to they want us to build 12200 units I mean we can eat the 312 the 1200 is tough so that's where we're at okay thank you um I just wanted to comment also on the National Night Out um dialogue that we had here um we didn't discuss it at the sustainability committee it wasn't was on our um list of events but um it would be good to understand what the expectation is for people that do participate in the National Night Out um you know I attended it last year there were a wide variety of different um Community organizations that were there um not all related to law enforcement so I think it would be helpful um for for there to be some clarity about what types of organizations are invited to participate in that with the table you probably ask the PVA for that okay so the what what it was it morphed into something that it never should have been okay and I I think it really moved when during Co everybody just wanted to get out and the Business Association want to get involved and it went it it just worked out of something that that was never supposed to bit it was just to honor the First Responders so I mean this is something we can look at again maybe next year but I you know it it it was to honor the police fire rescue squad and Emergency Management make people aware that there there are things that we do that they're not aware of like Blue Angel and arrive and a lot of different things and it's a good good venue for the fire department and rescue squad to uh entice people to volunteer so yeah okay so I you know would be happy to follow up with the PBA but I've been to other National Night outs in other towns and there's you know there's nonprofit organizations that are um not law enforcement related that are represented there to get their word out to their Community because a lot of people come out well I've never been to anybody else's National Night Out yeah so that's why I'm saying it's not unusual to have I think iest like my suggestion was wouldn't be bad for the burrow to publicize all of their community activities um everything we offer as a burrow right which would include a lot of these um yeah the buau could have a table Yeah and share all of that stuff I think that would be great idea okay um then the last thing was around um resolution 224 which was an an additional 125,000 for Paving of additional roads so does that mean that the list of Roads that's on the website now is going to be expanded or is this money covering those roads current roads Capital Money Right the price of asphalt is going up astronomically yeah so okay yes that's it's an increased in price okay no problem thank you so much yes Steve everybody uh Steve Rossy 843 Mountain Avenue um I just want to give a quick shout out to the rec department uh I have two little kids one's four one's uh 6 months the hasn't done anything yet in the rec department but uh my 4-year-old uh has and my wife and I uh just wanted to say thank you to the rec department and all the great burough employees uh she's home with the little guys so I'm uh I'm here with you but uh more specifically uh my son Eddie um did an open gym for the last two years uh my wife said specifically we have to give a shout out to miss Laura at the open gym class um and then also uh my son has done this summer his first summer program is the uh mini playground of the Lions Park and uh they have a new Jungle Gym there you can you can tell and you know the high school counselors are really great so you know these are little programs that you know maybe aren't don't get as much press as the all the different sports but you know to the parents they really make a big difference because uh you know it gives uh us some some time to uh have a quieter house for a little bit and uh and and the kids just really really love it and my son really looks up to the to the big counselor so anyway just a quick shout out to the rec department and thank you all for the great programs coming out it's really awesome to hear I'll be honest you know especially Lion's Park because that's actually where my son's a counselor so should you pay him I I I I did not that's uh that's awesome no and listen I mean we've been talking about it for for as long as I've been on Council um and and for the 10 years I served on the recreation board you know prior uh I'm a huge fan of the recreation programming that we have in town and and the recreation department that you know bernardet was in control of you know director of for for for a few years right um you know and you know now she's running the barrel right so we get great people to run our our programming right uh our programming you know it's really just great to hear because you know I my opinion you know real estate values and Community uh you know there's a lot of things that go into that and and just a little thing like Recreation that like you said this kind of flies under the radar right you don't really we don't talk about it as much but uh I'm just a huge fan I think we do we've done a great job for I've been here 18 years you know it's one of my favorite things so thank you for coming today and saying that I appreciate that so you're saying when I was working with two threes and fours in the in the wreck it prepared me for this absolutely so I'm envious of You Stephen because I'm on the other side of it in the sense that my youngest graduated last