I call to order the meeting of the mayor and Council of B River Edge um WR I get my screen oh uh agenda April 22nd 2024 regular meeting at the riveridge library 685 El Avenue 7M I ask for a moment of Silent reflection for the people of Israel people of Palestine people of Ukraine uh anywhere where there is conflict and uh the innocent are in jeopardy ready salute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay um statement of compliance with the open public meeting act this meeting complies with the open public meeting act by notification on January 11 2024 this location date and time to the town news and to the record and by POS posting of the same on the municipal bulletin board and Bor website and following notice of the same with the municipal clerk Madame clerk roll call please here here here here mention is asking notice Council glass here mayor Pap here okay could I have a motion and second from any member of council to approve the minutes of the mayor and Council special meeting of March 18th 2024 so moved second it has been moved in second all in favor please say I I any opposed any extensions hearing none it is unanimous uh could I have a motion second from any member of council to open to the public on comments on any item on the agenda must be an item on the agenda so move second all in favor I I any opposed any exstension okay so any member of public you have two minutes Mr uh shanian can you uh and also online if you'd like to uh make a comment on any it agenda um please feel free to raise your hand come on up please I just want to ask are we doing with the second reading so we have comments during that time or absolutely that's we'll have a it's by law y okay so any other okay could I have a motion and second from any member of council to close to the public on any item on the agend I'm sorry can I ask you another question sure come on up you got well does this mean that I you're asking a procedural question yeah procedural no you're not this is now I can speak because this is you get two minutes now and you can get two more minutes later George do I have to say the address unless you're uh oh no I'm I'm not on the VIP list 291 vanon Drive Riveredge I just um wanted to follow up it's been two weeks since the uh last meeting and I was just curious because it sounded like Council had a lot to think about um concerning the issue of the library and the budget concerns and I was just wondering if there were any updates so what we do is you get your two minutes and then when we're done hearing all the two minutes we close and we respond to those that seem appropriate okay so that is my that is my question I just want to know if there are any updates to the library situation all right anyone else oh okay uh could I have a motion second to close the public on any items on the agenda so Mo second all in FA favor any oppose any extension to my knowledge there are no updates Miss appella correct okay um okay so uh there are monthly reports uh Library Board of Trustees April 2nd and lus board March 13th both of this year if you are interested in those you need to see the clerk and she will get your copy um first reading ordinance could I have a motion from Council president monsan and a second from Council uh councilwoman Kaufman uh because we go by seniority motion that the following ordinances be introduced and passed on the first reading and setting May 13 2024 at 7M or sooner soon thereafter as the matter can be heard as the date and time and the rge library as the place and zoom as a virtual platform form for hearing of said ordinance ordinance 24-12 a bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements and the acquisition of new addition uh additional or replacement equipment and Machinery new information technology equipment new communication and Signal system equipment and new Automotive Vehicles including original apparatus and equipment in by and for the burough Riv Edge in the county of Bergen state of New Jersey to appropriate the Su of sum of 3 million 9,981 to pay the cost thereof and to appropriate the various grants to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such Appropriations and to provide for the issuance of bonds anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds so move second it is now in order Madame um M Miss appella can you please explain to the public what we hope to achieve with this ordinance yes this Bond ordinance authorizes the purchase of various items and execution of projects that had been authorized through the capital budget such as the purchase of vehicles equipment Ada ramps Road programs sewer improvements and it's all listed in the ordinance excellent very good um it is open for debate is there debate hearing none uh I call the question by clamation all in favor please say I I I any opposed any exstension okay we are up to Second readings um I am going to we can run all three as a single group but I'm not going to do that because I think there will be comments well actually can I run them all as the three single groups unless uh someone on Council wishes to um for a separate vote even though this will be I think we have to do it separate call for for comment on each one yeah that's the safer way to do it I think so too I think so too excellent all right the following ordinance published here within was first read uh by title only on April 8th 2024 and posted on a bulletin board outside of the clerk's office so we're going to deal with them in order ordinance 24-9 an ordinance to fix the salary wages compensation of the officers employees of the burrow Riv Edge in the county of Bergen and the state of New Jersey for the year 2020 24 now this is to only open to the public on this ordinance only could uh councilwoman canella and councel incl um um malari can you please move and second to open to the public so move second all in favor please say I okay now if any member of the public would like to comment or ask the question about 24-9 before we do that Miss appella if you could please uh explain the purpose of this ordinance what we hope to achieve yes this ordinance is to establish the salary ranges the minimum maximum whether it's an hourly or employee or a full-time employee paid by an annual salary and um it just incorporates the ranges and the titles as authorized in the 2024 budget so for the Public's benefit this is not what we're paying them this is simply the range in which we could pay them that is correct all right um any member of public who would like to ask a question make a comment about ordinance 24-9 seeing none on the virtual platform and seeing none in the um uh live PL uh live location could I now have a motion second a motion from uh councilman glass in a second let's just follow it all around to uh Council um president um um monan Cohen second all in favor of closing to the public any oppose any exstension okay and and if we could just from this point on i' that way I don't have to councilwoman caufman can you please move ordinance 24-9 as previously read and councilwoman uh canella can you second that so move second okay uh it is open for debate is there debate hearing none all in favor please say I I any opposed any exstension hearing none ordinance 24-9 is approved unanimously okay now could I in a moment have a motion in second to open to the public ordinance 24-10 an ordinance amending the general um I'm sorry the revised General ordinances of the burough River Edge chapter 384 entitled trees second all in favor please say I I okay now we are open for ordinance 24-10 I think there are some people who might want to speak uh Jen doerty 863 El Avenue um resident of uh River Edge for 29 years I've served on the shet Tre commission for 25 years residents have reached out to me asking me what am I gaining what am I losing what is it going to cost me it's not clear What the residents are gaining residents are asking who are the candidates for the advisory committee that is composed of seven members appointed by the mayor residents are asking what