e e I forgot about you good evening this is the Caucus meeting for December 13 2023 council chambers presiding officer of the council miladi tea wishes to advise the audience that notice of this meeting has been filed with the home News Tribune The Star Ledger and posted on the bulletin board in the city clerk's office and on the city's website indicating that today's meeting is being held in the council chamber City Hall 260 High Street at 5:30 p.m. right now is 5:31 and the council meeting will follow the caucus and close session council president teda as a courtesy of the governing body I will ask all individuals present including members of the audience to please turn off all cell phones and electronic devices should you need to make a telephone call please go out into the hallway and speak in a low voice so as not to disturb the ongoing meeting brle please councilwoman Cruz present councilwoman Morales present councilman pel councilman Torres present council president Taha present um okay to start we have a presentation mayor Helman Cava to Christopher Britto a city resident and Rockers University baseball player on signing with the major league baseball team the Kansas City Royals and before that U and before that you have another one right yes okay I'm sorry so thank you madam president and um good evening good evening council members ladies and gentlemen um before we get into uh the proclamation for our very own Chris breedo um I want to recognize U someone else that this one is going to be bitter sweet um but once again in the city of pan boy we're here um honoring some outstanding individuals and uh this individual has done so much for our fire department for our Police Department for our entire Community our entire city and um the re the reason why it will be bitter sweet is because um he is going to be leaving us um and it's going to be sweet for him and his family he's going down to Florida um and that is Father Martin or chaplain father Martin um and for me it's an honor to present a mayor citation is he here he's parking is very so I think uh we should have moved on to Chris burrito then so you know what let's do that U apologize I thought he was in the back somewhere with the chaplain um we'll get back to this one uh for the next individual uh once again another uh outstanding individual who uh continues to make the city of pranoy very proud and um that is Chris breedo and his family uh congratulations uh Chris to you your family and to the city of peran booy and it's an honor to present a mayor proclamation to you uh if you want to come up here along with your family um once again it's an [Applause] honor it's an honor to present this moror proclamation to you and the celebration of your accomplishments whereas Chris breedo a proud native of the city of perano has demonstrated exceptional excuse me exceptional exal excuse me talent and dedication to the sport of baseball and whereas from his humble beginnings the city of peroy Chris has risen through the ranks earning the title of 2018 greater middle sex conference Player of the Year by New Jersey home news and new jersey.com during his high school career and whereas historic achievements marked his tenor at Ruckers University sad school records including Ruckers career re home run record of 46 RBI record of 200 and setting the ruer single season RBI record of 74 in 19 in 2022 and whereas Chris Breo has been recognized for his outstanding performance through numerous accolades such as the 2023 all big 10 second team 2022 Big 10 Allstar team and the baseball National player of the week among others and whereas he has shown remarkable consistency and Powers being the first player in Ruckers program history with three straight seasons of 10 plus home runs and amazing 229 career hits and whereas after celebrating after his celebrated college career Chris breedo continue his baseball Journey with the Staten Island fairy Hawks in the independent Atlantic leag demonstrating his enduring passion and commitment to the game and whereas Chris Beetle's Journey has cumulated in signing with the Kansas City [Applause] Royals marking a significant achievement in his career ser and serving as an inspiration to aspiring athletes in our city and Beyond and now therefore I Helman J cabba mayor of the city of peran booy hereby recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of Chris breedo in the field of baseball and we commend his extraordinary contribution to the sport and honor his journey from a promising local talent to a record setting athlete at Ruckers University a key player in the independently league and now a professional athlete with the Kansas City Royals [Applause] congratulations also want to mention that kenor te if you could please come up you were very instrumental along with his U family please come on our [Applause] counsel congratulations we can say we [Music] for [Applause] work you uh I just want to say thank you guys for coming here uh basically saying all words he said and I just appreciate basically the community ofy and of course my family right here supporting me throughout the whole way and it's been a long ride but if I have to do it again I'll do it all over again for was very remarkable and I just couldn't do it with the support system of the city my family and the people behind me and this is the beginning and I hope you guys enjo [Applause] good evening Council um I have to talk about this young man and his family um Chris started playing baseball with us at six or seven years old um um he's been a model student a model citizen never got into trouble a great team leader and when he had the opportunity to play in other high schools he decided to stay in per amble and he really represented us well and Chris I just like to tell you that we hope all our kids can mirror your success and do what you've done and I'd like to thank his parents also for supporting him and supporting our programs um when you play here in P is a little different it's a more of a family and Chris is definitely our Perth Amo family and all the lives that he's touched and it's going to continue to touch right because when you make those Millions you're going to donate back to the department you're going to donate back to our program and we're going to create more Chris burritos but on behalf of all of our staff all of our coaches and the High School coaches that wer here today thank you congratulations and we hope you have future future [Applause] success the next individual let's continue what I started before another exceptional individual is um father Martin and like I mentioned before um with this meor citation it will be Bittersweet uh like I mentioned earlier bit because outstanding in the B visual that has given so much to our community will be leaving us and and sweet because him and his family would uh be going down to the Sunshine State and uh anything that will make you and your family happy uh is definitely will make us happy so um it's an honor to present this mayor citation to you father Martin vabc commander in acknowledging the the 12 years with the per andoy fire and police chaplain corpse thank you for your t for tly providing spiritual guidance and support to our firefighters police officer and Community your dedication embodies the true Spirit of service and solidarity within our beautiful city congratulations and um much success and happiness to your future [Applause] endeavors thank you mayor just briefly uh father Martin uh you know what you mean to us you know that you're always there for us 247 anytime we call you're always there and we're going to miss that unfortunately um but I know that you got we got a strong core you helped that strong core you're Commander now and um you you get everybody together and and have everybody here all the time so I know that they're going to be able to step in your place um but just know that it's always open and if you ever come back to Perth Amway your our department's open to you by all means I'll just read this to you presented to Father Martin vck pery police chaplain Corps commander in recognition of your 12 years of dedicated service and commitment to the Perth Amoy police chaplain court but as for you be strong and do not give up for the work will be rewarded December 6th 2023 city of Perth andway Police Department thank you [Applause] again [Applause] con good evening honorable mayor city council Chief visitors guests my beloved friends co-workers out standing team of fire and police chaplain Corp Father John my American father I was born uh in Slovakia former Czechoslovakia 50 years ago but God sent me here uh in July 1st 2011 so I wasn't born here but peroy New Jersey became my my home and it's uh with heavy heart you know uh to leave it outstanding amazing amazing Community people leadership and and everybody so um thank you again I feel so humble unworthy to to to receive what I received and December 6 is St Nicholas Day I was Pastor for St Nicholas church as well as St Michaels here and St Nicholas is my personal St holy Patron so it's such a huge symbol I'm leaving with my family but I'm bringing all of you in my heart and all the best memories in my mind to Miami and Coconut Creek Florida so I'll be happy to send you Chief and mayor and chaplain's picture in in new uniform Miami date God bless you and protect you thank you good evening God bless thank you very for okay um we continue with the presentation uh the second presentation Economic Development strategies LLC PA business Improvement Corporation Inc expansion feasibility study got the gr good evening uh can you hear me okay through the microphone sure okay wonderful thank you my name is Stuart coppit good evening uh council president council members and mayor uh and distinguished guest um congratulations on all these Awards and presentations this evening is really quite an honor to be here and see that so I I'm very happy to be here um I am here tonight to talk about excuse me again my name is Stuart coites I'm president of the economic development strategist uh corporation uh I have been hired by the excuse me by the uh Perth Amboy business improvement district um several a year and a half ago back in June of uh 2022 and uh we've been working on the feasibility of creating an expansion of the current improvement district here in Perth ambo and my presentation here tonight is to go explain to you uh in a brief format what the actual report consists of um and and from the expansion committee and I'm here to answer any questions on the improvement district at the same time I think I met with some of you last week uh via Zoom uh to discuss some of the issues as well so here we go um it's in again it's a feasibil feasibility study report and uh the report was again commissioned by the Perth Amboy business improvement district now known as the per Amboy business uh corporation uh business Improvement Corporation and U they met last night to uh listen to the report accept the report and then also put together a resolution that they were presenting to you later this evening uh regarding the expansion of the improvement district so so the expansion committee as I mentioned started back in July or June of 2022 and has been meeting since January of this year all the way through November and these are members of the expansion committee and some of them are actually here with us and if they can just stand up and introduce themselves I would appreciate that you can just say from right there that's great thank you members and we couldn't have done this without all these expansion committee members as you can see here the individuals the uh 12 different individuals plus staff from the from the mayor's office and and and the city itself um again meeting regularly sometimes in the neighborhood of two to three times a month over the past 10 year 10 months all right so with that um that's me I didn't know I was in this somebody slipped that in there okay um I'm president of the economic development uh uh strategist U I'm a consultant I've been working in economic development for more than 25 years I've been associated with uh more than 30 Improvement districts in the state of New Jersey um and I've been working with them both in New York and New Jersey and uh I continue to work that and uh I enjoy working with it and these are some of the Improvement districts that I helped launch over the course of my career and I believe that's why I was hired by Perth ambo improvement district um an improvement district so what is an improvement district a it's it's a it's a public private partnership it's property owners and business owners coming together um it basically leaves a brings everybody at a seat at the table since you're familiar with an improvement district you obviously have one right now but more importantly the improvement district is is something it's a private Corporation and it's run by a Board of Trustees from property owners and business owners and they all work together uh making sure that that the improvement district is functioning and operating properly um there's more than 100 Improvement districts in the state of New Jersey and um and uh some of them just recently in terms of the entire city is Hoboken and Princeton were created uh for the entire city of those particular municipalities of the improvement district um so that's that's where we are right now okay um so how do we get here there's one thing I didn't mention in the entire country the entire country Improvement districts are called business Improvement districts but in New Jersey because we are special they're called special improvement district so sometimes you'll see it interchange between B and an SID but in New Jersey they're known as Sid just point of okay so we're not moving forward that's good all right well how do we get here okay right well how well basically how we got here is that there shared goals for the betterment of the entire uh economy um you know the business Community has been ongoing for many years there's been many efforts being done uh some of the challenges include retail and restaurant mix uh impact or Vitality of all of our business districts um significant real estate development and the Business Leaders and government officials working together working together we can actually uh address these particular challenges initial steps with the expansion committee is that the evaluated the present situation and identified a variety of changes they framed their priorities they created a mission statement selected boundaries and put together an established draft budget to be considered by the new improvement district if it show it is benefits of this excuse me our broad range of stakeholders the single point of contact that you have right now right now as you know improvement district you have a single point of contact working with the business Community the question is should it be addressed should be all these communications marketing efforts Etc and advocacy be utilized for the entire Municipality of per Amoy and so what they did is they came up with a mission statement and um it's an all-encompassing picture capturing Collective ideas guaranteeing a welcome and enjoyable comfortable cohesive and clean experience of your particular a HomeTown and the business district the uh improve the mission itself um shall shape maintain and grow and flourishing Perth Amboy economy by offering exceptional experience for visitors residents and advocate for robust and diverse Partnerships so what they did in terms of their um categories and looking at all the particular items is they looked at different areas of the improvement district and came came up with basically four different categories one of them being Administration but the first one being Economic Development and what is economic development well it's