check one two good morning welcome to the pre meeting of the Newark Municipal Council on Tuesday March 5th 2024 council president council members we have a few appointments this morning for the ccrb Civilian Complaint review board we are on page 29 of the agenda item 8B Mr Alfredo Ruiz which page Madam clerk good morning 29 what page 29 29 Oh I thought you said 39 and I'm like ain't no 39 pages on here okay good morning Mr Ruiz thank you so much for being with us today you are being recommended for appointment to the Civilian Complaint review board do you have a comment or you know a statement to the council before we have morning council president yeah I would just like to thank the mayor um I'm deeply honor and grateful for the opportunity to serve on Civilian Complaint review board I appre appreciate your trust and confidence and appointing me to this position I am committed to holding Justice fness and accountability within our community again I would like to thank the mayor for appointing me to this position thank you so much Mr Ruiz any questions or comments from Council Members seeing none 8C is Mr David I Dy good morning Mr doll treat it's great to see you this morning thank you so much for being here with us today you are of course being appointed as being recommended for appointment to the Civilian Complaint review board do you have a comment or statement to the council good morning um you can hear me all right good morning good morning everybody um thank you to the city council to the mayor um to the city for this appointment for faith and trust within me um same sentiments I plan to uphold the social justice and upkeeping of our city and it safety in the community and I look forward to getting to work any questions or comments from the council congratulations seeing then thank you 8 D is Rashana e James fzza good morning Miss Rashana it is so a delight to see you it's so good always to have young people here with us not that any of you others were not young but you you know what I mean um you are being appointed uh to the Civilian Complaint review board do you have a statement to the council yes um well first good morning council president and council members um I want to first thank the mayor for giving me the opportunity to represent the youth on the Civilian Complaint review board and I would also like to say that this kind of aligns with my career path because I would like to go into Criminal Justice and um and social work as a dual enrollment program so again I just want to thank you for the opportunity and I look forward to working with you all thank you so much any questions or comments for um this young brilliant star all right councilwoman I'm trying not to and because I want to congratulate everyone and it as you said council president it is amazing that we are preparing um our young activists and those who already have the Mind Set to serve the people so I'm excited about sister fryson as well congratulations thank you so much councilwoman uh next item 8 e is Alina De Villa Forte want to SP good morning thank you so much for being with us today you are being recommended uh to the Civilian Complaint review board do you have a comment or a statement to the council yes um good morning council president and council members um thank you first of all to the mayor and also Mr Richard Robinson and of course the Municipal Court um for on I'm very honored by this opportunity uh to be a part of the Civilian Complaint review board and representing the youth um um sorry I recognize my position my voice and my presence at the table on the New York civilian Cate review board it speaks in volume for the charge Newark is making my future and for that I'm very proud um this will also help me in the future hopefully um for my career path and me wanting to be a lawyer in the future so I'm very grateful for this opportunity and I'm excited to learn more thank you thank you so much any comments or questions from Council Members CNN next item 8f is Michael T marrison good morning thank you so much for joining us today you are also being recommended for the Civilian Complaint review board do you have a statement to the council yeah I'd like the council to know that I'm just excited about the opportunity and even being recommended for the council um just humble body the experience and I'm excited to get to work for the better city of New York and just um thankful to be considered by the mayor for such an opportunity perfect thank you so much comments or questions from Council Members seeing n 8G is Albert McBride Jr good morning thank you so much for joining us today you are being recommended of course for the Civilian Complaint review board do you have a statement to the council uh good morning everyone and good morning Madame President and the rest of the council um it's just always a pleasure to serve my community been doing it all my life and it's good to continue to do that and that's it thank you so much any questions or comments from Council Members sponsor oh sure councilman Council Wishes the sponsor do I have a second second second by councilwoman Round Tree any other comments Cenna next item 8h is Isis M good morning thank you so much for joining us today you are being recommended for the Civilian Complaint review board do you have a statement for the council I do thank you um council president and council members I would like to thank the mayor for the appointment uh for Richard Robinson and also the municipal Council as well as the Ironbound Community Corporation who nominated me and I would also like to thank the activists the organizers the communitybased organizations and Grassroots organizations on the ground Baba Zed Muhammad who's to my right being one of them who have fought for years and decades uh for social justice and to keep Newark safer I am honored by the appointment and I am ready to serve and contribute alongside community members and young people thank you thank you so much any comments or questions from Council Members CN n thank you again 8 I is Reverend Dr Ralph m Branch Jr yes good morning it's such a delight to see you today um Reverend Branch um you're being recommended of course for the Civilian Complaint review board do you have a statement for the council yes first of all good morning to you Madame President to the entire Council uh it is an honor uh to first of all work with our esteemed mayor and his team and indeed uh Newark is the city that I love and look forward to serving I've been pastoring here for 23 years now and look forward to another opportunity to serve my community thank you so much any questions councilwoman Scott brry I would like to sponsor Reverend Dr Ralph him branch junior to uh for this thank you councilwoman do I have a second second by councilman Crump congratulations counc if I can oh I'm sorry I'm excited because um I know that Dr branch is going to serve we've had him on many fronts um using his voice and we are grateful that you accepted and that you've been appointed and we're looking forward to on listen faith has to be involved uh we have some great great people that you're serving with and we look forward to the work that you're going to do with the rest of the body also if I would like to um sponsor fryson the young lady it was you I would like to respond to both but thank you Dr Branch for accepting congratulations thank you thank you so much councilman cromp I was I was Council pres councilwoman uh uh Scott rry beat me to it but I will let me just say that you can't go wrong with another moous man oh Lord bless you brother well I'm not going to debate with that thank you so much uh Reverend it's good to see you thank you so much uh do I have a for ad okay Crump all right next item 8j is Linda V McDonald Carter Esquire all right Miss Carter we see you in front of the podium for us for a appointment yeah it is good to see you this morning you are being recommended of course for the Civilian Complaint review board do you have a statement for us yes because I get so excited when it comes to the city of nework I must read things so I want to thank the mayor and the city council for this opportunity and particularly um The People's Organization for Progress for their support of putting me in this position to be nominated in the first place uh it's a great opportunity to continue to do the people's work in the city of nework so uh the only other thing I would tell you is that my buddies in the CIA and the FBI and Essence County police and Nork police officers here um are very excited about this and they can only contribute to enhancing my Effectiveness on the ccrb thank you okay councilman Gonzalez oh perfect perfect councilman Gonzalez do I have a second second second by councilwoman Round Tree any other comments or questions from the council members seeing none thank you so much for your thank you thank you very much willingness to serve council president council members 8K needs to be deferred because Mr Ali is not available today okay all righty we are now on page three of the agenda oh I'm sorry um Madam clerk did we do a a a is a reappointment oh okay yeah sorry all righty ordinances on first reading 6fa is an ordinance amending title 7 State uniform construction code enforcing agency to add Provisions exempting City occupied properties questions or comments from Council Members perhaps we can have someone from um I see director wooden in the back uh perhaps you can come up and talk a little bit about this good morning council president council members how are you today um Tores wooden um the director of the department of engineering um this uh particular item is to allow for the uh building department to wave fees uh on buildings built for the City by the city owned by the city operated by the city so when there is a pyramid open or a building application entered the city can be uh Exempted from Fe uh also some of the um uh local uh Governor governments like Essex County Etc if they're building um a building in the city they can be accepted from fees questions or comments from Council Members Council MCC just to clarify you said also County and uh other governments yes they they are already accepted but this is specifically for the city of nework for our buildings um and these are DCA rules already but they need to be in our ordinances in order for the building department to wave our specific fees for the city they don't pay fees anyway right excuse me they don't pay fees correct anyway right correct any other questions or comments councilman Silva anyone else Cena next item 6fb is an ordinance amending title 8 businesses occupations to create chapter 20 Intermodal container lot license and establish rules and regulations questions or comments from the council Council M sorry I got another question thank you council president so this this this this ordinance involves um containers it is it just specifically for the larger containers or does this include like pods that are putting that people have in and and you know when they're moving furniture or moving items no um sorry m Michelle Nelson first assistant Corporation Council Law Department the Intermodal storage containers are the storage containers that you're used to seeing on the back of trucks um the storage ones that you see down by the port it is not um the storage pods that people have in front of their I believe we were talking about the driveways like their little mini storage pots no and um the ordinance actually puts dimensions and actually describes um what those inter modals look like I'm horrible with Direction dimensions and so I I appreciate you helping other questions and comments from Council Members CNN thank you resolutions 7r1 a and 7 r1b are both temporary emergency Appropriations A is for City Hall Skylight Grant and B is the natural climate Solutions Grant questions or comments I see the ba is approaching good morning Mr BA hi good morning Eric Pennington business administrator councilman Sila asked me to look into why it references a cash match and it says East Ward uh and I'm gonna have to follow my sword I forgot to do that but I think the uh engineering director may be able to address that now okay good morning good morning again um Dolores woodam department of engineering