e e e e e e e e e e e on a time schedule here in the council so hopefully the clerk's office can get the video working I'm I'm I'm really not sure no one's telling us what's going on however we're going to take a roll call to go into to Executive session as we have an exe a quick executive session and we're going to be leaving the chambers to do so so can I have a roll call to go into executive session consel yes crom yes Gonzalez yes Kelly absent kintana yes Ramos absent Scot round Tre yes Silva yes president mver yes with that being said everyone is welcome to wait into the chambers as council members are going to make their way upstairs for an executive if you do not have anything to do with the discussion which I doubt many folks here do you're more than welcome to sit and relax until we come back thank you so much for your patience e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e do some changes in our schedule where we had executive session first for those who were here on time with us at 10: is the reason we had went to Executive so at this time we'll go ahead and turn it over to the clerk council president council members we are on page 44 where we have one appointment it's the appointment to the affirmative action review Council as a community representative is Miss Tiffany T weams in the chamber yes you can you can approach hi Miss Williams it's great to see you thank you so much for joining us today uh you are being recommended from the mayor's office for appointment to the affirmative action review Council as the community representative do you have a comment or a statement to the council Madam president and council members my name is Tiffany Williams I'm a lifelong resident of the city of Newark I was born in and raised in the southw my business which serves individuals with special abilities at risk youth and adults is also located in Newark I'm also an alumni of rockers University nework campus over the I can continue um if you can just talk a little more inside of the mic so we can hear you a little louder okay I'm sorry can you guys hear me now yes good should I start from the beginning yes okay well good morning uh council president and council members my name is Tiffany Williams I'm a lifelong uh resident of new I was born and raised in the South Ward of Newark and my business which serves people with special abilities at risk youth and adults is also located in the city of Newark I'm also an alumni of Ruckers um university Newark campus over the years I've been deeply engaged with the community throughout through mentorships sponsoring events and actively participating in various Community engagements and activities I'm committed to giving back to the community that has given so much to make I'm a proud member of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey recently I learned about an opening on the affirmative action committee and I believe that I will be an excellent fit for this role I fully support the mayor's agenda on projects in Newark under tax AB tax abatement and I'm eager to serve and support the affirmative action committee wholeheartedly I'm confident that my business experience and commitment to the community aligned with the requirements set forth by the affirmative action committee I if given the opportunity I would look forward to contributing to the committee's efforts and making newk proud thank you for considering me as an applicant thank you so much Miss Williams any comments or questions from Council Members councilwoman Scott rry I would like to sponsor her great Council round second it and then I heard a second from councilman Crump any other comments congratul ulations thank you so much thank you have a great day thank you okay thank you all council president council members we are on page four of the agenda item five reports and recommendations of City officers boards and commissions okay any questions from Council Members seeing none next item ordinances on first reading six FAA is an ordinance authorizing the mayor and or his designate to enter into an execute corrective deed regarding the Essex County Improvement Authority okay can we get a quick explanation on this item Good morning Deputy Mayor good morning council president council members Allison lad director of Economic and Housing Development uh this item that is before you um had an error um in the deed as you may remember um from when it was first moved out of communications uh there is a small piece um of a lot that needs to be transferred to Essex County Improvement Authority and it should have been done at the time of the original execution about 10 years ago okay any questions or comments from Council Members seeing none thank you Deputy Mayor thank you next item six I'm sorry public hearing second reading and final passage item 6 psfa is an ordinance amending title 8 businesses and occupations to create chapter 41 modal container lot license and establish rules and regulations sponsored by councilman Council second by councilman Kelly any questions or comments regarding this item seeing none next item 6 psfb is an ordinance granting a 30-year tax abatement to Broad Street Ventures urban renewal LLC for a project to rehabilitate and convert a vacant Hotel into a mixed use building consisting of 79 market rate residential rental units 20 affordable housing rental units of which five units shall be restricted to tenants at 40% of area median income Ami five units shall be restricted to tenants at 60% of Ami and 10 units shall be restricted to tenants at 80% of Ami in the East Ward questions or comments from Council Members councilman Gonzalez yes we were we were promised a lot of things in terms of the hotel would be bacon the of of let's say airbnbs and and all those how they comply with those requirements good morning council president council members are regarding this item I know there were two items that were discussed um under uh the council's consider ation the first was the compliance of the affirmative action and there was a joint agreement between the developer and the office of affirmative action for a $65,000 payment uh for that item the second regarding Airbnb there was a notice that was provided from the owner to the tenants to have all aab BNB uh cease and assist uh what I will do uh today is ensure that that occurred um so before your consideration tomorrow yeah I would like to see that they have complied with that before we vote on that understood thank you any other questions or comments seeing none next item 6 psfc there's a request from Finance to defer this item council members okay next item resolutions 7r1 a through 7r1 C are temporary emergency Appropriations a is to provide funds for the 2024 budget b is for the Hope Village trees and shrubs purchase Grant and C is to support education of a diverse nurse practitioner population in underserved communities any questions regarding 7r1 a through 7r1 C councilman Kelly thank you madam president um just on 7r1 C just want to know are we paying is this a grant that's paying for New Yorkers to go to nursing school at seeden Hall good morning good morning director good morning kinbrook director for the Department of Health to answer your question uh councilman Kelly this does not pay for new Yark residents to attend nursing school what it does is it's a partnership between the Sean Hall College of Nursing and the Department of Health to train nurse practitioner students on nursing within a urban environment serving vulnerable populations providing quality clinical care while addressing ing social determinance of health so we receive students within our health center and through a preceptorship program um they're given the opportunity and exposure to providing uh Quality Care within a fqc setting okay so the the students who are currently at se seting Hall correct these are uh Master Level students who are completing a two-year program to become nurse practitioners gotcha thank you any other questions regarding these uh resolutions a through C Sienna next item 7r1 D and 7r1 E are both the use of State contracts D is for communication services and E is for computer equipment questions or comments regarding d and e CNN 7r1 F through 7r1 H are lobbying and Consulting Services F is for winning strategies G is for CET and CET PC and H is for mercury public affairs LLC any questions regarding F through H seeing n 7r1 i is a contract with a subrecipient to provide Community violence prevention through youth mentoring program the weekway park Association questions or comments regarding this item yeah Madam chair uh councilman motion to defer okay a motion is on the floor to defer do I have