year I have three daughters and um what you experienced was that special New Providence way I call it and that that New Providence feeling you got was you know the wonderful culmination of of great activities by our wreck department and you have you know great parental involvement and and you know you're going to experience it all the way through and you're just starting out and it's wonderful and then you'll see it culminate at the High School level when you see all these banners of state championships get raised because you know I I I think our kids play together and and and we just have many and they they're having fun along the way and it's whether it's sports or the Arts or or music or anything um we seem to have a kind of a winning recipe here and a happy recipe and people feel involved and and um that's why I serve on Council I think that's why many of us do because we have something very special here so enjoy the right our kids lifelong friendships start at Camp true you know what I saw today talk about Recreation and and sports the football team I saw this morning and they showed showed me the new helmets they're white with green lettering gold outline I'll tell you they're sharp they are really sharp and they they were they were very proud to show so okay anyone else yes Alan hi Alan Swanson 47 Overhill Road I um I have the sad kind of um obligation to to mention the passing of Ken Johansson uh basically a lifetime resident of New Providence on on Laurel um he night on on um July 8th um he was a member of the first graduating class of New Providence High School um he he was a a life member of the uh Historical Society here in New Providence uh he's a Harvard attorney um he's married to his his wife win over on Laurel for 51 years I was over visiting wi the other day I got to know Ken rather well um Ken was the chapter chair of the Sierra Club for New Jersey for 11 years um I became active after he was no longer the chair but I relied on Ken a great deal um as you might imagine I'm I'm one of the more involved and vocal members of the executive committee of the Sierra Club at at the state level and I would frequently talk with Ken about issues and uh and sought his counsil on a regular basis and um he was in Spring Grove for a while and I visited him there a number of times I just wanted to to uh bring up his his passing and and it was uh just felt it was very important to do that um and and I'll pass around in case you anyone doesn't know him it has this picture on here and you could pass that around for everybody uh this picture of anybody who doesn't know him I think thank you I was talking to somebody who said that they well I've known everybody here but I perhaps if I saw his picture uh the other thing that I'd like to bring up is uh is the crossing the atg grade crossing uh Livingston and Central Avenue uh I I lived for 10 years three houses down from the crossing and so I have a lot of experience with with the crossing and I mayor Morgan I'm sure you do as well living up the street day um this is my concern this has been brought up uh couple of times not not I guess not necessarily here but the the I'm told that the reason that the gate comes down when there's no trains coming is that they increase the sensitivity uh so that when the train comes into the um Murray Hill station it triggers the the the gates and the gates ghost train I'm sorry the ghost train the ghost train comes by yeah that's one way to put it um and um I I've witnessed a number of uh this wasn't happening when I lived on Central Avenue um and I have actually witnessed some concerning occurrences there um I was on a meet going having to a meeting here actually at one point and it was a night meeting you know when it was dark and not this time of year and there was a car that obviously had gone too far in and uh the training was actually coming but I just bring this up as it overall this this particular Crossing bothers me um and they they had come across and the gate came down behind them and uh and they had to do a quick U-turn and head down Livingston to get get off the tracks I I don't know why they were there I mean and then of course we had the recently had a car get hit there and I talked with Chief hen about it and he said it apparently was somebody just wasn't paying smart and paying attention uh unfortunately I guess there's no serious injury um but I recently witnessed two examples of this that that particularly bother me and and I'll tell you what I U Chief hen and I the discussion we had um and the one was um coming up Central from um from South Street and uh it was a long line because of the the closure on South Street and um the gate came down and uh it was the ghost train and uh the gate went up and Central had green light the green light lasted less than 20 seconds and of course the cars were backed up and they were anxious to get through and there was a car there that stopped and of course the gate came down on the top of the top of the car wow I mean the gates are not going to harm the car but it's just the point is that you know that they people were and then after then I was coming up Livingston with my wife and there was a long line and the and the the ghost train came along and and it was a longer line and the cars were backed up all the way to Maran and because of the frustration um this