[Music] okay okay we are good we're good yes wonderful good evening everyone welcome to the mayor and Council regular session of of the burough of Ramsey um this meeting is also being conducted tele telephonically the dial in number is 425 436 6365 access code 213 563 meeting may also be viewed on Ramsey YouTube channel which you can access through the burrow website may have the roll call please mayor Dylan here councilwoman cusk here councilman gutwetter here councilman kilman here councilman Papo here to mute conference participants press one to mute conference participants in lecture mode press two to unmute conference participants press three okay all participants are unmuted sorry sorry it's okay okay councilman Papo here yes okay councilwoman poppy here councilwoman Woods here okay thank you can I have flag salute I'll ask council president kman to us I pledge alleg to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for it stands one nation God indivisible with liberty and justice for all the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of all citizens to have advanced notice of and to attend all meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting the public is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act notice of the meeting of the mayor and Council was published in the Bergen Record and the Ridgewood news on Friday January 19th 2024 hey can I have approval of minutes please yes Madam mayor I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes from work session dated for April 10th 2024 I'll second thank you any comments on the minutes any changes no roll call please councilwoman cusk yes councilman gutwetter uh no as I was not in attendance that evening okay councilman kilman yes councilman Papo yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes thank you Communications yes madame mayor I'd like to make a motion to receive and file the communications as listed on our agenda for April 24th 2024 thank you do have a second this is councilwoman cusk I second thank you there any comments um I just want to thank Mr boo Miller for bringing our to our bring it to our attention that we need to um replace the song as everybody knows the bureau does have finite resources so we do rely upon residents to let us know when something needs to be repaired thank you roll call please councilwoman cusk yes councilman gutwetter yes councilman kilman yes councilman Pablo yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes thank you we'll open it up for public comment anyone wishing to address the governing body please give your name spelling the last name and address please speak in an audible tone and and address your comments to the chair there will be 5 minute time limit per speaker unless produced because of the volume of business on the agenda please note public comment is your time out of respect and fairness to all there will be no interruptions or questions answered during your time no time shall be seated to anyone else and no time shall be saved for later use any responses may be given during the governing body's comments later in the meeting or is directed by Chair by the chair the burough clerk is the official timekeeper good evening I'm Richard jety that's j a r TSK Y and I live in Clifton and I'm here to I'm going to keep it brief probably wondering why someone from Clifton is at a Ramsey meeting I'm here to try to help animals this is what I do um not with any group or anything I'm just a guy who cares and I'm talking specifically tonight about puppy mills and uh passing an ordinance hopefully that would ban the sale of those dogs and cats there are cat C Mills also believe it or not with all the millions of dogs and cats that being killed every year in the country and many here in New Jersey this is a little something you can do to help um solve this problem um so I'm asking basically I know some of you already have heard about it well first of all puppy M just in case you don't know what it is is a horrible terrible situation where you have like say wire cages from the end of that table to the other table stacked upon each other and they're filled with breeder dogs that never going to come out of those ages and there's they're in filth they only power wash them down once in a while they're out in the elements these places are in the midwest mostly the Amish do it also Missouri Mississippi and they get trucked over here to our 22 stores in New Jersey that sell these dogs and a lot of times they're sickly and people buy them and they're expensive very expensive and um they they die before their time and the dogs in the sh in the um Mills you know they're never getting out of those cages and they die before their time and it's probably a relief because they get no medical care um they just are breed till they can't breed anymore and then in the midwest I mean I've seen videos of they just blow them away they put a bullet in their head there's all kinds of videos you could see on YouTube uh these documentaries it's a horrible horrific thing and you have a a um a chance to do a little something about it here in Ramsey by passing I have the uh sample ordinance which has been passed in 145 communities in the state of New Jersey in the last 10 years a lot recently it's it's really uh picking up steam and we have state legislation pending uh which hopefully will pass and very soon in this session and that would ban the sale of these dogs and cats in our state just like New York California