a second second by councilman Kelly yeah Madam president um councilman Ramos yeah going back to the uh various uh Consultants that the city's using for for lobbying um would it be possible for us to get kind of a report on their activities and what they've been able to generate on behalf of the city definitely um are you able to provide that to us yes I can uh Melvin walr from the uh Office of the business administrator chief of staff and I'll have the report here that I'll oh thank you okay that's fine can someone get and also Madame President like are these three entities the only groups that we use for federal and state lobbying or their other I know the health department has their own Consultants um okay uh these Consultants are used for all our departments whether it's health MH uh police department office of of uh homeless Services uh engineering uh whatever grant opportunities that are identified that we think that we can be competitive for uh they assist us in going after those opportunities and do they get paid based on like hours that they spend on behalf of the city who who monitors those reports for them to get reimbursed for their services uh the rates that they are received just a flat uh rate but one of the things I look at and you will see I think towards the end of that report is the ROI uh and my estimation is that approximately we get about $19 for every dollar we invest uh you know in those services but but but are some of the grants that you're giving these entities credit for block grants that the city would receive no despite their uh their work no what what you're referring to are entitlements I mean there are certain things that we're entitled to those are entitlement okay these are comp grants these are not cdbg grants these are competitive grants that we have reports in the past where these lobbyist will take credit for grants that the city would get regardless of whether we had a consultant or not yeah in this particular situation I do not think that that's uh the case again we would not be able to get these grants but for the uh Consultants we do not have the capacity inhouse to uh do the grant right that we are able to get you know from them so they do a couple of services for us I mean one they identify the grants that are available and secondly they uh write grants uh you know for us so but for their efforts a lot of these grants we would not uh you know get and again when you look at the amount of money that we've brought in some of those dollars or uh Congressional discretionary funding which are the ear marks okay that requires a lot of effort in terms of working with our Cent senors and our uh uh you know Congress uh you know people you know there in Washington to make sure that they get the information information that they need to move these uh requests uh through uh committee the other part that I spoke of earlier are the competitive grants these are grants that we have to apply for in some instances we get them some instances we do not uh one of the things that they look at when they evaluate uh uh grants these competitive grants is whether or not we have skin in the game and one of the things that has been a challenge for us in applying for some of these grants is that we've not been able to provide a match uh so uh you know for example you'll see in the report one of the grants that uh we're pursuing now is a $48 million Grant uh for bridge repair and there's a uh 9.6 million match that's associated with that that uh that that uh We've identified and and hopefully that will allow us to be more competitive on that Grant than we've been on some of the grants in the past because we've not been able to provide that match thank you Mr Walter appreciate the report any other questions from Council Members CNN back to the agenda 7 r1j is a Professional Services contract to provide engineering consultant Services regarding The Pedestrian safety Improvement projects questions or comments from Council Members councilman Crome CNN next item 7r1 K is a competitive contract to provide consulting services and Technical assistant for the HUD entitlement programs questions or comments regarding this item CNN 7r2 a through 7r2 C are all private sale Redevelopment we will go with through them individually I just won't repeat private sale and Redevelopment a is to rehabilitate a one family home to become owner occupied in the west ward questions or comments regarding this item Council M Kelly um I'm gonna I'm going to look to U before I vote on this I'm going to look to meet with um the uh The Entity you know before I before I vote on this before tomorrow okay next Item B is to provide new construction of a two family dwelling in the South Ward questions or comments from Council Members councilman Council fine with moving it Forward okay any other questions or comments regarding 7 r2b seeing none next item C is to provide new construction of a one six unit dwelling and a two family house with affordable rent in the west ward questions or comments regarding this item Council Melly move forward okay any other questions from Council Members regarding 7 r2c CNN 7 r2d is the 2024 annual budget for the bloomfi Avenue Lower Broadway business improvement district sponsored by councilman Ramos second by councilman canana okay any additional questions seeing none 7r2 e is a 2024 annual budget for the Mount Prospect Avenue neighborhood improvement district Management Corporation for the Mount Prospect Avenue neighborhood Improv improvement district sponsored by councilman Ramos second by councilman Gana any questions or comments regarding this item see none 7 r2f is the 2024 annual budget for the greater Nork tourism improvement district Management Corporation doing business as the greater NK convention and visitors bureau sponsored by council president mcgyver second by councilman Crum any questions or comments regarding item seeing none 7r2 G is a 2024 annual budget for partnership West Incorporated West Ward business improvement district sponsored by councilman Kelly second by councilman Gonzalez questions or comments see n for the record council president council members all four of the citiz and bids will have a public hearing tomorrow evening okay sounds great 7R 2 H and 7r2 I are all designating an area in need of Redevelopment questions or comments regarding these items seeing none 7 r2j is application acceptance of Grant funds to provide re-entry Services questions or comments regarding this CNN 7r2 K was discussed in executive session 7r2 L is a resolution of support to provide for the submission of an application for tax credits questions or comments regarding 7r2 L CNN 7 r3a is an amending resolution a modification agreement from the the New Jersey Department of Transportation regarding the Central Avenue Bridge over New Jersey City subway structure questions or comments regarding this item seeing none 7 r3b is a grant agreement to enter into an agreement modification with the Department of Transportation regarding Route 21 Nork Riverfront pedestrian and bicycle access questions or comments regarding this item CNN 7 r4a is stipulation of settlements for tax appeals questions or comments regarding the tax appeals councilman Gonzalez all right next item 7 r4b is approving the form of sale of City secured bonds okay uh Ben would you like to come up and talk about this item good morning uh C president council members Benjamin Gman Department of Finance uh this is for the uh temporary construction financing for the Panic Aqueduct uh repair project that is currently uh ongo it had been already approved this is to enable the city in order to begin to receive funding and draw down from the state funds through the infrastructure Bank uh in order to begin the project and continue the project at at a certain point once it reaches a certain level of completion the city will then be eligible to permanently Finance it at a future time through the ibank with the usual Z to low percentage financing and principal forgiveness okay any questions for Ben seeing none thank you Ben you're welcome 7 r5a is a contract with subrecipient to provide HIV AIDS related health and support services Catholic Charities and the arch dases of nor questions or comments regarding this item SNA r5b is amending application acceptance of Grant funds to amend the resolution regarding seaten Hall University School of Nursing nursel mobile Health Training project Grant questions or comments regarding this item CNN 7R 6A is waving the 20-day period for an ordinance to take effect regarding the container lot license questions or comments regarding this item CA 7R 6B and 7R 6C are Professional