all right uh call to order the meeting of Mayor and council at River Edge uh 7 PM uh Excuse me while I uh April 8th 2024 regular meeting at the Riveredge library and also on Zoom um ask us in a moment to stand in silent reflection for all those who are injured or ill or are suffering from cancer or other diseases of the body um as they um they in family uh struggle towards help please turn towards the flag ready salute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay statement of compliance with the open public meeting act this meeting complies with the open public meeting act by notification on January 11th 2024 of this location date and time to the town news and the record by posting of the same on the mpal bulletin board and the bough website and following notice of the same with the municipal clerk okay um roll call please notice council president mon m present councilwoman can here councilwoman M Larry here councilman Benson councilman glass here here okay uh approval of the minutes approval of the minutes of the mayor council regular meeting of March 25th 20124 could I have a motion a second so move second all in favor please say I I any opposed any abstention hearing none it is so approved now regrettably we have an issue that we were going to try to do at the end of the meeting it was a closed session or attorney climent privileges contracts and change orders uh I can't tell you specifically what about uh but um but because uh we need our experts here uh we had to move it to the beginning of the meeting earlier today so we're going to try to keep this as short as possible because we certainly respect your time but for about 20 minutes we're going to be in close session in in the um far room or the extra meeting room with our uh with our experts so um but we will try to keep that as brief as possible and then we'll return to the meeting I apologize um so could I have a motion from any member of Council in a second to go into close session number 24-13 one resolution to enter into close session attorney client privilege njsa 10 colon 4-18 B7 contracts and and change orders second all in favor please say I I okay so we're now in close session we're going to go right over there we're going to try to be as quickly as possible it's taking so long uh but it was necessary okay could I have a motion and second to return to the meeting so move second all in favor please say I I could I have a motion and second to open to the public on any item on the agenda second all in favor okay any item of agenda can be raised you will have two minutes uh and then we will move forward with the agenda if the item you wish to speak to is a second reading ordinance we ask you to wait until we get to that because it's buil in that we open for that but if you don't want to it's certainly Your Privilege can you keep the two minutes sure because my phone is gone good all right so um anyone who would like to uh speak to any item only items on the agenda will open at the end of the meeting for any items at all but any item on the agenda um so and of course you you would you would say I want to speak to this item and then you would have your two minutes where do you find the where the library is is that on the agenda that something we can talk around is the library on the agenda not on the agenda no so that would be at the end of the Mee meeting okay um yes Liz you're actually coming up at the ordinance time so I think we're gonna wait for that only so that we don't hold all these people to two sessions of it is that all right with you oh yeah that's fine okay great anybody else all right great one person oh okay uh Patty can you state your name and address and if you're here to talk about the library that would not be in order and so I will you out of order if you're here to talk about uh so is it the library no it's not it's the um shade tree ordinance we're gonna open to that uh in just uh a couple of minutes if you can wait to that sure okay thank you yeah the library no the it's all being introduced there's no yeah there's no comment oh my bad my bad so they should be no my bad I thought was a second reading there's just so much going on right now um let's start with Patty and then we'll go to you Liz is that okay because she's already I think she ask it's not it's it's a first reading and a first reading does not have a public session so Liz I recognize you come on up and yeah hello thank you Henry just pull a chair up it's okay no don't stand that's that's you sure all right all three of you will need to give your names and addresses and they get six minutes uh Liz Stewart 178 Wells Avenue Jen doerty 863 Elm Avenue Henry simler 435 Boger okay so I'll just start um my name is Liz Stewart just for the newer members we have a new attorney um I am a the chair of the river C commission and a lifelong resident of river I'm also speaking as a New Jersey licensed tree expert for 17 years um of experience also New Jersey um International Society of a Bor culture um arborist certified Arborist and I'm going for my tree risk management certification this month um so I'm I'm here so and I also provide my um certifications my professional Arbor services to surrounding towns about 20 surrounding towns and I give my services to the town for free so you have a free Consulting arborist doing this work um it recently came to our attention that the mayor and Council are presenting an ordinance essentially abolishing this vital commission the shry commission um with a less effective committee we've been reaching out to offer help for drafting this new storm water ordinance that we have we're mandated to do by the state and the deadline is May 1st if I'm correct um the original deadline was January and we started reaching out in November with our Leon and going back and forth through emails with the um with the um with the burrow and every month we would check in before our sh meeting do we have something to review do we have something to review I'm saying that also as an ARB I was one of the few arborists um that the state asked to sit in to create the model ordinance so I'm very familiar with this ordinance um so I gave my my recommendations I sat in on meetings just to draft the or the model ordinance for the state um Liz I just tell you we're coming up on two minutes but because there's three of you I put it to six thank you you're welcome go ahead six for all of us well you three came up together so it's six minutes for all of you two minutes each take all right this is a 25 year committee that was given it's the same rule for everyone Marco and Jim can give us okay um the the choice to move um our status from a commission to committee comes as a surprise to us basically so we recognize the the role that Tre is play in our community I think we all agree on that you support us I know everyone likes trees that's not the issue the issue that I'm hearing because we did have a small meeting is the liability issue I think that's what most of this comes down to I'm not positive where this is coming from or why we have not been presented with any complaints or issues or anything this was brought two weeks before us so if it's a liability issue there is the state ordinance which I'm sure you're familiar with if not it it gives an added layer of protection to the town and to its volunteers under this program and the program has specific guidelines that you have to follow without the commission you will not have these other things with it so you will not have a program that's what it comes down to you can create a program you can create a committee you can create