Maryland I think Illinois Washington is one or two other states too so it's something that's growing and um so I'm urging you to do this put this on the agenda and don't be scared by the lives of AKC if they come out of the woodwork and they will and the Caren consumers or whatever they're called from the state was trying who make a lot of money off of these dogs and they don't care that they're suffering and being you know tortured in these uh cages and everything else um so that's getting ahead of it but so I'm just urging you to do this please put this on the agenda and as we there's like I think 30 towns in Burton County have passed this in the last 10 years again some very recently like marwa Hillsdale monville I was involved with those and uh so it's it's something that's growing please be a part of it I have uh some information here if you want to see it again if you don't know but the best thing is to go watch your video and here's the sample ordinance um I will leave my contact information if you have any questions or anything and that's basically it thank you for your time and do I just come up and hand this toio or I'll take it I'd like to respond to you and just tell you that we have a draft ordinance uh just about ready to go so we are fully on board with this and thank you for coming today we're definitely going to be doing it thank you very much for your time okay don't see anybody else in Chambers want do you want to speak you're good all right thank you gentlemen have a nice evening thank you all right is there anybody on the line who would like to speak second call for public comments on the line third and final call for public comments on the line okay not hearing anybody um I'll close public comment I would like a motion to go out of or out of the regular order of business for the open space public hearing yes Madam mayor I'd like to make uh that motion to do exactly what you just stated I'll second it thank you roll call please councilwoman cusk yes councilman gutwetter yes councilman kilman yes councilman Papo yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes okay thank you we are applying for an open space uh we applying for or want to a 2024 Bergen County open space trust fund Municipal Park Improvement grant for the resurfacing of the pickle ball cors at Finch one of the requirements is that we have a public hearing on this so is there anybody who wishes to speak on this Madam Mayor Bruce do you want me to make some comments about this before that would be wonderful Mr Bose thank you okay uh tonight as the mayor mentioned is the advertised public hearing prior to the burough voting on a resolution authorizing the submission of the Grant application the burrow in 2022 with the use of a prior 2021 open St Grant put in place the four new tickle ball Courts at C Park these courts are in a location of where the old underutilized street hockey ring had been at the time we installed the new pickle ball courts the contractor felt that the court surface did not need to be replaced and recommended some minimal surface work that was contracted for and performed along with the painting of the courts as the burrow has been extensively using the courts for the last year and a half is apparent that the court should be fully resurfaced this open space trust front gran application for the pi pickle ball court resurfacing the estimate of the Court's resurfacing and ancillary work on the fencing and Associated equipment is for a total project cost of 190,000 open space grants are 50% funding match Grant from the municipality so we're requesting half the estimated cost for a $95,000 grant as we all know pickle ball continuing to increase in popularity and the high utilization of the court that both F Park and East m is a testament to that the project is supported by the Randy recreation community and will be a great upgrade to an area of the bench park facility where as mentioned we have seen this dramatic increase in utilization and outdoor recreational activity for those of all ages thank you Mr Bose anyone else have any comments on the dasas no okay well not seeing anybody in council chambers to make public comments is there anyone on the line that would like to comment on this resolution second call for comments on the resolution third and final call for comments on the resolution okay I will close this public hearing do I have a motion to go back into order please yes Madam mayor we have a motion to go back into the regular order thank you I second it thank you roll call please councilwoman cusk yes councilman gutwetter yes councilman kilman yes yes I'm sorry councilman Papo yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes thank you okay we'll now move on to adverti public hearing for final consideration of ordinance 05 2024 thank you madam mayor um final ordinance for number 05 2024 uh Bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements in by and for the burrow of Ramsey in the county of Bergen state of New Jersey and appropriate the sum of $115,000 to pay the cost thereof to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes and anticipation of issuance of such Bond having been brought up for public hearing and all the persons interested having been given an opportunity to be heard Past final reading by title and that said ordinance be adopted and the ordinance of the burrow of rams and be it at further resolve that the burrow clerk be and she hereby is directed to cause a copy