it came down Central was got a green light came down again and by when it when it went up everybody was very frustrated two cars that you know couldn't wait any longer went through the red light uh after it was uh went up when I spoke with Chief hen about this I I my concern was people are becoming LAX because they don't believe that there's a train coming and his response was that oh yes we've talked with New Jersey Transit about this and they've said the reason is that they've increased the sensitivity on the um and and that that's why it's going down for the ghost train I just feel like you need to say something to New Jersey Transit and say you cannot allow this structure to come down when there's no train coming because people are becoming immune to to it coming down I mean we've had fatalities in New Providence at Crossings I mean you know it happens in in at grade Crossings but that's why we need to take an extra effort to to maintain make sure that they're safe so I I'm just asking if you would contact them again I have talked to them about to G strength and chief chief knows it's one of my uh pet peeves pet peeves but uh we can reach out again to Transit uh it's uh it's frustrating sometimes especially you more than frustrating it it's a a serious danger I think well you're supposed to cause you're supposed to stop at the crossbar which is way ahead of that that that gate so and there's plenty of time you know when you hear the bells for you to get through on the other side well absolutely the people do stop the frustration is that there's no train I mean people have to obey a law and you know I I I keep saying this you can't enforce stupid uh you know if you if you want to play with a train uh you're going to lose that lady the uh a month ago she was very very fortunate she just froze on the tracks and she was very fortunate she walked away so but I we we'll give them a call and I understand your concern thank you you I I just want I you know the point is that the people are obeying the the signal but there's no train and so they're becoming what you're saying I it's contributing to factor to to the people I see people going through and turning uh right on red when you're not supposed to oh well I've mentioned that I tell you when I'm on the bike so I I yeah please look into it I will tell you that um every time there's an incident um it's very concerning for sure and and you know all of us here you know Bernard that I'll tell you we're in contact with her almost immediately when we hear something that happens because you know as a council member you know obviously safety is very important right and I'm always want to know right away you know was it an accident right did somebody do something on purpose or was it the actual system that failed right uh and we're always asking those questions immediately because we want to be on it right away um and in our police department they you know they do their due diligence they do their reviews right they do their investigations and they come back and they tell us exactly the details of everything that happens and and and we go from there I I hear what you're saying I mean that's an obvious issue if there's fence a gate falling and there's no train constantly and someone's third time it happened to them the fourth time they're like they ain't coming let me let me go around I get it I and we'll bring it up to uh to our Public Safety team and uh the best we can do right is just go back to New Jersey Transit right they control we don't control that right well we we did discussed when that lady got hit and they were right there yeah I I'm just saying I I mean to your point I think we just you tell them that the citizens are rising up unfortunately listen I don't I don't I don't doubt your concern about this one bit that's not why I'm bringing it up at all I'm just I I really do feel like the Citizens need to rise up and and and they don't really have any power at all Allan unfortunately every time that New Jersey Transit comes out they let us know that the gate is functioning as designed that that is their words and I'm not saying it's right but we've had them out several times to check the gate and I live I live in that neighborhood also believe me I'm just going to have to pay is it thank you okay anyone else yeah Mark hi Mark Dy uh 335 Central Avenue uh so wasn't going to originally comment on the train situation but I do live two blocks from there um understand ghost trains come through and they you know it's frustrating but uh someone who has a daughter who's a year and a half um she is now learning safety precautions and all that fun stuff um she loves watching the train but fully understands when those lights go on that like everything stops so I'd rather I I understand the frustration that that you know people go through of of having you sit through an intersection of no train and waiting the extra couple seconds um but I'd rather have them go down with no train than have them not go down when a train is coming through so um yes please fix it if you can uh but uh if it can't be fixed I'd rather it stay this way than than uh you know go the other way type of thing um the two things I did want to bring up were one I I just wanted to compliment Council on their um notification and engagement of the closures on South Street um again I do live on