I agree with that good morning welcome to the pre meeting of the New York Municipal Council on Tuesday December 5th 2023 council president council members could we start on page 39 where we have an appointment to the rent control board Miss Eugenia Hamlet good morning Madam clerk absolutely uh thank you so much Miss uh Hamlet how you doing Miss Hamlet thank you so much good morning to you thank you for joining us today you are being uh nominated from the office of the mayor for a position onto the rent control board do you have a statement or any comments to the council yes uh good morning councilmen Council women uh my name is Eugenia Hamlet I am the managing partner of Hamlet management we're a real estate development and management firm uh where I am leading a team with one purpose and that is to contribute to transforming the city of norc into the most desirable place to live and the most desirable place to be a landlord I'm excited and grateful that mayor RZ Baraka has nominated me to serve as a landlord representative on a rent control board thank you I feel well suited for this position because I myself have been on both sides a landlord who wants to increase rent whenever I can and a tenant who wants to keep the rent as low as possible uh We've owned and managed rental properties my family and I while we were in a rental ourselves we didn't own a home but we had rental properties uh and what I've learned from that experience is that the landlord and tenant relationship ship it's a two-way street and there's rules and responsibilities that each party must abide by uh landlord must be mindful that uh unreasonable rent increases may push a tenant to not be able to afford their residents and a tenant must also be mindful that landlords do have to increase rent at times to cover increase and taxes Insurance maintenance and other amenities however sometimes you have parties tenant or landlord who aren't willing or able to abide by the rules and which is where the rent control board is necessary to be that voice unbiased voice of of reason and fairness I'm honored for this nomination and I look forward to being of service to help mediate on such matters and ensure fairness for all concerned transforming the city of nor into the most desirable place to to live and the most desirable place to be a landlord is going to take all of us working together I thank you for your leadership and you can count on me to be a partner thank you so much Miss Hamlet we appreciate that uh response any questions or comments from Council Members councilman Council I mean councilman Kelly forgive me um I just want to say happy holidays to you and uh thank you and I I just pray that you're able to be able to walk that fine line of being that voice of reason between both parties thank you okay thank you Council M Kelly any other comments from Council Members Cen none thank you so much um and thank you for your willingness to serve have a great day happy holidays all right Madam clerk Madam president council members we are on page three of the agenda item five reports and recommendations of City officers boards and commission any questions or comments from Council Members regarding [Music] reports CNN next item ordinances on first reading 6 FAA is an ordinance amending title 10 finance and Taxation chapter 23 fiveyear tax exemptions and abatements by amending multiple sections and reinstating the granting of 5-year tax exemptions and abatements for multiple dwellings commercial and Industrial structures so basically this item is pending tomorrow's tax abatement meeting we have one scheduled um the chair has one scheduled at 10: a.m. so we plan on discussing it so at this time I won't say if it's going to be deferred or not based off our meeting we're going to have prior to tomorrow's council meeting certainly any questions from Council Members regarding this item Sienna next item 6fb is an ordinance authorizing the mayor and or his design to enter into and execute a settlement agreement and First Amendment to the Redevelopment and property conveyance agreement at 152-164 Rutherford Street and the East Ward questions or comments from Council Members CNA next item 6fc is an ordinance authorizing the mayor and or his designed to enter into and execute the First Amendment agreement for the sale and Redevelopment of land at 2019-2 11 Irving Turner Boulevard and the central Ward any questions or comments from Council Members none seeing none next item Madam clerk public hearing second reading and final passage 6p SFA is an ordinance amending the tax abatement granted to New Center City Apartments urban renewal LLC to extend the time frame to construct the project consisting of The Rehabilitation of two buildings containing 49 affordable housing units located at 76-80 Court Street and 40-44 West Kenny Street in the central Ward questions or comments from Council Members councilman Gonzalez the last time that we were here that I was here they were more or less at the 80% ER completion I just want to know if they have completed what they were supposed to do um well I would say I know the dep mayor is here I would say for this project for the just for the central War ones they're complete yeah these projects are complete but the South War One based off the report that the deputy mayor sent to us like two weeks ago they were still working on some pieces in the South War project because these owners are the same owners for a project on in the South Ford as well on Urban Turner Boulevard I believe it is is that correct Deputy Mayor lad good morning uh good morning council president council members Allison lad director of Economic and Housing Development um both uh sites uh yes the central W is um completed the second um is almost completed the renovations uh were done once the properties were were purchased by the new owners um which is why there's an assignment before you uh last I'd say that these um two items have been under consideration for about three maybe three and a half years um and there were some paperwork and documentation that needed to be remedied before the council could consider it um but it's not for lack of moving the renovations forward because that was most important for the residents thank you okay thank you Deputy Mayor thank you next item 6p sfb is an ordinance granting a 25-year tax abatement to Washington 303 urban renewal LLC C for a project to renovate a five-story commercial building into a 10-story mixed use building at 303-309 Washington Street in the central Ward any questions or comments from Council Members regarding this [Music] item CN none next item 6p sfc is an ordinance authorizing the city to enter into and execute an amended agreement to acquire a permanent easement from Centerport