of the title of said ordinance to be published in an official newspaper of the burrow and in the manner provided by law together with a notice of the date of introduction and Adoption of the ordinance I'll second thank you do we have any comments on this Mr Vose would you like to comment please sure this Bond ordinance authorizes funding of a million uh $115,000 for three different projects in infrastructure improvements in the burrow the first component is 580,000 for the annual Road resurfacing program the next portion of the ordinance funding is allocated to the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot of North Central in an amount of 75,000 and the final component is roof Replacements of three borrow buildings the Ramsey Police Department headquarters the DPW or Westside Firehouse building and a partial replacement at the municipal building at an estimated cumulative cost of $260,000 thank you appreciate that all right there's no one in the um council chambers to make public comments is there anyone on the line that would like to make a comment on ordinance 05 2024 second call for comments on ordinance 05 2024 third and final call for comments on ordinance 05 2024 okay not hearing any I will close the public hearing can I have roll call please councilwoman cusk yes councilman gutwetter yes councilman kilman yes Council Papo yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes thank you I hereby appoint Anthony escolano to the Ramsey fire department consent resolutions please uh thank you Madame mayor uh be it resolve that resolution 086 2024 through and including 100 2024 having been considered by the governing body of the burough of Ramsey B and are hereby passed and approved there is a special permit request the Ramsey public Education Foundation is requesting permission to hang signs advertising their 5K and family fund run on Saturday May 11th 2024 they would like to post 5050 signs throughout the town one Banner at the tenis courts by the pool and fowers hung in local businesses and there are no block party requests this evening I'll second that thank you I notic that there signs are already up around town yeah y um all right wonderful can we have a roll call please sure councilwoman cusk yes councilman gutwetter yes councilman kilman yes councilman Papo yes councilwoman poppy yes councilwoman Woods yes thank you we'll now go to committee and Le is on reports finance and administration councilman GW it to you again uh thank you madam mayor uh to start off I would like to uh congratulate Anthony escolano on his appointment the fire department thank you to his for his service to the burrow uh for my report this evening uh for the library board the HVAC renovation project is nearing completion after several months of work and the final stages are checklist inspections from the project manager architect engineering firm and the burrow of ramsy children's room renovation will start shortly thereafter this project is a result of of strategic planning research showing increased use of the space in the children children's room increase attendance at library family events and to update the space from years of wear and tear the friends of the Ramsey Library spring uh book and jewelry sale will be held from April 25th to April 28th proceeds go to support various Library Services the library collaborated with the Ramsey environmental Commission on several Earth Day events in April and May and more information on the May events to follow the summer concert series will return with concert scheduled from June through September again more details to follow uh Library con the library's annual com Comic Con style event will take place Saturday May 18th from 12: to 4:00 p.m. featuring Ghostbusters vehicle in a parking lot uh artist alley of comic book artists and authors a costume contest for kids uh members of the 50 51st Legion Star Wars movie level costumes a panel discussion on creating your own costume and much more for the record ation commission the summer camp at Finch online registration opened on Monday April 22nd and will go through June 18th the link to register can be found on the Burrow's website spring sports are underway as well as a new volleyball Clinic uh the women's softball began on April 21st and the 2024 Ramsey run to be held in September is under discussion for details the Ramy Farmers Market is open Sundays from 900 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and hours will expand uh next month in the month of May uh May 5th and 12th will be a plant sale from the Ramsey Garden Club and Meo and there are various children's activities from May through October that completes my report for this evening thank you so much Public Safety Council president kilman thank you madam mayor first I'd like to recognize and thank Anthony escolano for his service and appreciate his service to the community for joining the Ramsey fire department from former councilman and Military veteran Joe veroni I have a brief report on BFW post 12148 the vfw's annual poppy donations will begin May 1st raising funds for poppy donations will continue to run until June 30th donation locations are at various retail establishments throughout the buau on Sunday May 5th the VFW members will set up a booth at the Ramsey party market and then sometime in miday VFW members will be replacing American flags on Fallen veterans Graves at Union Cemetery Ramsey and Redeemer Cemetery in Mawa um brief report um on the Ramsey