some time about that one nothing short of yeah it's 6:30 I appreciate that that I don't just have to get turned on there we go good evening everyone this meeting is being held in accordance with the public laws of 1975 chapter 231 an adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a notice sent to the as Park Press Two of times in the Star Ledger and posted in the main lobby of the municipal building and on the municipal website please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance Al United States of America and through the Republic for which it stands one nation indivis liy and justice for all council member Bon takas here council member Cassidy pres council member facy Blackwood here council member fars council member Jan here council member Triano here be Portman all right we have a few proclamations so first one is for Black History Month whereas each February National Black History Month serves as both a celebration and a powerful reminder of black history is American history black culture is American culture and black stars are essential to the ongoing story of America our faults our struggles our progress and our aspirations and whereas across the generations count countless black Americans have demonstrated profound moral courage and resilience to shape our nation for the better and in the face of wounds and obstacles including enslavement segregation perpetuated by the nation itself black Americans lead in every part of society today strengthening and uplifting all of the United States of America and whereas America is a Melting Pot of cultures and ethnicities all part of the land of the free Black History Month Fosters cultural awareness and understanding while encouraging education about contributions made by Americans of color and whereas the celebration of black history month is a positive way of recognizing the culture and history of African-Americans is vital to the core beliefs and values of our society and whereas on behalf of the burrow Council and myself we ask all burrow residents to join in carrying forward the work to build a Beloved Community as described by Dr Martin Luther King Jr our goal is to create a Beloved Community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives now therefore I will important mayor of the burough of Red Bank to hereby Proclaim and observe February 2024 as Black History Month and encourage the local citizenry to actively raise their own awareness of black history to recognize the struggles achievements and contributions of black Americans throughout local black history months events [Music] here next is a proclamation for American part month whereas cardiovascular disease including heart disease stroke and high blood pressure is responsible for one of every three deaths it is the number one killer of American women and men and it is a leading cause of serious illness and disability and whereas across our nation we have lost devoted mothers and fathers loved siblings and cherished friends to the this devastating epidemic during American Heart month as we honor their memories let us recommit to improving our heart health and continuing the fight against this deadly disease for ourselves and our families and whereas Americans of all backgrounds can be at risk for heart disease and stroke and nearly half of all adults have at least one major risk factor however individuals who are at high risk often do not know it and data suggested suggests that many people who experience sudden cardiac death do not act on early warning SS that is why it is important to understand the risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as obesity inactivity and diabetes and to keep your blood pressure and cholesterol under control by maintaining a healthy diet getting regular exercise and not smoking you can control risk factors and help protect your heart and whereas on Friday February 2nd I invite all Red Bank citizens to join in marking National Wear red Day by wearing red to help raise awareness of cardiov vascular disease and provide an important reminder that it is never too early to take action to protect our health this month let us reaffirm our resolve to fight this epidemic and continue our work to build a brighter future for all for our families now therefore I William Portman mayor of the bur of Red Bank to hereby Proclaim and observe February 2024 as American Heart month and I invite all citizens to participate in National Wear red day on February 2nd 2024 and join me in recognizing and reaffirming commitment to fighting cardiovascular disease and finally we have a proclamation honoring the retirement of Linda hwit from the library whereas the bur of Red Bank has been informed of the retirement of Linda D hwit on January 1st 2024 and whereas Lindy huitt has been a valued and integral sta integral staff member of the Red Bank public library for over 15 years and whereas she has always taken pride in her work shown a willingness to help where needed been ready to take on new challenges and demonstrated professionalism friendliness and kindness to all Library patrons and staff as both the circulation supervisor and the adult programming and community outreach coordinator and and whereas she was the creator of many Innovative adult programs including the award-winning let's talk about race program of which she is especially proud and whereas she developed and maintained Partnerships with many local organizations that were mutually beneficial and garnered her respect and admiration throughout the community and whereas she initiated and oversaw the library's very successful volunteer program which provided Direction and purpose to numerous individuals of all ages and and whereas she was instrumental in establishing the library's art gallery and display so the public could admire the work of local artists and whereas she was always a loyal team player the one who'll be the first to circulate a card of birthday greetings congratulations or sympathy to staff members and patrons alike and whereas Whenever there was a snag a long overdue Library item a patron a little bit reluctant to return something or some issue needing attention Linda was the one you wanted on the case now therefore I William Portman on behalf of the council and citizens of the burough of Red Bank do hereby gratefully acknowledge Linda ht's years of service to the Red Bank Eisner Memorial Library and wishes her a happy and healthy retirement nothing could have ever been done without an inal team of colleagues a great town in which to work all our volunteers and everybody in a great Community for than thank you very very much hold on Laura's coming Laura's coming oh Laura's coming she wants in okay I went out a what I library is definitely a COR two congratulations congratulations thank you happy retirement L Lind I want to send it to you thank hey can you for that me too okay can I have a motion to open the floor for public comments on agenda items only so move I have a second second all in favor I right these are public comments on agenda items only anyone have anything anyone online my name is alen Hill 64 McLaren Street and there are excuse me there are a couple of points I'd just like to raise from the agenda and I'm really going to start with um the reintroduction of bond ordinance 20242 which is the red Bank station pedestrian improvements uh and a sum of close to a million dollars or so um I can't help and I know other people can't help seeing the bigger picture and with the the councils being bumped into um at the area around the station uh a Redevelopment Zone and uh you this this one coming along I can't help thinking that there's something bigger a foot but what I really want to make sure of is this is that one we don't go um making changes around the station for bik and P P which this grant seems to be for and then that all being undone by the Redevelopment plan or even uh even the developers themselves and two um um it actually um because this is really things that should be done by the developers it really should in a decent uh a decent Community people who are going to develop places should be uh actually improving the uh infrastructure themselves and uh it it's not a big deal