a One-Stop shop uh it's a central point of information to help attract and new and retain existing businesses it uh can conduct A needs assessment survey for existing businesses it has an advisory role to the municipality it works with the governing body to streamline business setup um it also can help link business opportunities matching local V vacancies with new businesses and creating real estate opportunities these are just some of the businesses that are here right now in business retention retention and attraction it's basically marketing and imaging and and and building an image uh creating events food Arts Etc promote historic Talent historic U historic character and uh basically have also create incentives okay that's right no no right all right so visual and Capital Improvements Visual and Capital Improvements are are basically things that you've been doing in the past case Improvement facade and signage lighting sues Direction signage trash receptical supplemental sanitation etc etc without me reading everything that's on here but basically a sid or improvement district does not offset Municipal cost it actually is working to add more services and I think it's important for everybody to understand that so what does it mean for Perth am Perth amboid and what are the benefits okay well benefits from having a more vibrant and inviting municipality benit uh businesses will benefit from increased foot traffic and consumer activity complete walkable experience in which to live and an increased property value those are some of the things that have occurred so far in per Amboy in the current business district but also Improvement districts throughout the state and the country so this is this is a a map in terms of comparison of what the improvement district looks like and I'm going to get into more detail with that in a few seconds so how are the funds obtained funds are obtained by budget and functioning funding sources uh allocations differ and align with the benefits the formulas are based upon assessed values and determine in the formation Pro process Property Owners receive an assessment each year on their particular tax bill in addition to the regular assessment uh uh tax and additional potential sources are available in terms of funding so what they looked at is basically the entire municipality and they recognized the fact that they looked at in terms of zones at first they said okay should we just put do we just put per Amboy in terms of the central business district should it be expanded to other areas and what they looked at in terms of creating different parties is that there are what we call zoning zoning codes and Zoning codes are basically four a of commercial retail RIS use uh uh property four BS are Industrials and for C's are residential rentals with four unit four units or more basically commercial residential units and 15s are pilots with payment and L of taxes which get recoded the docks here you look on the map you have the a the A's that are in red you can see they're throughout the entire municipality there are some blue ones in terms of C sections in the area and the Industrials as well what they looked at is basically the total of over a thousand properties in in in the in the city of Perth Amboy and those thousand properties are all divided up as you can see right here into different zoning types those zoning types what we're looking at is basically should all the properties receive the same services and they recognize the fact that during the entire uh process that the um certain businesses would receive more services based upon we talked about Economic Development um also and then excuse me marketing and events so consequently they realize that the retail component of it particularly the retail residential component the 4as will be receiving all the services and that the B's and C's will receiving less of those services and consequently they will be assessed at a a lower rate so whatever the rate is in terms of right now the improvement district rate is 11.7 cents per per 100 of assessed valuation the committee is making a recommendation for 18 cents per $100 of assess valuation that's the 100% rate the the B rate would be at 35% as well as the C rate roughly about 6 cents per 100 per per $100 of assess valuation and all of the 15ss will be reclassified in terms of B's and C's I believe there's only one C right now in the current improvement district so the governance as I mentioned earlier it's on it's run by a district Management corporation which you have right now it's run by a Board of Trustees that are appointed by the board themselves and the members of the community and all property owners are are stakeholders in the improvement district and it's established with uh accordance with bylaws and those bylaws are representating of their particular operation and they're filed as a 501 C6 right now is a nonprofit IRS designation in the state of New Jersey in conclusion you took out my other slide okay sorry about that I just I wanted to say what made more sense for the the entire town for the city of Perth Amoy because quite frankly there are other municipalities that just have single corridors of mun of improvement districts such as you have right here Jersey city has one Jal Jal Square as a single Corridor but there's also Regional ones such as exch an exchange place in Jersey City and also there's an entire town such as raway which is the first municipality to put together an entire town of of an improvement district and um that's it that's all I have to say so oh and in conclusion I should say that of course there's questions and answers but most importantly I want to thank the executive the expansion committee members I want to thank the staff and I thank the mayor's office for helping and assisting over the course of the year and additionally with the council members in your report uh it was very very important uh the full report is available either online or you can have it as well as an ex executive summary it's only seven pages long unless you want to read the whole 75 Pages that's up to you but thank you very much for your time I'm I'm available for questions and uh and hopefully I'll provide sufficient answers uh as I mentioned the the Amboy the birth Amboy improvement district has created a resolution adopted a resolution last night requesting that the governing body move to to uh amend their current ordinance for an expansion of the improvement district with that I'm concluding and I'll answer any of your questions thank you anyone I have a couple of questions um yes I've been hearing for several years from my constituents of um of the diversification of the types of businesses in our business District um I have a question about the finan and does currently does the bid have any open bank accounts with Lakeland Bank yes yes okay Lakeland Bank [Music] was deemed by the federal government within the last five years to have Redlin to have redlining practices in the city of Newark so we're not talking about ancient history or we're not talking about somewhere really far we're talking about within our area a community similar to ours and it seems kind of hard to diversify when you have an entity that is a that that is holding our finances that has discriminatory practices especially for a community of color um I hear constantly the complaints of the types of businesses in our business district um not saying that they're bad but saying that there's clusters of the same type and there's not much of a diversity there's too many 99 Cent Stores too many nail and hair salons and basically there is people ask to have some different types of businesses I saw you had in there uh mon Clair a friend of mine is on the mount Clair business of bid he's a owner of a tattoo parlor Powerhouse tattoos I was there on Sunday in Montclair to I'm I'm a performer and I went there to perform in the evening time the weather was horrible it was pouring rain which is ridiculous yet their business District was still thriving and we talking about almost a typhoon there was people still 8 9:00 walking around hustling bustling within that there was many different types of businesses there um what is the plan to diversify or to have any type of new types of businesses and in in the study was there any types types of businesses or industries that are recommended to uh to kind of um elevate or to to kind of improve the area that was not part of the study this was a feasibility study in order to address the opportunity of expanding the improvement district that it currently exists um what is in what the board is looking at and what it recommends is looking at putting together a retail marketing analysis for the entire city to determine what businesses could be available here available and what should be here and what is currently existing and where where of actually consumer traffic is coming from that is obtained by a retail market analysis which can be done by the new improvement district one of the things that we do mention we did talk about is the fact that the interesting thing about improving districts or basically about government and and and and um the improvement district itself so is that the people who choose to tenants are the landlords government doesn't choose it the improvement district doesn't choose it if they are chosen by landlords and they do so based upon the viability of those particular businesses surviving in their particular district and that's why a retail market analysis for the entire municipality should be undertaken and is recommended to be undertaken as part of the marketing efforts yes and I totally understand that it's it's not up to the government who chooses the business but that gos back to my point to redlining and what types of businesses are going to be supported uh what types of businesses the improvement district I'm sorry the improvement district is looking to support all of the businesses that not only are currently here in in Perth Amboy but attracting new businesses and making a plan to show why those businesses can survive here and as far as redlining goes I'm familiar with it unfortunately because of Jersey City back in the days when that occurred in other areas as well and unfortunately if that bank is scheduled to is doing those things and I think then you know I think the suggestion you're making is that uh the improvement district should change Banks that that is definitely my suggestion I'm B born a raay in Jersey City and I totally understand the limitations of living in a community that has been redlined and the the and and the lack of Economic Opportunity for people living in a Redline community and it saddens me that within the last couple of years that we choose to put our funds in an entity that has been um caught red lining within the last couple of years in our state well I think that that comment is well taken and I'm sure it's under advisement as the president of the organization is here right now I would think that by tomorrow it'll be done any other questions on the actual feasibility study of the expansion anybody else okay I I have one question and I know that we had the zoom call that day but um when you did the stud of the city uh how did the businesses in those area felt about the was that presented to them more or less what what the plan is and how do they feel about it well um I know that the city and the expansion committee sent out over a thousand letters to all the businesses and property owners in in first Amboy and we held a stakeholder meeting at the YMCA and um as per usual don't take this as an offense but as usual you if you get 5% of people showing up it's a lot 3% is the norm and uh we I think we have about 10 15 people that showed up from that from that uh that stakeholder presentation and the slides that you have here today A lot of them are from the slide stakeholder presentation and once we got that stakeholder presentation underway we then took surveys of the participants and urged them with our current surveys of the current business owners who happen to be representative of those communities as well so we have information as to what is our concerns and that's how they came up with both a mission statement and also the economic development categories of what they want to do in terms of recommendations for a new board and new budget for 2024 if it's so pleases this fine body to amend the ordinance and expand the Improvement isct thank you thank you thank you for I'm available for any questions at any particular time I believe you all have my contact information um and uh that's it and of course you can reach out to me through rette and or Noelia as well but thank you again thank you members appreciate it appreciate your time have a great evening thank you thank you Noelia do you have anything else to okay thank thank you thanks I see here interview of zoning board we don't have anybody right we we're waiting for more applications correct or do we have one person Michel green business administrator like we stated what we're doing is we're advertising on the website uh all the different vacancies that will come up through the year so I think they the beat be through December 31st for people to apply and then the council then can interview all the all various boards and make determinations from there so we're having the opportunity to make sure everyone has the opportunity to apply for various vacancies uh excuse me uh council president um I believe it went up yesterday or today the uh board vacancies and it's 30 days it has to be on our website and then we can start the interview process okay okay so probably it's going to be by February sometime in January yeah at the end okay we continue ordinance public hearing 5 minutes maximum per speaker per ordinance number one an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitled vehicles and traffic ordinance number 194 d78 as amended adopted September 19 1978 also known as chapter 414 SE of the code of the city of peroy and this is about adding loading zone at 272 Maple Street and we just want to put on the record that is um from 5:00 A.M to 12: noon only 7 7 a 7 a.m. to 12 noon Monday through Friday okay I'm sorry I thought it was number two um we need to table this ordinance and um and I know that Vicki mentioned that it was advertised for um public hearing but um there will post yeah it would need to be tabled so you know prior it would be reintroduced in the new year so prior to public there's no need for a public hearing it May subject to change when it's reintroduced so uh the action by the council tonight the recommendation is that the vote is to table it okay do we table it now or in the meeting um you can table during the voting session okay I think that's fine number three an ordinance to establish the honorary placing of a memorial bench for Mani Pacho at the Bay View Park number four an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitle an ordinance designating restricted parking spaces for use by handicapped persons ordinance number 2 1985 also known as chapter 255a of the code of the city of bir Amboy and this is about addition and number five an ordinance to amend an ordinance and tile an ordinance designating restriced parking spaces for use by handicapp persons ordinance number 380-8525 also known as chapter 2556 of the code of the city of per Amboy this is about addition agenda public comments Citizen May address the Council on any matter on the agenda which does not have its own scheduled public hearing citizens shall be permitted to speak once for a maximum of five minutes minutes Council meetings uh for meeting of uh January 205th February 6th and 22nd March 15 and 29th April 12th and 20 and 26th May 10th and 24th July 14th and 28th July 12th August 9th September 13 and 27 and October 11 and 