Emergency Services complex the Ramsey Emergency Services complex development committee and Neta Architects continue to work on the design plan and site issues that need to be answered in order to replace the current 70-year-old fire and rescue building and infrastructure currently we don't expect this Emergency Services complex to go out for bid until fourth quarter of 2024 when the design plan for this complex is ready and an and the ancillary issues are resolved a date will be set for to be presented to the mayor and councel and open to the public in the meantime we've set up a page on the burough website for this project under the Community heading on the landing page plans and pertinent information are posted when finalized Madame mayor that is my report thank you building Planning and Zoning councilwoman Woods thank you Madame mayor uh congratulations to Anthony escolano on his appointment to the Ramsey volunteer fire department very thankful for him um thank you to councilwoman Sarah poy for organizing the popular coffee with the mayor and Council in Ramsey police U police chief it was great to connect with the residents but K9 Jack was my favorite attendee no offense um design review board the design review board meeting was Tuesday April 23rd the application for Mayfield Cafe was approved this is an Indian restaurant to be taking over the Old Pub 17 location Luna ail Mexican restaurant and Main Street will be Revisited because it exceeds the color Li exceeds the color limit on the sign uh Duncan rebranding for Franklin ter pre was approved and the next meeting will be May 28th the senior trustees board the senior trustees meeting was held a um uh excuse me Thursday April 11th a new hot water heater was installed uh this will help with clean up after food events um he really needed that hot water Morano catered a baseball themed book event with hot dogs Cracker Jack and ice cream it was so well attended that the author sold out of his books uh this Friday is Arbor Day and the senior center um just sent an email today um asking for our attendance they have planted three new oak trees and one of the trees will be dedicated to R keys this Friday at 12 in front of the senior center the keys family will be there uh mayor and council members of the shade tree commission Ramsey fire department and the settle River uh Valley Lions Club are invited for the ceremony and light Refreshments this Friday 12:30 um the seniors are excited about the senior Galla scheduled for Saturday June 22nd from 12:00 p.m. to 2 or 3 p.m. the mayor and Council again will look forward to serving food at the event um couple of things they had going on they had an art of tea event sponsored by hackin hospital and it was very well attended Linda Corson is donating her time to teach maang art classes are fully scheduled and um there's almost a waiting list for those the last one focused on watercolor um Stress Management Programs uh healthy bones training and women's Bachi is so popular that they're opening a second Court the next meeting is Thursday May 9th the zoning Board of adjustment for April 17th was cancelled because the applications were not complete but I would like to touch on one thing that I talked about a year and a half ago um as we spend more time Outdoors you may notice more air traffic in the area uh I covered this topic during Teterboro and nework International Airport runway Renovations a few years ago while there is little we can do about this issue it is important to log your complaints if we are if we are to make any changes you may want to download an app called Flight Radar 24 to get the detailed information of the type of plane altitude and destination you should then submit a complaint directly to the individual airports uh Teter burrow ask that you call Teterboro Airport noise hotline 201 288 8828 or you can file a complaint electronically at the aircraft noise. py nj.gov site or if you need further assistance you should contact the FAA noise portal but please make your complaints known thank you thank you utilities buildings and grounds councilwoman Judy cusk thank you Madame mayor this is councilwoman cusk's report for the 24th of April 2024 I want to thank all the members of our buau who stopped in last Sunday for coffee with Ramy police department and the mayor and the council I enjoyed our time together and thank you councilwoman poppy for the inspiration congratulations to Anthony escolano for his appointment to the Ramsey fire department my report tonight will provide an update regarding ing our planning board the shade tree commission and Board of Public Works the planning board last met on April 2nd there were four site plan waivers all approved um the planning board is recommending to the mayor and Council a study for an Area Redevelopment for one Constantin Drive block 3603 lot one um the planning board excuse me please last met on April 16th the next meeting will be in the begin beginning of May our shade tree commission met on April 18th there will be another meeting on the 16th of may please note there's information on our bureau's website regarding our shade tree commission Arbor Day is this Friday and there will be a ceremony for a tree planted at our senior community center the Board of Public Works last met on the 15th of April the next meeting is the 20th of May per and poly fluorinated substances posos are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer Coatings and products that resist heat oil stains