is their tree tree experience and their tree qualifications do you have a list of the candidates already I was also asked about the tree experience and tree qualifications does a DPW superintendent have the DPW superintendent will now have authority over the advisory committee and does not have to follow the advice of the advisory committee a resident asked me if a licensed tree arborist was on the advisory committee could the DPW superintendent overrule their decision yes the DPW superintendent has the authority residents are asking me about the Memorial Park phase one project for replacement of walking paths and playgrounds who will be evaluating the trees along the walking paths that will be affected during construction will any of these trees be removed will the town have to hire a tree licensed arborist to evaluate the park trees again I am asked what are the DPW superintendent's tree qualifications to evaluate Park trees the shade tree commission established a tree protection ordinance in 2013 over $30,000 has been collected due to tree damage residents are asking me who who has the tree experience and the tree qualifications to assess trees for the tree permit evaluation form what are the residence losing Liz Stewart who was a New Jersey licensed arborist for over 17 years and has served the burough of Riveredge at no cost an experienced commission that has over 117 years combined tree experience L Stewart has worked in 20 municipalities counil no we play the same rules for everyone I hope the mayor council can address Jen you are not acting appropriately others get a chance to speak I understand that but I've been here for 25 years and have not had one conversation from anyone on this Council all right next for two minutes come on up go ahead okay for anyone who is not at the name and address oh Liz Stewart address what really you have to give an address unless you're a police officer or someone in the prosecutor's office happening good thank you thank you um for anyone who is not at the last meeting and for the record my name is Liz Stewart chair of the River Edge St commission and lifelong River Edge resident I'm speaking on behalf of the volunteer organization that I've been part of for 25 years I'm a New Jersey licensed tree expert I'm a New Jersey Isa arborus and I'm also now risk assessment qualified which is another level um and I'm on the New Jersey shade Tre tree Federation past president and current board member so these proposed changes abolishing the shade tree commission deserve a full conversation which we have not had this new ordinance was drafted over months behind the scenes without the shade tree commission's knowledge until about four weeks ago we hope that you saw from the last meeting that we're dedicated volunteers and residents who care about our Urban Forest as shown through the decades of service we've given to our town and the awards that we've received our model shat Tre program is recognized throughout the state tonight our concerns are number one under this proposed ordinance the valuable added layer of liability protection for for commission under the state statute it will be eliminated the ordinance draft as written opens up the town its employees and future volunteers with serious legal consequences the sh Tre commission provides a focus on our tree resources and it we provide a system of checks and balances and this will be lost I would like to make a correction to a statement made at the last meeting um that it was stated that this change is necessary to give the DPW the ability to remove trees that are an imminent Hazard this is already in our current ordinance this doesn't need to be changed it's there so we have still not heard a compelling reason as to why this proposed change to the shet tree program is necessary the draft has written reduces liability protection eliminates the checks and balances and it's going to cost the town more money and resources we will be seeing public trees removed unnecessarily there's something important about preserving the history and the heritage of our Town's programs and trees are a big part of that making this change is a move towards losing that history and along with it the sense of place and pride that we all associate with as Rivage residents thank you you have more time there it is all right all right um anyone else present yes come on up state your name and address hi my name is Kathleen Howland and uh We've own property here and lived here since 1971 53 years and uh this park has been important to the community for a very long time for just everyone to communicate with each other and have family picnics spontaneously in the evening it's a family place you see women with baby carriages little children playing Etc we don't need to take away any trees because it's a Solace for health I am a nurse and it provides oxygen and less um the degrees are you know proven that it's anywhere between five and seven degrees less under a tree than it is outside it gets pretty hot new it here in July and August and especially during parades and things older people don't stand along where there's no trees they sit in the back and younger people too with babies or younger kids so we need the trees we need need it for crowded people when we have you know St Peters has their St Peter's Day and the town has their day in the Fourth of July it's all about the trees you don't want to be standing in the sun no one will come out in the sun but under the trees they will be sitting on their benches and you know the tables be put out and providing the way they always did but under a tree yeah and my kids played softball too and they didn't need to they played uh down by the DPW but there are two other fields available they don't no one needs anything new okay thank you you do have a little more time no okay and I'm old now I like to sit under a tree don't blame you one has hand Zoom oh on Zoom okay uh Patty we're going to move you so that we can open uh we're going to move you right now one second hold on hold on sorry I apologize for that okay Patty I think I'm not sure I think I allowed you to speak Patty uh you need to unmute yourself allow it to talk click allow it to talk yeah I'm trying di there we go there we go all right Patty you need to say your name address okay yep can you can you hear me yeah can thank you okay so Patty Amberg 659 fifth AV um so I'm just uh asking if on the shade tree ordinance change um if the mayor and Council has really taken into account the cost that this will incur for us residents and taxpayers um you're taking 125 years of tree experience you have a licensed tree expert you have an arborist of which I think the town is going to have to pay moving forward um has anybody sat with any member of the shade tree commission have you seen the spreadsheets do you understand that they have a huge spreadsheet of every single Town tree it's the type its age where it's located I would like to know who in the burrow is going to take take that job over I would also like to know who is going to go look at those trees um that Jen mentioned the tree protection who is going to assess them to start you understand those trees are assessed for three years so they look at them when construction starts one year two year three year who are you going to pay to do that job to understand what you are losing is a minimum minimum of a part-time position in the town if if not a full-time position um you're talking a loss of 50 you're talking benefits um you have tremendous volunteers that I think you have grossly underestimated what they have done for the town of Riveredge um I would like to does the DPW understand that they're going to have to take on this work um you have had volunteers doing this for 20 more than 25 years I'm sorry because there's people before this current like um commission have you sat down and really fleshed out the cost of this I think what people are assuming is just a simple ordinance change there is a cost to us taxpayers have you looked at it