Central LA so it is something that I am close to passing I go through there to get to my daughter's daycare um to get to work uh so it has been helpful to know when the Street closes are specifically the timing there are times when I come home later than it or leave earlier to know exactly when and and the portions that are closed to know where um where I can kind of get through Central that I understand if I'm trying to go to you know the uh NP gas station I can get there from from Springfield but not all the way through type of thing um so I think you guys do a great job communicating that um either through the nixel alerts or the emails um it has been very helpful as a new Resident to understand um where the closures are town I think it's nice for us to take credit for that but that's wow I I appreciate every everyone involved um I did have one question um for councilwoman bisa on the health committee you said the the uh Council was uh renewing their um contract with the um Westfield Department of Health just out of curiosity do you guys have any input on who's in charge of of the Department of Health I know it's the Westfield Department of Health and there's eight or nine different towns that are all part of it um Megan right Megan Avalon um the Westfield Board of Health is Board of Health sorry yeah the Board of Health and we joined that because it's more cost beneficial um actually I can sit here and tell you like we actually are one of the few towns that also maybe I'm misspeaking but we're one of the few towns that actually has a public health nurse in our burrow that we pay um and she's wonderful um but the Board of Health we get like we get um their office we have an assistant Health officer there's a nursing supervisor there's three nurses on staff so etc etc so there's all these people that we can buy into or you know uh get information tap into thank you we can tap into um I think it's about 12 employees we have about you know we have access to help from 12 dedicated employees for the Board of Health and we you know for for a much lower price and having somebody totally in house doing it and we have their various areas of expertise and animal control and everything like that so definitely a great bang for the buck and an outstanding Department that we're happy to be a part of they are but does Westfield make those decisions about the hires or or how it's going to be run for public for the public n that's our that's our H but I don't think there's anybody that well in my small tenure I mean I've worked with some you know every or the people who come to the meetings and they're amazing they are all the public service announcements those are new um you were on during Co right the the co response was amazing it's less than $70,000 a year to um our cont our current contract so just FYI like yeah I think yeah I think it's I think it's a great idea uh I I would my only recommendation would be if the towns that contribute into this or that buy into this um the West Board of Health that they maybe they have some sort of um recommendation on on who is leading it that it's not just the one town of Westfield I assume that is making that decision on their own if there are multiple towns contributing into it I actually think you towns pay different rates too because I think rways in there is a much bigger town of New Providence Summits in there so you know they they Pro your population and and what you need the buau has a very good working relationship with Westfield but Westfield is is the host of that service so we all of those municipalities contract with Westfield we do have a say Okay um but but ultimately they drive the ship and that yeah I was you guys have at least some in it you are part of the consum that is part of the the entire of Health yeah and they're great they're they're they're excellent to get into that with them thank you guys okay thanks and just just to piggy back his comment on the on the U closures and the communication it it is great and I want to thank you for that and I think um it's summer it's hot right everybody's I personally had to go pick up my son and I went to make a left on South Street and was closed and I had to go all the way around and I was like you know I should have checked before I go so you know it happens to all of us just please be patient if you are going somewhere you have to be somewhere a specific amount of time check the website the information is there and it's available you know I I just want to give a shout out to the contractors who are working on that project it's been 100 plus degrees out there and they've worked every day so patience patience is appreci the other thing is sometimes they're in the middle of doing something they may run over you know but they have to get this project done so you know sometimes they'll run an hour over whatever for those of us that do this you understand just staying I know it's terrible but to stay an extra half hour could save you a whole day right that's to and that's tough to understand at times but it is what I get it I really do okay see no one else I declare the public hearing closed I need a formal action on items 2 through 18 please so move I'll second R call please M hi Mr kiski hi Mr hi Mrs Jacky yes Mr kog yes Mrs yes I have a motion for adjournment so moved second second all in favor I no so be it