grease and water as of April 10th the EPA has issued revised posos quality water quality limits for drinking water the rules generally follow what our BPW and Consultants had anticipated and which were originally proposed was some minor amendments related ating the implementation timetables h2m our consultant has begun feasibility regarding our Burrow's Water Systems the lead service line replacement work continues this is the NJ D's lead service line replacement legislation a project that requires all lead service lines served by the water system be replaced by the year 2031 hydron flushing continues for our Springtime fire hydrant fleshing program information is posted on the bur's website for residents and businesses and finally there was an njde inspection on April 3rd at each water facility including a visual inspection and a review of our paperwork thank you Madame mayor thank you Publican governmental relations councilwoman poppy thank you mayor Jo first I'd like to thank the mayor and the remainder of the council um and the police department for attending the coffee with the mayor council and Ramsey PD event on Sunday I'd also like to extend my thanks to the Girl Scouts for coming to do a craft with the children um it was very well done so good job to them um and hopefully we'll um have another one of these events in the future uh I'd also like to congratulate Anthony espano on his appointment to Ramsey fire department the Ramsey Municipal Alliance met on Monday April 22nd RMA member and professional speaker Steven Hill presented at Ramsey High School on April 5th it was the first all school assembly since before covid the students were attentive and engaged while listening to Steven's story of recovery Steven will be presenting to the eth graders at Smith on May 8th and he has become a um Regular presenter at the schools also co-sponsored by the Ramsey Municipal Alliance in May will be attitudes in Reverse therapy dogs will be brought to Tisdale and hubard for age appropriate education on mental Wellness this is an annual event and the elementary schools look forward to hting it students will have the opportunity to attend the lindsy Meer teen Institute program in New Jersey for a week this summer for leadership opportunities to bring back information to our community and Mentor younger students approximately six students will be awarded scholarships funded by the Ramsey Municipal Alliance and Department of Human Services Grants um those applications will be taken from any uh High School school students who are interested so look for more information at the schools on June 9th the RMA will hold their annual meet the police and Drug takeback event at the Ramsey Farmers Market any unneeded unwanted or expired medication will be accepted for disposal no liquids or Sharps at this time as a reminder there is always a Dropbox in police headquarters that is available 247 no questions asked um the new Resident mixer will be held on June 11th with a rain date of June 18th all residents who've moved to town since January 2022 are invited to attend and use our pool letters will be going out to those residents soon organizations who will also participate in set up tables and activities will be able to register for their spots starting next week a communication will be sent finally the ramsy pool commission met on April 17th Girl Scout Ellie thumb presented she will be building and installing pizza box disposal containers in the pool area to help facilitate recycling this will be her silver award project and what was nice about this is I noticed that the environmental commission with their composting pizza boxes are compostable they're actually not recyclable so um they might be able to compost those the pool commission will again be holding their popular aquaerobics program in July and August on Saturdays in addition to aquaerobics there'll be two more Fab Fridays added to the schedule as well as a rain date for any Miss bands on May 6th through 10th the pool office will be open from 11: to 4: for in purchase in-person membership purchases and keep fob pickup the next meeting will be May 15th and will be the first meeting of the season to be held at the pool complex thank you thank you health education Social Services councilman Papo thank you Madame mayor uh I'd also like to congratulate Anthony on his appointment to the uh Ramsey fire department and congratulations to councilwoman Poppy and the rest of us here the mayor and Council I thought the event on Sunday was very very very well attended and and good I I enjoyed talking to the residents that way too because even if it's one you kind of talk and get some some feedback and good Insight on certain things my report starts with um R uh tonight so we have karaoke night tomorrow 4:25 at Nights of Columbus 700 p.m 40 40 rifer is ready to attend so I think it's going to be a hop in uh night tomorrow Challenger softball opened up last sat last Saturday and we'll continue through June and again this Saturday at 3 P.M at Finch 1 uh field environmental completed their EV event on Sunday 9 to one it was well attended and I've covered most of the environmental items last session we had but um the EV event is one that we had a two additional sponsors come which is good so it grows each session we kind of have with that which is uh which is good to see and Board of Ed next meeting will be 4:30 at 7 p.m. and that concludes my report thank you thank you thank you congratulations to Anthony