for other places I mean I know of other places you get a development but you have to build a school you have to build a clinic and you have to do these other things you have to improve and this isn't such a new idea either because for several years now this town has been a signatory to the complete streets uh manual and very part of the complete streets manual means that people making zoning and planning applications have to put in what contrib what contribution what Improvement to the streets and what uh what steps they're doing to make the the area around meet the street complete streets manual something this town has never done never done and so as I say I'm just worried this is money that as I say will either be written off by by developers or because there'll be a new I don't know New Street a new pattern for uh a new pattern for pedestrians and so on I'm also really worried that this is just a little bribe for the right sort of develop it's the sort of developments that meet the uh well I was going to say the needs of this Council it's one question of this council meeting the needs of developers and that's what it looks like so I would really like to know how this million dollars is being spent and what will be done to actually protect that investment in the future Jim I don't know if you if you're aware yet I was under the impression that this is for mostly MTH Street like how far down is this Improvement broad to Shrewsberry this is Broad to Shrewsberry so this is all of mry so really a very small part would be affected possibly by any train station development yeah 675 of it is funded by gra well what fools me is it's called the Red Bank station pedestrian improvements yes yeah well well aware what's that that's because of so this was an existing uh grant funding that was awarded to the buau prior to the majority of the people sitting on this deis um 20122 and actually upon getting our stuff together we realized that this was a grant that was not being tended to properly um so about to expire correct so uh we discovered that and that the majority of this funding was already lined up and um that's That's the basis of the project I can understand how maybe the title of it was confusing but I hope now that we've explained that this work would not be impacted by the train station area those sidewalks would still remain they would still be there and improving them would be a major benefit regardless of what happens in that area A major benefit the uh the builders as well yeah no I walk on S sidewalks it's a major benefit to my family and everybody who lives here you um speaking of benefits to to um investors uh I'm moving on to 2437 uh authorizing developers agreement as Alia Gardens I read that and I see it's really reintroducing an ordinance made by I think is it planning or zoning about that area and I'd like to know when planning or zoning actually pass those those that ordinance or those requirements for planning it's about the subdivision into so many plots and etc etc yeah I don't know I because once again I feel the town is complicit in in providing a tax benefits for for investors there's only one reason is Alia guidens has been open has been uh basically derel now for for years almost since I've moved here which isn't that long but it's uh about six years or so and the only benefit really is to the investor and it's basically it's a tax rate off when you go to the the website of the people who own aelia Gardens that's what they say their business is is making themselves tax efficient and keeping areas like that as a right on so what are we going to do about that I mean I've got a proposal about that and that is when people apply for Planning and Zoning they get a time limit at which to start it and get it going and if they fail to meet that Target they have to put in for it again they have to put their and we see this all the time don't we we see this uh this new building opposite station goodness knows where all of a sudden we we spend a whole evening three hours here discussing it and then about the next day they withdraw and funny enough a few days after that we find out about the stationary development by den hols and njt it all looks very dodgey and you have to get a grip of this you have to and given the history of this Council or at least some of the people on this Council we know we know where people's sympathies lie so you really need to get a grip of that and I think those are my comments coms anyone else just a matter of that that's the other thing I'm getting fed up with here if you come here you make comments you ask questions and you just say thank you for your comments we never hear a decent answer or response your first your first point was a question that we answered and your second one I'm not quite sure what the question was it was a bit of a tiate um tiate believe Min as such Alan Hill made it toad or to raade thank you 25 Cedar Street resolution 24- pledge for land use and as below that's a great pledge but I'm just wondering um I didn't see any mention about affordable housing there was discussion about the verts and mixed housing and green designs and um using our natural resources but I was just wondering why wasn't there any mention of affordable housing I'm just call you um I initiated this resolution of one of the requirements that we have to do for sustainable Jersey as we're going through our our certification and under mix of land uses they say we pledge to use our zoning power to allow a mix of residential retail commercial it doesn't specify if it is Affordable unaffordable housing but this is a standard boiler plate resolution that we pull from sustainable Jersey are you able to change it I don't know I mean I I think because it's such a big issue in this town it'd be nice to highlight something like affordable housing well it does say it um we pledge through the use of our zoning and revenue generating power to foster a diverse mix of housing types and locations so essentially it is covered by that phrase It's good to be clear U my next question is resolution 2434 um I was just curious it looks like some of these um Brands I guess are are being cancelled so I was just wondering like for example what the New Jersey Forest Service Community forestry $330,000 grant that was appropriate for uh why we didn't use it or what it was what what was it for was it for like trees in the town or it's my understanding we're discussing this with the CFO that the funds were already put in the capital Improvement outlay so that they can be cancel out of the grant appropriation of the budget it's just a matter of course so these grants were used the right yes and then the tree actually you you about this too so right um specifically the New Jersey Forest Service Community forestry program Grant um this has been used I think the there's only a small piece missing before the grant is officially closed out but from an accounting perspective they're just basically moving the money from the grant fund to the capital fund if I understand that correctly the only thing left on that is uh the planting of nine trees that died and you can't plant in the winter so they're going to be planting them this spring so that's for the the bottom of the New Jersey Forest right it's just what about the top one was the senior citizen prior year it says under canceled two operations was that not used that money was already moved so again this is a matter of course in our budget that the CFO has to clean these things up so you have to essentially cancel it out of the grant line item and move it over to the the general capital okay thank you thank you anyone else any online Jim just check real Mar uh good evening my name is Mary Ellen mess I live at 95 Hudson Avenue I'm a little late to the party but I just I was just curious could somebody uh just in a nutshell tell me what the developers agreement with aelia Gardens is that's a half a block from my house and as Mr Hill said it is been darck for many years sure just curious to know what what we're agreeing to I mean so in the first instance this developers agreement pertains to approvals that were obtained through the land use board so if you leave that close sure you got