director um this line item is um in order to uh appropriate funds matching funds to um work on the skylights of City Hall uh both uh next to the Koopa on the right side um the interior of the Skylight um it is of historic nature so right now we have a grant of $750,000 and there was a City match of 750 so this is um how you know we bring in the funds from the city match okay so let me just go back to it again this is a grant how much was the grant amount $750,000 okay and that's the total price I I thought I heard you say something about the city's matching something the city had to the the overall is 1.5 million the city has to meet um The Gap per se of 750 as well and this particular Grant can only be used for the sights for the skylights in uh City Hall yes oh I was about to say we need this with some other stuff you can start with the roof up there and everything else up there but um I'm I'm I'm a ress on that um any other questions or comments from Council Members regarding 7 r1a okay seeing none thank you so much director you any questions from Council Members regarding sr1b okay yes okay councilman Kelly excuse me uh thank you council president um can we provide the West with the West for location of um where the trees are targeted which targeted neighborhoods they are hello good morning my name is Nicole Huck cabal I'm the city's new Chief sustainability officer um so councilman we are in the process of confirming the sites are the city's tree supervisor is actually out in the field yesterday and I think today depending the weather confirming all the sites and we'll be able to provide for you a finalized list uh very shortly Madam yes Council maros yeah uh thank you um you know I'm glad to see that this um resolution is before us and you know we've we've had a lot of concerns on behalf of the community uh regarding the city's approach and and removing trees uh especially in the The Forest Hill Community U I know the mayor when he had his presentation on the Z new zoning uh um ordinance there were there were a lot of community members that showed up who who expressed you know disappointment in in the process and you know I'm hopeful that um we can better understand kind of like the approach that the city takes as far as doing an assessment and determining whether or not a tree is unhealthy and and needs to be removed um there were a few examples of trees that were removed in the neighborhood and when we requested information as to what led to that decision uh we were never really provided with kind of a a good assessment of what led to that removal U but but the fact that through this grant we're we're hopefully going to focus again on on planting trees in our neighborhood is is something that's important and I'm going to follow the question that councilman Kelly said on the record uh related to you know each Ward should be well well aware of uh where the hubs are going to be who the contact people are and and where do we send our request toly noted councilman Ramos and um Miss hu um hopefully you can give that over to us um any other questions from Council councilman Gonzalez yes we have a lot of trees that are not appropriate for the areas I hope that the trees that we plant are going to be appropriate for the areas and the other thing is I am just uh looking at the number of three three 131 is that 111 trees per year or how are we going to divide the 331 trees in five ws that's a again the question that the two councilman from the Ws had and I believe it's important that we have a detail of where in each count in each Ward the tax the trees are going to be planted okay any other requests councilman Silva uh yes good morning um I just have one request um I know it's not cheap to uh cut a tree down um but maybe we should look also into saving that tree because most of my complaints that I get to my office are the sidewalks lifting uh so maybe we can have some type of comparison there to what it cost to cut down the tree compared to what it cost to fix that little portion of the sidewalk so uh yes we are cutting a lot of trees down uh I get complaints all the time but if we can actually physically go out there and maybe look at what the cost is between saving that just fixing the sidewalk and cutting the tree down and probably saving that tree thank you councilwoman Scott rre I I just want to be clear fixing the sidewalk normally falls on the land owner that property where the tree is that would not be an expense to the city based on um the ordinance and the resolutions that are applied to those trees being cut down so that that's something to take into consideration if the per property owner is going to be responsible for fixing that sidewalk because the roots are lifting up the sidewalk of our tree so I I hear what councilman Sila is saying but all of that needs to be taken into consideration for our residents councilman Kelly I just want to add on to what councilwoman rry said uh in the west we have a lot of problems with um the tree roots not only ripping up the sidewalks but actually ripping up the piping to the sewer system that goes inside the home which is a very very big problem in the west ward and um pertaining to what what um councilman Gonzalez said we have to be careful of what type of trees we plant so that this won't um you know disrupt the home of you know of the residents because it's a big problem in the west okay any other comments or questions CNN we look forward to getting some of the responses and answers back that you can provide to us as soon as possible thank you and welcome thank you thank you very much 7r1 C is an amending resolution to authorize the dep Department of Public Safety to utilize the contract for armed security guards I was actually going to talk talk about this because usually did this go to Public Safety um um Madame President no it hasn't appeared before us um this is the private security contract that the city utilizes I guess to um you know provide security in our municipal buildings my question would be what what additional properties are being added that you're asking for an increase uh in the contract hello good morning uh captain Pastor um commander of the administration division the amending uh uh contract is to include uh um 375 mcarter Highway which was uh is Works building correct oh yeah it's for six additional guards there one additional for 10 17th Avenue and one additional for the training academy cool so that's it needed to be amended to reflect got it okay one one other question Madam president and and before tomorrow's meeting could can we verify what if this vendor is is paying the the security is honoring the minimum uh or prevailing wage for security as far as the their payment or salaries for security guards I mean in in the backup it talks specifically about what they're charging the city per hour for guards and supervisors but it does not uh delineate the the rate or the wage that they're paying the actual guards so if we can have that information by tomorrow uh I would appreciate it y sure no problem any other questions or comments seeing none thank you thanks 7r1 D and 7 r1e are the use of State contracts D is to purchase Communications wiring services and E is to purchase firefighter protective clothing and Equipment questions or comments regarding these two items Council mccom thank you council president just with regards to 7 r1e is there and I didn't see this in the backround is there a list of what is being purchased um and if not I mean it maybe the you all going to make A needs assessment later on so I guess the first question is is is there do you have a list of what's being purchased and if not is there some kind of needs assessment that you've put together to determine what you will need good morning director good morning good morning uh assistant Public Safety uh Rufus Jackson uh sir there is a we we don't have a a list made up but we can produce a list for you of what gear and equipment is being purchased do you already know thank thank you for that do you do you already know what is what you're going to purchase or is that something that's going to be determined down the line it's determined throughout the year um we've like over the the the turnout gear from the protective gear that they actually wear to the uh the equipment and tools that they far as repairing and even purchasing more it varies it's it's so an abundance of uh equipment and the gear that we buy annually okay so let let me ask you this because as as I know you are aware we sometimes get complaints from the firefighters that say they don't have the right gear Etc can we when you do purchase the gear can you let us know what you're purchasing sure so we have we have our own list kind of of what's being purchased sure well let me let me ask this too whatever whatever you would purchase out of this particular line item this monies right here can you give us a list of what that would be based off the need I'm sure because basically what you're saying is you you purchase throughout the year based off what the need is yes um so can you give us a list of all those things that you would purchase underneath this specific line item well with these dollars shall I say if that make sense yeah but we're gonna purchase throughout the entire year whatever the time period is that's fine I think what the council member is asking is what kind of items would you purchase with this particular funding so a full list not exactly you know not not like I'm purchasing 10 of these 20 of these because you're saying that you purchase based off need so you you don't know what you might be purchasing for um based off the need but just giv us a full list of what kind of equipment would be purchased if that makes sense yes yes I'm sorry one second councilman Gonzalez Mr ba how how this amount compares to to previous years I was saying give me one second M Mr ba were you going to say something about what I just said before you go to councilman Gonzalez yes I I think as I got up I think you clarified what I was going to say and that is okay I didn't I don't want to represent that we're going to give the council an accounting every time they order something correct what I would do is have a public safety and and assistant director provide you with a general list of the items that we will procure throughout the year we we can do that sounds good now coun Gonzalez you might want to state for this because this was both regarding money councilman Gonzalez yes I just wanted to know let's see what has been the expenditure in previous years is this amount comparable uh I believe so we're in the process of purchasing just for an in instance the new class uh we put on approximately 80 something people uh M can you let's say is it's fairly easy to determine that account how much money has been paid in previous years I just want to make sure that the amount that we're providing is enough or that the amount that we're providing is not too much so instead of a guess can we get to this Council today before way before tomorrow what was the amount spend spended before and what's compared to like what you're asking for now or what we're allotting to spend now if that's helpful so we can have an exact answer Council M Council you had a question okay anyone else have a question question comments okay thank you so much thank you 7 r1f is a Cooperative purchasing agreement to purchase recreational materials and Equipment hey questions or comments from Council Members yeah yes councilman Council yeah I I've uh been been uh having issues with um folks in Senior Services getting supplies and and been getting a lot of calls uh from these centers saying that they are lacking supplies and um just trying to to gather some information uh around that because if we are you know providing uh all of these different kind of excursions for folks then the basic supplies should at least be in some of these senior centers right and and and I don't know you know where we are in terms of of that and how can it be reconciled uh to to get these folks some supplies and and these centes that that that is important duy noted councilman Council director yes I want to say great morning council president and distinguished council members uh