escolano for joining the Ramsey fire department always very happy when people join the EM voluntary emergency services and it's a lot of time dedication so thank him for doing that and the coffee with the mayor council and the PD I thought was a great success thank you to councilwoman poppy for organizing it thank you to Chief Lyman um officer Amma and K9 Jack for attending and thanks to all the um residents who came out to attend us you're always nervous with um events like that whether people are going to show up so I was really happy we had a steady stream of people from 10: to 12 so I thought it was a really good event and I want to thank one of the Girl Scouts Nicollette she made a beautiful mayor of ramsy necklace for me um so I just want to thank Nicollet for that yes um if you're wondering what the noise in the background is they're having fun night at dat tonight and that's the field is right behind us the rbsa parade is this Saturday at 9:00 um the lineup is on Mechanic Street at 8:45 so I hope everybody can join us this is one of the best parades in of the year um in regarding the ComicCon I was asked to be a judge of the cost one of the judges for the costume contest so I want to thank um Miss Maggie for inviting me to do that and that is all that I have B administrator uh thank you Madame mayor I would just comment on a few of the resolutions that are on tonight's agenda resolution 88 this resolution amends resolution 79 of 2024 which awarded a contract to Garden State fireworks for the B's Independence Day celebration on Saturday July 6th the original proposal Gard state had sent which the previous resolution was based off of was for an incorrect amount that they hadent an error this resolution has the corrected price in an amount of $155,000 which is the same as last year's contract price as we noted last meeting Garden State's been the burough fireworks vendor for a number of years and has performed very successful displays resolution number 90 and then also resolutions 95 to 100 um all have to do with uh Health Care uh proposal that the burrow is considering as healthcare costs continue to increase the burrow continues to look at ways to reduce costs where possible the Burrow's health insurance is provided through the New Jersey state health benefits program which employ employees contributing a percentage of the coverage premiums in accordance with the state enacted chapter 78 contribution level in 2023 a health reimbursement account or HRA program operated by an outside vendor the difference car was approved by the New Jersey state health benefits program work with the municipalities under their coverage in efforts to lower the at Healthcare cost Ramsey has over the last months been pursuing this option for the burrow and after a number of meetings with employees are implementing this optional program the New Jersey state health benefits program currently has an open enrollment period ongoing that ends April 30th where employees may make changes to their health coverage which will be effective July 1st resolution 90 authorizes the burrow to contract with the difference card and execute the service and business associate agreements to provide these HRA services resolutions 94 through 99 are authorizing the buau to enter into contract attendons with each of the six unions adding this HRA option in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement as mentioned the approved plan is required to be optional by the state we anticipate roughly 20 to 30% of employees receiving Health Care coverage to choose the HRA at this time resolution 91 uh authorizes the submission of the 2024 buron County open Spate b trust grant for the resurfacing of the P ball courts that we had the uh public hearing earlier this evening the project as would be for estimated cost of 190,000 the grant submission is uh for 50% of that or 95,000 as it's a mandatory 50% Mount from the municipality resolutions 92 and 93 award contract to DNL Paving Ramsey's the lead agent to the Northwest Bergen shared Service Group and annually coordinates a shared service bid for Road resistance this year we have five municipalities included in the bait allowing us to have additional Paving quantities and achieve a more attractive bid package the public bid was advertised and bids opened on April 16th it was a very competitive bid process with nine firms bidding on the contract in fact the three lowest bids were within $99,000 of each other on a $1.4 million bid enl Paving Contractors was the low B DNL has successfully performed under contracts or similar scope of work in the past including this Cooperative Paving contract in a of the last 14 years after both Technical and legal review of the bid by the burough engineer and qpa and the burough attorney respectively the recommendation is to award the contract to DNL Paving resolution 92 Awards the contract as lead agent collectively for all five towns with a total am amount of 1, 14211 127 64 and resolution 93 Awards a subsidiary contract for only Ramsey's portion of the work totaling $435,900 39 and that is all I have for tonight thank you thank you Mr Bose bural attorney nothing thank you Madame mayor Pearl clerk nothing thank you mayor thank you we have no introduction of ordinances no unfinished business we've already taken care of the new business earlier in the meeting so do we have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second all in favor I okay thank you everybody have a good