retherford urban renewal LLC for the sum of $10 for the temporary construction and permanent access upon and across a portion of property located at 49 Rutherford Street for the storm drainage pipelines questions or comments from Council Members CNN 6p sfd is an ordinance amending the tax abatement granted to 579 broad urban renewal LLC for a project located at 579-587 Broad Street Central Ward to change the project by reducing the number of market rate residential rental units questions or comments from Council Members seeing none next item 6p SF is an ordinance amending the tax abatement granted to new Urban Turner apartment urban renewal LLC to extend the time frame to construct the project consisting of The Rehabilitation of four buildings containing 94 affordable housing units in the South Ward and councilman Gonzalez this was the second part of their project yes yeah any other questions or comments CNN 6p FSF is an ordinance amending title 23 traffic chapter 3 prohibited turns section 23 colon 3-5 no turns on Red by prohibiting right turns on red at the intersection of Freeland heisen Avenue and East Petty Street in the South Ward sponsored by councilman Council and second by councilman Kelly any questions about this item CN next item 6p sfg is an ordinance approving the conveyance of a permanent easement over public right of way on International Way and under the hannes avenue bridge for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the sum of $1 sponsored by councilman Council second by councilwoman Scott round Tre any additional questions regarding this item Sienna next item resolutions 7r1 a is a contract with subrecipient to provide Community violence prevention through youth mentoring programs for the week Wake Park Association it has been a recommendation from I know the South for councilman is not here but he sent a note to have this returned to Administration okay 7 R there's no public comment right now ma'am 7 r1b through 7r1 H are budget insertions B is to amend the 2022 njd Volkswagen mitigation Grant project C is to support Co testing vaccination and Therapeutics D is to fund the enhancement of the urban area security initiative regions ability to build maintain and sustain National preparedness e is a pass through agreement with the trust for public land for the continued Rehabilitation of Jesse Allen Park f is to provide upgrades to the Department of Public safety's answering points system G is to open a school-based clinic at Park Elementary School and H is to extend the grant period increase the award amount for covid-19 vaccination capacity any questions or comments uh from Council Members regarding these insertions councilman Gonzalez yes on on the the oasim money ER the other day we were told that H we had some drones that we were training the pilots or the people that are going to operate them I just want to know where we are with that okay good morning council president council members Eric Pennington business administrator I don't know uh where we are with respect to the actual training of drone Pilots I know we have a couple of programs in place water uh the water and SE Department trains drone Pilots as do police I can certainly get more specific details on that though okay thank you will thank you so much Mr ba any additional questions or comments CN n next item Madam clerk 7r1 I is external transfer of funds to transfer funds within water utility to provide sufficient funding until year end questions or comments from Council Members regarding this external transfer Sienna 7r1 J and 7r1 K are applications and agreement J is for the HUD 2023 one-year action plan and K is for njde for the 2022 natural climate Solutions Grant questions or comments from Council Members regarding these [Music] grants and look at that such a great celebration we wish we could be at this Council but of course it's scheduled during our council meeting just had to put that plug out there again um any questions regarding the grants okay seeing none next item Madam clerk 7r1 l through 7r1 R are State contracts and bid contracts L is to purchase law enforcement firearms equipment and supplies M is for automotive vehicles in various City departments n is to purchase computer equipment peripherals and related Services O is provideed for advertising and public relations Services p is provide opio opioid Response Team Q is provide liquid calcium chloride brine snow and ice removal and R is provide maintenance and repair services um Council MOS uh thank you madam president uh with M with the vehicle purchase I I noticed that in the backup there's no details in terms of you know where these vehicles are going to be assigned so if we can get that information prior to the voting session tomorrow most definitely councilman Remos I see our purchasing director has arrived already to the podium good morning good morning annaya Manny Central purchasing so this resolution is just so that um the departments are able to purchase Vehicles throughout the year at the end of the year we'll submit all the documentation purchase orders invoices to the council into city clerk um any other questions so does the administration have a sense of where they think they need um Vehicles like I'm sure there's a vehicle management plan so I I know that's not in the purchasing queue it's more um Eric and City Administration just if you can give us us a snapshot of uh where where you think which departments need access to um vehicles that may be purchased through this contract um Eric Pennington business ministrator asked our qpa to stand by my side because she's gonna have to help me on this I think but it my understanding is in discussion with the with the qpa the Departments that we have had difficulty in a supply chain getting vehicles as they come up so I don't have as comprehensive a plan a vehicle plan and as ordinarily I would like to present to you this is an anticipation of the supply chain continuing to be backlogged and as we need Vehicles we want to have a uh the opportunity to get them I suppose what we could do is uh you know on a monthly basis or or as frequently as it appears reasonable uh we can come back to the council and let you know where we where we are and where we're going uh but I don't have a complete Vehicle Management plan uh to discuss with you today yeah I'm just hopeful that as we buy vehicles that um we make investments in in individuals who are on the ground providing services in our city I think municipalities sometimes it's not unique to nor um when you do see Vehicles being purchased um they're not necessarily vehicles that are used by City inspectors uh individuals on the ground who are every single day providing services for residents as a matter of fact they're