a notice and there was a whole hearing right it was a zoning board agreement changes nothing of what you heard at that land use Board hearing okay as part of the land use approvals the developer is required to comply with various fees and things that have to do with the burrow so for example uh there SE connection fees due from the developer are $35,790 a water water vulnerability fee of $3,520 um and there are also requirements in the bur's ordinances as to how well few things one performance guarantees and then maintenance guarantees for for example develop puts in sidewalks which it agreed to as part of of this and then they crack um there's a there's a bond for that for two years after they're completed uh as well as how they conduct the construction um and the time period in which they do that so this developers agreement essentially memorializes what you heard at the land use sport it's their uh purview as to whether to approve or deny things and then those the things that touch upon the burrow this developers agreement address is all the keeping the construction site clean while they're doing it they have four years to complete what's contemplated in the approvals for the Burrow's sake the land use board can grant it's actually less than that the land use board where they can grant extensions but this is really just the burrow side of what you heard at the land use hearing um there's no tax breaks there's no nothing beyond what you heard at the land use for to develop our own piece of property and is going to develop it and has to comply not just with the land use for told them in the site plans but also connecting to the Burrow's infrastructure and all the other things you have to do to become a a building that's served by the burough here that's what the developers agreement does in general um all right well that you I don't know if you have any other questions very detailed description I do appreciate that um you know when someone alludes to tax abatements uh kind of uh so I'll give you I don't really I very sensitive to that because I don't know about the rest of you but I've had a nice Hefty increase to my tax bill this year and I would hate to think that we were um letting developers off the hook so thank you for your I can give you a tip if this goes before a land use for other than for site plan approval at like for the subdivision and all this sort of stuff it can't have a tax abatement because in order to have a tax abatement or Pilot you have to have an area needed redevelop or an area in need of Rehabilitation so when you see a developers agreement for someone who doesn't have one of those two things it can it can't be a tax abatement that's why they're at the land use board to begin with because there's no Redevelopment plan or other rubric for them to pursue other than the ordinary course of the land use board so if they're at the if they're at the zoning board they can't get a tax abat and essentially that's why they're at the zoning board to begin with okay well thank you very much for that uh informative presentation thank you anyone else have any comments on agenda items no online Jim no sir all right um I have a motion to close the public comment on agenda a motion second second all favor hi um I have a motion to approve the minutes and reports uh from 111 2024 have a second second all in favor all right let's get to the ordinances um first up is a public hearing and Adoption of 202 24-1 amending the bond ordinances 2023-24 d18 for lead service line replacement for 4,9 60,000 um can I have a motion to open the public hearing on this ordinance only so moved have a second I'll second all in favor I anyone want to comment on this this is the one where we we found a lot more lead lines um on the West Side um than we thought we would so we increased um the the we're getting a loan from the iank with a 50% forgiveness so we increased it because we we have to by law replace these uh let service lines so this increase will allow us to complete replacing I believe on the west side as well as doing all the test pits that are needed on the east side as well in this phas so um we had a much longer time to do this but we figured let's just take advantage of the funding there and get it done for for R bank so mayor I just want to say that I appreciate everybody's aggressive this whole Council everybody's aggressive stance on this um you know it's it's really remarkable this is a really important project I know that this has been an inconvenience to Residents in town um to other people you know I spent my morning the other day responding to a gas leak wearing my other hat As A Firefighter um from getting struck uh but this is this is a good kind of headache this is a good kind of work um this is important work this is about clean drinking water and I'm just really appreciative that we have a council that just doesn't think that this can wait um and understand understands the importance of the work anyone else have any comments on this ordinance no I actually have a question mayor yeah um I'm a benefactor in that you know my house 16 Locus Avenue had this done and we're grateful for it um you know we've always had filters on our water there so am I allowed to vote on this counselor or what's the story yes because General we're doing it for everyone in town okay just want to check good mayor may I say something sure um I want to Echo what Kate said and also state that I am appreciative of Loro taking a very aggressive stance with this because we do have a lot of young children in town and the lead levels I think I do remember a couple years back reading that they were pretty high so this will allow us to have um the the residents have clean drinking water so thank you can I have a motion to close the public hearing on this ordinance only motion I have a second second all in favor I can I have a motion to adopt ordinance 20241 how make such a motion I have a second second council member Mona takas yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Forest yes council member janal yes council member trian yes and mayor pman yes excellent right motion pass next up we have um public hearing and Adoption of just let's explain we might as well explain exactly what we're doing this uh only and I I know that the entire salary wance is um posted but this is closer closer yeah all the microphones M up now coming all that um this is for the creation of the human resources manager position um in the first couple weeks of of being here just became evident and also during the interview process desire of Mayor and councel to Institute and make sure that we have robust and and what we need in place Human Resources throughout the you know with with our B employees I want to make sure that we Institute an employee assistance program which we currently lack um and address any concerns as far as our uh employee handbook policies need to be updated um and make sure that we're working with with the joint Insurance Fund on our EPL claims and in order to do that we need to put a human resources professional in place uh so that the employees have an opportunity to come to somebody on a confidential nature um that may be just under you know my perview but still reported to the administration so this is putting that position in place have a question there yeah uh Mr G Mr G um what exactly is the employees assistance but I'm not I'm not not having worked in a bur I don't know what it is you explain what that is yeah it's a it's a program that's put in place uh usually through Professional Service uh or an actual company that that specializes in it but it gives the the employees the ability to confidentially go to um seek any sort of counseling that they may need it's actually a resource for them and their families it's an investment that we're making in our employees to make sure they're coming to work and being you know the best that they can B you know our managers or our department heads they're expected to do so much but they're not expected to be therapists and psychologists and everything else that sometimes you know falls upon a boss in a sense you know a lot of employees look to the boss for answers um but there's going to be times