Services contracts with the law Department B is for workers compensation matters and C is for litigation defense matters questions or comments regarding these two items CA 7R 6D and 7R 6E are settlements with the law Department discussed in executive session okay next item 7 r8a is whole harmless and identification agreement for the senior summer barbecue sponsored by councilman Ramos do I have a second second by councilman Quintana next item 7R 8B is a whole harmless and identification agreement for the Mother's Day and Father's Day senior brunch sponsored by councilman Ramos counc okay um councilman Quintana councilwoman you had to yell out in that mic for me next item 7 r8c is waving special event application permit fees for the juneth festival sponsored by councilman council do I have a second second second by councilman Kum 7R 8D is urging support on the findings of New Jersey state disparity study sponsored by councilman Crump I have a second second by councilman Kelly 7 r8e is recognizing commending resolutions and 7 r8f is expressing profound sorrow and regret all right any questions regarding these seeing none 7 r9a is Professional Services contract would byy Engineering Services questions or comments regarding 7 r9a the professional service [Music] contract CNN 7 r9b is a sale disposition of personal property not ex not needed fire trucks Oh for $1 any questions or comments Mr Madam chair yes Council mome just a quick question uh with the sale of this and the value of the actual vehicles does the city get some kind of credit for it it appears we get $1 I know we sell it for a dollar but based upon the actual value of the the vehicle I know they're not in service and I know that they're not being used but just a question in terms of yeah Eric Pennington business administrator council president two councilman Crump it's it's uh beyond that they're not being used they are insufficient to meet the standards required for the city to have those safety vehicles in service So eventually they are valueless according to our records and we actually I'm sorry I'm sorry I say we're actually saving money because we're we're spending money in storage of those Vehicles right now exactly and we don't pay for the transportation of the vehicles the recipient will have to get them transported to the location on their own all right thank you C Gonzalez yes ER I would like to know the the process to say to be able to to dispose of of this equipment because let's say we have a lot of sissor cities in the let's say in South America and the Caribbean that might be able to use equipment like this so perhaps if we knew the of the pro of the process or the procedure to get some of these vehicles deliver or sold to to one of these entities ER we can take advantage of um that that's fine I think there's a sister city committee we don't have any problem with you going through the committee and making a recommendation to the administration and proceed in in terms of when vehicles are given to other countries uh like New York City uh to the Dominican Republic or elsewhere uh we have to also in the process uh the state department plays a role and turns give it gives like a credit to a city uh for an exchange so we we need to look into I understood the state department because it's like a credit towards a municipality for give it gives it a credit so so we could look into uh the state department uh his procedures uh I think we should look into it because there is equipment I know the years ago there was some police equipment that was given to uh I don't recall who it was but we gave out some Police radios even we did some with Puerto Rico in turn in terms of radios and it was it was it was City to city or state to state but when it when it comes to a foreign country or any it State Department gives a credit so we need to look at the possibility of getting credit yes sir we'll do that thank you jul not any other questions or comments councilman Kelly yeah just one more um I guess request when it when it comes to um our International Trade committee when it comes to um our um our tourism board committee when it comes to sister cities I think there could be a lot of synergy with those three committees with those three organizations if we get on the same page so I want to request a meeting with tourism sister city and um the international trade because I think that there's so many different things that fall under all of them separately but that actually pertains to each other and I think that if we get on the same page we'll have better understanding about the credit and um the sister cities and and how they all operate yes councilman Quintana you know there's two cities model cities in the country one is uh Fort Worth Texas and the other one is Fort Lauderdale both cities have a department uh of sister cities and and and and and uh trade which they trade trade is an issue that we as a sister city sisters cities cannot deal with trades with countries it is an issue that has to be addressed with the state department and the Department of Agriculture depends on what what is the exchange but I know Fort Lauderdale uh has the a department of sister cities in tourism and trades and also Fort Worth Texas does too and and the way they subsidize these these departments in their municipalities it's to port and through I meaning the airport on the tax there's a $1 tax in in Fort Lauderdale which helps the sister city program to develop around the globe and bringing businesses to and export in import and exporting okay any other comments I'll make myself available to participate uh on behalf of the administration if you if you like okay thank you so much all right next item 709 C is a shared services agreement with essis County okay questions or comments regarding this item CNN 7 r9d is an exception to public bidding to provide support and maintenance of proprietary software questions or comments regarding this item CNN 7 r12a is a change order for solids floatables and control measures netting facilities questions or comments regarding this item seeing none 7 r2b is a bid contract to provide Supply and delivery of liquid sodium questions or comments regarding this item CN n item 8 a was already discussed items 8 B through 8D are all reappointments to the central planning board okay any um I'm sorry madam cler are you going to read the names you want to read the names no I'm sorry do you want to read the names oh of course my apologies B is Mr James C is Miss Witcher D is Mr Silva miss my apologies Miss D Silva items 8 e through 8G are all reappointments to the Caribbean Commission e is Miss lurs f is Miss Thompson G is Miss King questions or comments regarding these items seeing none 8 H is an ordinance authorizing the mayor and or his designate to exercise Its Right of reverter and connection with the property commonly known as 204 pesan Avenue okay um so like to come up and give us a quick explanation regarding this item good morning good morning council president Randy Daniel legislative coordinator for economic and Housing Development this uh particular item is in uh conjunction with the Valentine's Day Day Sale um and that's doing our due diligence with compliance to make sure that everybody was in compliance we found that this particular owner that we sold to sold the property for $65,000 therefore we notified them in November of 2023 with a default letter and this is us going through to take the learn back and give it back to the city okay questions or comments from Council Members Council M crom yeah thank thank you Miss Daniels um just thank you council president just a quick question with regards to the whole uh uh the whole Valentine's Day Sale how many properties were reverted back to the city as of right now um we have 11 11 of those properties that are currently City owned okay and the rest are all the other 20 are under um deed under someone's name yes sir all right M Gonzalez yes H we are taking the property from the person that purchased the property from uh the one that got it for $500 that is correct ER there is something in law that is if a transaction is doing good faith if he bought the property in good faith not knowing that this individual had that rever Clause we may have some issues getting that property back ER I believe that we have to we have to we have to do what we have to do but I believe that in this case you might have a an issue with getting the property back because of the ER if the transaction is in arm length let's say this individual thought that the the the person selling the property was the rightful owner of the property we are going to have some issues getting