25 of this year bids bids were received on November 7th 2023 for the following pre employment physical screening and Assessment Services number one Concentra and number two hackin Meridian works the recommendation of bid awarded in the amount not to exceed 40 $45,000 and it was recommended hackensac Meridian Works bids were received on November 14 2023 for the following elevator subcode inspection by on-site Agency number one mun Municipal inspection Corporation 85% of curring DCA fees recommended of bid it was recommended bids were received on 20 on November 21st 2023 for the following replacement and testing of 58 in 1 in water meters Reid and uh number one National meters Services Inc 338,000 and Jill a golden CFO control rer submitted the following reports investment report for the month of October 2023 and revenue and appropriation status report as of October 2023 for current fund water Wastewater utility parking utility Harbor Side Marina utility ordinance first reading no public discussion an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitle ordinance fixing and establishing a schedule of salaries and salary ranges and increments for officers and employees of the city of pambo ordinance 21879 as amended adopted July 3rd 1979 and this is for the blue and white color supervisors from January 1st 2023 through December 31st 2026 number two the council Pres something to say on this um reviewing I'm going to speak on one and two kind of together um I just received um my mortgage payment and it went up $100 um water rates went up seems unfair to have a lot lot of these increases on the backs of the taxpayers um and it seems that there's um I'm trying to figure out why some people received some increases and some didn't or why some departments received and why one Department was almost kind of totally left out um um the clerk's office has a lot additional work especially with the change in our electoral process there's going to be a lot of additional work that's going to be done in that office and it seems um that it was kind of left out out on any of the real increases and it seems that I don't know why that one department is targeted while other departments are receiving large increases it it it it has an appearance of retaliation it just doesn't look good and um these types of increases right now while the residents are hurting um it's poor timing uh when I first came into the council and covid was hitting and and I sat for the first budget hearing um I was animate about not having any increases as our residents was struggling financially uh there is really no New Economic Development for the residents no great industry or good jobs that are out there that have been created for them um it seems that uh taxes and rates and um have gone up U has there been any Improv movement in the quality of life that's questionable that's where you know residents would decide for themselves if they if they think there's been Improvement but um to have these major increases there has to be additional uh tax increases to cover this because I don't see the revenue that's going to offset these increases I believe these two should be uh should be tabled until there's further discussions especially from um the administration on how this is going to be paid for in the future disree Michael Green business administrator and let me just say this I know you're saying residents are feeling the cost of inflation and what has happened and just not forget that these employees are residents the white and blue collar workers here these supervisors I'm sure you see them every day one around the corner Works around a building I'll just name his name as our building um supervisor so when we're talking about the cost of increase and let me just say this a lot of people will say a 2% increase that's not enough for the hard workers that are out there the work that they're doing for each and every one of us every day 2% but unfortunately that's all we can give our residents our employees at this time 2% some of you might say that's a pittance they should be getting 3% 4% I wish I could provide more have there been can AFF has there been a raise in the cap in the salaries also a raise in the cap so now you're talking about the management nonunion manag my nonunion so everyone that understands there is and this is what was sent out there's a minimum and a maximum and so for each year the employees no matter what office they're in has the 2 point 2% 2% 2 and A2 2 and A2 a lot of people say once again again that that's not enough cuz we know inflationary pressures we hear it every day I saw inflation I think they were saying might be an upwards of 4% but that's all we can give is 2% whether it's again police doesn't come around till next year of their contract but the firefighters 2% man supervisors 2% I know you're going to say that's a pittance but there are residents C there are neighbors and they deserve more than that certain supervisors are receiving almost upwards of $20,000 raes so we say 2% across everyone if everyone received 2% if everyone equally received the same thing that's a different story some people are receiving a large boost in in their salaries and if we look through this and I'm not don't want to state names but it seems that there's some discrepancies and and I have questions on why certain people receive this and certain people don't so um yeah that that's my stance can you elaborate maybe on the max yes ma'am so again um with the management non-union every four years we bring it towards Council because we have to delineate and show for all those titles without going to the names like he said whether it's me as the business administrator or her as the clerk we're both city employees we have a certain salary and they show the minimum for that title or that employment the minimum um salary that person can get and the maximum that doesn't mean I'm receiving or she's receiving the maximum but there's that range and then every year they put 2% or 2 and a half% and some municipalities I know they gave raises of 4% unfortunately we can't do that here so that's the minimum and maximum that doesn't necessarily mean that that person's at the minimum or they'll reach the maximum I wish I could give everybody the maximum unfortunately we can't do this in per because we have responsibility to the residents and our fiscal responsibility there so but it is a two and you're right it is a 2 and a half two two two and a half two and a half again most people say that's a pittance but that's all we can afford unfortunately you I just have a question so the audience can understand this on Channel 34 so the blue and white cge supervisors would be code enforcements blue and wild car supervisors I can give you an example of the type right who would they be right so and not personally what's their title right the tit division are they taken care of maintenance superintendent um the road repair uh supervisor audio visual supervisor um so there's a new I understand okay now management and nonunion would be um the administrator the controller the accountant the construction official the council member council president assistant Personnel officer the tax collector the clerk okay now I got a question now here's my question question so that we straighten this out all right the fire chief and the police chief have contracts correct yes okay so if they were to get a contract would we see it would we know about it you wouldn't see it here my point is we're find we know that these individuals that are supervisors and directors we know that all of them are going to get arrays but why why is the exception of the fire chief and and the police chief why don't we know what kind of raise they're getting if their contracts have been done right don't we have oversight to see what they're getting I mean I really other than what you show showed me earlier I didn't see the police chief's salary on there I only saw the fire chiefs okay let me I can no I'm not interested in what they make my point point is if we were doing something with their contracts the city when would we know as the council and it seems like we would know about everybody else except them two that position not them personally that position you know and we're talking about two of the highest paid individuals in the city that position is not Chief Mull not Chief katano I'm talking about the position of Fire Chief and police chief and my question is and I know that the police chief recently got a new contract right I know he got one but I didn't find that out from you or anybody else I found it out I found it out from from a constituent who ended up showing it to me and everybody signature that was on that contract ail 8 April 7th so my point is why don't we know about them you can go into legality of there but let me tell you what you're doity can I please talk I can I say one second can I talk for a minute please I don't mean what they get paid right I'm going to tell you what they get paid because they our salaries including my salary rep public employees you have right to know our salary and it's on the record for thece if we were shopping around for a VA right the mayor would come to the council and say listen we're going to hire a new ba and we would like to pay the new ba this much money and the council would say no we don't think we want to give that much money maybe this much money am I right or wrong I'm going to answer your I mean can I you understand look because I don't want this to become about Chief katano I want this to be about the title let me talk okay for positions what you have as an attachment for every position title within the city including the administrator is the salary ranges now for the salary ranges for the administrator you have a salary range of for 2023 between 139 and 181 nowhere near there but those are the salary ranges now let's go to the chief for the fire chief you have for 2023 you have 135 to 165 so that's for the fire chief for the police chief again this is what you have in your paperwork for the police chief you have a salary range from0 range it doesn't say exactly what they're making right at this point my point is that tonight we're reading this in in the form of a resolution that these people would be getting a raise down the road and we're whether we're voting for it or not and all I'm asking for of their current salary of 2% why those two positions are separate and if it's civil service it still has to be funded by the city of per explain to so again and I want to make this clear because I saw the chief walked in not talking about the chief of police Larry Kat we're talking about the title and we're talking about the title of fire chief not chief M Mr op so there there's a difference between appointing the business administrator or any other department head and appointing the Chiefs of police so under the city's form of government the any department head you would you know they would be appointed by the mayor you would have to approve you have to consent to that appointment so that's why me one second I don't need to interrupt you so when when the police chief was he was appointed you just said that department head there's a difference between the chief of police and the fire chief too the city code and the and the relevant statutes say that the Chiefs are appointed by quote unquote the appointing authority under the city code the appointing authority is the mayor right I know that's it so that's why it doesn't come before councel because the mayor makes those appointments pursuant to the code and the statutory author but doesn't he appoint the director of Public Works doesn't he appoint the with Council consent that's how the statute for those position read yes that doesn't apply to the Chiefs it's a different statute and the city code distinguishes that the mayor is the appointing authority who appoints them under the city code so who decides how much money they make that position you decid that you adopt the salary range and the mayor in negotiating the contract with them determines the amount it has to be within that range that the council approves and this is why I'm getting back to where the Caps are because apparently down the line somewhere we approved the cap and so throughout the year they're able to give the increase without our without our knowledge this is where we're at right now there is an increase on the cap they might say they're only giv 2% of a raise right now but six months down the line they could raise it up to the full cap and I and let me just say why that's to your point sir you you know how you would see that when the budget comes along you would see that Mike Green they giv Mike Green additional $330,000 and you will see in the budget in March and you would say hey why are you giving Mike Green $30,000 he doesn't deserve a dollar but there's a couple of positions now that are received it upwards of $220,000 so that's why I'm question can you tell me who that is I know getting $20,000 I I just want to say this all right again I want this is going to be like the fourth time I'm saying it I just want to make sure that the police chief understands and the fire chief understands I'm not talking about them personally all right I just want them to understand but I'll say this when it comes to the police department right right now the peroy police department is the lowest paid Police Department in middlex County period but it's also the busiest Police Department in Middle sex County so now that and I understand everybody deserves a little piece of the action but now that we're going to do this somewhere down the road we're going to have to negotiate with the police and the firefighters and keep that in mind even when it even when it comes to the position and title police chief in the city of per dboy he's at the bottom of middle sex County not at the top he's not making what the Edison police chief is making he's not even making what the South Andor police chief is making so my point is you know we find out about this at the last minute going back to the other thing look I I understand and I know that some of the people that are on this list are very hardworking people um you know and probably at some point they do deserve something but I understand Mr tor's Point too you know and everybody gets a piece of the action and on a side note on a side note you know but when the tow truck guys came to us and asked for a raise we still haven't done nothing for them so you know again they're they're like quasi city employees aren't they they do a service for us so to be clear they're they're contractors they're not employees just they do service for us yeah purs to their contracts I get that I just want to make sure the distinction is there but they're like the lowest PID to of D is there going to be a tax increase in this upcoming year there definitely should not be we're definitely working to make sure there isn't one and so that means we have to look at the budget that's what we're looking to do make sure there's so we're a couple of weeks away from the end of the year so that tells me probably yes because uh I did not say yes and for the record State I did not say yes but okay let's number two I just had a question can you just it's okay if you could explain the rationale between um the new men and new Max and if all departments were evaluated with um that current range yes all the so the thought process and the rationale for these when you look at the management employees um management non-management salary guide we looked at it to make sure it's Equitable across the Departments so that the department directors their minimum is the same across the board there are some there might be another department where the minimum was was already above the minimum that was set for example if we set