where you know they're bringing things that are at home maybe into the workplace and it's unavoidable and we want to make sure that we have the resource in place to direct them and have them answer their questions a lot of the employees Assistance programs offer three free uh counseling sessions uh so we'll make sure that when we when we do go out for that sort of program that that's in place as well so they don't feel burdened to just go and talk to somebody thank you does anyone have any questions about this ordinance no can I have a motion to close the public hearing on this ordinance only make motion I have a second second all in favor can I have a motion to adopt ordinance 20245 so moved I have a second I'll second roll call please council member Bonas yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Forest yes council member Jan yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes okay next is a reintroduction 20242 Bond ordinance for Red Bank station destrian improvements for $965,000 uh this ordinances requires a reintroduction due to the amended amount to be bonded um can I have a motion to approve on introduction sure I'll make that Moe I have a second second roll call please council member bonatakis yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Floris yes council member janon yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes public hearing for this ordinance will be on February 8th next up is an introduction of 2024 -06 amending chapter 64 fire department to increase the B's annual contribution and Implement annual inflation adjustments to its length of Service Awards program for volunteer firefighters and first aid Squad members can I have a motion to approve on introduction Miss mayor really quick just to clarify for the public myself and councilman Cassidy are firefighters so and we are both eligible for low St so we're abstaining so somebody else correct make your motions motion can I have a second second please council member Bonas yes council member Cassidy abstain council member facy Blackwood yes council member Flores uh yes council member Jen yes Deputy Mayor Triano obain and mayor Portman yes all right next up is an introduction of 20247 amending chapter 680 vehicles in traffic to create a loading zone on Oakland Street near Maple Avenue to ensure safe student drop off and pickup at Red Bank burrow preschool facilities um that's pretty self-explanatory that one um although we have the details here if anybody wants to um hear about it can I have a motion to approve this on introduction still moved have a second second roll call please council member V Takis yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member Forest yes council member janon yes Deputy Mayor Triano yes mayor Portman yes thank you what was the um was the resolution um oh here part project um 24 35 do we have to a motion to amend the title of it oh it's correct here okay great okay um are any of these need to be pulled out and done separately does anyone on consent agenda everyone okay with that yes okay can I have a motion to approve resolutions 2429 through 4 38 on the consent agenda yes I have a second second council member vona takas yes council member Cassidy yes council member facy Blackwood yes council member flest yes council member janon yes Deputy Mayor trano yes mayor Portman yes okay can I have a motion to open the floor for public comments how many such a motion okay sure you Mo under discussion and action items we have a letter um from um director Ebanks director of Community Development um the we sent the um the new HPC regulations over to the planning board to see if there was consistency with the master plan and I received a letter back from the planning board so I will read it into the records on January 16 2024 planning board meeting the board reviewed ordinance NP 2024-the commissions and Chapter 490 Planning and Development regulations to enhance the historic preservation commission and to supplement the Burrow's regulations as to Historic District and historic sites the board recommends the admission of 49-55 F6 d19 in the amendment of The ordinance the board found that issuing a certificate of economic hardship should not be subjected to the review of an applicant or owner's income tax bracket to this end depart from the provision cited above the board has found that the amended ordinance is consistent with the Burrows master plan and planning and zoning objectives and recommends adoption by the governing public so do we need to any action on this Mr Mayor I don't know I would just ask is the council okay with incorporating the pling recommendation to the final ordinance yes yes yes that's not a substit of change it's be solved by the site of the itself it's seven layers deep in the ordinance um so we could have that for adoption on February 8 okay with that okay all right well we'll have the public hearing and adoption on February 8 okay um so we had a motion open the floor for public questions and comments a second have a second all right um all in favor I I okay please is it live yeah good evening mayor city council neighbors my name is Georgina Shanley I am a Red Bank resident and as you can tell I have a frog in my throat just s your address too it's at Harding Road if you want the whole thing the whole thing 115 Harding Road in Red Bank and please excuse the Frog I'm just getting over laryngitis okay I'm here tonight first of all I want to thank you for allowing me to speak it's um it's really an honor um I'm here tonight to introduce a resolution for hopefully that you on Council will pass enthusiastically and it is a resolution calling for the ceasefire the immediate ceasefire of all all destructive actions in Israel and in Gaza the release of the remaining hostages and to give fall to full humanitarian Aid to the starving and sick Palestinians one may wonder why it's been introduced to Red Bank but it's not the only city in the United States that has passed these resolutions there are many many cities and school boards throughout the nation also we have a vested interest in this not only because of our conscience seeing all of these people being killed and being held hostage but also because we are paying for the bombs and the bullets with their taxpayers money and um on October 7th it's 110 days ago Hamas did a barbaric Massacre of 1300 men women and children in Israel 240 of these 240 citizens were also taken hostage and these hostages I think there are 100 remaining are in dungeons in Palestine the occupied territories and it's time really for us to ask our president and our elected officials to call for a ceasefire and to intercede in this action um we have we have two million people in Gaza who are without homes without food without medical attention we talk about having a housing crisis in Red Bank and throughout the country but this is really very serious and it's a human Arian crisis the people of the occupied territories have been living under an apartheid system according to the UN and Amnesty International I have been uh the leader of the South Jersey Amnesty International chapter for over 30 years and I'm very involved in community and local issues I was in my previous to I actually received a Martin Luther King award in 2020 for work with kids and for having an after school program to help with uplifting their education and giving them nurturing and there are 224 Israeli soldiers who've been killed there are three hostages that were killed by the Israeli Defense Forces um it just keeps going on and on and on the United Nations never had so many Aid workers killed 136 Aid workers killed since this began October 7th and there's no end to it Netanyahu is saying we have to cleanse Gaza from top to bottom side to side and he made that statement last year so this is ethnic cleansing uh we as contributors in society as human as Global Citizens have an obligation to stand up and do something you can bomb The World To Pieces but you cannot bomb the world to peace and as Martin Luther King said in his letter to birming from the Birmingham Jail we shall all repent at this time not only for the hateful words and deeds of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good