to answer to uh councilman council's uh inquiry and regarding equipment and materials for our senior services uh as long as that information is given to me from my management team for all the equipment that they need we have the fin is to actually order those supplies and equipment so I just wanted to address respectfully uh councilman counsel that as we evolve and uh move forward that if that is a concern we can definitely address that yes maybe we want to just remind the managers that if they need any supplies to definitely reach out to your department you know just a you know nothing like a reminder um to people to say so then they you know constituents don't have to call us or you know employees and say what they don't have but I think that might be a good reminder any other questions or comments from Council Members councilman Council anything else no that that was it I mean you know it's just important you know the same way that we Supply the recreation centers with supplies these senior facilities have to get supplies as well to noted totally age and duly noted thank you thank you so much director 7r1 G and 7r1 H are both contracts with subrecipients to provide Community Based violence intervention G is LP Consultants LLC okay I think we have director Wingfield here good morning good morning Madame President and Council um Madame President I do want to note that these are the two final organizations from the RFP that was released back in August and so this completes that closes it out um lb LP consultant is going to be training 50 at risk young people they're going to be focusing on the East SW and the northw they'll be housed at both baringa high school and East Side High School and this is for highrisk intervention to support us in our efforts with rapid response as we are beginning to see a spike in violence in the north W oh great okay do we um do we have LP here yes we did oh sure come on up so are the council members of those respective oh I'm sorry for the record Kylie Winfield Hill director of The Office of violence prevention and Trauma recovery good morning how are you Council I do have a one page synopsis that I can oh sure someone will take it from you and pass it out to us good morning Council I'm Dr Lydia Pi I am LP consultant and it's a pleasure to present before you as I stated as has already been stated um we were the recipients of the high-risk intervention um initiative under the crime prevention um we titled this initiative uh building the Gap um I also wanted to include because we are a part of Brick City peace collector that we are following the data and so initially we did uh our focus and our Focus will be uh the East Ward and the North North Ward but because of the data we are including the West Ward and that's where we are currently doing our work in the west ward got it okay any questions or comments from Council Members Council MOS yeah thank you madam president um could you just tell us a little bit about the services you're looking to offer and how are you going to outreach you know at risk families and and the target communities so our initial Focus initially as I said we were going to do the train which we are going to do but the focus we're going to have an Outreach worker um we we going to be placed in the school so we're going to be working with NPS and working with the disciplining and um I want to say we have a um Target focus in the Northport in the East W with the undocumented um population and Community we're meeting with um some people that have some more indepth uh concept about that how we can reach that but we're looking looking at what was happening in the numbers at baringer this past school year as relates to uh crime prevention so we're going to pick up from that population and try to see what the services I do want to add that we are doing the high-risk apart I see a template of an assessment so we want to be able to refer out different services that we may not be funded for but that we connect them to the services don't you all receive referrals though for the most part I miss Wingfield would would you guys be sending referral rul over to them okay just want to make sure to clarify that um councilman Ros any followups thank councilman Silo uh yes it says here uh good morning it says here that you started January 15th and it goes to July 30th so you're already in Eide we are not in East Side yet we are going through the meeting process of getting everything started we are we're waiting to meet before you guys and we but we started doing um initiative in the westward um we have made meetings I've made a meeting with you I made a meeting with um councilman Raymond just because we're coming into we want to introduce ourselves we know what the focus we following data but we really wanted to meet and see what the actual needs were of the community when you do have that meeting with uh Mr Rodriguez and heite can you please include me absolutely thank you absolutely okay councilman Kelly how you doing you said you already started in the west W yes I haven't had a meeting with you yet I did have a meeting I was rescheduled um but I do have my Project Director um we did uh we had an event you apps uh we're at Mount Veron where we started our first culture awareness for gun violance awareness and you presented to the youth right I didn't I didn't know that you know this program so that was that we And to clarify um councilman Kelly we were focusing um really on the East Ward and the north Ward but we went to to um a meeting and and we had an opportunity to make some connections in the west W with the mount V Vernon School through our project director and we created and and ab came around the time where we were acknowledging crime prevention week or month and that event so and we actually tried to have a meeting and we're going to have a meeting with you to also see what those needs would be how we can assist in the westw you perhaps um if I can suggest uh Mr guy is here always sitting on the what is the second row you can connect with Mr guy to get a meeting set up before um you leave today or and then also with the other council members definitely go upstairs I came I came and went around all their off I know I'm talking about right now yeah right now while you're here you know you're here right now and we're trying to you know look at the request for the grant and we really want to be supportive of your organization so moving forward today you can go upstairs and you know try to connect with some of the people you need to connect with so you can you know make the connections you need to make um but definitely thank you so much for coming out today and we're all looking forward to working with your organization than okay next item Miss Wingfield eight I'm sorry H is scores re-entry oh I'm so sorry madam clerk I'm just thinking you already said it forgive me Madam president and Council I do want to to councilman Sil the uh proposed dates for programming is pending Council approval and so you may see some dates year but those dates are subject to change uh pendant Council approval but in terms of score re scores re-entry this organization is being funded for high-risk intervention as well this organization will have a focus in the north Ward and the East Ward for the re-entry population they will have a 24 um s hotline wraparound support case management community outreach and they will be hiring and training and deploying Outreach workers um directly from the north ward in the East W Madam president Council Ramos yeah just a question for the director um so so the time period for for each one of these is December one of last year till the end of November so are these programs currently operational or are they on hold until they get approval from the council so there are some organizations that are operational simply because they have the capacity and so they've been assisting us with many of our efforts but for these smaller organizations by smaller organizations I mean some of our grassroot organizations that do not have the capacity to start without being approved by Council because they simply just do not have the funds it is pending council's approval if the date there says December to November but Council approval is not into for example today which is March 5th then the organizations will have to revise their budget submit it back to my compliance manager and the budget in term that they've been funded for will reflect the date of council's approval to November 2024 when the arpa funds have to be dispersed okay can you provide us with with those revised numbers for these two groups um absolutely for tomorrow because the the budget 12month budget um like you stated um they would be prated based on the execution date right and based on capacity yeah so if you can just get us the revised budgets for these two groups that would be helpful no problem okay I'm sorry council president Eric Pennington business administrators not rated uh councilman it would be revised up to the amount that you have there but it would be expended from the period that you approve it through the end of the year I would suggest too that uh if it was an organization that had the capacity to start uh that they would be able to submit justification for services provided from the original date and they' be reimbursed for that uh with these amounts going forward so it's not quite prated it's a little bit different than it so so just so I understand some of these groups would have had some basic um operations in place dating Back to December one and the city would reimburse them for part of that that's right part of those expenses as part of this they would have the ability to submit that and demonstrate that it was pursuant to this particular agreement and if uh the compliance team deemed it appropriate yes they could receive reimbursement any other questions hey welcome good good morning mayor council presidents and members of the new Yark Maring Council I'm so honored to be here my name is Priscilla Carmona I am one of the co-founders and CEO of scores re-entry the perception of violence is in society is a deeply concerning issue with far-reaching implications for Community well-being Public Safety and successful reintegration of individuals with a history of justice system involvement and re-entry Services play a crucial role in addressing and reducing this perception within communities inadequate re-entry planning has historically exacerbated the impact of poverty unemployment and homelessness on communities with high numbers of formally incarcerated individuals scores re-entry has been in existence since 2016 but the founding members have a combined experience of 30 years working in Social Services we are formerly criminal Injustice involved individuals who have been able to turn our lives around we are now bilingual licensed clinical social workers and licensed drug and alcohol counselors our work started as pro bono services to address not only the concrete needs of individuals returning home but also their internal needs of poor self-efficacy lack of belonging negative perceptions of social support and criminal genic cognitions we are planning to utilize funds to implement intensive re-entry Services Under high-risk intervention within neighborhoods throughout Newark that are facing high levels of crime currently our Focus will be in the East and North Wards planning includes hiring credible Messengers as case managers providing wraparound support to those who have been impacted by violence and high-risk criminal factors hiring attorneys who can provide per DM legal Services offering guest guest speaker and community events throughout Newark um hiring bilingual Outreach workers violence interrupts to mediate conflicts and training thank you thank you so much any questions or comments from Council Members councilman Gonzalez yes I see that you live in Woodridge or something I physically live in Woodridge New Jersey our office office is based in Jersey City New Jersey but we do service new workk we go to people's homes shelters places of residence fam's homes so a lot of our work is in community in home and I see that your email ends with forom edu are you working for forom or no I'm a PhD candidate