and I would like to know what it is because if you think this is costing us nothing it's costing us big time in loss of trees in Revenue um salary that you're going to have to pay you also understand they acquire huge grants for us I think at the last meeting Jen spoke about um the sustainable Jersey Grant they got for the schools to the tune of $130,000 they received other I think open space grants who in the town in the burrow is going to be writing those grants you are losing right there that's $300,000 you're losing because you don't have any volunteers to do this job um I really urge you to sit and think about the costs that you are now putting on To Us taxpayers by dissolving this very educated and worthwhile commission people that have dedicated so much time that it's part-time hours have anybody sat and asked how many hours they put in in the course of a week that I mean you should have figured out how many hours P that's time thank you it's disappo is there anyone else who'd like to speak yeah come on up uh Frank doery 863 Al Avenue been a lifelong resident of rivered I was born and raised here got married B up two kids in this town I love this community um I want to do I want to say a couple of things I'll be quick tonight but um I'd like to Echo some of Patty's thoughts about the cost uh I'm an account this is what I do for living I'm the Director of Finance the company I work for and I can tell you everything she said is spoton this I mean the last meeting that I was at we talked about what $26,000 for the library you know and we spent hours about that talking about that this is going to cost the town much more than that and uh the other thing I'd like to say is I like to give my thoughts and appreciation to everybody on the shade tree I'd like to start with uh don Mullen and Charlie amarice who started this program 40 years ago uh I think at that time what I've been told is they planted a thousand trees that that uh that season how many trees do we typically uh plant in this season 150 150s I could say is they probably had a plant a thousand trees because the landscape was probably decimated before they even bought this 1500 1500 probably so uh I respect what you guys do I'm sure you you guys have a lot of hard decisions to make for the betterment of this town and people don't always agree with you but in this case I got to tell you you guys are dead wrong on this and the negative effects of this probably won't be seeing for a couple years but um I I hope that doesn't come to pass but than for your time sure is there anyone else who would like to speak yeah come on up hello Gavin Stewart 178 Wales Avenue yeah it's hard to believe but sadly true that a group of volunteers who have devoted decades to maintaining a shade tree program known throughout the state can suddenly discover without prior warning that they're thriving tree program is slated to be cut down leveled disbanded before you remove a healthy tree or a healthy tree program you'd better have a compelling reason why both things take a long time to grow once that tree is cut down or that group abolished there's no piecing things back together again after the damage is done as a Riveredge resident I would hope that key decisions ones that will have an impact on this town for years to come are not driven by what is easy expedient or advantageous to only a few individuals such decisions should be made transparently after open discussion and honest inquiry and be guided by what is best for the community as a whole speaking of community I'm concerned about the discouraging message the handling of this matter might send to Future volunteers within our community as council members you should understand better than most that service to our town should be recognized rather than disregarded it's disappointing that uh to see the shade tree commission service to River Edge cut short it's disappointing that the drawing news was delivered rather coldly in the form of an imperfect legal document it's disappointing that this decision was made without consulting in advance with those who know the tree program best the members of the shade tree commission I'm concerned that such poor treatment of dedicated volunteers may serve as a warning rather than a welcome to those who would consider serving River Edge in the future that too would be a disappointment and a disservice to our town thank you all right hey anyone else yeah no once again Christine George 291 vanon Drive River Edge so this is the danger like I came for the library thing and then I got upset about the tree thing because I came last last time and saw all this so um I think optically this is kind of terrible to not talk to the group first before these changes are made and also guys are two for two the library thing on the first day of National Library week this on Earth day and you're voting on an arbor day thing too like optically this does not look good at all so but getting down to the point to this I have a question concerning section I because last at the last meeting one of the reasons for this whole thing happening and um the commission being subsumed by the DPW and becoming a committee was because of response time so the way that it was presented at the last meeting at the first reading was that this was so that DPW could respond quickly because they had people who were on staff on Call there and can do this according to this subsection it requires the volunteers volunteers being the operative word here to draft a response for the DPW that they may or may not do within 48 hours that to me is a really chilling effect on volunteers because as somebody with a full-time job who's like commuting in and all of that stuff that kind of a deadline I can't even guarantee that to the work that I'm dedicating like 10 hours a day to so I think that that is something that really shows that you have not talked to the group of people who are going to be doing this and to Echo what's been said before about the expertise you have this relying on the DPW superintendent who can choose to not take the expert advice provided that we are willing to lure experts into being on this committee after the downgrade so that is a huge concern that I'm hoping you can address because that was as I was reading through the ordinance like big red flag thank you anyone else Kathleen Murphy River Edge New Jersey I just have one um oh no you don't have to address comment go ahead and that would be um for the shade tree if this passes I believe that a referendum should be enacted and we should get together and try to put a referendum on the ballot to um to discourage this and to not have this happen so that's what I would say to all the people in town a referendum anybody else seeing none could I have a motion and second to co close to the public so moved second all in favor please say I I okay uh a couple of things uh first of all uh I met with uh council president we uh we arranged for a meeting which the shade Commission on March 27th um actually that was when the meeting was we asked for the meeting a little bit earlier a couple days early and uh so that was a Wednesday and happened at 6:30 and it happened in the courtroom because to the construction um during that meeting um we talked about the ordinance uh I made it clear to the shade tree commissioner that I intend to reappoint all the volunteers who want to be uh on it uh so to the to the comment about who are going to be I've already stated that um I would like the Sha tree to stay at that time there was some suggestion or inference that one or more of the members may not wish to stay but I um I absolutely have no intention of changing them um second uh I'm going to call on our legal and our administrative uh experts um so I'm not going to going to deal with any of those questions uh grants but I'm going to ask Miss apella to talk more about that we're going to still continue to apply for Grants uh I'm GNA also ask Miss appella to talk about the fact that uh in addition to um reappointing our current