driving around in in in outdated uh vehicles that often times you know break down but meanwhile we see you know brand new tahos riding around in the city while you have a city inspector who's U driving around in a vehicle that could be 25 years old so you know as we have uh contracts like this available uh through your leadership I'm hopeful that we really start purchasing uh equipment and vehicles that you know that are women and men who are servicing residents need Fair comment I will uh i' like request I have in the past gotten a uh Fleet Maintenance assessment in inventory of vehicles which did lead two years ago to us getting some additional Vehicles I'll do the same thing again and have that presented to you it will not happen prior to the vote for tomorrow but I but I'll work on that not a problem Eric thank you and I appreciate the purchasing agent being proactive and trying to um make sure that we do have a contract in place where we have access to Vehicles so proactive thank you thanks tonight thank you any other questions any additional comments cinga Madam clerk 7r2 a is a private sale Redevelopment to build a two family residential home in the central Ward uh Madam clerk I'm going to ask that this item be deferred do I have a second I'll second second by councilman Kelly to defer next item 7 r2b is a private salv development to provide development of a five-story midrise multif family building with 64 units 13 affordable housing units amenities and community building in the central Ward I'm also going to ask for this item to be deferred as well do I have a second second by councilwoman Round Tree okay next item 7r2 C is a private sale Redevelopment to provide for the excavation of property down and rebuilding the entire house in the west ward questions or comments from council members uh councilman Kelly yes I I want to ask if uh we can amend this on the floor tomorrow from to move uh for the contract period of 12 months to 24 months okay um the councilman is requesting it be amended from 12 to 24 months any questions or comments regarding this request um count um see theba approaching okay all right I wasn't sure that we will be able to do that given it our negotiation but I'm told that we can okay thank you Mr ba any other comments or questions do I have a do I have a second for the councilman's um motion second second by councilman Silva yeah M president yes just from Economic Development um Can can they provide us like a justification as to why some of these projects are um negotiated with a 12-month completion period and others are at a 24 months sure I don't know the mayor would like to comment yes this a a smaller residential project which the expectation is that it be completed at 12 months and the larger projects get 24 and are we setting precedent potentially by giving this developer 24 months that could impact other smaller uh residential development projects in the future doly noted councilman Ros Deputy Mayor sure council president uh council members Allison lad director of Economic and Housing Development uh to the question posed the timeline typically is 18 to 24 months for all development that and sites that we sell uh to a purchaser uh we typically uh do provide a shorter time frame to rehabilitate uh houses but it does depend upon the um the need um and the renovation so in looking at this site it actually needs to be a gut renovation um and so uh with council member Kelly's insurance we wanted to ask for additional time to ensure that the Redevelopment could actually happen on the property um we have found that it is a better timeline for us uh because if we say 12 months sometimes the developers are not able to actually meet that timeline and we do not want to put um our Newark uh developers in um default so council president okay um you have another followup Council just follow just just as a point of reference 7 r2a says you know to new construction based on what's in the um resolution two family residential home that's going to be built it's a separate item but it doesn't fall in line with what you just said because this is only a 12 12 month um period so it's not a reab this is a a new construction uh project that's on the agenda but the completion period is only 12 months not 18 and 24 so so why does that happen like um sure I understand um so maybe I'll take a step back um in uh our city when we've been selling property to uh developers to New York residents to Newark based developers and others who are interested in investing in Newark we have found that there are times in which an entitlement process be it a zoning and land use issue or a permit issue um actually delays the ability for anyone to be successful and so in our review of that we are making changes and recommendations to ensure their's success um I'll end with is that this is also part of our review through compliance it's something that mayor Mora and ba Pennington have been very um in the front of this effort and making sure that we're compliant with our all of our Redevelopment projects because we have found that without good controls we are actually putting our development Partners at risk of being not successful and I'll I'll end by saying if we have to go into a default proceeding it actually delays all of the development that we're trying to happen in the city and so we're trying to be more um attentive to what the abilities are for each purchaser and so in some cases there are um able there's the ability to move more quickly follow yeah I I I just you know I hear what you're saying but when Stuff shows up on the agenda it should be consider consistent with like the policy right so you're telling us that the policy for new construction uh completion period should be 18 to 24 months but we do see an item not the item that councilman Kelly is requesting um you know additional time for but a separate item that's being deferred and it's new construction but the completion period is only 12 months so I would just want to see moving forward you know consistency um based on the scope of the project you know not one developer gets 12 month to complete a project and another developer gets 18 or 24 months that's all sure no problem I understand uh council president Council Ramos's comment um I I will just um make one more statement which is is that every developer moves at different Paces um and we are to your point trying to be more consistent with our Redevelopment agreements but we have noticed that redevelopers all move at different Paces we've had some projects not this one in particular um but whe even it's privately developed that have taken five years and others that have taken two so board just trying to help alleviate some of the issues on the compliance side uh so that we do