the property back okay any other comments or questions okay thank you so much you're welcome council president all right next item 8i is an ordinance amending title 23 traffic chapter 15 stop intersections yield intersections and through streets I'm sorry I'm sorry madam clerk by designating Orange Street and North Fifth Street as a multi-way stop sign intersection in the west ward okay Council Melly I'm I like the sponsor this a second by councilman Gonzalez any other questions or comments regarding this item see n 8j is an ordinance amending the capital ordinance and there's a motion to advance and adopt on first reading okay can we have somebody come up and give an explanation regarding this item hey Ben good morning again Benjamin GM Department of Finance uh this particular Capital ordinance last year on July 19th uh the city uh did uh prior to that a cleanup of all old capital projects and all those funds were put into the capital fund of which then we authorized a capital ordinance last year one of those projects was for uh equipment for the police department which at the time was needed but they have been able to locate Grant funds to pay for this so they have then requested to have those funds uh canceled from that particular project and then amended to increase an additional project by that same amount I believe it's $1.2 million in order for uh to be able to increase the purchase of the uh body Cam and in car uh equipment okay questions or comments from Council Members councilman crom thank you council president then just a quick question just to confirm my understanding so the expenditure was taken away from from 911 zentron system and then that 1.21 was increased in the axon system that is correct yes okay thank you okay any other questions or comments for Ben Mr Guzman all right thank you next item 8K is an ordinance amending title 23 traffic chapter 5 parking stopping and standing and parking prohibited at all times parking prohibited at any time for trucks trucks cabs truck trailers and buses exceeding four tons to increase the fines for violations yes any questions or comments regarding this item yes I'm sorry what you yes let's advance and adopt for this yes yes and yes and I'll sponsor this a second have a second second by councilman Council I think I heard any questions or comments councilman Gonzalez yes I just want to know how much are the fins director good morning council president and council members Dolores Martinez withen department of engineering director um in this uh line item we're updating the finds from $100 to $1,000 for commercial vehicles parking illegally across the city um also a section of of this is parking prohibited fine to $85 um those are the the the fine updates thank you yeah thank you excellent all right I'm sorry next item I'm sorry I'm sorry madam cler so excited about the fine increase um next item 8l is an ordinance amending title 23 traffic chapter 5 parking stopping and standing stopping or standing prohibited at certain times to include fines for violations okay can we get a little explanation director on this item good morning again um this one in particular um updates the fine to $95 uh for parking in the areas on the ordinance um at the hours specified in the ordinance itself so it moves it up to $95 um for parking and designated areas for no stopping or standing any questions or comments regarding this item just have a question yes councilman director good morning um I just think that we need more signs because there's areas in the East and probably Citywide where uh there's not signage so our Police Department cannot go out and enforce that so I think this is uh something that we need to and I'm sure you have uh collaborated with the New York Police Department because we are uh in the east Ward and I'm sure other Wards are getting so many commercial vehicles parking uh till 11: p.m they know what the rule is and I'm going to be looking to maybe changing those hours to a little earlier as well but um without this proper signage the officers that are are out there cannot enforce and I think that to get the message across to all these commercial vehicles CU seems like they're just growing in this area that we need we need to get the proper signage out so if you could please just look into that not only in just Citywide to make sure that we have what we need so the police department can go out and issue those thousand tickets uh to to these offenders absolutely so similarly that us working with DPW we're going to team up with NPD to do a city-wide scrub to um look at our ordinances and make sure that everything is posted properly thank you thank you councilman um I'm sorry councilman council did you have your hand up a question no I'm sorry councilman Kelly I just want to add on to what councilman Silva says because just like the East and you know the West needs those signs as well so when you do your Citywide please um if we can help you with some um location we'll be able to do that for my office but the West needs those signs as well okay any other questions or comments seeing none next item 10 a are the raffle license okay any questions about the raffle license seeing none all right that concludes the agenda um okay before we go into public comment any requests or comments from Council Members Council M Gonzalez yeah the other days thank you Madame President the other day there was a graduation of the fire department unfortunately I was not invited and I understand that other colleagues of my of ours were not invited it's unfortunate that we had one of the biggest H classes of firefighters in the city of New York and we are not the whole council is not invited to to attend I believe that that needs to be corrected ER because H we are everybody here is at the same rank ER we don't we we cannot differentiate between one or the other and I believe some differentiation has been okay thank you so much councilman Gonzalez perhaps there was an oversight I know that the Public Safety Office sent out personal invitation so if we can just look into that matter to find out why the entire council did not receive a personal invitation we definitely want to you know continue to encourage people and make sure that they're inviting the full Council um to these events as well as not scheduling things happening during our Council meetings right now you see many council members having to depart because there's a groundbreaking going on um and of course you know they have to leave to be there and once again we have folks scheduling things um you know during the time of the city's business um so definitely that's a problem but if we can you know have a respon uh a letter to the Public Safety Office to find out what happened with other council members invitations absolutely yes councilman Gonzalez yes VI came here the other day and talked to us about picking up bicycles and uh from the from the sidewalks ER in front of my house there is a bicycle that has been there since Sunday today is Tuesday and they haven't picked it up so I believe it's important that that they comply with what they said that they were going to do absolutely and I think we're scheduled to have them back here before us they're definitely not the process is not going better the bikes are still laying all over the place it's not gotten better so you know perhaps we need to have them at the next special to come back before us or definitely director you should start to look at other options because when you were here too you promised us if they didn't do better that we would be you know leaving our contract with them or moving on and we really need to revisit that because things are not better all right any other requests or comments from Council Members we do have some added starters I think we're going to go over to um councilman Ramos yeah I just want to say that my my invite got lost to to the fire graduation um I did receive a phone call from represented from the fire Union after the graduation started so you know we got to do better especially in event of that magnitude for us to U um have certain elected officials who for whatever reason don't get invited uh to participate thank you Council mentana I I stay for the record too I was not invited and I had checked with staff on in terms of emails and no there was no correspondence from the Department of Public Safety so you know I just want to make sure that um we're all on a play field it takes a team effort to be on the field and I I think we're a team whether God is we agree or disagree with anything uh should not be uh we are the represent the governing body and we should for that reason and and moving forward