um uh Shad Tre chair who has an arborist uh license if she wishes to continue we would rely on that but if not we have sent our DPW workers for an arborus license so there is no additional cost but we can talk about that um there was a claim that this was an imperfect or flawed legally flawed document I'm going to ask our attorney to speak to that but we had three attorneys reviewed that we had Mr sarlo Mr shanian and Mr R so um so but they're going to speak to that um to the inference or suggestion that we're going to cut down trees we're not I love trees um if a tree becomes a concern the shade tree advisory committee because that's all that's happening is changing the name and sharing power not uh not abolishing them and not cutting down trees willy-nilly uh we will we will the superintendent will review the shade tree advisory committee thinks that the superintendent's acting um uh inappropriately in any way they they have my phone number in fact the current president of the commission called me on Saturday and as soon as I was free it was in a meeting um at uh budget Retreat for nja as soon as I got free uh I called it back and I always would and they all have my number because I'd given it to them so um we did meet with them on the 27th to review the ordinance at that time uh the current president had notes I asked for those notes about ordinance uh on three times and Henry uh who was with us there also said Liz you should give him the notes and Liz felt that her notes at that time uh I believe she said I wouldn't understand them because they were written in more of um um in in a way that that was that made sense to her um I never received those notes between uh then and the first reading um so what I'd like to do is I'd like to turn to Mr Stan if you could take the legal questions and just uh uh where where uh where that is so to respond to the the comment that it's a legally imperfect ordinance um sort of hard to do that in a vacuum because the you know there was a statement that it was legally imperfect Without Really providing a reason why it's imperfect the only reason that I heard um at the last meeting and I think it was repeated again today was with respect to the immunity for the buau but as we discussed at the last meeting the immunities don't really change under the tour claims act New Jersey tour claims act the fact that it's now going to be a committee it's going to be subsumed by the burrow and the Burrow's protections under the J New Jersey Tor claims act and it would still be subject to our joint Insurance Fund if there's a claim um it's just like it would if if it went through the commission I mean the commission is just an independent body um but they're still covered under our under our policies and practices in our our coverage so I I don't know really that there's much more that was legally D um other than you know I mean I think they're more um administrative issues not the throw all business administrator oport laugh but there were there were there were issues about uh about the one other issue was with there was a statutory citation to the question of whether or not um uh the 48 hour notice period but that I mean that it states that I think um and I think that's actually the purpose I think explain to me one of the purposes of the ordinance is that the DPW would be able to respond back to the resident faster than the committee can and so that that's that it's it's actually to Pro provide a better service to the residents because as the speaker indicated for volunteers and I myself I'm a volunteer in my town it's very difficult when you have a full-time job to be able to respond to anyone within 48 Hours even professionally it's hard to do that so I think reques the we're not going toate that's what this but but the the comment that was made was that it was unfair to require them to do it within 40 8 hours and I think the point is that that if they don't the DPW superintendent is going to be the person that's going to have to make that determination and respond to the resident yeah Miss Appel yes okay with regard to ordinance 24-10 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection requires all municipalities to adopt the language concerning tree removal and replacement as part of the municipal storm water tier a t the model ordinance was created by the D in conjunction with the New Jersey shade tree Federation and this language applies to both public and private property we are subject to the same standards of replacing trees that are removed but are not hazards so there's no risk of deforestation the current code does not enumerate programs that the commission had mentioned on the April 8th meeting under the statute under AR um arode 3846 of section f it only states to encourage arbic Culture by having a commission it invokes the state statute of Regulation planting care and control of shad and ornamental trees on public property shall be exercised by and under the authority of the commission if you review the powers of the shade Tre Commission in and regulate and control use of the ground surrounding Same by reorganizing the group of volunteers from a commission to an advisory committee the state language mandate is eliminated however the group of volunteers is not being eliminated control and accountability are placed in the hands of the burrow and the group will be required to coordinate with the Department of Public Works Recreation and the police department the requirement to coordinate with Bur departments is not part of the current code because as a commission they have exclusive control and ultimate say Municipal language cannot supersede State language the encouragement of orbic culture is not being eliminated either if anything the language is expanded to include annual advisement of policies practices procedures and actions for the replacement and preservation of shade trees to be a resource for the burrow in the protecting and or replacing trees to recommend and develop programs to that the subject matter expert in rep in preparing reports and grants if this or future councils wish to Grant the advisory committee other duties it can be done so bya resolution so this ordinance meets the storm water permitting requirements and transfers the authority of the trees to the burrow it neither eliminates the group of volunteers nor prohibits them from their programs Arbor Day activities working with the schools or seeking grants if anything it encourages the group to cooperate with various departments for the greater good of the burrow and under the tree protection ordinance it has the advisory committee working on it in conjunction with the DPW superintendent or designate and in the current code as well as this ordinance the language states that if an arborous is required the services are required to be procured the expert cost is borne by the applicant not the municipality and lastly in the budget meeting we had explained when working on the parks any trees remove will be planted after the project is complete so anything that is any tree that is removed will be replaced we had said that in the budget meeting and the state says we have to do it there is no clear cutting in the Parks taking place okay any member of council wish to offer a comment okay uh we have uh moved we've opened it and closed it to the public so could I have a uh is there I need a motion and second and then we can enter into debate could I have a motion and second sove second it has been moved and seconded we are now open for debate comment or uh inquiry by the council okay Madame clerk roll call please counc yes you can see me at the end yes yes yes counc class yes okay now we move to ordinance 24-11 um uh ordinance 24-11 calendar year 2024 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap njs a 40a colon 45-14 could I have a motion second to open to the public so Mo second all in favor please say I I Madame appella if you miss Ms appella could you please uh explain what we're doing here yes um cap Appropriations