not have to go through legal litigation and further um delay of Redevelopment that's important in the city uh but I understand the um the point and we'll work to make sure we're more consistent in the future thank you Deputy Mayor I believe councilman Gonzalez had a follow up I I see here that it says to provide for the excavation we say are we raising the house or what is happening in this house because you said that it was going to be refurbished but here it says excavation sure uh council president uh to the question asked um the language uh may not have been the best uh the goal is this is a house that needs gut Rehabilitation um the person who's purchasing actually lives next door okay we should I I believe that we should change change the the wording then to conform to the to what it has actually happening the council's pleasure we would be happy to do that is so is there is a you making a motion councilman Gonzalez to make an additional change yes okay um how about um okay we because we can do one Amendment so we can do um councilman uh Sila if you don't mind if I scratch you as a u second and put councilman Gonzalez because it's both there um amendments um for the item so councilman Gonzalez if you can just State the amendment again so that the clerk can capture the pro to provide for the refurbishing I I suppose Rehabilitation yeah rehab okay Madam clerk you have that yes okay Council Melly um I I just want to um say that that I uh I sat down with this person and I'm I met with this person um and this is the reason why I'm I'm asking ask in you know just kind of speaking with them and and knowing their needs you know uh there's a lot of there's a lot of uh possibilities of of Development coming to the west and and what we're trying to do is really get the West activated you know get them pushed along and I I don't want to really see any of of the developers going into the Vault default that are really trying to build the ward up so just through my sitting down with them and just speaking with uh Deputy mayor's office you know I I just thought that it was good to move that up you know move that back to 24 months from 12 months so that we can actually get this this structure erected get it built get it done I definitely understand what what councilman Ramos um was saying we do need more consistency when it comes to uh um the timeline and I know we needed definitely in the west because I want to see more things happening in the west you know since I've been here I haven't really been seeing a lot of great things you know I haven't really been seeing a lot of things going up in the west and I just thought that that uh after sitting down with them more time will actually get this project done and and that's what we really want to do is see more things getting built and done in the west duly noted uh councilman Kelly um thank you so much any other comments before we move on to the next item CN n thank you so much Deputy Mayor next item Madam clerk seminar 2 D is architectural services for mury common pedestrian bridge to provide for a contract amendment to add additional Services questions or comments yes councilman Silva oh yeah just a question for I guess the deputy mayor is uh what kind of changes are being made to the scope of this bridge is it something large is it something that is not you could just send me an email yes council president I'm happy to provide additional information to council member Silva um the just a note though sageing is our architect of record for the Mulberry Commons pedestrian bridge they were also part of phase one to Mulberry Commons the park that has already been completed um as we move to um this next phase which is we're getting to 60% construction drawings we need to make sure that we have the experts on board who will be able to ensure that the engineering elements of the um Bridge are designed properly so my question was just there's no change in the design right the design is all staying the same oh I'm sorry council member yes I understand council president council member Silva's question uh no there's no changes to the design it's more about ensuring that the design is appropriate with our partners at Rail and Amtrak um and also the path thank you any other questions comments CNN thank you Deputy Mayor 7 r2e is a re remediation agreement and related documents to allow psng to access portions of Raymond Boulevard Market Street Prospect Street and Congress Street to address manufactured gas plant related contaminants and soil in connection with psg's remediation of former Market Street Gas Works operations area questions or comments from Council Members regarding this item Sienna 7 r2f is declaring an area in need of Redevelopment in the central Ward questions or comments from Council Members councilman Gonzalez before we do that let me go back to e BNG let's say does the work after we have done the paving of all these streets and uh in some cases the repair is not up to part to what the street was was before H the project was let's say started so I believe that we have to be very careful and probably very demanding of psng to make the street the same way that it was before the project ER because we have a lot of a lot of streets that are not up to par in the city any comments doly noted councilman Gonzalez councilman Ramos yeah just as a followup to that um it's just not PSG it's also like private contractors and developers you know there's a project right now happening on on Woodside place I think it's Manny roses building some kind of structure back there and they've totally destroyed you know the street where where neighbors can't even safely get through so you know I would hope that through your chair and the clerk that our engineering director can send someone out there to do an inspection because you know we understand that they have to disrupt the street as part of the construction process process but you cannot um disrupt it to the point where people who live on that block can't safely get through while the construction period is going on dly noted what was the address um councilman Ramos I don't know the address it's it's on Woodside place and it's it's a small apartment building that's going up back there and I drove by yesterday and you know streets in really bad shape it's kind of unsafe for Neighbors who live on their block to get through doly noted U Mr ba yes council president uh to uh Ramos's comment uh I'm going to offer myself up for additional work uh but as you know in years past when those events happened I am not opposed to going out myself and addressing those issues and if a council person uh or your staff or your AIDS or whatever has an issue that's going on if you let me know right away I will go and I'll make