a minimum of directors directors right now I'll say for the most part are making maybe 95 to 96,000 now that might it is a lot but we compare it to other municipalities other municipalities throughout the state they're making at least 150 if not more than that so they're making 96,000 so there was the rationale was across the board to at least bring all the directors across the board to 100 so for some of them that might be an addition add $700 for another one it might be an additional 3,000 but it's to bring them all up to 100,000 now there are some directors that were already making let's say 118 or 120 or 130 we didn't bring them down to match we kept them currently where they're at but all the other ones we brought up to at least 100 that was a rationale for the directors like I said some directors are already making 118 120 130 or like but we didn't bring them down but we brought at least the other directors up to at least 100 and that was the rationale any more questions okay number two an ordinance to amend an ordinance and tile ordinance fixing establishing a schedule of salaries and salary ranges and increments for officers and employees of the city of peroy ordinance 21879 as amended adopted July 3rd 19 1979 and this is um for management and nonunion from the the period of time of January 1st 2023 through December 31st 2026 so but these increases go retroactive to January 1st 2023 to be as you know coming from I know you teach this as well U the contract ended at 1231 2022 so of course the contract begins one um one 2023 and the same thing as councilman brought up with the police once they begin the discussions next year it's not it'll be if we finalize that contract at this time it will go back to for the police 1 2024 when it com Madam president I just have to ask Mr Question how come we didn't do this earlier then it takes time to negotiate and let me start off with this let me say this because this is very important this is only 2.5% the unions did not come in wanting 2.5% they started at six maybe 7% and we had this a negotiation I got all what you said but I'm saying why do we why now why was wasn't this done earlier but they've been went out of contract for this long we started negotiating in God should I say may or April maybe even sooner maybe even earlier than that and it took time because they wanted they're not have you been in negotiation I think you have yes but what I'm saying is oh the manage the management contract comes before the council when all the other contracts were settled so now we're finally the last one oh now I see what you're saying okay I thought you meant why the things okay yeah that's was yes sir okay to his point he's saying why is management take so long because we wait for everyone else to go first and then you bring manage you want to settle management first before you all your workers get settled you want to take care of the employees first before management that's I got but then it still goes retroactive so they still collect it all anyway back nice big payoff right here at the end of I don't think unions want to hear that they're not getting paid but they're supposed to get paid from January because negotiate about the management I'm talking about the management that is nonunion that's what I'm talking about I'm not talking about the blue collar union workers who deserve everything they get and if maybe management made a little less they'll get a little bit more than 2% if some people received a little bit less but it seems like there's Economic Development only for few for few people here but not for the for for the vast majority and so yes I'm all for giving super even more to the blue collar but uh when the supervisors are receiving a lot more then that's when I began to question this okay resolutions r616 1223 adopted the 20 24 Council meetings dates times and location r617 1223 adopting the official newspaper for legal nurses R 6181 1223 memorializing the denial of the place to place transfer of PL plenary retail as consumption pocket license number 1216 d33 D 99-05 held in the name of Los R LLC to a cited location at 460 State State Street the proposed location will be in violation of chapter 1 37-8 B due to the proximity to another location holding a license for the sale of alcoholic beverages R 6191 1223 authorizing the insertion of Revenue in the calendar year 2023 budget pursuant of njsa 48 column 4- 87 chapter 159 PL 1948 for the national opioid settlement Grant in the amount of 8,521 with 84 cents r620 1223 authorizing the insertion of Revenue in the calendar year 2023 budget pursuant to njsa 48 column 4 d87 chapter 159 PL 1948 for the UE area investigation Redevelopment study Grant in the amount of $150,000 R 6211 1223 authorizing the insertion of Revenue in the calendar year 2023 budget pursuant to njsa 484 d87 chapter 159 PL 1948 for the U Administration 71 2023 through 630 June 30 2024 Grant in the amount of 8,330 r622 1223 authorizing the insertion of Revenue in the calendar year 2023 budget pursuant to njsa 4A column 4- 87 chapter 159 PL 1948 for the UE business training courses Grant in the amount of$ 35,00 r623 1223 authorizing an interlock service agreement with the county of middlex for Health Department Services commencing January 1st 2024 and terminating December 3rd 2024 in the amount of $269,500 with 96 cents R 6241 1223 accepting the request for proposal and awarding a contract for elevated subcode on-site Inspection Services by onsite agency to Municipal inspection Corporation for 85% of DCA fees R 62223 authorizing Professional Services agreement for certified contractor for emergency demolition Services who have submitted responses to the request for proposal for calendar year 2024 r626 1223 authorizing a contract with WB Mason Company Inc for office supplies and paper under State contract number 888394223 for calendar year 2024 R 627 1123 accepting the request for proposal and awarding a contract for pre-employment physical screening and Assessment Services to Hack and Sack Meridian works I have a question um what the assistance held a screening for new employees it's for DPW police and fire it's many police and fire physicals um the police chief he probably just walked out I know he was here um there was an accident that happened unfortunately one of the recruits that's probably why the police chief and the fire chief made is he still out there but it's the physical screen before they become um go down to the academy but I don't know exactly what the specs are of it and are we still using Cape May as our Academy yes he's still sending them out yes so we're still costing the taxpayers more money to send and it's an undue burden to our residents to go to um that far away but yet still we increase our taxes and we'll rather pay extra money than to send our Cadets to a local Training Center that would be um more Fe with economically um feasible and um would be better for their home life if they wer so far away for that period of time I'll make sure the chief addresses that when he I said this many of times um and I'm saddened that we're still sending our cadetes to that area it seems like um even the area doesn't represent this community at all we're a urban community predominantly of color and to send them to her I don't understand why we send them so far away and to pay extra for it also have okay R 628 1123 authorizing the city of f Amboy to join the public entity joint Insurance Fund for one year commencing January 1st 2024 R 629 1123 authorizing refunds to four tenants for the return of key deposit for the peran boy Harbor Harbor Side Marina and the total amount not to exceed $400 r62 6301 1223 authorizing a contract with ausi mcder Mastro and Murphy PC to represent the city of perthamboy in labor and employment matters for a period of one year commencing January 1st 20124 and terminating December 31st 2024 and the amount not to exceed $100,000 r631 1223 authorizing a contract with James P Nolan and Associate LLC to represent the the city of pambo as workers compensation Council for a period of one year commencing January 1st 2024 and terminating December 31st 2024 R 6321 1223 authorizing settlement of the workers compensation litigation via an order approving settlement in the amount entitled po VTO versus city of panoy CP number 2021 Das 25233 for the amount of $ 44,1 154 R 6331 1223 authorizing initiation of competitive Contracting for lead based paint Inspection Services r634 1223 authorizing the city of peran boy to accept an award for the from the state of New Jersey Department of Transportation for the municipal aid grant program in the amount of 568 th958 going to be used for yes specifically Barry Avenue Clark Avenue and Elm Street the paving within those streets so basic Improvement in those areas just so this is just for the pavement can this grant have been used for uh say a pedestrian walkway if we would request it day one for pedestrian walkway would this grant have been able to cover that that I'll have to see I'll have to do we have any Grant experts here in the room who could answer that question I'll find out if that Grant could have been used for pay who applied for that Grant Administration so what I'll do is I'll look back at the Grant and I'll have it who applied for that Grant you applied for that Grant Administration and you can't tell me if that Grant could have been used for pedestrian walkway for the new high school that would have provide great safety for the children of our community and I can't get that answer you get good evening Council so the municipal aid grant is specifically for Paving and that's what we applied for we presented the application to you all and you voted on the submission of that Grant so at this point we're just accepting it and in regards to The Pedestrian Plaza we did apply and you accepted the application and the award for over $3 million for pedestrian Plaza for conver Boulevard 1 million for local from the local Freight Grant and 2 million from State Appropriations okay so you're you're saying that this grant here could only be used for paven so just on record it's only for paven and that is all I will not put that on record I will say that we applied for Paving that's what the city but that's not what I asked if you applied yes if you applied for the pedestrian bridge could we have applied for the pedestrian bridge because that's what I originally asked for and that's not the answer that I received my my question is day one of applying for this grant could we have applied for The Pedestrian walkway ex instead of the the pav because you just said that the grant is only for Paving Municipal Aid is for Street improvements it will not cover a pedestrian bridge we did apply for pedestrian Cross or pedestrian safety improvements for Cony Boulevard and other grants applications which you've already approved but not this grant this grant could not have been we could not have applied for that for this grant said okay I'm going to double check on that thank you thank you thank you thank you R 6351 1223 authorizing the second year of the contract with Millennium strategies LLC for Grant riding services in the amount not to exceed $48,000 r636 1223 authorizing a contract with Skylands Area Fire Equipment and Training LLC for fire fighter turnout gear under State contract number 17- Fleet Das 00810 in the amount not to exceed $213,200 12 22 with 28 cents R 6371 1223 authorizing submission of an application to njsa cop law enforcement accreditation commission R 6381 1223 authorizing the city of per Amoy to accept a subground award of the federal fiscal year 2023 of Emergency Management performance Grant an emergency management agency assistant up to $10,000 R 6391 1223 accepting the base bid and authorizing a contract with AC schultes Inc for the repair and maintenance of pumps Motors and a pertinence of Amboy Avenue State Street and Front Street Pump Station in the amount not to exceed $1,000 for one year commencing January 1st 2024 and terminating December 31st 2024 R 6401 1223 accepting the bid and awarding a contract for the replacement of water meter size 58 inch through 1 in and the testing of existing meter project to national meeting metering Services Inc in the amount not to exceed $338,800 R 6411 1223 accepting the base bid and authorizing a contract with AC schulties Inc for the repair and maintenance to the ran and Florida growth Road booster station pump Ms and apperence in the amount not to exceed $100,000 for one year beginning January 1st 2024 to December 31st 2024 R6 42223 authorizing the temporary budget for Municipal debt services for calendar year 20124 in the amount of 21 m79 93560 with 60 R 6431 1223 authorizing the calendar year 2024 cash management plan of the city of per Amboy R 6441 1223 approving transfer of calendar year 2023 budget Appropriations in the amount of $139,000 RF 6451 1223 consenting to the appointment of Andrea and masula adamis as judge of the municipal court and waving the resident requirement 646 sorry Council so um I have a question about the courts now since this is um raised um I have a similar question about um the revenue of the courts and who is in charge of it I understand that our court system currently has accounts with lak land bank who in the court who would be able who controls what where the accounts go to at the court system the municipal court right the AOC and that would be judge Grant Glenn Grant So currently we still so this this really bothers me and and and I was shocked that the director the B that the head of the bid did not know my issue of us of the city of Perth Amboy putting the city's money into a bank that has been charged with red lining in the state of New Jersey and it really bothers me that our court system and a community of color is putting its fines in the bank that less than five years ago was caught redlining and fined $13 million by the federal government and so we're finding people of color and putting the money in a bank that has biased practices I've raised this several times and I'm trying to divest all of the municipalities money from an entity that has been proven to have these biased practices um and it really shocks me that the court system is still continuing to put its revenue and that the Administration has really not moved on addressing that issue well we can the point but again it's the administrative office of Courts as a state entity and municipalities as you know you're not supersede the state but but they could change it if they want to no that's I said it's the administrative office of Courts which is GL judge gr Glenn Grant that's not you know it's not the local Municipal Court right can we can we request to change we've let them know and again I can't make the state do as much as you can even when have we let them know uh We've let the judges know in the past that hey this is as you brought up in the past that Lakeland Bank was accused of red lining not accused no no no they will find $13 million by the federal government it's not an acquisition they were proven to have red lined in nework not an acquisition proven you know you're from Newark so this is a community that has these types of practices and you know what these types of practices could do to our communities you know okay so I would like if we could request this again and if I could be cced on these requests thank you very much R 646 1223 authorizing a 2024 athletic Social Club licens to D Domino Club at 414 Smith Street R 647 1223 authorizing a refund of the amount of $391 with. 74 to fure Contracting Inc for returning for return of hydrant meter R 6481 1223 increasing the contract with sanitation equipment Corporation for the purchase of supplies parts and repairs for sanitation and recycling vehicles in accordance with the Educational Service Commission of New Jersey number 