I know Council rainow you talked about you know we missed that and and it was important to us so I know that you were preparing some resolutions to to honor some of those uh folks that graduated men and women so I think we should do something in terms of that because we were it was it was it felt uncomfortable uh as an elected official as a person who's been in 38 years and and and I have had with different administrations different but never uh I never receive I received all information at this given time not even correspondence so I think it's if it's an oversight when then you know you need to clear your oversight or fix it thank you so much councilman Quintana um any other requests or comments all right let's hear the added starters I believe we have three in total five oh five God that's escalated first one is an ordinance Leger star file 24- 0699 is an ordinance granting a 20-year tax abatement to SPG 2013 maarta highway urban renewal LLC for a project to construct a warehouse distribution center okay any questions from Council Members Madam president yes councilman if this is uh approved I I'd like to be noted as a sponsor duly noted do I have a second second by councilman Gonzalez okay next item Leger star file 24- 0668 is a private sale Redevelopment to ensure subordination agreement oh what's the address do we have an address on it no I do not have the address I'm sorry South 18th Street in the west ward okay uh any questions councilman Kelly yeah I would I would love to uh meet with these people first can we get the backup today yeah I mean the backup for the added starters yes please yeah that'll be helpful good morning again council president Brandy Daniel legislative coordinator for econom IC and Housing Development um this is actually for a subordination agreement but I can get you the information councilman Kelly than um they secured financing and it requires an negative subordination agreement the reason why we're pushing this is the Ned starter is because they have advertised in a Star Ledger twice to appear on uh the tomorrow's meeting but if you would like to meet with them prior to approving this I could uh get that information to you as well as reach out to them for you what what's the entity name um is uh carvalo realy and the address are 585 and 587 South 18th Street perhaps we can get Council Melly some well we can get the full Council some additional information and the backup for this item that'll be helpful not a problem okay thank you so much you're welcome next item legist star file number 24- 0761 is the acceptance of Grant funds for the Green Acres project okay how much is it I do not know is someone here claiming the added starter oh okay all right you got them all M just wanted to know what they amount was again uh council president Brandy Daniel legislative coordinator economic and Housing Development uh this particular Grant is for a million dollars oh yeah okay is that for the park on Broadway it is in conjunction with uh the pro uh the project on Markus Street and Raymond Boulevard in conjunction with PSC and G this is for phase a and the NJ Deb unless we get approval tomorrow we stand to lose that funding we'll take that all right next item legistar file number 24- 0779 is a resolution amending an agreement regarding the work period for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection the New Jersey who I'm sorry Department of Environmental Protection the okay uh little explanation all right director adem good morning Kareem adem director Department of Water this is just a amendment to a Grant application accepting funds of the work period on the um original uh resolution of the state sent they put a March 30th date when we need to until it gets approved by the council the date needs to be revised okay any questions from Council Members Only thing that we're changing is the the date right we had the work date the start of the project okay any other questions for director Dean seeing none thank you thank you legar file 24- 0774 is an apply and accept resolution to accept Grant funds from New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for the storm water utility come on back okay good morning again council president council member this is another Grant we're accepting about $150,000 for storm water um assistance and implementation storm water utility community outreach so she said the grant is Grant amount is 150,000 yes okay any questions or comments from Council Members regarding the grant fund hey thank you all right that's five so that concludes added starters all right we'll just look for the backup for all of these items add it STS all right we'll just look for the backup for all of these items um so that every council member can take a look at them um and any explanation we need as well all right with that being said public comment yes 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 our records is anyone wishing to speak yes good morning hello um my name is chevan Charles and I just want to I just want to um put sh some light on what happened to me last night um uh the my I just moved into 92nd Avenue and on the first floor and the neighbors were peeking into my apartment from the day that I moved in uh to last night and um I was asking them to you know move a calling the police accordingly and um the police would come but they told me multiple times they weren't going to make a report um my uh my management come they went the neighbors then went to the management company and complained about me and I received a notice of my lease violation okay yeah and uh and they said that I had males in my apartment that I was disturbing the peaceful environment of the property and harassing the neighbors Jesus okay I did not harrass them people and I tried to put in multiple reports and the police wouldn't take them they said that no crime was being committed when I showed them the the window where they were peeking into it was my bedroom window and um they were standing there with their hand in their pants and um I have a newborn daughter she's right right there she's five months and um I ask my husband to tell them to move so I I didn't understand this and um I had to call the Miss Salters to have them actually write a report draw up any type of report because they weren't going to give me anything um they wrote the report the report is here and if I didn't get the um the the document from Miss Salters they were gonna put me out they said it that they were going to give me two more violations and evict me because of the men in myart I I I'm married woman I'm evangelist I do not have another man I have one man and my daughter yeah I'm oh if if if it and if it was to intimidate me I'm thoroughly thoroughly intimidated so yes uh yes thank you I just want to uh if you're done with your public com I just want to State your last name is strong right Charles Charles Charles and you said the address is 902nd Avenue okay if we can have somebody from the first I'm sorry that happened to you that's very unfortunate and um just upsetting to hear but if we can have somebody from the police department that's here in the chambers be able to speak to her in regards to why it was a problem with her just filing a report on her own that would be great here so if you can have a seat someone will come to you okay oh thank you can I address that oh well your time is done now let the police speak to you at the direct the director comes talk with you okay next speaker Deborah Suter city of Newark Warrior for the people um with the incident last night and I was on the phone I actually called Ramos in between the first set of officers who would not do their job and laughed in her face um and I let him know he didn't he called me back I told him what was going on and he told me to reach out to him if you know anything uh did not happen that was supposed to happen um so the second group of officers come but the first one's talking about oh well no we're not going to talk to you we're not I mean they literally told her that it was legal for them to stand outside her window oh they can do that what and it didn't become a crime till he put his hands in his pants we're not going to file this report I was on the phone second group of Officer I said call the police back again call them again she got him on the phone but this is the stuff I've been telling you all for the past couple of years but n's crime is down because there's Under reporting going on so uh call back and you get somebody on the phone you tell the dispatcher what's going on you tell them to get an officer out here now by this point I was about to be on my way there I was in the