sure that engineering goes as well and addresses a couple of things one making sure that they have appropriate outside employment to make sure that residents are not uh inappropriately um I don't know what the word is inconvenienced because of uh work in the street and uh that they have appropriate outside employment directing traffic in addition to that we have had during U the lead line of Water Crisis we were Vigilant in making sure that the work that everyone did was done well there was a settlement period where the uh construction of the streets had to settle and it was repaved and we made sure that that was done with public service with our own water Crews with Montana and other companies that we had we need to get back to that uh but I I'll just have to ask that you make me aware of it and I'll follow up on it yeah Madame President yes councilman R I've seen that um Eric's Car is a little bit older than the average U City Vehicle so I'm a little concerned that this car may not make it out of Woodside place so that's why it most definitely is I can you may need to get one of those new vehicles it's close enough to my house I can walk but I I work thank you any other comments oh councilman Sila Mr ba it's just um this scale 2 point it's a large scale project if you could find out for me so I can advise my residents if there's going to be street closures if what's going to happen in that immediate area so I can at least put the word out to my uh to my constituents Absolutely I'll find out about that duly noted thank you so much Mr ba next item 7r3 a is to authorize the use of competitive Contracting for the procurement of dockless vehicles for use in the city's public RightWay so we're going to be um refer deferring this to the next meeting I I do know that the both of these parties are scheduled to come before us for um I know that they've already had indivi some individual meetings with council members um and chatted but they'll be in front of the entire council at our next council meeting um so we look forward to having them then to discuss many of the issues um that council members have and I believe they're going to have some solutions to some of the things that we already talked about so this will be deferred into the next meeting any other questions or comments from Council Members regarding this one CNN next item 7 r3b is a grant agreement to accept grant funding and enter into a federal aid Coast reimbursement agreement with NJ doot for the nework Ironbound roundabout project councilman Silva uh yes I just have a question if engineering's here oh hi director uh the only thing that concerns me I'm glad to see that we're moving forward is it says a grant agreement execution till August 25th 2028 does that is that when I thought this project was getting off the ground sometime uh next spring or summer good morning um council president council members um councilman Silva um for this project the anticipated start is 202 4 um and we see the duration to 2028 um as you know you know we're making multi connections multi-point connections so every connection um you know brings up on a challenge so it is a little bit extended of a project but we will start in 2024 that's the anticipated thank you director no problem any other questions or comments Sienna thank you director next item Madam clerk 7r3 C and 7 r3d are amending resolutions C is the amended resolution adopted on September 11th 2018 and accept funding from New Jersey Department of Transportation for the 2018 safe routs to school program and D is for the Ferry Street pedestrian safety corridor improvements questions or comments from Council Members regarding these two [Music] items Cenna next item 7 r5a through 7 r5d are amending applying and accepting of Grant funds A is to extend the grant period and increase the award amount for covid-19 vaccination B is the cost extension of time to expend funds for the United States Department of Health and Human Services C is the lead Hazard and healthy homes Reduction Program D is to support covid testing vaccination and Therapeutics any questions or comments from Council Members C I just want to make a note that the Department of Health and Wellness they just be racking up their Grant funds I mean we need to get everybody else on that board up up in this city because they know how to Rack in the grant funds which is definitely appreciated I'm sure on behalf of the taxpayers here in the city of norc so great job to them next item 7 r6a and 7 r6b are settlement of civil litigation oh we'll talk about that in executive session next item 7R 6C is professional service contract to provide tax appraisal services concerning tax appeal matters questions and comments councilman Gonzalez no I'm fine I had to check all right next item 7 hours 6D is exception to public bidding to provide online legal research for Law and Law related materials and services questions or comments regarding this item CN none next item sr7 a is acceptance of Grant funds to acquire develop and operate a community resource center to offer housing health and economic services to nework Residents questions or comments from council members yes councilman Gonzalez is this the one on the West Market yes this is for the Drop in Center Louis you can come up it's very important that we talk about who's paying for it because folks want to know um they think we're hitting a button back here whipping out some cash to pay for your resource dropping Center so it's really important you talk about it appreciate that good morning council president council members yes this is uh these grab funds are to uh develop the new community resource center on Raymond Boulevard yeah and by the way you had a great presentation in Atlantic City I was there talking while you were talking about the yes thank you any other additional questions or comments I would like to say to uh ditto uh councilman Gonzalez it was a very great presentation and just kudos to you and your team as well I mean getting this money as well it's like I said it's always helpful when we can get Grant funds to help with the many things we need to do here in the city and even you know your presentation about Hope Village 2 it's just it looks amazing we're very excited about it and we just want to thank you for your leadership and your team for all that you guys have been doing um and just making us you know a on a national platform you know of how we're handling our residents without addresses here in the city of Nork thank you I really do appreciate that and I appreciate the support of course of the council members and you of course council president and the administration and the mayor it makes my job a little easier so I appreciate that thank you thank you so much next item