at forom University okay thank you thank you so much okay any other questions or comments see I than thank you so much for being with us today thank you so much all right next item 7r1 I is accepting a gift for the use of the credential hall for the 2024 state of the City mayoral address any questions or comments from Council Members regarding this GIF Cena 7r2 a through 7 r2f are all Private Sales and Redevelopment agreements a is to is to provide for the constru construction of a new detached two family residential unit for sale at market rate in the west ward questions or comments from Council Members councilman Kelly any other questions or comments regarding this item next Item B is to construct a new two family home with affordable rental units in the South Ward questions or comments from Council Members councilman Council Madam chair ask for this item to be deferred is a request to deferred do I have a second second by councilman Ramos next item 7 r2c is to provide for new construction of a four-story 10 unit building with market rate rentals and two affordable rentals in the South Ward questions or comments from council members uh Madam chair yes GNA ask for this item to be deferred uh 7 r2c and I'm going to ask to move 7 r2b I was moving fast I was still looking at scores information young lady sry so 7 R you're fine with 7 r2b I'm fine with and 7 r2c you like to defer correct yes Council Ramos do you wish to second that one okay Al righty any other questions or comments foren 7 r2c CN n next item D is to provide for new construction of a 26 unit senior affordable housing building in the South Ward questions or comments from Council Members councilman Council yep Madam chair I'm going to ask for this item to be deferred okay councilman Council wishes for this item to be deferred do I have a second second by councilman Kelly okay next item e is to provide for new construction of a fivestory apartment building with approximately 20 units and a ground floor commercial space which 20% of the units will be affordable in the west ward questions or comments from Council Members councilman Kelly okay any other questions or comments Sienna next item f is the First Amendment to the master Redevelopment agreement with RPM Development LLC and Urban League of essis County opportunity Corporation for various properties located within the Fairmont Commons Redevelopment area in the westw questions or comments from Council Members Madam president IID like to sponsor this okay Council McKelly wishes to sponsor to have a second second by councilwoman Round Tree any other questions or comments Cenna next item 7 r2g is a referral of proposed Sixth Amendment to the Newark Downtown core District Redevelopment plan and Amendment to the Newark Plaza urban renewal plan to the central planning board questions or comments from Council Members councilman crom thank you council president just a question and maybe you can provide this do this information later there in the documentation it said block scale development standards can you provide those standards we don't need to necessarily have them like this minute but if you can email the council okay I see the deputy mayor um shaking her head yes so if we can um make a request followup for that uh Madam clerk to get the standards for this item that's that's mentioned in the backup of this um particular item any additional questions comments right next item 7r2 is designating an area in need of Redevelopment in the central Ward questions or comments from Council Members CA next item 7 r3a is a street use agreement an agreement for the right to construct install maintain repair operate relocate replace and remove the utility gas metering and regulation station currently located on part of Port Street questions or comments from Council Members Cenna 7R 3B is a Professional Services contract to provide maintenance service to existing small cell Wireless facilities and review new permit applications questions or comments from council members CNN 7r3 C is authorizing the use of a competitive Contracting to award a one-year contract for a microtransit pilot program perhaps we can have someone come up and talk to us about the microtransit pilot program good morning council president and council members again Dolores Martinez wooden and director of department of engineering um so this is a very exciting initiative um these are uh electric vehicle shuttles and we're trying to have a pilot for um operations by a third party via RFP so this is approval for the RFP I have Miss Victoria Walker here who is the director of arts and education and uh she has more details for you good morning Council Victoria Walker arts and education District lead um the mayor's goal is to have our own Fleet of EV operated Vehicles like the director stated being that we don't have the infrastructure our intent is to partner with the transportation company to provide these Shadows for our residents and visitors throughout the wards into the downtown area for all the great events and programs that we have going on uh throughout the year routes have been designed by the engineering department that U focuses on the major areas throughout the board so not just getting them downtown downtown but also getting them to On Demand sites in close to proximity of where they need to go throughout their day if it's the grocery store if it's school if it's job at a affordable rate um as much as we can so basically this will be a free shuttle service in every Ward we're trying to make it free or as uh wage friendly as possible okay and they're electric we're looking for electric company yes okay I open it up for questions cman Council so this would operate uh in the form of as we say Jitney that that are operating in other areas it would be former gentle Services absolutely yes well be what would be the daily schedule let's say what time would we close we're looking for 6:00 AM to at least 10 p.m. and longer on the weekends other questions and comments I'm sorry we're trying to like process it I mean this is thank you councilman Remos I mean forgive me okay I mean I guess we we really need time to try to take try to take a look at it I mean usually something like this should be presented to the council um on a separate time um you know to help us digest this um instead of it just like showing up on the agenda um I think councilman Kelly you have a question um yeah just trying to process it wouldn't this put in um direct competition with with Transit if it's a lower price and it's going in and out of our neighborhoods to downtown we know that Transit did cut some some um immediate routes that were needed for the residents so we were trying to fill in those gaps so the routes that were created by the engineering department took into consideration looking at um the way Transit moves and putting in these routes that won't direct connect with those but they will access other areas that they don't meet so it it' be more of a gap filler for the routes um that are underserved by transit other than competing with the routes that Transit already has yes Council mcro thank you council president a couple questions um and you you may have said this and I might have missed it when do you did you say that this would be or your intent to have this operational by The Summertime by this summer yes okay and so with that being said we don't have we currently don't well this is just the authorization for the RFB yes um and you don't have the dates of when the RP would be submitted according to this right so we're looking at doing EV vehicles and the city currently doesn't have this infrastructure for Ev Vehicles what is the plan for that aspect of it thank you Council mccrum and just you know it's obvious we're collaborating with education um just one point that I want to make um education ran this with conventional Vehicles last year and it was successful um to mobilize citizens into um events because there's not necessarily a transportation near them so this was already done with conventional Vehicles last year um and between that data of usage and the data of routes that people are coming in from from uh others uh places in the city other the wards um we're collaborated um so there you know there there's Maps available to you um you know we we we're going with facts that we know for utilization Etc now these companies this RFP that we're putting out is an all-encompassing company um obvious viously the city is not ready it's something that we foresee in the future um this will enable us to use this service without having to have parking lots without having to have charging stations and so on and so forth the company that we're seeking will uh provide everything that is necessary including of drivers um of um so that we can utilize um it for um transportation right away um as soon as the event schedule is ready we can already have that option for Citizens um and it will replace the conventional gas that we're already using um to make him electric well I so I have one question how are we um going to fund this like where's the money coming from to fund this program okay so um we are uh looking at the model that we utilize with um Newark go how we had the pilot before that's the model that we're looking at um and and you know there's companies out there there several of our municipalities um near um comparable that are already utilizing service like this um you know in in in anticipation in in checking whether we actually have our own crew in the City versus you know having a company that brings it all to us and all we have to do is utilize the service this is the route that we are um investigating with the um education department so hence a pilot we want to see if it actually works before rolling something out permanently councilman Council yeah um director woen so a project like this was done uh prior with a another council person way back did you look at the data uh as it related to that and what was the the fails and the accomplishments and why did that go away one uh and then secondly what is the revenue sharing around this okay so when it comes to what was done in the past um we'll have to look back because we're using Uh current data we're using things that um you know the education the art and and education district has available and um data that we have available through our Mobility Program with newer go so we're going with current data we'll look back to see if anything is relevant that we Inc uh U incorporate in what we're doing um when it when it comes to uh uh Revenue we'll have to see how the program goes if it's you know if it's embraced if it's utilized just like the conventional ones was used last year um and you know to have a most robust plan to see you know if if the city has an opportunity to create Revenue um right now to be honest with you the goal is to mobilize citizens to the Arts and education District in a more sustainable manner so basically this is a pilot program yes okay um can we Madam clerk could you work with director Wooten to get this on the agenda I know today is just the request to go out for the um to put out the RFP but can you work with director wooden or director W can you work with the clerk's office to get on the calendar um to present this in a more formal format um so that we could visually see what this looks like I will say that um I one council member mentioned about New Jersey Transit and this is totally far from that I I do want to give kudos and definitely to Miss Walker um and her entire team that worked on doing shuttle service to different events that we had here this summer it is definitely helpful to Residents in the city where they want to come to different things happening downtown rather as a festival or whatever we offered many shuttle services throughout the wards where people can meet at one location hop on the shuttle and it it transfer back and forth from the event to the ward and I think if families can walk to one location close by them and hop on a shuttle to go enjoy the rest of the city um you know that's very it's definitely helpful but I think we just more council members need to see it um see how this is going to work we definitely with our pilot program with the scooters you know we're