ones and it really is time for us we talked about Black History Month it's time for us to take a stand in reality and not just practice words so I am really appealing to you to take a stand in this and be able to look at yourselves in the mirror as you get older and older like I am and to think that you've done something right this is a chance in history and it may not come again for you to cast a vote in favor of justice and humanity and if there's any questions that you'd like Georg I want to thank you for coming here I know you came to my office hours onl day we talked for a while um and I encouraged you to come here and speak and grateful for the work you've done for the last 30 years um people like you are are how things get um when I I saw you I think at the uh MLK events uh at the bual um and they were you know Andy Kim was there and Frank Malone was there and they were talking about National issues and um one of the things I said was you know one of the reasons I chose to run for mayor here was um the world just felt a little overwhelming to have an influence on um and I wanted to you know be able to have a direct a direct impact on my community my mom always said and not just my mom but lots of people think you know think globally act locally um so that's what we've been you know we've been I've been trying to do um you know Council ran on a ticket of trying to be transparent and accessible and um there was it was it was really divided here in Red Bank and we were making an effort to to unify which is one of the concerns I have with with passing a resolution like this um and invariably there will be angry people on on both sides whichever way we we um we act um but um we're we're really working hard to you know come out of a dark period for and unite this town and and make some tangible progress here so yeah I I appreciate that and you know I thank you for thanking me for my good work but this is an opportunity for you all of you to to do the right thing and 25,000 over 25,000 human beings Gaza have been murdered mostly women and children and you you know you you talk about focusing locally I agree Focus locally but there has been precedent set where you have done resolutions outside of this locality like the nurses strike like rep operations and it's it's an excuse to say that you are only focused on Red Bank everyone of you agrees with this concept of stopping the killings every one of you I spoke with you most one I didn't every one of you but for whatever reason whether it's political religious afraid of being ostracized losing business these are so material reasons for not doing it if we were back in second world war in Warsaw Ghetto being fenced in and being murdered wouldn't we have liked people from the outside to have had a voice to try and stop it and we're funding this so it is local it's our taxpayers money so I don't think these are real reasons with with all due respect Mr Pon and I think you really have to examine your conscience and do the right thing and I'm going to read the resolution resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel and resumption of fall humanitarian Aid I I just say one whereas and then skip them all to the bottom ask the mayor and the city council of the city of Redbank New Jersey recognize the importance of peace and security for all communities and Nations around the world regardless of national ethnic or religious affiliations and the mayor and the city council advocate for the safety dignity freedom and equality of all people regardless of religion race or nationality and the mayor in the city council of Red Bank recognized that all human life is precious and October 7th 23 a violent attack by Hamas claimed the lives of over 1,200 men women and children and Israel with 240 more taken hostage and since then over 24,000 Palestinians 24,000 twice the population of Red Bank that's my statement have been killed including 250 healthcare workers 136 un Aid workers and over 50 ,000 civilians injured lives continue to be an imminent risk of death even as we speak if a ceasefire is not achieved without delay we had resolved that the mayor and city council join with representatives of other cities and calling on our president and Congressional members to demand an immediate ceasefire to urgently end current violence in Gaza and Israel with the safe return of remaining hostages and that a copy of this resolution be sent to the offices of New Jersey Congressional represent Representatives senators and the United States President Joseph Biden urging them to take immediate action to use their positions all it is and call for an end to this devastating violence and the resumption of delivery of full humanitarian Aid be delivered thank you may I respond to again I want I want to thank you for coming to our office hours twice and you had to wait hour never forgive you I I'm with you personally you know I'm unarian Universalist I believe my church is done such that you've asked um you know and yes of course our federal tax dollars are paying for this um as I've said to you last night but I just want to say it here my own feelings and convictions on this are one thing but I'm also up here representing Red Bank and everyone including you and others and before I be told comfortable doing this I would have to have some more discussion with other groups here I don't need to name them specifically that I did last night with you um and I do appreciate your coming here and giving us your unfiltered View and passion on this issue I don't know if we're going to make you happy but I think everyone out here is listening and um I'll be in touch I appreciate that and thank you very much and it's not really to make me happy it's to St stop any more destruction and any more take a stand any more killings and I think your parents would be very proud if you voted the right way as in the side my parents would be they would be they would be with me I know um and will it be done over weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks as more and more people are being killed and inj and injured or do you plan to meet with these people soon I actually don't know the answer to that yet um I probably will have more discussion with my colleagues up okay thank you thank you Geor you very much mayor may I say something U Georgina before you go I want to thank you so much for coming here um I'm with you that the killing really has to stop but I also wanted to share in today's Washington Post that um Biden's Administration is sending the CIA director to um go to Israel and negotiate uh the releasable hostages in Gaza and Israel and a ceasefire so I mean that so things are happening though not as quickly as we would like but I thank you so much for coming and sharing your thought yeah thank you thank you anyone else have any comments yes sir hi my name is Douglas DeStefano I reside in Rumson I please hope you don't use that against me and I just for the record I live in a modest divorce dad's house um I'm attending the meeting uh to ask the mayor and council member bonatakis and the business manager Mr Gant if you have received my proposal for the complete restoration of the war memorial on Mama Street referred to as handing down Old Glory yes I did re we received that yeah I've actually been discussing that with Oscar our parks and Rex director uh and our DPW director to see if there's you know I want to be in compliance with um local public contracts and making sure that we're not just taking one quote we have a due deal Ence um but I did receive it by a forwarded message so I appreciate you doing that right um in full disclosure I haven't had the opportunity to fully review the actual project see the site and okay form an opinion I would make myself available to answer questions after the council is reviewed the proposal I do know it's within New Jersey state law uh to that it could be awarded as a professional service since it's under $40,000 confused what's happening you want to just tell me yeah yeah and I didn't I didn't send it to everyone I I apologize oh it's okay it's just a public meeting so if the Public's at home trying to sus so I I sent an unsolicited proposal because this is what I do