65 MC EC C CPS bit 23 24-4 in the amount not to exceed $22,000 R 6491 1223 rectifi rectifying the memorandum of agreement between the city of panoy and op IU local 32 a l CIO the peran boy blue and white color super ricers and approving a contract for the period January 1st 2023 to December 31st 2026 R 650 650223 consenting to the reappointment of of Vincent Mao to the per Amboy rent leveling board for a two-year term to expire on December 31st 2025 R 651 1223 authorizing submission of an application to the New Jersey office of Homeland Security and preparedness NJ o HSP state and local cyber security grant program SLC GB GP um R 6521 1223 appointing to the Zing Board of adjustment as alternate number two to fill the unexpired term to expire December 31st 2024 just void that we can void that just to emphasize what you said earlier we're still accepting applications for the volunteer positions that's great and they all this is on the website as the clerk pointed out 30 days they'll be open so all the different vacancies and can go on the website and see what boards and commissions are available yes ma'am we have on Communications and we have a Clos session resolution r615 1223 authorizing a Clos session at the December 13 2023 meeting to discuss workers compensation litigation Paul Barto city of f Amboy I need a motion second councilwoman Cruz yes councilwoman Morales yes councilman poio yes councilman Torres yes council president yes public portion five minutes maximum per speakers um I need a motion to open to the public second all in favor I I anyone who wants to address the council come to the mic uh state your name your address and then present your good evening Council my name is Christian Kane and I live in East Bruns I'm also one of the 1700 nurses from Robert Wood Johnson in runswick on strike since August 4th while we wait to vote on our tentative agreement we continue to advocate for what evidence supports to be the best measure to improve health care and change the course of the nursing staff crisis our battle may be coming to an end in New Brunswick but it has only begun making its way to Trenton that's why we are seeking your support in passing State legislation a453 s304 to establish minimum nurse staffing standards in New Jersey if you search for academic studies on this topic you will find overwhelming evidence that nurses believe their organizations are under staff a survey performed in 2021 by the American Nurses Association determined that nine out of 10 nurses say their organization is under staff the American nurses Foundation performed a survey in 2022 and determined that 63% of nurses under the age of 35 either intend to or are considering leaving their jobs according to an article published in health Affairs the national nursing Workforce dropped by a record 100,000 in 2021 alone the majority of these nurses were under the age of 50 the under 35 demographic experienced the largest drop it also goes on to State a sustained reduction in the number of younger age RNs would raise ominous implications for the future Workforce you may wonder why they they have uh there have been silent uh silence around these bills from nursing organizations for instance take the New Jersey collaborating Center for Nursing the nccn's extremely valuable research provides much of the basis of these bills and while I appreciate their contributions I can't help but feel that their silence on these bills is a result of their partnership with the Rucker School of Medicine an entity resulting from a controversial merger between the the New Jersey medical school and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in an official statement ad Dean stated that quote our commitment to Robert Wood Johnson University in New Brunswick remains strong and our relationship with these institutions will remain unchanged I believe that the nccn has decided to remain silent on these bills due to a conflict of conflict of interest sorry as for industry experts such as Hospital associations they have vigorously opposed safe Staffing legislation for over 20 years ever since California successfully passed their Staffing ratio law the industry has doubled the amount of money spent in lobbying across the country look no further than New Brunswick Robert Wood Johnson spent over $120 million on replacement staff alone because our Union dared to stand up for nurse patient ratios Hospital associations don't want this bill to pass because their mission is to improve business not patient outcomes the industry victim blames nurses by claiming we must not have a positive enough mindset consultant groups such as Oracle say disgusting things such as nursing turnover has surprising benefits like saying that burnt out nurses are lowering morale and that if they leave voluntarily it saves the hospital money and benefits an industry that admits to seeing this as a good thing is admitting to malicious exploitation Hospital associations attempt to drown out the voices of nurses with nonsense they they claim that quote studies indicate that one siiz fits-all nurse patient ratios do not improve quality of care or patient outcomes this statement fails to acknowledge that plenty of other studies do indicate that ratios increase workplace safety patient safety and job satisfaction among nurses on top of that this is not a one-sized fits-all bill this legislation is about Staffing minimums objections to Staffing minimums are like saying that cars don't need four wheels because tractor trailers can have more sure sometimes trucks may have more but they must have at least four and in an emergency you can drive on a flat tire just like how these bills have reasonable exceptions for uncontrollable circumstances to let industry which is focused on business and profit into a conversation regarding health and safety is a grave mistake it would be like asking a police officer to sit down with a burglar and debate the value of handcuffs this legislation empowers the State Department of Health to regulate the industry why would a burglar willingly put handcuffs on themselves Senator Vitali is one of the original sponsors of this bill but assemblyman coflin and assemblywoman Lopez have yet to follow suit will you as the municipal leaders of Perth Amoy add this resolution in support of State legislation 84536 s304 to your thank anybody else Vince Mel 2115 Sheron hope everybody has a happy uh Faith holidays um can i' like to uh appreciate uh the support of the r board and and my re reappointment uh to the board I appreciate that can I mention one uh thing on the agenda resolution 640 and 641 can Mr Perez explained the this is ongoing cost for not only the uh tenants landlords and taxpayers but water uh costs are definitely important for all those groups can can he explain the cost for the water meters I know this has been on the agenda before 338,000 for meters as well as another $100,000 for the cost for booster station uh repairs for run into a booster station at the in perood that's all I have to ask that's evening uh the uh the contract for the booster station that I separated in two uh one is for the on the water side the other one is on the sewer side stay Street Front Street andoy Avenue the reason why I did that is because some contractors don't have the equipment that is required to P for example a pump from the well they need cran some contractors don't have that now I I asked for $100,000 doesn't mean that I mean if we don't have to make any repairs then we don't have to use any any of that money but I ask for $100,000 just for emergency repairs in case something can happen on both sides the schol side and the water side on the uh on the Met replacement project uh the reason why it's taking so long is because uh the radio reads that we are installing that were not available now we've been getting them little by little 100 here 200 here now we have enough to have a contractor come over here and start working on the replacement of the meting anybody else hi I'm Elizabeth is this on yes I'm Elizabeth PCO Manny's middle sister and I just I'm a little lost because I've been trying to do something for my brother for almost two years now CU I refused to let him be forgotten he's he he did too much to be forgotten and um what's going on with uh I don't know what to do next like with the bench like uh this is my third meeting I believe and I just want like to know how does this work it did I get the go ahead or is going to be today okay um today is the second reading of the ordinance and after that it will be 20 days after after afterwards okay I have four minutes and I just want to you know say that you know um my brother did a lot I know you guys knew him and a lot of people really cared about him he came here at 12 from Brooklyn and um right away he started getting teaching people how to play music he sang he taught people how to play guitar organs he got people from the streets and put them into the music and got them out of trouble you know the crime life I don't know if you a lot of people here are from peroy but the Stockton Building my brother used to beg the owners there in the Huntington to let him borrow the rooms so he could teach kids how to get them off the streets and um I'm sure a lot of people knew a lot of what my brother did and he deserves he deserves some to be remembered and I refuse to let him be forgotten and I'm I got to get back home to Arizona my husband and my son need me and I've been here since May trying to do this with my brother so um please well we're getting to the end thank [Applause] you Virginia Virginia Morales 745 Barry Avenue that's better I obviously definitely want the statute man for check not the statue we couldn't afford that but the bench to put be put up at baby Park would be set up and approved so that we can have somewhere to honor him but I am actually I wasn't coming to speak on this however I was intrigued about the the funds that the grants that were that are going to be provided to the city for Barry Avenue in that area that if there's any way that there can be a a muo put up a bump that is one of the streets that definitely needs it uh sadly my friend's father passed away and was killed on New Brunswick Avenue by McDonald's uh that's there's a lot of areas in Perth Amboy that including High Street by Harbor toown that they need to be visited and there needs to be some sort of a committee if there isn't something to decide where speed bumps should be I know that there's signs that have speed limit signs you know slow down they only work for so long from that one moment to the other when then once they pass that they can go fast again so uh in addition to that se Avenue over um over by conver Boulevard in SE there's going to be an apartment building there that is a street where I know police officers and Animal Control are extremely busy picking up roadkill and that's wasted time so hopefully that's one of the areas that will have a speed bump as well before someone sadly loses their life thank you thank you anybody else good evening uh Miguel Pat 89 pting Stone W Philipsburg New Jersey um Council uh there was some interesting things that were brought up earlier when we were talking or when you guys started discussing the um the salaries and salary ranges and contracts and all that good stuff and I'm sitting in the back thinking about it uh one thing that was I think kind of missed when when when there were things thrown around like who's making you know $20,000 $188,000 or whatever it is right you have a set of minimum you have a minimum and a maximum right in between whatever position there is right I believe the question is there who determines within that range when they get a specific bump you know because this and I I'll just use the mayor's salary since or his his thing since he's sitting in the back and stuff uh last I guess in 2022 the maximum was um 9,513 but now in 2023 the maximum is is 102 right the minimum went from 52 to 75 so the question is who gives the authority to go from 75 to 95 how does that happen I understand that um from Mr Green it was more uh throwing it back to the council and said well you guys have to find that when it comes to the budget well how many people are you going to have to go through to find who's getting what bump or whatever I mean that that that that is an incredible amount of work you know to turn around and do that so when you hear numbers like 18 and 19 or or or whatever it is I mean some absurd numbers it's because most likely it's they're going from you know their second year to their six year but they fall within that range plus you want to talk about percentages now next year you get a 2 and a half% on top of that that's where the percentages come in so that's interesting second thing you talk about um who's in charge of the finances I mean not the CFO or anything like that but who's in charge of the money and I believe that goes through the council right you guys approve you know you you guys approve who gets contracts so that that that goes back to what um councilman poo says why then would you not see specific contracts when a specific contract has to do with financial portions whether it's vacations whether it's six whatever how does that not come before a council to actually look at I understand the appointing part that's different yes you get appointed yes you take your tests and stuff like that but how do those contracts not come before you and once again it's thrown at you where you have to find it when you get the budget in front of you there's something wrong here because that's just two are there other contracts and and here's a question for the administration are there other contracts like this are there other contracts that are signed that do not come before you which then means it does not come before you know the people in this city where's the trans transparency that's important where's that where is it going you know it's it's it makes sense your questions make sense the answers were a whole bunch of dancing you know unfortunately but um these are things that do you have the authority Now to turn around and say every single contract regardless of which employee it is does it matter has to come through us there has to be a council signature on it because yes yes the contracts that you're talking about yeah they were signed by three people mayor ba and the person involved in it didn't see the law director signature or anybody else's did they review it do they know that they fall within that limit that you're about to vote on you know you really have to look at these contracts because does it go outside that scope of payment you know minimum and maximum you would have absolutely no idea so here's a here's something that again take your time discuss it look at it but you brought up more questions than than the audience received answers and that's all I have about that thank you have a good night can I say also that this lack of transparency has created a huge surge in Oprah requests the people want to know what's going on and because we're not TR being transparent the clerk's office and other departments are being inated constantly with Oprah requests for this information which that rightfully should just be given outright ask mren something just clipped in my head like I know how the police contracts used to work so you know we used to say you know the starting salary is let's say $40,000 right and can make up to 96,000 that's salary it doesn't include siphons uniform allowance shift differential and anything else that's not included in the salary range am I right so you know of course it doesn't matter for public works or code enforcement right but I would assume like you know if you have a contract and the salary range but we're not talking about what the what the siphons are and what the uniform