still trying to swim through that which is still a struggle for us every day um so you know when we talk about pilot programs and the things that we're doing we just need to make sure we're clear on what that looks like and we can be able to help you know navigate um what we might what we think might be issues and thus far so we should really have a more formal um conversation about it and a pres presentation Council M Gonzalez yes H we had the program in a with conventional Vehicles last year so how much money was spent on that for last year we give I can give an estimate about 40,000 but that was only for about five events okay it wasn't a daily uh schedule for that it was per it was for like major events we had and how much you think is say we have ER set aside for this contract that way you're proposing um I can get back to you on that okay but also too it goes back to what the director said of us trying to do like a similar program of what we did with bird and um v v Vivo I'm sorry something of that nature let say some Council mentioned the councilman Council mentioned someone having done that 16 years ago more or less Dana Ron had a program in the in the central world that provided transportation to the seniors going to let's say events going to ER going to school going to let's say to the Kennedy Center for classes or whatever so at the end of the day those those bosses were parked on Roseville Avenue and they wrote it so I believe that going the way of getting the service provided by somebody else is a is is a better idea than spending the city monies on buses that at the end if the program doesn't work are going to rot okay okay all righty with that being said we'll see you guys back for a more formal conversation all right next item thank you 7 r4a is stipulation of settlements for tax appeals questions or comments regarding tax appeals councilman Gonzalez no any other questions of the Year seeing none next item 7 r4b and 7 r4c are both approving loan and escrow agreement for small diameter sewer project questions or comments from Council Members what is Ben Ben Ben oh okay good morning Ben good morning I'm councilman Gonzalez I has a question for you to us what we're doing here absolutely uh Benjamin Guzman Department of Finance uh these two resolutions you have before you is to permanently Finance uh the small diameter sewers project that the Department of Water and Sewer been working on for the last few years these will be funded through bonds through the New Jersey infrastructure Bank uh and as you know when in financing through the infrastructure Bank um there is some principal forgiveness um we are seeking that you know we will not exceed 20,5 47,0 $36 financing over uh the time period we're estimated to receive 5,220 $ 7,926 of principal forgiveness the life of the loan so what's what's the interest rate on the bonds you uh it varies depending but it's anywhere from zero to two two and a half percent it is a lower rate interest um on the on the fund loans and on the Trust Loans is the portion that will be forgiven over the the life of the loan thank you welcome any other questions for Ben okay thanks Ben you're welcome 7 r4d is authorized the local Finance board application questions or comments for this item this is the councilman Gonzalez yeah this is this is the the museum project no yes this is correct so we are this is for $500,000 a r Bond uh again good morning benjam Ming GM Department of Finance that is correct this is for the $500 Redevelopment area bond in association with the museum project uh and this is to authorize us to be able to make that application to the local Finance board okay questions or comments thanks Ben you're welcome next item 7 r6a is a Professional Services contract with the First Amendment to the agreement to provide Legal Services concerning Bond matters questions or comments from council members CA next item 7 r8a is approving Constable bond for Mr Ares councilwoman Round Tree next item 7 r8b is recognizing and commending resolutions and 7 r8c is expressing profound sorrow and regret questions or comments from Council Members see n 7 r12a is a bid contract to provide Supply and delivery of zinc all 5ate for the city of nor Montclair reclination station questions or comments from Council Members seea next item Communications AA is a reappointment to the Civilian Complaint review board Mr Johnson okay 8B through 8 K we already discussed this morning we are on page 338 L is an ordinance granting a 25-year tax abatement to nma owners urban renewal LLC for a project to construct approximately 200 market rate residential rental units 50 affordable housing residential units in the central Ward questions or comments from Council Members I believe there's a request to advance and adopt on first for this item duly noted okay seeing no other questions or comments next item 8m is an ordinance authorizing the mayor and or his design to enter into and execute a third amendment to the agreement for the conveyance of real property with the New Jersey school's Development Authority modifying certain Milestones can we get somebody explain this item this is 8m as in Mary good morning council president council members Alison lad director of Economic and Housing Development uh this item is a companion piece to a resolution under economic and housing development for the Fairmont Commons uh development project in our West Ward uh the project um has been um the site has been owned by the city for many years um but it was actually sold to uh both uh Urban League of Essex County and RPM to do affordable housing development on formally uh state-owned land through the school Development Authority you may recall that the approval was granted in 2021 to sell the property subsequent to the approval uh the project um has received and we're grateful for this the project has received 9% tax credits uh from from the New Jersey housing Mortgage and Finance Agency and that um financing is what's triggering our requests today what we're asking for is an extension of time uh so that we can satisfy the agreement with the New Jersey state um School District um and be able to start construction with the council's consideration we'll be able to move very swiftly um and I know this will be music to council member Kelly's ears we'll be able to move swiftly to start construction um on the first phase of Fairmont Commons um and bring affordable housing development to the city um last I'll close with is is that um this project will also include a Child Development Center um in the Redevelopment plan and um again um in closing there is a phase two uh but phase two will be brought before this Council um when that at the right time um and I'm happy to take any questions council president questions and comments from Council memb councilman Gonzalez would like to go back to L okay before we go back to L are there any questions regarding am councilman Kelly I would like sponsor okay councilman Kelly Wishes the sponsor do I have a second second by councilman Crump is there a a request to evance and adopt on first uh yes ma'am if we could ask U council president if we could consider advancing and adopting this on first we would like the approval to be considered at the next council meeting so that we can move swiftly to construction okay doly Nota any other comments regarding am okay seeing none councilman Gonzalez 8 L we had some we had some issues and some uh requests ER some information was provided to us by email I just want to have that information provided to us by email to put on the record indicating ER what L&M has done to improve the conditions at Georgia K Village and other projects that had some issues ER before ER I believe we can we can move on this it's imperative that we have a clear indication that we are moving in the right direction at Georgia King Village before we Grant a 30-year tax ayment to the same entity ER that operates that that development uh yes council president understood um the economic and Housing Development uh department and administration will provide the complete information to all council members those that information was provided um to council member Gonzalez is and our chair of the tax abatement committee point it was provided to the full uh tax abatement committee as requested and as part of the conditions before uh we brought this forward to the full Council so we'd be happy to provide that full information to all council members um in closing I will note though that this item as council member Gonzalez has mentioned at a previous meeting um the matter before um our courts uh with the city related to Georgia King Village has been dismissed with prejudice by the judge and so with that um that is a important factor related to the advancement um and resolution at Georgia King Village um in closing I'd say that we do know that um anything related to to our residents is of the utmost importance and so our constant interaction with L&M developers is a key part of what our city is doing collectively and throughout the administration any other comments Council Melly uh yes thank you council president um Deputy Mayor how much again how much of L&M how much ownership does L&M have over this project once again I think we mentioned it before uh council president uh to council member Kelly's question question regarding the Newark Museum project I will state that um in answering the question that this is a really important uh priority for our city um the project that we are looking to build is 250 units um on the corner of uh Washington and Central Avenue immediately adjacent to our Newark Museum of Art uh the project will not only bring 250 residential units it'll also Al provide 20% affordable housing on site um so we're very excited about the mixed income development at the project uh second the other key element is that this um transaction will help the New York museum of art as they continue to move forward to uh have operations and operating Revenue uh to make sure our museum is um a beautiful and iconic space throughout our city the third piece is is that the ownership in this joint venture partnership is with lmd X and so lmd X is the party in which this council is considering it is uh so I do want to again conclude by saying that is the actual response and the percentage which is what councilman Kelly answered asked the project will be owned by lmd X 100% okay you just want to confirm um question Council M what's the difference between L&M current ownership um that has the ownership of gkv and LM LM L&M DX tongue twister uh sure council president so um in um the difference is is it's it is a subsidiary uh so there is a subsidiary of L&M that is called LNM DX um also the in real estate um all real estate uh traditionally is owned by a LLC in new state of New Jersey it's owned by an urban renewal entity which means that that ownership can have other partners um we will mention that there is a minority partner on this project as well um although it is majority own by lmd X questions are do you have another question Council m no council president thank you any other questions or comments councilman Council yeah Madam chair I just think it's important to go back to uh What uh Council M Gonzalez stated as the chair of the tax abatement committee that there was um very specific information that was laid out through the tax abatement committee uh that these individuals would have to follow and I think part of that you talked about in in in your uh presentation and so um as long as that is is is moving in that dire ction and they they understand it clearly um I'm thankful for that I understand um and council president I think one other key piece um which is not part of the ownership but it's part of how we manage our properties is the property manager and resident services for any of our development um in the city um uh one owner can be the party that owns the property and be the responsible party of record and in that case again it's the same lmd DX that's part of the urban renewal entity but the actual property manager will not be L&M and that has been reaffirmed by the museum it has been reaffirmed by lmd X and that they will hire a third-party separate property owner sorry property manager