middle of doing something else so the officers come not only do they victimize her they try to inscite the husband so that they could beat him up and arrest him you know and I heard him screaming at one point one officer start screaming at her oh now you're lying now you're going to lie um wait a minute how do we get here from her and kept asking the questions over and over and Ramos I took when when I didn't get you back I took a video of the whole thing that he explained the husband explained several times they thought it was funny they kept over and over first of all they came into our house with a flashlight like we're about to you just like let's turn the light on what are you doing doing too much of nothing okay it was a set of uh Hispanic Latino again I don't know because you all drive me crazy because if I say one thing you tell me it's another um then the guy the people who were harassing her literally outside her bedroom window and then they yelled at her and told herw you don't have curtains and when did you move in why didn't you buy us first of all none of that is important file the report they weren't going to file it well I'm going to call the sergeant Sergeant came Sergeant Cruz and until he heard my voice on the phone saying what his job was he acted like he had no sense belligerent I rate berating this woman with her newborn child and telling her that the people assaulting her or verbally uh looking into her window had the right to do so which is not so as you know so we need some heads to roll here but this is what happens on a regular basis then he goes next door and finally knocks on the door of another gentleman that's Hispanic who told him he wasn't giving him his information and he was nice to him thank you Miss Alters next speaker hello hello Deborah mson Newark um so first I heard about the incident with the young lady um so I hope she gets all the help she needs and kudos to Deborah Salter for um going to her rescue because a lot of us did hear about that and it's unfortunate um second thank you to councilman silver so with the fire victims for 502 Market Street we did have a meeting I think it's about 25 of them perhaps um councilman Kean wasn't able to be there councilman Sila came out um and heard all their concerns um and they were very very happy to have a one-on-one um with the councilman I know I was I sent him an email but he just related he didn't get it I am going to check on that pretty much everyone is calm um which is great and there's just been one change where I was able to help someone get into a permanent apartment so that is the only change there I'll update the email um and include in that um there are several people here from the Riviera listen there was going to be about 30 people okay um but some of them are here um some will wait and perhaps come to another pre-council meeting some will try to come in and speak with some of the AIDS just not to overload council chambers the retaliation going on at the Riviera is just UNC conable and I'm going to let them speak to it so much so that um sister Marian Bay was called down to the Rivier Yesterday by one of her clients it is just that bad this has to stop people have voices they need to use their voices where I can come up and advocate for them and others can come up and advocate for them it's good that you guys hear from them directly but the retaliation that is going on um because they are speaking out with the same in the same token um the conditions are just getting worse this the services are still non-existent um the guys are not being fed because they're running out of food you know the women come down first and then the men come down um and they're running out of food and and it's just absolutely horrible now I'm hearing talk about dollars um that may be going into the Riviera listen I've never said I wanted it to close I want it to work it worked when I was there but I can can tell you millions of dollars going on to the Riviera it's not needed right what I was able to pull off and do for about $98,000 of my money right was a massive amount of permanent fixing um repairs and paying salaries right so millions of dollars do not need to go into the Rivier the amount of money that's going in already where is that going right they they're they're not being serviced right they're Banda and everything and the trickling effect is explosive I'm going to stop here thank you all God bless good afternoon George Tillman um before I start I've submitted some documents to the clerk's office prior to the meeting um for your review one is the uh director of all the commissions the other is the ordinance uh First Source and the other one is the nor Employment Commission this is in response to uh Deputy Mayor um at the May 8th and I suggest that all the residents go back and look at what he said um he said that there is monitoring of of our affirmative action and it's been done by the office of affirmative action I've included to you the duties of the office of affirmative action and you'll see that what he States um there is no monitoring the monitoring the action of the municipal government and advise the mayor of any failure by the government to comply with the goals of equal opportunities and the affirmative action that is the only thing that the office of affirmative action monitors he W he he also goes on to state that the developers are fine and he said that this is the only Administration that has ever collected fines and that the projects are monitored and there are fines and contributions for non-compliance which is illegal that the reason that the city has uh uh received fines and contributions um is for non-compliance and they got a Workforce Workforce bus cars for for the workforce and they're providing training also source of things from contributions if you look at the ordinance the First Source under damages there's nowhere in there that it says that contributions can be taken for non-compliance so that's illegal um he goes on and he says he had he doesn't know anything about the newk resident Employment Commission and I continuously say that it does not exist he also states that everything that I want the commission to do the workforce investment board and nor wor that's what they're for and and and let me be clear to you he came up here and clearly stated that they're non-compliant with our law he said that the whb does this nor work does that they're taking contributions it's illegal so I've provided you the documents the legislations and the law and we're going to continue to review this but what he said is non-compliance at his best there is no legislation that requires any Administration to take any contributions for non-compliance so I would like a response to these contributions and an opah request to all these contributions that the Administration has taken thank you thank you Mr Tillman next speaker hi um good afternoon good afternoon morning Su um my name is Nicole gibbings I'm 52 years old I live at the r Rara since November f 1 um I have gone through every chain of command since I've been there to we we suffer from rodents we suffer from mice uh roaches we have leaks in my bathroom we have mold in my bathroom I've we're now at the point where we have to sign if we don't buy our own toilet paper I've complained through every level Jason Bunkley is the highest that I've gone Tyler is the next one down Tyler Milo who is program manager and it's either well there's other options you know we could find another place for you it's always the runaround but never uh resolved I have now been arrested for the first time in my life I had I came into intake with two diagnoses for mental health I have now developed a third um documented I was falsely arrested and once and I believe it is clear retaliation because once I made a complaint and exposed my concerns or grievances to the uh reporter all of a sudden I'm the worst thing ever I I was slammed by an officer twice on a car they brought narcotics dogs everything and this went through every chain of command with no resol I give ample time I think that if I gave two months for a man that was harassing me daily with Witnesses and Grievances and Ty it took two months to get him removed I I think I'm fair but now I've been arrested ared and I was discharged half an hour before I was committed to the fifth pron and the Declaration was oh this is protocol and this was said to the office of homeless Services it's protocol anybody that's gets arrested for drugs my charge is wandering loitering in a drug Zone which unfortunately the place where I live is I cannot be charged with loitering if I live there I'm in my car I have