allowance is and what the shift differential is that would because I don't think the Public Works director or the code enforcement director right so but I'm just saying so in forms of transparency nobody would really know that who would know that ask that question I think he already gave the answer can you give the legal answer answer once again put on record because I think maybe didn't hear but my my point this is my point okay we get pieces of paper here our agendas and there's resolutions on these agendas and in these agendas we are asked to improve approved money expenditures and you always beho you guys take a look at what you're gonna say I get it but when we're talking about when we're highlighting you know big salary employees think it's upon the administration to make sure they Enlighten us and the public on how we go about this because you know what we could just say yes yes yes yes sure we could you know what sometimes we need to let the public know this is what the kind of money we're paying everybody aside from and again and our chief mullen's here I said it a couple times as disclaimers Chief I'm not talking about chief M I'm not talking about Chief we talking about the contract for a fire chief and a police chief so you know the same thing is I don't know like if if the comproller gets a bump in there you know does she get a siphon or you know what I mean or travel allowance or this applies once again to police chief and Fire Chief and we understand it's not Chief Mullen and chief Katan even though could they hold those positions but only applies directly to the Chiefs and can you explain the law once again about the Chiefs let Mr yeah the the city follows the statute and the the city code Provisions which mirror or reference at least the statutes so that's I know but I think it was pretty flipping to say well it's really on you guys to find this stuff well I I don't I don't think it's that I think that you'll see the specific numbers in the budget I mean the council has to approve the budget and you see the line the line items for each and I I disagree with the idea that it's you know it's too much to find those line items if you're looking for the chief of police's salary the the fire chief's salary the mayor's salary Mr Green's salary you know my contract amount like all of that is a line item in the budget so it's all there um I I just I when we see the resolution right when it comes to the City attorney it'll say how much right there in black and white it says we're going to vote on this and this is what the City attorney is going to get for the year we get that I understand but we don't see it for every single the do you see it for everybody with the exception for that kind there's there's not that many employees individual employees obviously there's Union contracts that cover a number of employees there's not that many employees that have an individual contract and you you know if they're a department head under the city's form of government you'll see their appointment and you'll vote on it and you'll see what their salary is but with the police and fire chief the way the statute is written written and the way the provisions of the city of code reference those statutes I mean it's it's all there the city follows the procedure set forth in the code and I'm not saying that I'm just saying you know when you start talking about stuff like that we should be talking about it on camera so you know the public doesn't have to go through 135 pages of the agenda they can find out here in it on camera and you know my point is is that you know what this is our money it doesn't belong to us it belongs to the taxpayers we are the guardians of the money um May I just um put my my my input on this I just want to make this and and I guess understand everything that's that's going on in simple terms what we have control of is the actual budget that is given to us every year and it states everybody's salary specifically correct like even the chief salary from minimum to maximum and that's what we approve so we are know we know what their salary is to be capable whether it's going to be minimum in the middle or whatever the top now we can we say okay well we don't approve the maximum of $160,000 could we lower that maximum is that that's how it works like we you know the mayor you and and the chief and and are are the ones that do sign the contract but we have the control of what their range is going to be right we have the ranges here the minimums and maximums if you decided hey we're not going to vote for this and you vote it down the administration would then have to profer a new um salary guideline for management non-union with different ranges and then the actual budget whether it's from my green that title administrative the administrator for the city of ber booy or the fire chief or the police chief or the com troll or the clerk is delineated directly in the budget which will be noted in the 2024 budget what that exact salary is okay so that's where we have the control of how much they were they are going to earn yes ma'am and as you know when you you flip the pages and within the budget and everyone sees this because it's a state budget well again we're going by Statute nothing different than any other municipality I saying Michael Green's name Michael Green's title Michael Green salary and Longevity if it's applicable it's not for me for some employees it is please in so those salary ranges we could say no we don't approve of that we don't we don't want them to get maximum of 160,000 you would vote this down this whole you V how I understand that where we have control of that yes now now that's just for this does that include those two positions that were heavily discussed now those two positions that were heavily discussed when we get the budget and we start discussing the budget items I'm just talking about those the two positions that my colleague brought up not what we're voting on today those two positions that we did not know what the range or how much those positions were going to be paid when we see the salary at the budget time and if we don't agree can we vote say no we don't agree on that budget we want that change the whole budget no no those two position though now we can no longer negotiate or change the salary on those have the ranges here no I'm not talking about these positions I'm talking the positions do include the fire chief and police chief you realize that right it's listed here they already and the ranges they already receive a certain amount that and we just like everyone else I receive a certain amount and the ranges are listed here now if you say hey that range is too high you would reject this whole and say Administration we're not agreeing to this we're going to vote it down and it's up to the administration to go back and sell okay are we going to tweak this or not and then put in a new resolution or ordinance in this case for that for the council to say but we say it also was who decides then where the range goes if someone always the administration for the form of government so the administration gets the change from in every administr in the for form of government so if somebody's making 60,000 in the ranges from 50,000 to 80,000 technically Midway through the year if the administration feels like bumping them up 20,00 ,000 since it's within the range you're able to do it no because as you know and all I don't know if the residents know but as you know there's a line appropriation for each budget item so for me when you have that budget in 2024 I'll have a set salary we can't do or up my budg my specific appropriation unless there's a transfer when that transfer they give that line appropriation more money that's when you'll see it just like you have transfers here you say what are these transfers for so that's how the give and take between an executive and the Congress in this case we seen positions in the past couple of years receive a lot more than just that okay I can't talk about the past sir as you know I had to St it but okay anybody else from the public wants to address the counil see none oh okay sorry I was at a car accident and another car accident so I didn't know if there was any prior questions for any of our items that we had on the agenda resolution 627 1123 that is that the turnout gear the pre-employment physicals oh that was for entry level fed U Medicals and if they have a fit for Duty medical so that was just that went at the bid so I think they were saying to the councilman's question what does that entail a physical oh an entry level physical is a full medical workup a stress test blood work drug test there's actually like I think it's spelled out what they actually doing there but if when a new hire police or fire like our fire physicals are in accordance with the NPA standard because you have to go very deep into the cardiovascular system and respiratory system so that's why ours is almost like $1,400 uh per entry level physical and I think there's a fit for Duty one so if someone's out with an injury and we got to send them for that all that stuff's uh bit in there what is our rules pertaining to the screening of cannabis for employees for new hires that's not on there anymore it's not on there in Market have an option to put it in there but with the law pass and like our last round it was not one of the items good CU I know there's some municipality right now with litigation along with it it's good to hear that thank you and then I heard talking about stiens or Mye or the police chief just because if you have any questions put it here but the stiens that I do receive are stiens that I had as a fire firefighter such as a clothing allowance um or if I had an em certification which I was just on a car accident doing that um or an incident management level stien that I had as a battalion chief so there was no new stiens granted when I became the fire chief it's just the stiens that were in accordance with the firefighters contract and then the Fire officer contract and they're not much um so that was the stuff that was carried over from when I was a battalion chief to Chief and I will say the first I think five years as being a fire chief I was making less money than I was as a battalion chief because chief of fire department is no longer eligible for comp time for overtime so all the nights and weekends I'm here I'm just here so I put a lot more time in know overtime um and I was uh like I said it took until 2022 to actually get to my salary to catch up where I was as a battalion chief so that's all um well I'm gonna ask you a question but because you just settle All That You Know Chief Mullen I went out of my way to talk about this isn't about chief moment it was about the position and we were talking about siphons and all of that so you know in the reality of it is we were just talking about the position okay not the individuals and what they bring now I have a question now a Barry steel the Old King High garage right apparently they look like they're storing vehicles in there hundreds of them if not thousands of is there a fire suppression system in there no we have uh about two or three pages of outstanding violations that we issued them um and we are on top of that property and I believe they may be moving out uh within the next month or so yeah because aside from what you could see inside which I I don't think you can even walk through there as many vehicles they have inside there and and in the back of the property there has to be another 500 vehicle yep there was the sprinkler system was not connected and I believe it was not zoned to be used used for the shipping operation that they're doing cuz one day we drove by and it seemed like overnight all these cars appeared right you had the same feeling when you drove by and then me being nosy I stuck my head in the garage door so we actually went in there with code enforcement in the middle of September to see was actually going on take pictures of everything um they had to I think go take their lawyers go to the City Zoning Board lawyer so there's litigation I don't think I need to discuss any of that stuff but I think they had to apply to change the use in the meantime we gave them a short window see if you can get that approval if you can't once this time frame which was about 60 days we assured them all the fire violations so we there was there's no sprinkle system there was fire extinguishers they had propane tanks inside had gas tanks inside electric vehicles that were damaged so we listed them with all the violations and then we said listen we're going to be back 15 days and if this stuff is not resolved we're going to shut you down or we're going to give you the maximum penalties per day and in the meantime for the fire department because there's no sprinklers there's damaged Vehicles there's electric vehicles uh all the fire hazards we have an order out there if there's a fire in that building no firefighters have to go anywhere near there and their property owners were there told you do have imminent hazards here you're going to have to basically terminate your operations and when I was with the guy the other day he said they put uh an offer on a property outside of the town and says well please make that happen sooner than later so what's the window for them to we'll be back there next week and then we're going to because they said they put the fire extinguish in there they took out the propane says if there's electric vehicles in there get them out of there because if you have a damaged battery in electric vehicle that could just let go at any time and without warning so but the main thing is they need to get out of there and we're working as hard as we can to get them out of there right one more question yes just my head about fire suppression if you have a multif family dwelling that's at least three stories tall right do you have to have a fire escape depends or do you have to have more than one route there be more than one route so if there's an interior stair in the front an interior stair in the back or an exterior stair it also is going to depend on is that uh occupied third floor versus it's a full third [Music] floor saying somebody was living in the third floor so like technically like if it's an attic apartment that's that's zoned to be there right there should be two ways out obviously I must have saw one that's okay yeah said if you have like a more detailed property you can email it to me and then we'll follow up with the fire the Fire official is the one that cites the uh those buildings and we actually all our fire inspectors took classes specifically on fire escapes because that was one of the things fire escapes would go decades without being maintained and they have to be certified you got to have two ways out exactly or fire SK thanks and there's also some exemptions like I think if you have a fully sprinklered building too so if that's a fully sprinkler building they that changes the game on like exit distances and a lot of stuff okay well email me the property we we'll look into it I promise you all right and then like I said 940 hopefully by January I have an answer we're either going to end up shutting them down completely or they're going to move out their operations because you saw what happened in New York and they sort of appeared here not too long after that fire happened in the Port Newark where the two fir players got killed that's what I was thinking about I was thinking about the fire that's all I could think of too is shipping containers and cars and those shipping containers they do go to the port and they take those cars so what happens is not I can disclose it but there is a shipping operation so you see those shipping containers on the outside they had investors that buy total cars they store