um the annual increase is based on the inflation index rate for the previous year and no municipality can increase appropriation subject to the spending cap by more than that unless you pass an ordinance to go up to 3.5% the main reason for doing the index rate ordinance is to allow for any unused cap to be on paper only banked for two years if you do not do the ordinance any amount under the current tax rate is current index rate is lost it is a financial planning tool that all municipalities exercise to provide cap relief if there are any large spikes in Appropriations so essentially what it is is uh an insurance policy yes okay and we'd only use it if there was such an emergency it's only um for future budgets but it's only good for two years yeah okay um does it is not open to the public any member of public who would like to speak on ordinance 24-11 ask a question or make a comment excuse me sure come on up you gota say anything name sorry I don't I you got to say your name and address again I apologize how and 135 conquer drive for yes um I don't know if this pertains to this but in reference to the changes that have been discussed has Insurance have been discussed for uh problems that could occur with any changes are you talking in regards to the cap I'm talking about the cost of of the community that we have to pay in order to cover costs that may need insurance in case of accidents are you talking about shade tree again I yeah I'm afraid that's out of order but it is in order in a very short period of time so what I'm going to ask you to do is raise that question again when we open to the public on any comments they'd like to make oh in the beginning when no h it's we're going to we have to have a public hearing on um on open space and then resolutions probably 20 minutes minutes when 20 minutes thank you anyone else on caps okay could I have a motion in second to close on ordinance 24-11 second it's been moved in second all in fa uh it is open for debate is there debate inquiring comments all in favor please say I okay we are now open to public hearing um ordinate I'm sorry the 20 24 Bergen County open space trust fund Grant application can oh that's right no I just did the no it was just a public hearing that's right that's right um wait did we we did I closed to the public that's what I did right yes I my apologies um ordinance 24-11 as read could I have a motion and second to approve so move second is there debate hearing none Madame clerk roll call please yes council president Mar yes counc yes councilwoman M yes Council yes okay now we are up to item that was only 2411 we need to vote on nine and 10 we did they voted on 9 and 10 we did okay okay yeah we did we voted for each one as we went okay okay uh public hearing 2024 Burton County open space trust front Grant application Kenneth B George Park improvements and presentation by the burough administrator um do you want to do the presentation before we open the public or you want to open the public and then do the presentation presentation first very good so we'll have a presentation and then we'll open the public for questions that we can answer uh in regards to the presentation yes our director of recreation and cultural Affairs is at a training conference this week so I'm presenting this on Mr R uh Joseph Ric's behalf um this is the annual application round in which we can solicit funds from the Bergen County open space trust fund grant program um to hopefully offset at least offset 50% of the construction costs and the application we're submitting um this year is for Kenneth B George Park and this is to construct two pickle ball courts um including fencing and um seating and um and to do that the current batting cages that need to be replaced anyway have to be relocated so in addition to constructing the two pickle pickle ball courts a new batting cage will be constructed and um there are also additional sight improvements uh a drainage Improvement and um chain link fencing and fencing to allow a double swing gate that way when we know when a large storm is coming and to prevent flooding from damaging the gate and the park it damaging the fencing in the park if you open the gate the water will flow so that is uh the intent we we're going to also ask for funding for improvements to the concession stand but since it is a fully enclosed structure um that is not um it's not allowed under this program so in closing it is for the two pickle ball courts new batting cage and it improvements of fencing and drainage okay so um could I have a motion second from the council to open to the public on comments on the Grant application the move all in favor please say I I okay any member of public would like to ask a question about this or make a comment you are free to do that but only the pickle courts only the pickle courts only the grant I'm sorry all right anything else anybody all right uh we'll give it maybe 10 more seconds sometimes it's hard to push the button okay could I have a motion in second to close the public so move second all in favor please say I I could I have a motion in second after I read into the record resolution 24132 authorizing submission of G Grant application Bergen County trust fund Municipal program for Park development of for 2024 so move second it has been moved and seconded uh it is now open for debate comment or inquiry by the council is there debate comment or inquiry go ahead just what is the total of the um the total it you had a moment ago um it was about oh here it is we are seeking 267,464 35,1 140 and this is everything from mobilization to final cleanup no we can only put in for instructions all right uh any other inquiry questions or debate all right um all in favor please say I I I any oppos any exstension okay we have resolution 24133 through 24 um-1 143 uh is there any member of council who wishes to pull out for a separate vote any of these resolutions and I will allow ow any questions or comments before we move in in second because it's more efficient way of doing that even though Robert R doesn't normally allow that is there um any question or comment or um inquiring debate all right but I have motion second to move resolution 24133 through 24143 all in favor please say I I okay could I have the Finance chair and one member of the finance committee move resolution 24-1 144 payment of bills at a regular meeting of the mayor and Council of the Bureau of Riveredge County of Bergen state of New Jersey held on April 22nd 2024 be it resolved that the mayor and Council of the Bureau of Riveredge approved the following expenditures current fund 1,953 se86 General Capital fund $266,400 96 Grant fund $1,333 3 Animal Control $180 trust other $2,529 191 payroll $2,758 unemployment trust $421 developers escrow $522 15s Recreation trust $695 so moved second uh this is a uh simply a payment of the bills so it's not open debate all in favor please say I I any opposed any exstension okay so this might sound ironic to some but it is Arbor Day um and we have a proclamation as we do every year uh we hope that someone from Shay tree might come it's an Advisory Board now um we've made a commitment uh to uh Fund in the capital budget trees we do it every year we did it this year um Shay tree pretty much tells us what they think we need and to the best of my knowledge every year we've always done that amount in capital and uh we do it every two years because back when I was liaison with Shay tree uh there was a whole question about the cost to bring the trees we have to get a flat bread and to um plant the trees there is cost so there's all these administrative costs so every two years we do a planting and it's in this year's budget Proclamation whereas in 1872 J Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees and whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska and whereas Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world and whereas trees can reduce the erosion of our precious top soil by wind and water cut Heating and Cooling cost