is restore uh monuments mainly bronze bronze plaques Etc I did send an unsolicited proposal to the township the restoration of that war memorial that's on Mama street right next to toast it's in terrible shape um my have a extensive background in doing these kind of projects throughout Washington DC you mind moving the mic a little Clos sorry I do have an extension extensive background and portfolio of doing this kind of work in Washington DC and recently recently restored the the founding statue of Eli Stokes and Ocean Grove where you can see my work um did I answer your question Council yeah thank you appreciate it so thank you it's my first time so great great thank you so much thank you I'm sure Jim will be you'll be hearing from the manager anyone else have any comments yes welcome back Cindy thank you Ben good evening Cindy barnham 71 Wallace Street um got a question I'm wondering you revised this ordinance this graffiti ordinance have we done any ticketing or anything with that has anything happened do anybody know ask we'll have to check with check with the chief okay because I read you know the police blad and it always says uh graffiti reported here graffiti reported here I mean let's face it you're not going to be able to find somebody who does graffiti so what I found to be a big problem in Red Bank when I was on Council and I was code and still to this day and I have always had this in Red Bank are the stickers okay stickers to me and I think I might have brought this up because I wanted you to put this in the graffiti ordinance and you said you would deal with it uh individually but I think you should just amend the graffiti ordinance because when you find stickers on something you can always identify where that sticker came from you can get in touch with that person you know and and the stickers are out of control I was talking to River Center today they're in charge of taking the stickers off the big bellies and the trash cans and the light poles uh epw is and then River Center I I don't know anymore because everything is so plastered with stickers i've just stopped peeling them but it's a it's vandalism right and it looks terrible I mean the lynon street sign pole is totally covered in stickers and once you start one sticker everybody piles on if it's clean you got a better chance of staying clean so I really want you to think about amending that graffiti ordinance to say you know stickers and um Flyers it's in there we did it your your recommendation you did wow democra what does it say about stickers because I didn't read it finds graffiti as any inscriptions words figures and then I added the word stickers or designs that are drawn edged marked painted pasted scratched stapled or otherwise fixed on any person property so when I listen to you but better yet well nobody put me on historic preservation are they better yet I understand that you you discussed this with uh DPW already you made a request recently um did I talk to yes yeah so the director Terrence he discussed this with me already oh he did yeah so right on top of it yes he's great it was a very good pick except he messed up at the snowstorm I'm I just he didn't put the signs at that say no parking it's very very important on Wallace Street because we're so close to town all right so when I find a a sticker what do I do with it and I peel it off who do I bring it to to be fine the police station who take it to code a form on the website if you want to file there's a form on the website to file with code for the public when I want to file a grievance there's a there's a there's a form on the website right you want to file any complaint with code you go there and you file you file the I know about that one okay so that's what you would do but if this is a burrow ordinance that we're talking about being violated shouldn't the burrow what that's what code that's what code is code is part of the burrow they're the enforcing enforcing that's what you're telling the Lea on a code yeah yesen Kate code doesn't do poop around here anymore and everybody knows it okay so you know you're telling me it's code that's good yeah then I will get in touch with Co okay I didn't know whether to take it to the police or not a sticker to the police well it's going against it's vandalism okay you see my point so I'm just being clear here I'd like to be clear okay so that's really good to know another thing is and I've been talking to you this about about a million times are programming these pay stations to say free parking on Sundays you know only people that read Red Bank Green or tap into Red Bank know that Red Bank has parking free parking on Sundays I know that it's very easy to program these things I went through this before when I was on Council and they were all Democrats but me they wouldn't change it they would not do it and I think it's because you get a revenue because all the visitors coming into town are trying to pay into these pay stations can you talk to bill on it I talked to Bill about it Bill tells me to talk talk to Terren about it I talked to Terren and you know it's been back and forth and this and that and also with the street sign did Terrence talk to you about a street sign which one all right we'll have to talk but anyway all right so that's good if you can program the pay stations because you know you say you're so concerned about businesses let's bring the people in more people will come in if you they know they can park for free on Sundays okay very good thank you all right that's it for now thanks thank you anyone else Alan Hill 64 McLaren Street Mayor I'm coming back to you on this one and it's to go back and I'm not going to say about anything the right and Wrongs of the situation but I am going to briefly go back to the Palestine Israeli situ situation and I recall that shortly after the commencement although when I say commencement we're talking about hundreds of years of history but of the present uh troubles should we say in the area you put out an a a letter in your name to the people of Red Bank explaining why you supported the Israel side on this and also finished off with saying the town of Red Bank is with Israel now can I tell you yes you did can I tell you anybody who knows that much about the history of this thing knows you cannot do that and you also know you should also know that you cannot say that you cannot say the town is with you and then treat this resolution like you have just now you can't just pick and choose what you want to do I imagine you wrote that letter without the approval of council or if you did well I'm pretty certain that I know a lot of people in this Council would be very upset with you so you know we're talking dual standards here and we're also just assuming that people in the town don't know what the hell is going on you know I my family goes back to 1927 in you know nearly 100 years ago after the war in 194 46 and 47 my father was with British forces in Palestine and was there for three or four years during the course of the formation of the state of Israel we know a lot of us know what went on but you you can't on the one hand write a letter in your name and just make a blanket statement the town of Red Bank is with Israel and at the same time reject this lady's resolution it's just hypocracy thank you have someone online hold on we have someone online hello this is mimon Christian how are you all today I am calling um actually for the clerk I I missed the portion of the meeting in which minutes were adopted but I called to make some adjustments to the minutes that I read that were placed out um one let's see all of the things that I stated in the last council meeting were not properly represented in the minute so I wanted to make sure that those were corrected State your address as well for the clerk I reside at 15 Maran Street uh in Red Bank and that's one of the things that needed to be corrected it's m a r i o n Street and then I wanted to correct some of my statements that were put on the record you ready ready Laura so one of the statements I said that was mis interpreted was what I said was this I was not a campaign supporter of the Portman and most definitely not of Kate trigano but that