them there then they're loading them two to three to four in a container they take them to the port and they ship them to another country where they have another life where they're not regulated by the us so you can get a car 10% of what it would have costed here just because it's totaled here they could put some Band-Aids somewhere else on it and make a lot of money so it seems to be a money-making business and uh the property owner I believe told them that business was allowed there so they signed the lease but unfortunately it's not allowed there so that's why we're working every route and Avenue to get them to vacate and move out I find this very uh bothersome because um within this year we had the incident at the Port of Newark where we lost two firefighters in a container ship that was taking these types of vehicles they were storing these types of vehicles didn't have the necessary safety equipment to protect our firefighters or we lost two great men that day and it seems that we have these types of businesses there should be zero tolerance for this type of of hopefully they Rectify this problem but if not I would love to see these types of business leave our exactly that that's the first thing in mind because we're on the fireb task force with Newark and I didn't know those two firefighters personally but our guys went and paid respects but that's one of the things and fortunately we don't have the uh car carrier ships here we don't have that type of PT so that we don't have to worry about that Hazard but now you have those cars in a building which is similar to them being on a ship if you think about it how long has that business been active it's got to be less than less than four months I think okay yeah I I don't know because they never filed registration with the city to operate it was sort of something happening here you don't really because it originally was zoned to be a auto body shop so if you have some like when King High was there they can have damage cards there pick them there so started small and then just sort of Amplified uh to the extent where it really caught your eye then we we took all the action we could gave them time to try to work with them and end of the day if zoning says no which I believe they have I'm not sure and uh we told them hey we're going to we're going to shut you down probably next week but you got to give them time for for for different laws so thank you thank you anybody else state your name and your address good evening Council my name is Colin Curran I reside at 1300 Pier Street in rawe I'm a nurse at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital New Brunswick I know my colleague uh gave a pretty thorough rundown already but I just wanted to add some of the things I've seen as a nurse and uh just my my Outlook um common objection to the state legislation uh establishing minimum Staffing standards is that there's a nursing shortage uh the truth is that the real crisis in the nursing profession is retention um I work on a surgical oncology floor uh the patients are very uh complicated great risk for postsurgical complications have many different kinds of drains need to be walked several times a day uh it's a lot of work it's what we signed up for and I I love the patients I work with uh but when you have five six of them at a time it makes it a very challenging task to to make sure they get everything they need and there are other hospitals in New Jersey where you can have eight nine patients uh in Truth uh there is no limit to how many patients you can have in an assignment for Med medical surgical patients in this state um on my unit it is very difficult to retain new nurses I got into nursing late I've been a nurse a little more than two years by the time I made that twoyear Mark there were only two other nurses on my floor who had more experience than I did uh so me being a brand new nurse and also having to be the you know the seasoned one on the floor and that just adds to the problem it's a it's a vicious cycle and the the trouble with retaining nurses makes it all the more challenging for us to give patients the care they need and I believe that if Staffing was better if there was a a legislative requirement saying it needs to be better we'd retain a lot more nurses and it would uh go a long way to solving the problem so as Christian asked you earlier I ask for your support uh hopefully our state legislators are listening to local leaders like you guys thank you very much thank you anyone else can we have this drawn up to be voted on for our next meeting we just got it tonight so something right for our next meeting and then we could discuss it draw okay so if we could draw this up for the resolution for that next meeting and then we could debate and vote on it then no okay anyone else seeing none I need a motion to close public sure second all in favor I I a motion to to close session and after close session we come back for the meeting I I have a question but I received a very troublesome email and I'm fairly sure that all of you received it also on November 16th 2023 I received an email from a city employee from code enforcement it was very very Bome and I was wondering if this has been rectified if not I think we need to rise these employees to have a discussion for the next closed session no you were notified this is from code enforcement an employee who has an issue who reached out to yourself the administration and reached out to all of the council members sent us all an email on the morning of November 16th but I'm fairly sure spoke to you beforehand is this yeah to do I don't know what it's about I this is paded to a possible retaliation for for writing up uh a homeowner that is possibly another city employee yeah okay now I remember um at that time it was the uh have to review it and see exactly think of the enforcement um director as well because again there were allegations in that and he still had to go and get the employee that he thought that um he had that tension with he said that he didn't have to get a permit I spoke to the court enforcement director and that individual did have to obtain a permit but through a different inspector because that employee was going at with a resident that other employee it's hard for me to essentially the director he had an issue with one of the um another employee so what the director did he removed that individual and had another person inspect that home so there wasn't any more tension because that in that allegation he said that individual that Resident no longer needed a permit that's incorrect why wasn't why wasn't a home order compliant to begin with he was compliant again the director took that information and he made his own evaluation he he he determined that the home owner was comp so has the permit been taken out for that wor and it's all been straightened out yes is that correct am I permit was given to that Resident yes uh good evening um I need to ask the council um the attorney if we could discuss this or I could discuss this in close session if they want I don't know much about it so I I'd caution about discussing anything here I think talking about again the names I know what you're talking about but I would like to if it's possible for me to explain to the Council and close session because we're talking about city employees okay then we rice all the all of the the parties that are involved and if they want to be at the next closed session let me just say this really quickly the question still stands did that individual that works here for the city of Earth Amboy did he have to get a permit yes I said he did is that correct yes and he did okay Madam president may speak a minute I I I think we're in trouble borders here I don't think we should be talking about employee right you know asking on camera the director whether or not the employee got the permit is not a good thing to do this should all be an executive session we're talking about people that work for us and we're in session right now again let me just say I have to say this really quick because the allegation was brought up on record so I wanted to put it on record that he had to get a permit and I'm put putting on record he did have to go get a permit now if you want to go and take the rest in close session I'm with that but that allegation was out there for the public I want to make sure the public understands that that employee did have to get a permit respect Mr Green the employee has rights and we're speaking about an employee that everybody knows about and all I'm trying to say is this conversation should be cut short to protect the council just so everyone's aware the permits are all doe respect I think I know a little bit about the rule Robert's Rules of Order and about employ employes and talking about employees on camera I don't think we're going to try to cover this up or or make it nice we can't talk about it even if we don't use their names so this is why I said if you guys want me to explain the whole situation to you guys in close s I'm more uh willing to do it okay thank you thanks Mr Al brother to hear from close session I would like to hear from all the parties that are involved and not just one we can have that I guess for the next meeting toce everyone who is involved y that's right I thought probably the best way to go by okay so we I need a motion to close move it second no no no not to close to go to a close session move it second all in favor I I after the close session we'll be back for the meeting thank you thank you 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 he doesn't hear GL the room cleared out quit oh we didn't we didn't add at the caucus that um resolution for the reappointment I mean it can wait till September but the reappoint for Haley to planning board oh I mean we could do it in SE January I don't you know doesn't really matter now I don't care we add in yeah let's it now because we're still in we have to resume the Caucus meeting and then yes no I know I can read something into the record okay yeah we got are you added on as a late starter okay we we or we could do it now okay okay that's right you can do it now yeah just add it on that would be 650 three what talking yeah or should we just instead of voiding or should we just make it 652 just make it 652 6 it'll be six 652 replace and replacing that one Haley Cruz yeah planning board I don't know what one two I don't know what it is number number so be reappointing right uh we're back from the Clos session I need a motion to return second all in favor I I okay we still have one more thing to add to the agenda and that is the appointment the the is it appointment or reappoint reappointment reappointment of uh our councilwoman Haley Cruz to the Z plan planning board planning board as um so I need a motion to add that to the second I'm sorry class just class three member of the um I'm sorry class three member of the class three members of the planning board I need a motion to no no we don't need just adding it on just adding it to the agenda then I need a motion to close uh to end the Caucus meeting second all in favor I I I Okay so this is the council meeting for December 13 20123 council chambers presiding officer of the council Mady Thea wishes to advise the audience that n of this meeting has been filed with the home News Tribune The Star Ledger and posted on the bulletin board in the city clerk's office and on the city's website indicating that today's meeting will be held in the council chambers City Hall 260 High Street right after the close session of the caucus which is now at 8:15 council president Thea as a courtesy of the governing body I will ask all individuals present including members of the audience to please turn off all cell phones and electronic devices should you need to make a telephone call please go out into the hallway and speak in a low voice so as not to distur of the ongoing meeting roll call please councilwoman Cruz president councilwoman Morales pres councilman poio pres councilman Torres present council president TOA pres let's stand for the invocation dear Lord watch over this governing body watch over our nation our troops wherever they are abroad or in here and their family protect them every time for those uh country at War um protect them and guide them into peace and also let's talk let's ask for these holidays to just for those people who are in deep depression in deep um mental health that is not stable please God stand by them and protect them and with that I say Amen to the flag of the United States of Amer the stands naice okay so we're going we had the presentation and um we will be accepting applicants for for the sunning Board of adjustment uh for interview in the next coming months ordinance public hearing five minutes maximum for speakers per ordinance an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitled vehicles and the tra and traffic ordinance number 194 d78 as amended adopted September 19 1978 also known as chapter 414 of the code of the city of birthday boy with the change in there of the loading zone to be available from 700 a.m. to 12 noon only and this is uh for the 272 Maple Street I need a motion to open to the public second all in favor I I is open to the public if anyone wants to speak on this ordinance seeing none I need a motion to close the public hearing second all in favor I I I need a motion to adopt second roll call please councilwoman Cruz yes councilwoman Morales yes councilman pucho yes councilman Torres yes council president TOA yes number ordinance to establish the honorary placing of a memorial bench for Mani Pacho a Bay View par I need a motion to open to the public second all in favor I I it's open to the public anybody see n oh yes you can come up and speak okay it's okay I'm not forcing you to speak what am I supposed to say right now like um no you can speak about it so you guys said yes yes not yet I about to jump over and kiss all y after when you're all done talking at the mic you can still hear me but huh yes soon as you're done talking at the mic what do I you can say something about him like you did before okay first of all I know that he all going to say yeah um cuz my brother was wonderful everybody loved him and um he very well deserves this and um please can you please do this for my family because we really miss him a lot and um life will never be the same without him and now I can at least go to his bench when I'm sad and miss him and um cuz his wife cremated him and he kept the ashes and we don't even have a graveyard to go to to you know to visit him so now we'll have somewhere to go my family and me for his birthdays and all that and um we just loved him so much and and life is very hard for us right now please give us that bench thank you or let us put it put it up okay all right and let me go back to my w form Arizona okay thank you anybody else seeing none I need a motion to close public second all in favor I I need a motion to adopt second ra call please councilwoman Morales I mean I'm sorry Cruz I'm looking at you and I'm going Morales councilwoman councilwoman Morales councilman PUO yes councilman Torres yes council president I don't think she voted no I [Laughter] didn't councilwoman Morales um well before I vote I just want to say well congratulations I vote Yes for this and I'm all for it um you know it's a great way to commemorate his memory thank you congratulations I vote Yes okay yes everyone vot well I I haven't voted yet she has vot oh she did not vot yet brain I can only handle one okay I also have to say I have the privilege to know manip Pacho he was part of my church we miss him every day at the 9:00 Mass he used to be there so um to me it's a privilege to say yes yes yes now it's officially approved I love all of you and I love kabba the mayor he's we just