Madam clerk 7 R8 A and B are regarding the 2024 Municipal calendar a is establishing the council meeting dates and B is establishing the holiday schedule any questions or comments from Council Members regarding the calendar and holidays all right seeing 7 r8c is waving special event application permit fees for the nework holiday kickoff sponsored by council president mcgyver is there a second second by councilman Ros next item 7 r8d is a whole harmless and indemnification agreement for the annual newk 3 Kings children's celebration sponsored by councilman canana um any seconds second by councilman Ros looking forward to this event always a great event um next item 7 r8e is exception to public bidding to provide legal services to the office of the city clerk in connection with election matters any questions or comments regarding this item CN 7 r8f is recognizing and commending resolutions in 7R 8G is expressing profound sorrow and regret questions or comments regarding the sorrow in regret and resolutions all right seea next item 7 r12a is Professional Services contract to provide professional Engineering Services for the Montclair reclination station Rehabilitation questions or comments Cenna next item SAR 12b is application acceptance of Grant funds for the 2021 Newark outbound resiliency Hub phase one questions or comments from Council Members councilman Silva you good okay all right we did the uh rent control board item uh next item I'm sorry Council M Kelly can can we go back for one second to um I want to add a um a a sorrow and regret sure um I want to add Sor and regret for West War's Dr Gregory who passed away um few days ago Dr Gregory okay do you have a first name Aubrey Aubrey somebody yelled out Au a r y oh say a Lou Council uh woman I can't hear you a Aubrey a u b r e y Aubrey Gregory okay all right anything else all right 8B is an ordinance authorizing the transfer of certain properties to invest nor okay perhaps we should have our Deputy Mayor come up and just give us a brief overview of this item I know that it has to do with the program that we all heard much about a couple of months ago with the dollar a day I'm I'm sorry the dollar day the dollar excuse me Dollar House program um that we had a lot of informational sessions on deputy mayor uh yes council president uh council members Allison lad director of Economic and Housing Development uh so this ordinance is requesting your approval to transfer 12 sites to invest Nork uh there is a full list um in the legistar file um there are nine structures and three vacant Parcels of land um there is also um the located within the South the west and the central Wards um through the uh last uh probably four months um the team has been out at the site doing actual estimates uh for each property this is in coordination with NAA as well as invest Newark and we've had at least two to three estimates of of contractors for roofing Services contractors and also any environmental remediation that might be needed on the sites um and so we have um been able to work with NAA to be able to pre-plan um a lottery um in which of course we'll be excited to have Council present in middle of January I'd be happy to answer any other questions questions and comments from Council Members M president yes councilman Gonzalez the titles are clear on all these properties uh yes they will be and they also will be cleared before we transfer them to investor thank you any other comments or questions CNN thank you Deputy Mayor thank you HC is an ordinance granting a 30-year tax abatement to Gateway Lofts urban renewal LLC for a project to construct a residential building consisting of 27 market rate residential rental units 31 affordable housing rental units of which six units shall be restricted restricted to tenants at 30% of area median income Ami and 25 units shall be restricted to tenants at 60% Ami in the East War questions or comments from Council Members councilman Silva uh just that area is really in need of U some Redevelopment um it lacks uh a lot of um lot there's a lot of vacant lot land and lots a lot of abandoned homes and I think this is just the uh beginning of uh redeveloping that entire area toally not it any other comments I will say that the Ami levels are great 30% I never I don't think I've ever seen that councilman Gonzalez may know better than me but yeah I like that yes and I'd like that 31 units are affordable yes instead of only the 20% required correct Kudos kudos for this all righty next item 8D is an ordinance amending title 23 traffic chapter 15 stop intersections yield intersections and through Street sections 23 colon 15-2 multi-way stop intersections by designating Springdale Avenue in North 12th Street as a multi-way stop sign intersection in the north Ward questions or comments ments from Council Members councilman Ramos wishes to sponsor do I have a second second by councilman Quintana all right seeing no other questions or comments next item 8 a is an ordinance amending title 28 housing code chapter 29 my apologies short-term rentals by amending subsections of chapter 14 okay um what's someone like to perhaps the corporate Council would like to give a overview every time we see short-term rentals it starts to rise our blood pressure up here so uh good morning K C nor Corporation Council so essentially what we're doing here uh is we are making it we're putting a requirement to register to register the airbnbs or the short-term rentals on the actual platform themselves as opposed to the individual homeowners so essentially uh you use Airbnb as an example they have a responsibility now to make sure that kenyatta's home that's a Airbnb has been registered with the city of New York as opposed to us chasing Kenyata down now we make sure that Airbnb themselves Chase Kenyata down to make sure I went through the process to to perform properly okay questions comments all right thanks cor Council 10 a is the raffle license yeah we got to approve those any questions regarding the raffle license Siena council president council members we are now in a 30 minute public comment portion of this meeting no added starters no wow oh my God look at us getting a head start to the new year I love it okay each speaker will have three minutes to speak please state your name for the record as you approach the podium is there anyone present wishing to address the council sure you can come up good morning good morning how y'all doing good how you doing okay I only got three minutes I got to make this quick name for the record orre horn thank you okay I was living in a VanDam many on Chad we but you came out and had it t down and he promised me a housing vouer in five months I gave him seven I haven't heard nothing I done been raped in this