in the city um and that information um can also be provided additional questions or comments from Council Members any additional comments okay CNN thank you Deputy Mayor next item 8N is an ordinance providing for a cap ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank questions or comments from Council Members I will say that U Mr ba we see a lot of people out there like I be keeping up with other folks budgets and stuff and they already having their budget conversations and have having everything you know rolling so I I would make the request on behalf of councilman Gonzalez of when will we you know get the budget you'll let me know said in he said in April so um I'm holding him to April hey well he didn't say that just now he said he'll let me [Laughter] [Music] know all righty any other questions regarding aan all right Cena next item 80 is an ordinance amending title 10 fiveyear tax exemptions and abatements by amending multiple sections and reinstating the granting of five-year tax exemptions and abatements for multiple dwellings commercial and Industrial structures hey councilman Gonzalez council is going to sponsor are you will me yes I'd like to sponsor this okay councilman Cil is sponsoring and then second by councilman Gonzalez councilman Silva do you have any comments uh yeah I just want to thank everybody for coming together and uh bringing this back uh I think it's important for our small investors small business owners here in the city people that uh grew up here and want to live here and uh actually care a lot about the city so I just want to thank everybody for coming together we'll also like to put in a request to avents and adopt on first okay next item pending business 9A is an ordinance amending title 8 business and occupations to create chapter 39 smoke shops and establish rules and regulations questions or comments councilman Council yeah uh Madam chair I I would like to sponsor this and and also uh thank the administration for working on it and I know uh councilman Ros may want to Second it but I do want to affirm again that we have to really have some kind of depth conversation with zoning uh and about the particulars around these convenience stores these variety stores uh in these bodegas and to talk about proximity uh and to have the understanding that although they may be zoned for certain areas that as a city that we still have the right and responsibility uh because of pro proximity to not allow these places to be on top of each other uh causing uh you know problems in our communities and and and you know my problem is that we're not tackling this head on I don't think anyone is urgent uh about this and no one is doing their due diligence uh to go out and investigate these areas uh and we cannot continue to have constant complaints about because it's zoned in that way that we're just going to allow these things to be in certain spaces uh when we have to think about the relatively growth and development of this overall City I haven't been to uh many other major cities where have I walked on their corridors and seen uh a variety store a convenience store a bodega a liquor store and uh a Chicken Shack all along the same Corridor and so if we don't begin to talk about the diversity and what we need on these corridors the growth and development and if we're taking a very nonchalant perspective from uh our zoning folks uh it's going to be very problematic as we talk about the growth and development of the city toly noted councilman Council councilman rmo yeah thank you madam president you know I just want to thank um the the administration um for moving this forward um we we are definitely having a a lot of issues quality of life issues stemming from the growth of these smoke shops in our commercial corridors I think um this definitely does a lot to try to regulate uh their operations and at the same time create very specific penalties associated with their inability to operate within the confines of the law um you know I do understand councilman council's concerns uh the reality is that the last zoning uh changes that that were approved um which which I didn't support do create additional opportunities for these um kind of establishments to operate within and outside our our commercial corridors so I I do believe that the administration should probably detail um as a result of the last zoning changes where where are these kind of establishments authorized to operate now compared to what it was before because you will see that in the last zoning changes it does create additional areas where these kind of businesses can operate now totally noted any other comments all right see next item 9B is an ordinance amending title 8 businesses and occupations to create chapter 20 commercial motor vehicle parking lot license and establish rules and regulations any questions or comments councilman Council yes uh again Madam chair I want to uh you know thank the administration as we uh begin to work on 9A as well as 9B to shape uh and make sure that we fashion something uh that that is prudent uh but also holds people accountable and responsible uh in in these areas and so I would like to sponsor this item as well okay councilman Council Wishes the sponsor second by councilman Kelly any other comments councilman Gonzalez I see I see here it says to create chapter 20 but I believe there was another ordinance that created chapter 20 they say the one about ER container lot license so we are I suppose we are amending chapter 20 to add this because the the other one created chapter 20 already Madam clerk can you check on it just to make sure we have the right language that whatever we're doing creating amending that it's correct certainly before tomorrow yes okay and just a note to councilman Ramos's comment on the last item if we could just send a followup to EHD um regarding getting some of that information to him to the councilman okay public comment yes is are there any other items before we go to public comments are there any requests for added starters no oh my God we're doing so well so I'm so pleased I'm sure everyone else is um any request from Council Members before we go into public comments yes councilman coun I do see uh the uh HR Director here can we get an update on on the it situation surrounding the benefits uh and all of the things that are current with there uh and the messaging the information that is being sent out to uh the employees of the city sure good after good morning good good morning Madame President and council members uh Tiffany Stewart uh director division of personnel uh so I did want to um address councilman council's um inquiry regarding the healthc care um contribution increase um what people are seeing is basically an increase in um the contributions because the the city of norc employees pay a percentage of our overall health costs what we are in right now is year two of the Etna contract which was approved by council at the end of 2022 uh so this is year two there have not been any changes um to those contract terms the only thing that you're seeing is because we're self-funded there is an overall cost in our health care expenditures because of the current health conditions of our population questions comments yes so the the uh information that was sent out to uh employees that went out all all City uh that outlined to them the changes and and things uh that that were upcoming um in it there were many folks who uh did not receive this information as well as many uh were upset that it came out in the manner that it came out um and I think that even sending this information out in an all City may be one form of communication but there has to be different levels of communication where information like this that that uh is lifechanging to to some folks because there was dollars that was taken out of their pay on in February and the information said that was supposed to come out in March and so with with all of that happening it causes uh chaos throughout our work Universe um and then again I believe I thought that we still had a a broker in place that was moving forward to try to look at uh some of the other avenues as we talked about the unhealthiness of this organization and ways to improve that and so I don't I don't know if we still have a platform around that what is the next steps what are we doing in there to capture data and what are we uh you know looking at in terms of you know trying to um you know Flatline some of these health care benefits for some of these employees who still don't make a lot of money yes councilman Council so we have we do have uh we still remain um with our Brokers um that are assisting us as well as Etna and some other health care providers as well um they focus on things like uh chronic illnesses such as diabetes um hypertension things like that and they have uh nurses um and a care team that specifically reach out to those individuals to try to assist them with healthier practices and uh moving towards um a a healthier lifestyle um as far as um other avenues that we've looked at to try to uh reduce our health care costs we do have um a consultant who comes to the city um and provides um um Fitness a couple times a week at different locations as well as um uh juice bars and offers healthy uh recipes and cooking classes um so we've been doing that for the past I believe year or so at this point and we continue to look for other ways that we can assist the the municipal community and moving towards a healthier lifestyle as far as the communication of the information in general um I think there's a little bit of confusion there were two Communications that went out um there was an initial All City email and then there was a second All City email that went out and um basically temporarily put a hold on the the increases so we reverted back to what the cost of the deductions were for employees prior to the increase um for um about 30 days just to give them a little bit more time to financially prepare in addition to that I did um uh we discussed with uh um the administration various ways to um make that more affordable um which was also contained in the email as well so um in the future we will look at other avenues of communicating this information to the employees uh and Council as well other questions and comments from Council Members councilwoman Sky Tree did you have a question comment thank you council president I I'm I'm just taking back about U this increase especially um Madam uh director for those who are not in the I should say income bracket to be able to um afford maybe $600 additional coming out of their paycheck based on whatever the percentage is because I know that various percentages and um I don't know I don't remember receiving any corresponden up until maybe a month ago maybe I missed the email or my staff did that there would be an increase coming this year um such a substantial increase and not just speaking on my behalf um because there were years when I didn't have any deduction for health insurance I'm just glad to have it and be able to pay for it I'm thinking about the person that makes less than 30,000 or less than 40,000 has a family and now is going to be hit with this increase and not to mention if they have three or four children and a husband on there so just to be better prepared for that information um and and have some type of maybe uh conversation with with the employees prior to sending out a correspondence with two different messages I yes councilman round Tre uh councilwoman round Tre I apologize um so the way that it's structured right now um healthc care contributions are dependent on your income so the more that you make the more you're expected to contribute um and and this is especially important because it it doesn't mean that you know an employee who may may make you know uh on on the lower end of the spectrum is receiving a different different type of care we're all receiving the same type of care um whether you're you yourself get sick or you know a dependent of yours gets sick um everyone is receiving the same type of care but those on the higher end of the spectrum are paying a larger portion because their percentage is higher so it it there is an affordability Factor within that respect because