moderate the temperature clean the air produce oxygen and provide habitat for wildlife and whereas trees are renewable resource giving us paper wood for homes fuel for fires and countless other Wood Products whereas trees in our city increase property values enhance the economic viability of businesses area and beautification of the committee and whereas trees wherever they are planted are a source of joy and spiritual anur now therefore I Thomas papalo mayor of the burough of River Edge do hereby Proclaim April 26 2024 as Arbor Day in the burough of River Edge and I Ur urge all citizens celebrate Arbor days and to support efforts to protect our trees and Woodlands therefore I urge all students to plant trees to Gladden the heart and promote the well-being of this and future Generations Thomas papalo mayor April 22nd 2024 does anyone wish to come and accept it all right well will hold it all right is there new business is there old business okay so now we come to public comments just wait one second can I have a motion and second to open the public for any comments they I think there was some old business in oh my bad sorry I just wanted to respond to the um Library inquiry and um i' just like to start by re reiterating what the mayor conveyed the public at the last meeting this Council has always supported the library for the programs they offer to all ages the services they provide and the role it plays in enriching our community we provided funding during the years of covid even though the library was closed to the public when other towns did not we have consistently funded the library above the statutory requirement this year is no different as the mayor previously stated the stat atory amount is 770 I'm just going to round it up 770,000 and the library is receiving 865,000 which is an additional 95,000 therefore when the library attributed they're reduced hours due to budget cuts um I think the mayor and Council were completely taken back by that because there is no budget cut um this this was not only disheartening but completely misleading to the public um seeing so many people many residents at the last meeting Express their concerns frustrations and anger over the news was enlightening it showed how many residents value the library although we as May Council always encouraged the residents to convey their feelings and thoughts to us we believe this has been misdirected in this situation as the burough administrator has said the activities hours of operation program programming and Personnel of the library are determined by the library board what the library does with the provided funding is under their jur jurisdiction under State Statute but they cannot exceed their funding allocation the library board is completely aware of this fact again to be clear we did not cut their budget um I'll just close by saying that it's an arduous process that we all went through with the budget this year and we as the governing body have fiduciary obligations to each one of you and failing to address this unfortunate issue goes against that mandate with that said we stand by the current budget that we have adopted okay any other New or Old business okay could I have a motion and second to open up to Ember any member of the public for any comment they would like to make there is a limit of two minutes for speaker move all in favor please say I you can M I think you can stay there actually no she has come to the mic because necessarily be picked up okay I need a Kathleen Howen 135 conquered D um in reference to the immediate area of where the trees are being discussed and a field that are going is going to be fenced in right um has has anyone consider the increased cost of insurance in case there is a claim there's two different kinds of activity going on a very passive activity and then a very active activity and you can't evict one while the other one is going on I'm stop for a minute would you stop the clock excuse me yeah because I'm just asking a clarify clarification question I don't want to take from the question is no no where is it what where are you talking about we're talking about Memorial Park Memorial Park so I asked him to stop the clock so that you don't lose any time okay I just wanted that for clarification I don't think anybody who's watching would know what you're talking about oh well I know what I'm talking about all right U as soon as you begin speaking again please start start the clock again go ahead I'm talking about the possibility of this passive group and the active group being in one place at one time and there is a strong possibility there may be a conflict through an accident what kind of insurance do you have covered and do you realize that if there is a claim put in with a loss partial loss of maybe head injury or a limb or whatever it may happen or heart attack that and it caused by the change of activity that you could lose deplete what you have in one claim okay we stop what kind of insurance coverage do you have for the I'm confused only what what is the active that you're speaking about whe we're talking about soft and this engaged area where the fences are covered you talked about that you talked about there's an act there's going to be a field put in that's at a different park kbg down by the DPW that's I was confused KGB down by you're not changing you're not taking and putting the field in the middle of the park here no no no no no oh no that was the understanding that is to construct it at Kenneth B George Park and how will you deal with the flooding down there okay so turn the uh clock back on and we'll so you're your you have a question about insurance at KGB and flooding keep going yes and any activities that are going on down there claims wise you know Insurance wise and just again so I understand you're asking about during construction during construction of the pickle courts well if whatever it happens okay during the activity okay what kind of claims do you have insurance wise what kind of coverage do you have for accidents okay you know because a million dollars could be depleted in you know a minute okay all right well after we hear from everybody we'll we'll go through I'm writing it down we'll go through it and I'll have the appropriate people address yeah ask find out absolutely yeah okay okay is there any other person come on Jen and if anyone has a question online just raise your hand and we'll get to you yeah those who are online start raising your hand now so that uh it's easier for us to bring you over name an address uh Jen 863 Elm Avenue um as of today we no longer have a shet tree program still not clear what qualifications the DPW superintendent has and it's still not clear who this arborist is who's going to be taking to the exam so as of today we we don't have a program and we do not have an arborist and the arborist who's training still needs to pass the exam so today I'd like to thank my fellow Shay tree Commissioners I am thankful for your dedication and the difference we had made in our community be proud my husband Frank and my children Tommy and Melissa thank you for your encouragement and support I would like to acknowledge present and past burough employees who have contributed to the success of this tree program that I was on for the past 25 years DPW crew Kenny Morris and Eric Phillips they're great and as of today I do not think they are taking their arboris in G Burman Chris bagulin Finance thank you so much Nicole schnaper in the building department huge instrumental person in our tree protection ordinance an Dodd Scott Adder Judy o Connell Stephanie Evans Alan nrian Denise D Diego Adriana John Lynch Bobby Conway all impacted the success of our program you'll never forget Don Mullen and Charlie emari who reignited this program over 30 years ago and got a bond to plant a thousand trees the one who plants trees knowing that he or she will never sit in their shade has least started to understand the meaning of life okay anyone online before we go to someone else in the audience