band dominium I need some help are those is at the end of your comments is that the end of your comments we don't want to interrupt your time no I'm trying not to cry that's okay no no no we we don't want you to cry and I'm definitely sorry to hear about that we're going to ask someone in the audience to be able to assist you in the back if you can go to the back and we can have someone talk with you um I'm not sure if someone's here uh lisis Lewis are you gonna thank you lwis I'm just going to speak with you okay any other speakers morning ladies and gentlemen Council my name is Mark mavo I'm the owner of napole pizzeria restaurant uh it was on the corner of Bergen Alliance but now I had to relocate you know uh due to certain issues that the other landlord had but I don't want to go there I only have three minutes uh I want to thank you this Administration for giving me a plaque of NPO Pizzeria for the longev longevity and perseverance in this community and I'm just here to say that this business is in trouble my family started the family business in 1975 and I like that statue of uh Gibson that's who was in this office leading the city when my family came to norc I love the south for the South W loves me I've been serving the people of this community for a very long time I've never been here but I'm asking the city council to help me there's a situation in all you have a pamphlet that I put out there there's parking problems there's only seven parking spots in the area three are being held by cotton and now they built this parklet which is taking three more there's only one spot in the commercial District I'm in Jeopardy of going out of business because of is parking lot the elders don't come out like they used to they have nowhere to park the handicapped don't come there anymore there's no handicap Z so I love this city the city loves me I have a petition to remove 500 signatures of the residents of South for that don't want it there they want their parking spots back we need Revenue I am a mom and pop spot that's in Jeopardy not only by this economy but by this parklet and if you look okay carefully I only have 3 minutes but I'm coming back tomorrow for the five cuz I'm not going away the people love me I love the people and I need this parklet removed please I'm pleading you I'm not going to beg but I'm asking you for the people of Nork remove this parklet because there's a lot of good in the city of nework there's a lot of love in the city of nework now think about it 50 years without incident we've been serving the South Ward do you want this business to leave this community because I don't want to leave I love them and they love me unfortunately if you look at the ordinance and I left you copies there's a lot of discrepancies please take time out in your day to seek these discrepancies and a lot of the people that are run in this city used to come in the store that was the neighborhood hangout we don't want this to leave the city of norc I don't want to leave the city of norc I love this city thank you so much for your comments see you tomorrow God bless thank you so much and God bless you as well Madam clerk if we can um have the comments abstracted and sent to the berken Sid um as well as to the councilman of the South Ward and to the um I want to say the business administrator and the uh Deputy Mayor as I know they work with um Miss Bruce as you know at the at the bid um definitely thank you so much for your comments I think most of us can attest to your pizza on Bergen Street um many folks have gone there it's delicious um so definitely we will have them look into the situation as that is controlled by um the business uh district there in the South any other comments uh from Council Members regarding this item regarding this comment this public comment okay CN n next speaker good afternoon good afternoon council president good morning I'm sorry well good morning um I'm so glad that uh Council um Ramos brought to the attention of the administration some of the illegal practices that they're doing because it's not within their discretion to do a lot of the things that they're doing it's not in their discretion to be able to put certain things within thect for the record George Tillman Jr thank you we had this discussion um regarding these tax abatements and the process of the way that these this the administration is handling it's illegal it's illegal to put certain things in contracts for certain people because it's illegal it's illegal to put 25% in for certain developers and 50% for other Developers for compliance is illegal this is what's going on within the administration and we're going to to to um continue to bring this this this concern of the citizens to the council because the practices are illegal there's no way the the administration can come up here the the business administration administrator Mr Eric Pennington said in the last meeting that the language of good faith is susceptible to uh absolute enforcement which is not true it's absolutely untrue I sat it in the preconstruction meetings where good faith is not just on the developer the good faith effort is between the administration the the developer and the community it is a it is a it is a uh an agreement that is discussed the good faith effort is between the admin Administration who supplies the nework residents the original agency that did that was the mayor's office of employment and training that's why we entered into that agreement with the First Source hiring linkage agreement you have to understand the process of our affirmative action program our First Source linkage program the new uh uh nework resident uh hiring policy and the nework employment commission these these vehicles that were put in place are to make sure that the administration is uh accountable and unable to be able to do these random uh negotiations and put random things into the contract it's not randomly it's not uh councilman Gonzalez the language is supposed to be specific and you're absolutely right right there should not have been excavation on there when it when it it it's a rehab the commission that oversees this is not in place thank you thank you Mr Tillman um any comments Administration good morning Eric Pennington business administrator I appreciate the comments from Mr tman and bringing to the attention of everyone that good faith is uh uh not just a unilateral concept he's correct that there has to be good faith on the part of both parties and any contract particularly when good faith um is explicitly stated and implicit in the contract my reference to uh the good faith component of the affirmative action portion of development contracts is that good faith is susceptible to various interpretations and that it is Our