we do consider um you know those who are making um on the lower end of the I'm not I'm not questioning the care I'm questioning the communication not the care just the communication because you give people 30 days to let them know their increase that there will be a deduction just more money coming out of their check but you know it's just better preparation for the change for the employees I'm not talking about me I'm not speaking on behalf of the council I'm just talking about those who are in a lesser income bracket communication I mean we get hit with things all the time added starters and everything else last minute when it comes to the livelihood of our employees that are not they're in a different income bracket that are just barely making it as it is and then this change all of a sudden comes about and of course they have to be prepared but it's just that for communication purposes I'm sure that we didn't just find out last week or last month there was going to be a change in the income I mean in the increase I'm hoping that we're not dealing with companies that tell us in two weeks it's going to be more money coming out your check or in 30 days so I'm just saying for the communication purposes 30 days is not a lot of time for someone to change unless they're being uh released from their job you don't have a choice at that point but if you're still going to be working and you're basing your income or your living standards what you're already bringing in now you have to adjust that whether it's one in the house working or two in the house working I'm just in communication don't give me 30 days to tell me you're gonna take $300 extra out my check not talking about me I just threw that figure out there I'm I'm good but for those who are not in my position that are making a whole lot less we have to think about how we communicate with them when we're taking that kind of money and that percentage out of their cheat that's all thank you director thank you councilwoman yeah I mean at this point I'm not I don't really know I can't really even decipher where we went wrong with the communication but all of the request that we have from unions at this point especially I mean our clerk could comment on that of requesting information is just really honestly crazy at this point due to folks saying that they did not know about the increase and I do agree with councilman Round Tree but I don't care how much money people make anytime you tell me that I'm going to have to be paying extra money for something that is a decrease of the money going into my household so just because people make 80 90 100 it's still less money going into their household because they have to pay for more benefits or pay more for their benefits so I just think definitely whatever the community communication plan was or what was set up it definitely fell because we would not have all of this disgruntling they did not know about the increases so I mean even now like what are we doing to like you know straighten this out what do what kind of you know approaches are we taking now to meet with employees let employees know I saw all City go out but honestly if if you already you know communicated with me wrong in the first place we have to take some type of different approach to meet with these different organizations groups to you know try to talk more help them understand what the increase is or what the breakdown in communication was because definitely there was something like folks are just not making it up out of the sky or saying you know I missed a line or two to read they are saying they did not know about the increase so you know definitely your team along with the ba or whomever um should be putting together some type of communication plan to be able to have more conversation with folks um because they're going to be here soon like we we're going to have to listen to them because somebody has failed to do so um to talk with them so you know when they come here and we have to sit here and take our time which is our job we don't mind but most of the time that's because someone has missed steps to address people and so they're going to be here to talk with us to tell us about you know what folks didn't do instead of Us coming up with the plan right now matter of fact two weeks ago and we got all a request to try to speak with folks and meet with them and try to you know talk this thing through so I I really highly recommend you do that I mean the clerk has been sending over all of these requests all of the things that are coming to our office but definitely that's something that you and your team should do yes we have a meeting with the Union scheduled for tomorrow great sounds wonderful any other questions councilman Gonzalez did you have something not not to her okay thank you so much Mr B yes council president and council members on behalf of the administration I do want to apologize there clearly was a a lack of communication we should have sent something out from my office first to you to the council members and we neglected to do so and I apologize the constituents come to you largely before they come to the rest of the administration so you should be armed with information uh to address those concerns uh second we should have reached out to the unions before uh this event we did reach out to them earlier to try to get something scheduled but it took us until now to get that done but not soon enough I don't want to suggest that we did it ear enough and I'll take responsibility for that I apologize to you to the unions and to the employees there is additional information that we can share about this increase but we'd have to do it in Clos session I know generally you don't want to stay longer but I will and give you a little uh more information about why there was a an increase that some people call substantial in the amount of money that's taken out of their checks and I'm prepared to do so if that's something that you want jie wol come will uh conference with the council members to see if anyone would like to go into executive session to discuss councilman Gonzalez this morning I had two interactions with the city services one the the people that collected the garbage broke my the the lead the plug on the lead to my to my receptacle second I'm sorry what is that Council this this here is the plug that holds the the lid so they threw the they threw the the reciprocal and this came out and is broken yeah oh for the lid that's the that's the problem got you second H I come here there is a truck from recycling blocking the parking and a truck from the buildings with the plow covering half my parking spot so I I I am here five minutes to 10 to come to the meeting at 10 o'clock I had to be late to the meeting because two City trucks are blocking my parking so I believe that we have to do better than that I believe that the they say the the city workers should know that let's say that those parkings have a users and that the users may come on any time not simply because there is no meeting someone should be parking there unless uh they request permission from one of the council members certainly if uh either now or later if you have more detail about what trucks were Block in your space I'll address them one is a one is says a ER Recycling and the other one has I believe a number 3663 the the the pickup truck has a number 36 63 and it's one of those that has a a plow and the plow was blocking like three or four feet of my parking space I couldn't even if I wanted to park I couldn't got it councilman Quintana in ter in terms of the cans I mean it's a real problem they're breaking so again what has to you you may have to do is what I've done I had to go get screws and tied tie them up to because those things are really they break and then to when they get they get lost these things you can't get them back in so again the manufacturer or who he bought these cans for I mean this is a real situation I mean it's not the person who how it's how they open them and they get loose so again I had to go and invest and get some screws screw it down so that now it doesn't happen yes sir but I I was every week trying to put it back put him in and it was not right you know so we need to look into this absolutely these cans well because I know there's more coming so we got to make sure that they're all going to be okay well sir the cans don't break if you don't throw them so I will have to uh look into that that's right councilman councel yep um Mr ba what about the the arrival of the new cans is one uh but also we we try to work hand inand uh you know with the administration in terms of messaging when we have Community meetings um and in our conversation is always to ensure that garbage is in the bag the bag is in the can so that when DPW comes they're able to take the bag out of the can and put it in in in their trucks uh but we're having a issue again with staging and and and we're requesting uh that that the staging stops because it does not help with the message that we're trying to send to ensure that we have a clean city so we can't have the residents doing the right thing putting the garbage in the bag the bag in the can and then have a Stager come one or two o'clock in the morning taking the garbage out of the can putting it out on the street and allowing rotors to have access to the garbage which again puts debris on the curb and causes issues and so we we're trying to work in tandem to make this happen and so is important that we send the right messaging and so I'm I'm not sure who is part and parcel of this or who is sending out these teams but we have to stop the staging of of garbage in the city it's become a problem yes councilman we actually had that discussion at our last director's meeting that specific issue I told us being addressed but you know you have to inspect what you expect and I will uh follow up on that that as well okay any other comments or requests from Council Members all right I will just remind and Madam clerk if we can send a note out to the responsible parties um in the city in regards that March 1st is here it's come it's gone and I have made a request in regards to receiving a report from code enforcement a weekly report from code enforcement and the courts regarding the cases that they are writing up from code enforcement and the the cases that the courts uh see on a weekly basis as it relates to code violations um Friday isn't here yet so I'm I'm hoping on Friday I'm going to get something I also made a request um in our meeting before last to um get a list of um judges that are assigned specifically to C violations um over at the court reports this week um and I'm I'll try not to bore people uh with it but U this last week the mayor and I attended a um meeting uh with residents um in the centry ward um and of course most of the complaints were regarding code violations um and not because code enforcement didn't come they came you know some of them came months ago some came before um but as far as when they went to court no information on that like you know no court date no anything in regards to that so CLE came they wrote it up they spoke to the landlord some people's situation got fixed some didn't but guess where it didn't go court for the ones that didn't get fixed so I'm really looking forward to the report on Friday of course I'll share with our council members so that we can try to unravel the matter of why folks complaints co- violations do not make it to court and when they do make it to cour Ian what the judg is from there I mean that's a different story but at least allow us to see some of the data of what we're looking at on a weekly basis here would be great so I just want to make send that reminder out so council president it is I am loathed to disagree with you and I'm not going to disagree but I think one of the mistakes that we make is to overpromise and UND deliver and I'm going to stand here right now and say it is unlikely that we'll be able to get you a weekly report we will get you we can get you a monthly report um and I think that is uh probably the best we can do at this time well I mean I would be hoping somebody would tell me they can't get me my request because I made this request almost three