someone else in the audience um um you're up first and then I'll go to Liz unless you want to let give Liz do you want to go I just for the record you know a lot of things are being misrepresented because we're not having a conversation back and forth and there were some information put out there that is just not correct as far as liability and legal and the model ordinance from the state I sat on the panel a model ordinance is an example and this is for the whole state to adopt so we were only supposed to take a piece of it for storm order not to abolish a commission and change a program we had 90% of a program you were supposed to add another 10% % and instead you're changing an entire program really taking advantage of of what the state is asking um as a lifelong resident of River Edge this is really disheartening to see public officials disregard the good work of volunteers because that's what's happening um and the action you took tonight is telling by abolishing this commission you can no longer say that you support trees in our community your words don't match your actions you can read the all of the Arbor Day proclamations it does match anymore you're going to see this come in a few years you're just going to see a change in town we're all going to see it because you don't have the people you know bur minist I I I wish that we could work together but and you can put whatever you want on paper and you can put whatever volunteers you want you don't have the people anymore and that's what made this program and that's what you've gotten rid of it's the people got say it again sorry it's okay uh Christine George 291 Vance on Drive River Edge I just wanted to um address the comments from the councilwoman I do appreciate that and um the consideration you took in the response with it and that yes IR should be taken up with the library board and I fully intend to ask for the minutes and follow up on that but something I do want to note is that the library did a deliv delivery service during covid and that also doesn't cover the costs which which are astronomical and I'm not going to get into now because there's no need to geek out on the library stuff but ebooks cost so much more than regular books so the Libby service like all of that funding was still going in there I also want to address the subsection I that we talked about before if the DPW is the one responding that's what it should say that is not what the statute says here it requires the shade tree committee now to provide a response within 48 hours to the DPW so if you want it to do if what you said before the responsibility falls on the DPW that is what the statutory language should say that is not what it says and you're putting a huge burden on volunteers by not doing that so that is the I what I want to say because it did not address a question before and the huge concern is if you even get anybody who wants to volunteer after all of these Shenanigans quite frankly putting that kind of burden on them to have potentially their response that they Rush within 48 hours to give to the DPW commissioner that can be discarded that's really problematic so I highly highly suggest although it's too late now but you may want to try to amend that language to have it mean what it is you say because that's going to be hugely problematic anyone else hi Kathleen Murphy Riveredge first I'd like to offer my condolences to River Edge Fire Department chief schlosberg on the loss of his mother Marsha she was a really uh wonderful woman my questions are why was this meeting rescheduled it is the night of passover we closed B Hall Friday for a good Friday but on Passover some of our Council people can't even come because they're at of seder so I think that that was terrible planning um resolution 2467 this was from January you had an A change order increase for the building of burrow Hall the original cost was 2,928 1895 this made it 3,17 29406 that would we're up to change order six how much more are we going to increase the burrow Hall um costs you would like to always say that oh we're going to stay in budget we have to be in budget is there any misappropriation going on with all these change orders um if anyone wants to Google what happened in Dumont their burrow hole went from 12 million to 20 million um and what's going on with the marijuana dispensary that's it Kathleen uh by you just want to know if there's any progress about the marijuana dispensary an update it was talked about update what's going on anyone else could I have we give it a second I have a motion in second to close to the public all in favor please say I hi okay I'm going to allow the um administrator to talk about KGB insurance and flooding um the shade tree program is going to continue I have already stated on the 27th uh tonight and we'll restate that as far as I'm concerned all of the volunteers are reappointed if they choose not to be that's certainly I respect that but it it's always been the atttention to uh reappoint uh I'm gonna let Mr um shenan respond to subsection I question um I'm going to have the administrator speak to why wasn't the meeting rescheduled uh and the change orders um but I will respond to uh change orders as anyone who's ever been a council person knows that when you do a building project there are change orders it is impossible to anticipate what's going to happen once you start tearing down a building if you're going to build a new one this Council was presented with two choices uh tear down uh think of think of burall as three buildings because they are there's the original home that was turned into the burrow offices there's the middle of part that it was is the council chambers and the uh finance department and there's the back part which we call the public safety building which is the police department that's the newest so oldest next oldest newest this Council was given uh an idea from the architect that if we tore down rebuild it would be 8 to 10 million okay but if we uh if we did a repair if we got it and repaired it would be um somewhere between two and 4 million so we decided not to do what Doan did which was spend a ton of money uh doing that instead what we chose to do what the council chose to do and I supported it 100% is recognizing that if you're leaving up the shell of a 100y old building there are going to be necessary change orders um so when you get down when first of all we have had to do the uh building repair because the 100-year old building was beginning to torque which means the second floor was beginning to literally twist and this came to our attention for a number of reasons but the most dramatic reason was the superintendent of Public Works had to shave the bathroom door that the clerks were using because the floor was buckling so we had a structural engineer come in and he said it doesn't need to be condemned or emptied immediately but it would have to be emptied uh within six months I think he said six months so um so we brought in experts and they said well a tear down and rebuild would be8 to10 million a uh a gutting and rebuilding uh with an small addition off the front because we don't have enough space for all our files which caused the original damage the paper weight on the old construction was too great for the old uh for the 100y old uh design so uh we gutted the entire building and when we finished gutting the entire building literally took out all the Joes and all the floors um it was then seen could not be seen beforehand that the front facade was going to collapse and this created a safety hazard for the construction workers so you might have noticed there were um pipes holding up the front of the building well that was done to protect the construction workers so that was one of several change orders that came about as you empty the building so um another one is we have issues now with um we are required to become up to Ada standards on your old building so we had to put in an external staircase and the footing for that external staircase became