did that did not impede my ability to serve the marginalized community in Red Bank and work closely with them that was one statement another statement was what makes this situation even more egregious is you Billy referring to Billy and Kate went against the direct recommendation of the executive director of the Housing Authority Lisa Richardson and the recommendation of your fellow council member and the Housing Authority liaison David Cassidy that was my statement another statement that was mis represented was that Kate absolute power corrupts all of the time currently the chief of police is being investigated but quite honestly Kate I don't know how it's not you that was the statement good to know and then the last statement was that there is no room for politics when it comes to affordable housing in Red Bank I just wanted to make sure that those were accurate on the record because they currently are not but thank you very much and then also too uh Miss trigano I did take you up on your offer to call you to be fair um it has not been longer than 48 hours that I've left a message but I've not heard back from you so I do look forward to hearing from you as well thank you everyone have a nice nice evening thank you anyone else have comments yes Cedar Street um I brought this up many times and I just wanted to see if there was an update now that lunch break is open there's been tremendous amount of traffic and also foot traffic and people crossing um that crazy intersection of bridge and Dr James so I was wondering where we are about doing something um I was walking my dog the other day and it was almost people being hit because it's that weird turn and now there people are dropping off stuff at lunch break so they're blocking up to the curb so you don't really have a good view it's gotten really wanky out there it's really it's pretty bad I just wanted to confirm um bridge and Chestnut Dr James bridge and Dr James so I believe that the uh the town has a 24 $3,000 grant for pedestrian improvements and uh the Project's not designed yet obviously we're going to be waiting for Budget adoption make sure we we make this project into the uh the budget for funding but there is a grant for that area talk a few couple months sure because it's I don't know there's something we can do I know there was um they put up a these tall little sber pet um post so people don't park to the curve yes a couple of them were knock down already um but it is gotten pretty bad now that you have that lunch break open so you know yeah I'll definitely be sure to discuss with the chief police and see if there's anything that he would recommend in that area unfortunately government is slow because we knew lunch break was opening up and we know the demand we know a lot of people come from out of town to drop off stuff and need our help it's just gotten pretty pretty bad um great thank you Mary Ellen mes 95 Hudson Avenue um I just wanted to say that I wholeheartedly support uh Mrs shanley's resolution that she presented this evening I think it's a very sad State of Affairs that uh human beings are reluctant to actually support resolution for a ceasefire that may influence uh some political action to stop uh the genocide that's taking place in Gaza right now I realize it's very difficult to criticize the actions of Israel it usually invites accusations of anti-semitism M but I think the situation there is dire and I just wanted to voice my support for the resolution thank you thank you anyone else have any comments questions no anyone online Jim S I have a motion oh yes just following follow up m Ina shandley 115 Harding Road Red Bank following up um to this last speaker um to do with anti-Semitism my husband happens to be Jewish so just for the record I um I I don't think I'm an anti-semite nothing to do with anti-Semitism it's to do with humanity and lives thank you thank you can I have a motion to close the public comments so moved have a second a second now all in favor I I you have anything no report okay David that report see hi everybody um the EC Green Team and Animal Welfare committee will be meeting together uh for a bit for the beginning at our February meeting in order to discuss uh the chemicals that are put on lawns and their safety for pets that would be part of our meeting um I also want to discuss that there are going to be some changes to our Council hours our um am hours on Wednesdays will continue to be held in person every every Wednesday at the senior center it's Walkin no appointments are required and evening Council hours uh will which are also scheduled for wday Wednesdays will be held by appointment so that um that will start in February so be prepared for the updates if you have any issues questions or concerns or ideas you know you're always welcome to go by um generally on Wednesday mornings Ben and I are there um we enjoy spending the time with the seniors and then you know interacting with uh whoever comes in um the other thing thing I want to mention is regarding the sustainable land use Pledge I know it explicitly does not say affordable housing but if you look at one of the whereas Clauses it does say can lead to an increased societal ills such as decreased Mobility High housing costs increased greenhouse gas emissions loss of open space and degradation of Natural Resources Etc so even though it explicitly does not say um make housing affordable it is something that is being looked at um regarding the plastic bag band that is currently in place I'd like to remind residents and businesses the ban is still in and um it is a state law so it's state mandated it's not just us and any um infractions should be uh reported over to code enforcement uh I was just reading a study that said before the bag ban a typical store lost $9 to 13,000 because they gave away for single use bags yes people are now using reusable bags but the problem is that people are not remembering to use their reusable bags so please reuse your reusable bags that's what they're for and um so far a typical price of plastic bags has resulted in about $95 million in savings so I thought that was pretty a pretty large number to share uh today I was on a call with uh um the New Jersey biked uh Coalition and they asked to talk about some of the Tactical urbanism projects that we did and Sue mentioned Dr James Parker Boulevard and if you know that's the one where the intersection was painted green as a positive distraction um so you know a lot of people like the idea that same design has been copied in pic and there are a lot of other towns doing it so as we go forth looking into what to do with this grant um you know I just want to make sure that we take care uh make sure we follow the recommendations that was in the report um other than that everything is pichy Keen and I'll see you guys in two weeks thanks so I just wanted to comment on your comment on the affordable housing and that it's an an area of Interest committee and many uh and that Council so one of the things on Jim our new administrators is when I we have a appointment coming up is that I want to talk to them about maybe having some you know doing meeting with that there's a Statewide affordable housing Association that I've been in touch with obviously I don't want to operate independently but I'd like to see what other options we have you know in Red Bank for improving affordable housing stock without necessarily relying just on developers um so there are some resources in the state I don't know if anything will fit well in Red Bank but uh if anybody has suggestions and ideas on this feel free to reach out I see you back there Mary Ellen um so um also I wanted to comment again on councilwoman black brought up the issue of our um Council hours now if I understand we're not going to have the library ones unless somebody asked for it is that correct can uh it's by appointment my appointment yeah and the clerk will be sign I just want to say how um upair I think it's been very successful but a great idea um one of the things and in fact tonight is that we could sit last night for 45 minutes and talk about and be educated on many of these issues and you know here we have five minutes and it's amazing actually