intention to make it clearer as to what the good faith uh obligation to hire minorities women and local uh businesses to participate in contracts is spelled out more clearly uh the law department is working on that now and it will ensure that the developers who do get contracts with the city understand their obligation to hire local to hire black to hire women black and brown um so that is that is our plan there's no elal component in the contract a contract indeed is only a contract if it's negotiated uh I don't want to play lawyer uh I'm not I don't practice as a lawyer right now but a contract has to be a meeting of the minds the only way you can have a meeting of the minds is if you have a negotiation a good faith arms length negotiation and you can negotiate different terms within the parameters of the law and that's what the uh the city does and what we Endeavor to do and part of that negotiation is to ensure that our people local residents women minorities black and brown people have access uh to to work on those projects okay thank you Mr ba any additional comments and I actually have an answer to councilman gonzales's question to with respect to drone training okay the Drone training is going to start in January of this year it's a five-week course we now have spots for four people we hope to increase it to 20 thank you okay thank you so much you're welcome all right at this time um any requests or comments uh from Council Members before we adjourn our pre meeting councilman Ramos yeah just one request through engineering and I know a few months ago we approved the um residential parking uh permit for Bloomfield Avenue and that was for residents who came to the council meeting complaining about the fact that we eliminated street parking on Lake Street between a second and Bloomfield Avenue on one side of the street and I I would just like an update in terms of when those uh sign are going to be installed and when can those residents come to City Hall to solicit the residential parking permit J noted councilman Ramos Madam clerk if we can send a letter to the Departments to ask um and request uh councilman uh Ramos's um information s any other comments request um I do want to um make a comment trying to get my right wording together um we are very proud here um the city council of the great things that are happening here um in the city um we many of us are running from place to place we're going from Ward to Ward we're supporting many of the organizations many of our quasi governmental agencies we are you know running to you know be a good partner and we want to support many of the Departments and everything but we cannot do that um if things are SC schedule during the time of the city's business um we are our first charge here as council members is to handle the city's business um that means we have to be here we have to you know um make sure that we're voting on items reviewing items you know as well as some of the city directors um that are here as well and constantly on many different occasions we see that events and things are scheduled during the time of our Council meetings rather it's pre meeting or our Council actual council meeting and honestly I I'm not saying anyone is doing it intentionally I'm not seeing that they're mean people who are doing it but at the end of the day we have got to be mindful um that this is the city's business it's everybody's job along with the council members that we are you know adhering to this Council calendar that goes out a year in in advance as you can see 2024 calendar is already set to be approved tomorrow so everyone knows the dates that Council meetings are happening and it would be nice if we can be able to help directors from many different departments understand that as well so that when they're planning around the many events and things that they're having that they know not to schedule things during council meeting days one because they need to be present sometimes and the council members would like to be present so it's just it it's really just a good respectful partnership to have with the council because many of the many of these things cannot happen without Council support and council members as elected officials should be present at many of these things and we have to hear the cheers from our seats sitting here right now which is I mean this is ultimately very disappointing um me and councilman Silva both sit on the invest norc board um councilman Gonzalez pre previously sat there too and had some input into the program that's being celebrated right now but still there was a whole plan program during our council meeting so we must do better in planning so Madam clerk I'm going to ask through your cheer that you prepare a meeting um to all of the city I mean a meeting prepare a letter to all of the city directors giving them a copy of the calendar letting them know that these are the dates for the council and asking them to be mindful and not schedule events and different things during our Council meetings that council members would like to be present at and I would assume that we would like to be present at many of all things happening here in the city um and I just want to leave with that it's very important I we I remember when councilman Quintana used to be the president it was something we continue to talk about when C councilwoman Crump was here council president we continue to ask don't schedule during our Council meetings and we're here still facing the same challenges so Mr VA if you can please help us um with that I would bake you a pound cake if you can help us okay we're icing okay as a followup counc Gonzalez as a follow up to your comment tomorrow they have a graduation for the police say cadetes and at 11 o'clock ER so say I I believe that we have to as you indicated coordinate better because we would love to to be in those in those places but if they schedule at the same time that we have the meetings we cannot do that that is correct thank you for pointing that out to councilman Gonzalez with that being said we'll see you guys at tomorrow's meeting roll call for executive session oh yeah that's right we have to talk about the legal I'm sorry I'm gonna get ready to just leave out of here thank You Ren for the reminder um can we have a roll call to go into executive session we want to thank everybody for coming out if you don't have anything to do with this executive session we're going in we look forward to seeing you at tomorrow's council meeting at 12:30 sharp thank you hey passor poll Council absent Trump absent Gonzalez present Kelly present kintana yes Ramos yes Scott Brown tree absent Silva yes president M IA yes all right thank you thank you so much everyone we look forward to seeing you tomorrow