been retaliated because I've complained about the things I initiated in this complaint I there is no resolve for us the women eat our race are eating before us we I can eat three sandwiches no you're entitled to one men then don't eat the basic necessities are not being satisfied and we're being told clearly well you got to understand they're dumping double the amount of people that they should be dumping here so we now we've got to stretch the budget that's not my problem thank you so much for your comments thank you for your concerns um for sharing your concerns with us next speaker hello hello I'm Barry bets um another Resident that was at the Rivier Hotel I'm a paroi still on parole at this present time um in regards to what's going on there a lot of things negative is going on there and and I was also a part of this article of complaints about the hotel and staff there I was retaliated to and discharged as of yesterday for no reason um these people don't help no one they have no compassion for the homeless people they're you ask them something they redirect you to somewhere else there's no funding to help people get permanent housing there and I don't understand what's the purpose of them being there if they can't provide us with anything um I was discharged and displ and I'm on parole this could violate my parole because they chose to just throw me out and when I said something to her I don't answer to parole you have to answer to them because you're throwing me out and you have no reason to throw me out why because I bought something to the newspaper and I spoke to the news reporters out in front of the building and this is what the result from it and I don't think it's fair and it's unjust and I appreciate if something can be done about it thank you thank you Mr EPS thank you for your concerns next speaker Monera El bumani this we need a federal intervention over there by the hotel Rivier we warned you before it still exists it's getting worse also I want to respond to the fact that you came and you uh selected someone to the affirmative action review Council I just want to say you won't put Tillman you won't put me back on there you want to put people that's going to go along to get along with your corruption that going on in the city my response to the young lady which I responded yesterday exercise your right to bear arms if you can and also advocate for better self-defense laws that's the only two solutions because the corruption here between the MPD and not all of you and this Administration and not all of you is this disgusting newers you should be petitioning the courts at this time to remove that person that is in front of me from the ballot and also from our city council we went and we petitioned the board of election when they try to we would try to put Gail chenyi in and we told him about the voter fraud we told him about the corruption under new corrupt nework essics uh corrupt Network that is disgusting in this city and that's too need to be have Federal intervention regarding the new legislation for Oprah Ras baraca you are just a pathological liar how dare you how dare you get up there and you try to act like you so you know in support of this Oprah when we come here we put petitions for Oprah our rights to speak you even had a lawsuit for that the same one that I'm ledging against the city in my opinion you are the worst Administration in the history [Music] of new because you campaigned against this systemic corruption you campaigned against the housing crisis the poverty the fudging reports the slum Lords that's that's running wild under your Administration thank you miss bonami your time is now up next speaker good morning how you doing yes my my name Reginal Turner and I'm here to speak on the situation what's major in the Rivier I'm a hygiene person as well as probably some people in this room but my point is this showering we had cold water for like a month maybe guessing and I think it's not only disrespectful the way we treat we treat it worse than the me in there reason why I said it because you I was on I got moved three times when I first got there was a guy that slept across from me haven't showered in two years in two years so when I put the Grievous in they mve me I get in another room some some guy was an ex officer he thought it was only his room so they had to move me to the second seventh floor so now after being moved three times and I feel that it it it need a little better uh person somebody that's that had more concern not to try to shoot shots at anybody because it's like getting worse and worse and like when we leave here it's nobody back there a't nobody come checking up oh is y'all good here we got on back we got to duck bullets or duck ink pins or whatever duck cops but I move a lot so I being not only being from the streets and and experiencing the prison system I have a lot of experience of fixing things and and I don't have much tolerance for like bullies and people that do the things that I'm seeing I'm not with that I'm down with fixing stuff and that's what I'll be helping people com out my own pocket which I don't have nothing for myself but the people or I'm I going to say the people it really need it's time for a change if it's if it's going to get better or it's gonna get worse because this probably be the only time I come here because I'm a person I'm only in the shelter because due to a bad relationship I never was in this position before but what I'm experiencing is like the worst I can't shower I I had I had clothes in the storage there's no backup plan by me not financially having money I lost like $5,000 worth of clothes in the storage no help I've been in that I've been I've been in the Rivier for like two months and I haven't got no clothes and nothing given to me not that I'm looking for because I'm a man I go look out for my own it's no it's no assistance now now for us like the uh what is social workout that that's a lot of s and I'm not going to slander that but I'm speaking about we really it's people really need help it's only one way to go across the street and use drugs or go to the nearest liquor store it's like it's designed to keep the people down put some people's in the chairs they gonna lift them up or they gonna keep them down it shouldn't be about just to make the money spend a little bit of money you know what I'm talking about or give a couple come around every every once you know I could go in with ideas but I'm not gonna take much time I experienced I was a manager at jobs I was a foran at the construction site I got experience it's not like everybody's in there dumb but uh I'm GNA end it with that and um I want to thank you for allowing me to speak thank you so much Mr Turner for your concerns excuse me I said thank you so much for your comments Mr Turner thank you next speaker good morning my name is good morning my name is Kenneth Howard uh I also live at the Riviera um the issues that they're talking about they are apparent they're ongoing I saw when you guys came down my thing was whatever happens in there was a chance for it to come out so that's what we're dealing with now my biggest issue is there were two deps in that place and we're talking about bed bugs and mice which is something that needs to be dealt with but what happened to this this is my friend somebody that I met in there and she passed away and why is this being swept under the rug we're talking about you know and it's a drug thing it's a situation that needs to be addressed I'm going to be brief but that's where I'm at with this whole thing and I don't think that the deaths that go on there should be pushed under and that's all I want to say thank you thank you for your comments thank you next speaker seeing no other speakers public comment is now closed any responses from Council Members before we go to responses from Administration councilman Gonzalez I I don't have a response I just want to to ask a question they say we have a lot of Vans with a lot of ladders on top but they don't have commercial commercial plates so they Park everywhere but they say how do we control who has commercial plates and who doesn't when these people have 20 scaffolding and and ladders on top of the on top of their bands and and they don't have a commercial plate so I believe that one one thing should lead to the other if you have all the ladders you should have a commercial plate or issued a ticket okay U toally know that I mean does somebody want to respond about that a director no okay all right um just note that so we can get probably more information to the Council of how we identify those commercial vehicles any responses to