love you my family just love you thank you for making this possible other Majors with were even saying they were going to do something for him while he was alive they never did anything you'll always be number one to us and I'm going to be the number one campaign to fight okay you'll see all right all the way from Arizona thank you okay okay an ordinance to amend an ordinance and tile an ordinance designating restricted parking space for use by handicapped persons ordinance number 380-8518 also known as chapter 255a SE of the code of the city pero and this is about addition I need a motion to open to the public all in favor I I it's open to the public whoever needs to speak on this seeing none I need a motion to close public second all in favor I I I need a motion to adopt second roll call please councilwoman Cruz yes councilwoman Morales yes councilman coo yes councilman Torres yes council president Taha yes um number five an an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitled an ordinance designating restricted parking spaces for use by handicapped persons ordinance number 380 d85 an amendment adopted July 2nd 1985 also known as chapter 255a seek of the code of the city of pambo and this is about addition also I need a motion second to open to the public I hi hi everybody is in Holiday mood okay open to the public see none I need a motion to close move second all in favor I I I need a motion to adopt second Roco please councilwoman Cruz yes councilwoman RIS yes councilman poo yes councilman Torres yes council president TOA yes all right agenda public comments Citizen May address the Council on any matter on the agenda which does not have its own scheduled public hearing citizens shall be permitted to speak once for a maximum of five minutes I need a motion to open to the public second all in favor I I anybody seeing none I need a motion to close second all in favor I minutes um we don't need to get a vote for oh we have to vote okay we need to vote I need a motion to accept the the council meeting minutes second all um that's it that's it all in favor it's been a while it's been a while for that okay January actually quick question on this with the minutes um has it always been done like in in book this way like sometimes is it possible we can do it monthly basis so as if as long as I can get them done in time I mean with it was crazy you know with the move and everything so oh okay but we're pretty much caught up now so hopefully in 24 we'll be able to do that okay yeah because that would be good so that way we can yeah read that the minutes that's a lot of read whole years yeah prior to that it was but you know right and I don't remember what happened in January so i' ra I'd rather you know a month after that would be great thank you no problem okay bids bids were received on November 7 2023 for the following pre-employment physical screening and Assessment Services number one was Concentra and number two was hackensac Meridian works and and that was Meridian hackin Act was considered the bid awarded in an amount not to exceed $45,000 bids were received on November 14th 2023 for the following elevator sub code inspection by onsite agency um uh apparently we had only one bit which was Municipal inspection Corporation and that one got the the contract bids were received on November 21st 2023 for the following replacement and testing of 58 inch through to one inch water meters RIT um we got one from National meter Services Inc [Music] 338,000 following reports follow palom baresi tax collector submitted the monthly report four collections for the month of November 2023 and Jill Goldie CFO controller submitted the following reports investment report for the month of October 2023 and revenue and appreciation status report as of October 2023 for current fund water Wastewater utility parking U and harbor side Marina utility ordinance first reading no public discussion number one an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitled ordinance fixing and establishing a schedule for salary and salary ranges and inre increments for officers and employees of the city of pambo ordinance 21879 as amended adopted July 3rd 1979 and this is for the blue and white scholar supervisors from January 1st 2023 through December 31st 2026 I need a motion second second call please councilwoman Cruz yes councilwoman Moralis I abstain councilman buio yes councilman Torres yes councilwoman Taha yes an ordinance to amend an ordinance entitle ordinance fixing establishing a schedule of salaries and salary ranges and increments of for officers and employees of the city of pambo ordinance 21879 as amended adopted July 3rd 1979 and this is for management and nonunion uh for the period of January 1st 2023 through December 31st 2026 I need a motion second Rollo please Al woman Cruz yes yes councilwoman Morales yes councilman PUO yes councilman Torres yes council president Taha yes look through the resolution to 6 anybody else so the consent agenda is r616 through R [Music] 644 646 through 652 correct that's the one that no we did 62 552 no because we we we for Hale okay the consent agenda I need a motion for the consent agenda second second roll call please counc woman Cruz yes Council woman RIS yes councilman fucho yes councilman Torres yes council president Taha yes R 6451 1223 consenting to the appointment of Andre and masula adamis as judge of the municipal court and waving the residents requirement I need a motion second roll call please councilwoman Cruz yes councilwoman Morales yes councilman pucho yes councilman Torres yes council president TOA yes welcome welcome judge all right um so now we go okay we need uh to open for public portion second all in favor I I anyone who wants to speak on anything can come to the mic good evening uh I'm Marvin adamus um my wife is Andrea um in all of my career I've uh served others I've worked only in government whether it be County or state or city and so uh your ba and I worked at the city of Nork for a number of years I was there for 15 years and I've been in spaces like this there on many many occasions and uh I just uh I haven't been in a space like this uh in the last number of years and um I found this to be a warm experience a very pleasant experience and I want to just thank you uh for what I've seen and so um uh I'm a public servant so I thank you but also working with individual or seeing individual this year I've worked with you know the city of nework and uh really have a great deal of respect for those who uh serve in in these capacities and listening to some of the things that were said what have you you know help you know work with this gentleman you know it sounds like he's doing some great things here uh in the city so I just I just wanted to say that I I found this to be a war experience thank you for um for the opportunity thank you thank you so much for voting Council U members and council president um I just want to say briefly I've been an attorney for 20 years I'm a native Spanish speaker I'm an immigrant I from a lowincome background I've been through a lot of different things that I think will help me um relate to the public and all the members that come before me and I hope to be of great service to the city of Perth Amboy I did live here for um several years and I loved the city I was welcomed with open arms back then when I was here um but I'm glad I don't now for safety purposes as a judge I think it's it's probably better to not be in the same town where you um you have to make tough decisions um for people but thank you so much for trusting me and I hope to make you all very proud thank you very much and welcome congratulations [Applause] congratulations anybody else seeing none I need a motion to close public second all in favor favor I Council comments uh Council woman who congratulations and we are definitely um we want to welcome you here I did hear a lot of great things about you and how inspiring your story was so I do look forward to um hearing your story a little bit more and seeing the wonderful things you'll do in per Amboy and then I know the family of Manny Pacho um was here we do want to honor and we're excited to support his legacy and as they said thank you to our mayor Council Administration um Community um it was it was very touching what they said and we know the impact that he has led here so we're definitely excited to all support his his legacy and then um for Christopher bito is super inspiring to always see students from per Amoy just um make it that far and I know Kenny Ortiz was one of as he mentioned one of his mentors and he did work with him here so thank you to the rec department as well do have to I do always want to shout them out all the work you do with mentoring students in different capacities some of them are in government some of them work here at City Hall some of them um work in helping professions so it doesn't go unnoticed and we know you'll do amazing as and as they said do not forget about us over here and we do look forward to bringing you here to speak to our students and um mentoring them because our students always need a good Ro model to back off on and then um happy as and as the holidays are approaching as I'm wrapping up happy Hanukkah I know I went last year this year I had school but um for those I know it was an amazing event at the library and the Christmas parade was absolutely incredible this year so much great feedback and every single um Department who worked together for that every holiday happy holidays I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and then lastly for father Martin thank you for your service and as Madi said I'll wrap it up here with um definitely continuous prayers a lot of mental health needs and concerns especially during the holidays um let's continue praying for for the troops and for those um struggling with mental health I definitely want to Echo that as that has been a big concern working in the schools and just in the community itself thank you thank you Council woman Morales um just want to thank you everybody it was great to see a you know pretty good amount of people here in the room this evening um it's always wonderful to see that um also would like to also congratulate um police chaplain father Martin for your service and an amazing congratulations to Chris breedo uh that's an amazing amazing accomplishment and what a great inspiration for everyone here in town um I'm just so happy for him I think I was just as happy or maybe even more happy than his parents was without had a big cheesy smile um it's just very exciting uh for somebody that's here in town um that you know born in is here and another thing also I am so um I I I love the Grinch series I think that is just like one of the best you know from whatever all I've seen I think our cities is the best gringe series it it I think it puts a you know smile in people's faces and especially during this time in the holidays I think it it was a great idea and so just be on the lookout I think he's still on the loose so um I think next week week we're having um on the 21st on Thursday right we're having the U the tour with the Grinch so be on the lookout for him and uh last but not least just you know the holidays are here and hopefully everybody has a wonderful and safe holiday season and um just enjoy and party and eat up and drink but safely responsibly thank you thank you councilman p than you madam president um first of all congratulations Judge yes I like when I was speaking to you earlier um I hear a lot of good things about you and your journey is your journey is a remarkable story and you know and and your classmate there Kashi you know you join you're joining a list of positive role models your story your story would make an impact on some of the young some some of our young people here so take that into consideration judge what that said um the other thing is I I saw something last week that I it got actually made me tear up I never thought I would ever see that somebody living in a tent underneath the bridge on Florida and it bothered me and I I hope I called the right people people up I called uh Pastor Paul and and Dean up and I don't know what they did but you know it's that time of the year you know for us for us that you know we're okay but there's a lot of people here in the city of Pera they're not you know we we're fortunate and if we could reach out and and help someone you know I'm sure there's a lot of people out there you know you could do it anonymously you know but there are people out there whether or not not if you're working in a soup kitchen or giving somebody a blanket but seeing somebody living in a tent under the bridge in per I mean I've seen people living under the bridges but that one really got got to me so with that said though I wish everybody a happy holiday and the end of Hanukkah my grandson who's half Jewish I'm sure he's uh lighting the last candle tonight so so at the end of the day I wish everybody a happy holidays and uh Mr Green and Mr opal you know got a little excited before but you guys do an outstanding job and thank you while our clip oh well I was gonna wait for that I hope you're okay Vic no and you and and and the people that work with you do an outstanding job thank you you and Teresa and Maggie thank you we appreciate that thank you C Tes I just want to say um want to wish everyone a happy holidays and I'm really looking forward to 2024 thank you well I just want to thank everyone who participated tonight um it was good to see the whole the the room full of people uh uh it feels good um and I invite everybody who has the time to come and participate I also want to congratulate uh Chris brito's family uh I feel very proud of uh every time I see a young kids from our community um our community that sometimes get judged um from people that don't know us and um and we have beautiful students beautiful kids beautiful young kids yes we have some that are not on the right path but um the majority of our youth is doing great things and this is one of the it's one sample of what a perean boy young kid can do and um it's an inspiration I always believe um on bringing back those people who make it somewhere to bring them back and speak to our students at the bordered I still have the bordered in me so I I believe that bringing them back and speak to them is a great thing I want to thank everyone who makes our meeting possible Mr Green Mr opal um Vicki head and everybody else in in there audio and visual um thank you and judge congratulations welcome and I also heard a lot of good stuff from you but I did not hear it from Mr Green okay um I heard it from other people who know you and who know your um your you know how you got here and um I want to thank you and I want to remind you that we are um a community that needs understanding and sometimes I feel that um people who get in trouble sometimes deserve to get the proper services that they need and that is something that I always feel that sometimes we don't sometimes the court doesn't take that opportunity um to give that person the services that they need and um I want to thank you and thank you everybody happy holidays to everyone and just remember what the meaning of these holidays are just remember that because sometimes with the shopping and the food and the drinks we kind of forget get what the real um the real thing is all about um I wish you good holidays healthy and let's hope for a better 2024 and um let's enjoy it good night I need a motion to than John L yes audio and visual shout out to AIO visual the whole group move it okay and security who's every everybody who's here know we can go on us safe the directors everybody I need a motion to adjourn second second all in favor I have a good night everyone Vicky tomorrow feel better thank you I'll be fine