problematic because of the soil and the conditions there when they went to U dig it out and build that would be in the back part of the building so uh that became another change order and there are several others that are very technical one has to do with um under the old statute we could have a uh mechanical room for the elevator that uh was uh that lines ran across the basement but cannot under new standards run that way so it was it's a little bit too technical for me so we asked the state if we could be grandfathered for that because it wasn't a safety hazard and they said no you you're going to have to change your plan for that and there are a couple of others they're all technical things that occur when you're rebuilding an old building so um so I wanted to say that um marijuana update I'm going to leave that to our uh burough clerk so um Mr shanan if you could begin with um with actually no I think we would begin with you Lizette um Insurance flooding and so forth yes we are covered under the Bergen County Joint Insurance Fund we are covered under a joint Insurance Fund so that covers the buildings the Personnel the volunteers the activities in the Parks whether passive or for active Recreation and that also includes flood insurance that all exists already so no the only time we have to incur additional coverage is if we start new programs but we're part of an overall umbrella with multiple municipalities it's not like we're self-insured and as Mr shanian had explained a municipality is covered under the New Jersey tort claims act title 59 so we have um the insurance fund has an executive committee has different staff members that work on claims whether it's an accident somebody has on public property or workers's comp accident that is all covered so all our facilities are covered every nothing is lost everything it we have complet in total coverage and that that we get assessed annually depending on if we put new buildings new parks new programs or um you know tear down a building and it's a parking lot now like the use has changed so that is updated every year so River Edge is completely covered okay uh I kind of touched on can I just mention one for you guys can just go ahead this um uh qu the question about the insurance coverage because in addition to what the business administrator has told you the municipal GIF that we're part of is also part of What's called the New Jersey municipal excess Liability Insurance Fund so if there is a larger claim to your point that would exceed our our normal allocation of insurance it gets kicked up to another level of insurance which the burrow automatically gets membership into as part of being part of the regular joint Insurance Fund so you have an additional umbrella as as the business administrator called it um that sits on top of our regular insurance so in case in case there's anything that's a catastrophic loss that we would have coverage for that as well so all very conservative and um practices we we don't do anything with nilly and in fact we just got a silver award yes for reducing uh accidents and uh potential accidents with could you explain that yes that's our Inc incentive safety incentive Awards program that is by and we were recognized we were recognized we received a silver award we had been bronze for many years we're moving up little by little and it's inspecting our facilities having our employees um undergo safety training now there's the added layer of cyber security and making sure that our um it facilities and and our network is secure and we're constantly undergoing training to prevent hacking that other municipalities and hospitals and you know private citizens are unfortunate victims of yes we all have that okay there's noing okay um um do you want to do subsection I again just to explain one more time yeah I mean there's not a whole lot that I can add to what I indicated before other than the way that that I read that subsection and the way that I think it would work is that the committee is supposed to refer to the superintendent and recommend a reply to any email um where you know whether it comes directly to them or through their website within 48 hours I believe that if in fact that didn't happen because there may be a time when someone just the committee doesn't have the ability to do that I think that's what the the question really was referring to that ultimately the superintendent would have to give the final answer because it says that they shall refer and recommend that doesn't mean that that's the reply the superintendent can disregard their reply it says it's a recommendation it's not it's not a it's not mandatory that he follows It ultimately he's the one who's going to have to issue the reply on behalf of the buau so what it really means is that he has to wait 48 hours for their reply 48 business they have 48 business hours to to give him a a a reply and if that he doesn't get it at that point then I think it's going to be incumbent upon the superintendent to respond to the resident okay that way the time period willon not will not be excessive okay the meeting schedule yeah why wasn't tonight's meeting rescheduled U that was the question that was asked when um the burough clerk prepares a draft meeting schedule for the mayor and Council to look at every year towards the end of the year um you know we look at our federal holidays Whenever there are religious holidays we look at when work is prohibited and when work is permitted and work is permitted tonight work is not permitted tomorrow night or Wednesday night so um and this was all distributed to the full governing body and it it's voted on during the reorganization meeting the meeting schedule and all members of council can comment and ask for changes correct and just tonight as an example the B clerk did uh out to the governing body members to make sure that we had a if we were going to have a quorum or need to reschedule then update no I got cover oh well you can if you want to change we we're up to six how many we might have nine um the underpinning that you explained the back staircase that's seven that's still being worked on um and it it depends as the contractor goes if something is found that needs to needs to be addressed needs to be changed so for instance they're going to be Excavating in front of the building uh over the next couple of weeks right yes and when they excavate if they find that there is a structural problem then there might be a change order if there's not there won't be but it's it's an old building so and change orders can be for increases as well as decreases yes we've had change orders that were decreases where we uh got money back and that has happened historically update um yeah so um the Cannabis ordinance is in effect and um we have some inquiries coming in but um organizations that are interested in being awarded the resolution of support to move forward to the next step we'll have to make a presentation to the mayor and council at a public meeting um we anticipate possibly and U the second meeting of May it all depends on on the inquiries that we receive we have the framework in place now we just need somebody to reach out and say we want to make a presentation to for that license okay I think we covered everything all right C could I have um could I are there any Council comments I have a comment sure the EPC is organizing a Star Fund collection and paper shading event on Saturday May 4th from 9:00 a.m. to 1 at uh DPW building all right any other comments from Council one other comment um the rived run is up for this Saturday at uh the fund run is 9: and the run is at 10: um I will uh only be able to be there for a very very short time due to uh family confirmation um we so I'm hoping that the council might be able to uh be present cuz I'm I'm literally going to show my face for 30 minutes and I going to go home and change and go to church so yes I have the same my um okay any other comments uh could I have a motion to adjourn all in favor please say I I thank you