public speaking okay um any responses from the administration leis hi good afternoon lisis valario director of the mayor's office of homeless Services U afternoon council president council members um just wanted to respond to the uh the residents that uh came up and expressed their concern first of all I I uh you know definitely want to give them uh the credit to come up here and express themselves and and and something that're typically not used to but um retaliation I mean that's something that I I really do am concerned about um you know the most public I guess the report was the uh the arrest that was made um I can't comment on why the police approached her and arrested her but um I did request that um the staff organize a meeting with Miss Gibbons but uh she didn't feel comfortable moving forward with that uh so I'm G to uh meet with her personally to talk more about what she's experiencing there um the building conditions are fair we have um folks from DCA uh local UCC officials they are uh frequent the building uh we've had stakeholders we've had reporters you know walk through the building so they are fair but what we really want to do is H you know especially uh for our most vulnerable is raise the standard of the services that we provide so there's a lot more we want to do in that building um uh we want to definitely you know uh plan a long-term uh plan that's going to provide uh transitional and even permanent housing along with some community space is what the plan is uh we've only been there just under a year so there is still a lot to of work to do uh but I do want to say that the building conditions are fair uh and we've had uh many many cold officials um you know walk through the building as well and we're open to to more folks um and stakeholders to do the same uh the concerns about around the food this is really the first that I've heard heard about um people not being fed um I mean uh reports that I receive is that they have adequate food that's provided to the residents three times a day uh I will look into that and and provide um some reports and updates the support Supportive Services is something that I'm engaged with Catholic Charities about uh providing the case management uh engaging the folks on long-term plans uh I did meet with uh a provider recently that made join uh you know their services as well we we may want to kind of you know offer more diverse uh services in that building so it's something that uh we're looking to do uh the uh comment about the budget that's very inappropriate I'm not sure who uh mentioned that to the resident has no impact on the services and it shouldn't uh so if someone mentioned about the operation budget you know having an impact on the day-to-day services that is completely Incorrect and inappropriate uh so I I do want to uh speak to that person and see exactly who made that comment um another thing that we're trying to do is uh create a independent grieving process where the residents can uh send their G grievances directly to my office uh if if needed uh we're still trying to figure out what's the best way to do that because it's obvious that they want to be heard and sometimes feel that they can't be heard uh within the you know the structure of that um of the operations of that building so we're going to try to see and figure out what's the best way to uh have them you know voice their concerns directly to our office uh and see if we can help them with that um again I mean we we are doing our very best there it it is you know Sheltering is not an ideal service I mean it's really difficult to house you know in this particular building 275 people uh with trauma you know with uh you know just you know managing a lot of mental health disorders Behavioral Health disorders it's a very challenging uh service to provide uh but I I feel that you know we are doing our very best to to really help those individuals but more needs to be done and that's always you know what what our philosophy is that more can be done uh and will be done uh we have some long-term plans for that building that I hope will uh provide better quality services is um in a better better um environment for for the residents but for now we're going to continue push pushing and pushing our service providers and our partners to do more for our residents uh and if any of them are still here I would love to speak to them in in the back uh just for a few few minutes if if if that's possible uh moster any questions or comments from Council Members yes councilman Silva director good uh good morning uh first of all thank you for always answering my call thank you for what you've done in that Penn Station area I know you guys are out there all the time I see it and I I appreciate everything you're doing out there um that mberry street facility uh is there an expected uh date of opening what's what does it look like for you know this year yeah so we just releas so we're soliciting a a design firm um that's going to you know design the the floor plan um in in in the spaces uh we should be selecting that firm by the end of June uh and hopefully you know beginning to solicit a construction company in the summer uh our goal is um to have it open by next summer uh if not sooner right so we're going to push this you know as hard as we can but we know that it it is really a necessary needed uh service right now we were just there yesterday taking a look at it um and you know everyone's really excited about it and I feel that it's going to provide a really critical service that's going to be 247 I think that's another reason why we're pushing so hard because we know that you know the needs don't stop at nine o'clock you know five o'clock on a Friday you know there's needs 247 so so we're gonna continue pushing on that thank you I just want to end with two things one thank you for the report I would like to have a written response in regards to the gentleman who was featured in the newspaper and then told he could not come back to the shelter um that is like a serious claim um and folks should not be doing that people who are running the shelter whoever's doing that we need an answer today of why that would happen um it just seems very ironic it's not the only person who was in the article who claims that they're being messed with or retaliated against and we cannot condone that as a city so if that is happening through the shelter provider we need to remedy that immediately because it's fair and we cannot be in business with vendors that are doing that so we need a response about that uh secondly I would ask that the situation regarding the young lady who was arrested that they that they that that be sent um Madame clerk to the police department for a written response of why the individual was arrested and and what happened with that situation as this young lady's claiming retaliation as well we just cannot have situations where people are being retaliated against um for you know speaking their truth or speaking up or complaining at the shelter which is the problem um some of the things that you know are being talked about regarding the conditions I mean I went over there I personally didn't see any of those things that I have an issue with Services as I reported out when I came back here um yes I think the services definitely are questionable um as the what whatever the vendor providing but in as far as like the shelter itself I mean because I've been to 224 I've been to other locations it did not I did not see some of the things that you know um folks you know gave us or talked about talked about for that matter in detail um but the services definitely are issue and we definitely need to look into the situation about the retaliation and the food um you know it's I definitely understand what you're saying like you know Sheltering is definitely not easy our situation around homelessness in the United States is critical alog together and when when cities especially in our area are not doing their part and all of the part is on nor the focus is on nor so we get a lot of folks coming here you know beating us down about different things some things that are legit some things you know it's we're doing the best that we can some things may not be legit but at the end of the day you know we have to address those things that are right in front of us and we cannot have a shelter vendor um putting people out because they do not like them or do not like what they said so I'll end on that with that being said I thank everybody for coming out to the pre meeting we look forward to seeing you back out tomorrow for our night meeting starting at 6:30 sharp thank you everyone e e for