how powerful this is and I know you may have had good experience well on your Monday so I I sure hope we keep going forward to this I think it benefits us it benefits the town obviously not everything on our checklist has been done yet it's going to take a while to get to everything everything from canopies on top of the um you know the Performing place to keep people the performance out of the sun to you know housing issues and everything in between um and thank you very much residents for keeping us busy at these office hours actually we did we we last night we're going for all two hours Christina and I at the library um and in the morning too yeah in the morning as well also I wanted to comment on mayor Portman's excellent presentation at the MLK event and he represented this so well U was great to have it over at the Vogal powerful Red Bank event with our officials and um I know the bur was involved I think Mr Gant was there I know our chief of police was there it was nice to see such a robust turnout and thank thank you for representing us so well may um we in my uh leaon to the schools I wanted to mention that uh suis SC who was here in the audience board member is also now the vice president of the Red Bank burough Public Schools congratulations um I know she's been on the board a long time and wow so um I texted her congratulations personally as well um also I wanted to mention the Red Bank charers School Foundation is running a campaign to raise money for their school gym anyone who donates it's $50 by January 3r will receive five reading cards from the kids um go to the Red Bank Charter School website for more details I believe the deadline and all this is the end of the month um okay um parks and wck which I'm guys on has a few things they wanted me to mention tonight one is we have this next week on Tuesday a direct meeting hopefully In This Very Room open to the public we will be talking about the various proposals around the uh Stadium count B field you know we have a grand B about that so if you have an interest in the topic come on here come on at 7 o'clock um January 30th Tuesday right here um let's see we're also taking registration for some baseball and softball teams so we've extended the deadline to January 31st two youth track field is open for registration kids 5- 18 um and the recreation department is looking for Summer Staff so if you know anybody who's looking for a job this summer please have them get a hold of Oscar and our Recreation Department uh with the names and U that concludes my remarks Mr Mayor thank you for your patience as usual thank you Laura hi so the uh Library had their meeting and we made we elected new officials also so the president will now be in Goldman and then suomi will now be um vice president and um Margery Cavalier will be Treasurer and Jim White will be our secretary so we had that meeting um this week and that's about it had great and we Us hours thanks so much you mayor thank you mayor um I think that the changing of appointment only for the Wednesday night um hours will be beneficial as there are weeks when nobody comes for weeks and then suddenly there will be a night when people are waiting an hour to be seen so I think that this just is a great way of organizing that so that the time can be spent properly with people and so that the council members don't feel bad trying to shove somebody out when the week before there's nobody there so it's all a grand experiment um but it's wonderful that it's being done um on the River Center side uh there's a street a sweet stroll coming up Saturday February 10th from 11:00 a. to 2 PM in downtown Redbank uh you can pick up your complimentary Red Bank tote bag and sweet stroll map at se la V Redbank on Mammoth Street and then you can stroll through downtown Red Bank to gather treats shop great sales and enjoy sweet experiences and they're encouraging people to to dress in Valentine's Day colors um so once again that's going to be Saturday February 10th between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. um I want to thank all the First Responders tonight who are out um dealing with the traffic issues and everything else um I'm sure people will hear that somebody was tragically hit by a train tonight um so there was major traffic issues all throughout town I parked my car and actually got out of my car and walked the other half of way here so there was lots of it was a little so correct but all of Red Banks you couldn't move your car for over an hour um so people were probably wondering what was happening and it was something tragic um but I just wanted to thank all the First Responders who jumped in because they were directing traffic at the four-way at the train tracks um all over town people had to jump into action right around dinner time so I am grateful for that thanks um I just want to commend uh our new manager Mr Gant it's been three and a half weeks he's um getting remarkably up to speed it's certainly nice that you're in that fourth floor office when I'm there at office hours you're right across the hall um so good job well I'm sure you're going to follow it off some more of the news in your manager's report yes right thank you sir some more oh wow a manager report uh just wanted to let everybody know that the me Mechanic Street work is about to begin uh we do have a DOT Grant from that for 311,000 so the timeline of this just so everybody's aware is that they're going to start with the videoing the line to verify the Integrity of the pipe and then there and determine the sizes of the pipes for water trenching so until the end of January the crew will be saw cutting for the water trench on Mechanic beginning in February they're going to video the line clean the line and then line the pipe um around mid-February through March they're going to replace the 8 inch or replace the main with an 8 inch water pipe which will be delivered and installed and also replace these Services Valves and hydrant the end of March through April they're going to be installing curbs sidewalks aprons that's when tree planting and restoration will start there and then beginning of May remove the concrete roadway that's on mechanic and Mill and pave so that was a project obviously that was a Ed some time ago and um we'll be monitoring the work on Mechanic continuing with my 90-day plan of by way of a meeting with all of our Union representation department heads and elected officials on one-on-one meetings which I've had a few already um almost through all the department heads I've been reviewing the collective bargaining agreements our 2024 budget preparation with our CFO continuing to review current and future projects and make decisions about the workplace culture one of one of the instances of which we talked about today and Institute changes were necessary I've met with Millennium strategies which is our grant consultant to discuss Grant progress and future Grant options for the burrow in the coming weeks I'll review um further the I I will review further the proposed changes to the affordable housing bill that is set to revamp affordable housing going into the fourth round in 2025 uh lawmakers actually just met today to discuss uh the tweaks to that law further so uh as I get more information I will present more information uh meeting with our Engineers next week at Marine Park to discuss the next steps and uh we've been discussing the potential options for the improvements at the DPW site and I want to recognize and commend our public work staff and Leadership for their work over the last two snow and ice events uh maybe one or two things were were Miss but we know two years uh out of practice on that without any snow or any ice to really report seriously I think that those guys did a tremendous job um the late night forecasts especially during the the last storm called for increased uh snow totals um and they obviously knocked that down by early morning so we had to make those adjustments but they prepared very well and uh their deployment was seamless that's it that's it so all right we don't have any sex can I have a motion chair I make such a motion Mr May second second all in favor I all right see you next time thank you