weeks ago and ain't nobody reach out to me or give me any information or follow up with my office I mean no one sent anything I mean and not just specifically you you Mr ba but all of the other employees that fall underneath your umbrella in these particular areas didn't send a thing to me and I'm sure not to any other council member about how they couldn't follow up with our request well my request so I really look forward to getting something in writing about what it is that they can deliver because I'm not going to continue to come to this stage here every week to talk about cold violation from residents that come here too to tell us again here is just one arena for us come upstairs and sit with us for eight hours and you'll see how many calls we get about cold violations I'm not going to continue to keep dealing with that and we're not doing anything about it so every week Mr ba I promise you I'm going to bring it up about the Cod violations and it going to courts because quite frankly not personally to you Mr ba but I'm disgusted and I'm tired of keep hearing the same complaint from residents about about Co violations I really am and we can talk about garbage a lot I wasn't going to go down this path but since we're here why not let me take a walk the councilman brings up about the garbage and you talked about sending out the inspectors for what they going out it ain't going no court like I mean what's happening people ain't paying no F like what is happening if nothing is happening what are people going out there sweating working hard for to write a blue ticket hopefully we ain't still on the blue tickets I mean do a seminar on this uh because we used to just do the blue tickets that didn't go to the courts and now we switch to the iPad like what are we doing like we cannot continue to waste our time and I hate to get into this you know atmosphere and have this conversation but this is why I keep asking for information and for folks over these departments to follow up and get back to us we have got to do something different to get some Real Results we want to clean City we want folks to do better we have to make them do better they're not just going to do it because God said do it they they're not doing it they're not godly folks that want to keep the city clean we have to stick it to folks and make them pay for keeping the city dirty and I we could we could we could put residents you know uh landlords residents that live here on the last Podium but let's just start with the big corporations that don't live here we ain't even doing nothing with them let's start with them who can really pay to you know keep their places clean the businesses I mean right now take a ride over to Walgreens on Bergen it's so much trash out there you could fill up a little mini truck right because every day the owner refuses to go out there and have somebody clean up hell Home Depot parking lot disgusting I could write you a book about trash and I hate to be talking to you Mr B because I know you you're not personally out there getting up trash I mean if you was we probably had better success rates honestly if you was personally doing it but at the end of the day it's just a problem and we have to do something about it we can't keep having residents come down here to talk about the same issues and for us to continue to take the call with the same issues and there no results so I apologize for those who have to watch me at home and who who are here we have to continue to hear the same thing but I'm not going to stop talking about it because we have to do something about it we have to it's time yes council president thank you Mr ba you're welcome all right with that being said public comment we are now in a 30 minute public comment section of this meeting where each speaker will have three minutes to speak please state your name for the record is there anyone wishing to address the council good morning good morning Deborah Salter city of New Warrior for the people you know I'm hearing a lot of good stuff today galish you putting your foot down I'm I'm liking this um now we just need to see the results of it right um with the L&M thing I was so glad that um you did not let it go with the director because you asked a specific question what percentage of L&M owns this new project and she told us all the benefits that we would get but didn't answer the question so why would we give this same disgusting uh Corporation a brand new development when they're not taking care of the regular citizens that's right here want to put that on record um so they 100% own that project but that's not what was said when y'all voted on at the last meeting see how that works um the also I want to talk about um we were talking about the um convenience stores bodegas and uh Miss Akens and I brought it up last time well she brought it up last time we were here we actually went into that store that we told you about by Northstar and another school they have the Fruit Stripe packages and the sour patch packages they have the the the uh Edibles along with the the regular candy and stuff so it's all mixed in and you know we did our little investigation and you know um had someone purchase it they didn't card anybody nothing like that and when I tell you those uh gummies or edible things because we had somebody you know who eats them was so powerful they felt like their body their their soul was leaving their body now if our kids get that what's gonna happen and it's right there next to Northstar and another school down there they're not cing they're not I mean they're doing whatever they want and they're all over the city what are we doing to invest gate and lock these places down right these are our children also talking about Public Safety I was in Home Depot on Sunday and the one on Springfield Avenue and uh there was a stolen car spinning down that little side street coming out to coming out to the Avenue spinning around going back almost hit a couple people had a four-wheeler almost hit the four-wheeler there's a cop sitting there in his City SUV there's another one over there with his SU SUV with the lights you're hearing what I'm hearing aren't you so at one point I cuz everybody freezes because now you don't know if they gon to come across over the hump on you know I go and I ask him I said sir do you hear what do you see this oh well I was just you know I was just trying to hear where it was coming from are you kidding me turn your head to the left and you will see them here he comes again you need to get him he slowly after I spoke with him cuz he knew I wasn't going to walk away he slowly rolled up there and sat at the light they never sit at the light just because they don't like to sit at the light they go through it and he let the guy go didn't even attempt to catch him thank you Miss Salters for your comments if we can definitely have someone from Public Safety look into Miss Salter's comments I do want to make just a note of Correction Miss Salter the item that we voted on last week as it related to the ownership for um the LM lmnx D um whatever xfd whatever uh project that was a different project that was NJ pac's project and NJ pac's project they do own 80% of their own project and then L&M owns like 20 well 177% and then the other people own 3% the minority so that was a different project this Nork Museum project this is something totally different so this is the first time this is coming to the full body of the council this project all right next speaker I'm back so uh manira El buman uh I'm here today to get my equal air time in regards to the response from the ba from the last council meeting that I was excluded after for two meetings first I want to ask the council members do you take a oath the office also do you have a bond and if you do did you all vote for that exclusion yes or no and also I requested a copy of your oath of office Miss mcgyver and also Kesha Daniels and moving to the ba next your oath of office is requested as well as your bond uh to the residents of the city we have a constitution and we supposed to defend that we have a right to petition our government we have a right to redress our Grievances and we have a right to a peaceful assembly be it in a public place or outside of this public building that is our constitutional rights legalized corruption no other word to describe what's been allowed to happen in the city under this Administration to the ba if you want to address the comments that I made address news12 and the news reporter for exposing you for withholding withholding subpena documents during the orange investigation for corruption bank and wire fraud that led to your resonation Our Guest resigning was your get out of jail free card and a slap on the wrist from this Essence County corrupt Network one thing for certain two things for sure the people of the city of no and the people of America as you see are sick and tired of people being awarded do they corruption and also getting a slap on the wrist and going to other municipalities and uh breeding more corruption and criminality now the Supreme Court just ruled that if Trump could remain on a ballot I know when I take this case to the Supreme Court that the the council rules is going to be unconstitutional thank you your time has now expired so Mami your time has now expired thank you thank you so much thank you thank you thank you um this is the thing we we kind of talk about about like the the rule rul here in the council um first of all welcome back it's great to see you back again we hope that you can uh stay with us and be with us for some time um we uh you know it's a lot of conversation about us violating folks rights or anything anyone has the right to sign up to come here and speak at the council um folks have the right to speak when they come to the podium they say some of the most egregious things people believe um that they people believe as they watch and some folks that are here in the chambers but does that stop folks from being able to say what they want to say as long as they're no threats yes they can you know no matter how folks might personally feel or how hurtful they may be but you do have the opportunity to do that what cannot happen here in this Chambers is disruption you have the right to speak you do not have the right to be disruptive you can come here you can speak you can have your time but this isn't a personal rebuttal situation where you're here yelling at people when they're trying to come to the mic to speak or have followup that cannot happen here and that is what we request the folks who come here is to be mindful and be respectful of everyone here in the chambers the chambers doesn't belong to one individual where you're the personal ruler of this particular place it belongs to everyone who comes in here and who wants to visit here so once again folks have the right to speak here they have the right to sign up to speak to say whatever it is that they want to say at their time at that mic as long as they're no threats but you do not have the right to be disruptive here in the chambers and so we stand to that as a council as the council president and until a judge tells me otherwise those are the rules that we're going to follow here in this Chambers next speaker all right seeing none public session is now closed um I believe that concludes our pre- meeting for today right Madam clerk Ren good councilman Silva uh yes I just wanted to touch on Miss Salters in a stolen vehicle driving erratically around uh the area of Springfield Avenue New York police uh has a no chase policy when it comes to stolen vehicles this was put in place many many years ago under a prior administration because of uh chasing vehicles and costing innocent people innocent residents their lives so you cannot outweigh that and so that's why the officers did not pursue that vehicle we have a no chase policy here in nework uh if the vehicle is wanted for a specific crime yes we can pursue that vehicle but just for it being stolen we cannot thank you so much for that councilman um Silva for that explanation any other comments before we depart okay seeing then we'll see everyone back tomorrow for our regular meeting at 12:30 sharp have a great day stay dry stay safe