these other things but there's a loophole for a really smart lawyer to get in and Sue So you you're creating a loophole if you make us into a commission you're losing a lot of other things besides liability committee besides a liability protection that is a it's um under the New Jersey state shry and Community forestry Act of 1996 expressly put into place so that communities will feel safe hling up Mission it doesn't me mention committee mentions volunteers it's not fullprof it is not no matter what anyone tells you and I know I've been to Trenton lobbying for this it's just not so Ju Just I think that's a big part of it um we we agree with parts of the proposed ordinance but keeping a commission you don't have to lose the commission to get all of these other parts working with DPW police we do all of that do we need to tighten it up I'm guessing there was some discussion that we weren't in on we can meet I think what it comes down we also have a dedicated Focus to the town you know we live in town we have a dedicated Focus you start giving these responsibilities to a paid employee who's an outsider they're not making the same decisions they have a department to run trees go last automatically they go to the bottom of the pile even if they say it's not going to it h it does that's just what happens you will not have that checks and balances that you have now you will not have the street program that you have now um and I think what we're asking tonight is that we just focus on the ms4 Storm order part of the ordinance that one section because that has a deadline take out the rest of it put that to the side and hold some committee meetings and really try to work that out also the mayor has the right to um appoint the people on the commission I was just up for reappointment and I was reappointed with no question like I didn't know that there was a problem with any of us um and then if this doesn't work the mayor and Council it's at your discretion to just disband us and do all of this but at this point we haven't been given a chance and we don't know why is coming you're losing a lot and you're you're gaining not really anything from doing it the three of you have about a minute more sorry well I I want to also uh well I've been doing this for 25 years it is more than digging a hole and planting a tree we have Outreach programs we write grants I've written grants for over $161,000 2023 we we wrote a grant with the schools in River Edge $137,000 they were awarded I got a thank you from the super superintendent that time I know mayor Papa you received it also they said we were instrumental for them receiving this Grand $137 so we add value to this community we have an Outreach to this community we work with Boy Scouts Girl Scouts Eagle Scouts three programs we work with um beautification environmental wreck I mean the list goes on um Middle School the Leos Club junior program three programs we worked on um 15 seconds I really encourage all of you to look at our program talk to us learn about us just don't you know look by this new ordinance and saying it's okay because it's not we were never given a chance 25 years I've been doing this and I found out two weeks ago that it's being abolished thank you for your time all right great thank you you're welcome is there another who would like to speak I put Patty yes Patty B so you guys would have to return to your seats now sure and Patty Patty can you hear me I can can you hear me yes so uh you have to state your name for the record and your sure sure Patty Amberg 659 Fifth Avenue in riveridge um I'm also talking about the shade tree uh ordinance and the change I'm just curious why you have such a wealth of of knowledge and years of experience and dedicated volunteers I would love to know what the reasoning is behind this ordinance change from going from a shade tree commission to a shade tree advisory committee um I I I wonder how much time and effort and work went into it who was part of it um and why you didn't include your current Chade tree commission people um we all I'm serve on the Environmental Protection commission I'm speaking as a resident but as a volunteer from a town like many who have grown up in this town and love it and really just try to take what we're passionate about and add it to the town and I think that's what the shade tree commission does and I they take classes as I know I do take a few but they take way more um credits and they have to be certified uh I think you really need to think about what what you're trying to gain from this and why you didn't include more people on this change um thank you yeah yeah I I I don't know if that's information that could be provided at some point um if that's a second reading but I would really like to know what concrete reasons you have for changing this and what benefit you think you might be gaining from it thank you okay Patty uh anyone else would like to speak on any issue on the agenda yeah take someone else minutes no yeah we have very uh we have What's called the standardized set of rules and treatment that we've used since I've become mayor and we're going to keep to that especially because then it would become a question of um could be become question anyone else could I have a motion and second to close to the public all in favor please say I I uh John if you could address a couple of things that were said about liability well in terms of the the the St sh tree acts the forestry act um there is a section of that statute that does give um a level of protection for a shade tree commission but when I looked at it and I have looked at this before because I looked at it in tenek as well when I was the attorney in Teck um the uh New Jersey torque claims Act provides essentially the same protections for the volunteers of the Town um who are working on whether any committee that we have um so commission is a separate autonomous body that has its own rights it can sue and be sued in its own capacity so um and and our commission members would still be covered under the GIF and I spoke to the business administrator today that's the joint Insurance Fund commission committee if they want the commission members if you had if you have what you have now we have a shade tree commission those members are still going to be covered under our same Insurance whether they're committee members or whether they're commission members so it's it's um you're really sort of splitting hairs because the Tor claims act protections apply to every public entity and every individual that's acting um in an authorized capacity for a public entity so a Committee Member would be working for the public entity same as a commission member okay liette if you could just speak to how we got here um well we got here in reviewing the D removal and replacement ordinance for the storm water requirements and um a lot of the work is best suited regarding trees by employees who are here constantly who are accountable who respond have to respond to the residents and if they're not responsive then appropriate disciplinary action would take place and it is removing the burden on volunteers from meeting these requirements okay so moving it from a commission to committee places our B employees yes because with commission there statutory language that provides the complete control over the planting the placement the removal of trees to the shade tree commission so trees are within their purview completely the buau cannot intercede okay no Liz no Liz no one um okay is um so um does any member of council wish to make a comment seeing none we move on to item number seven monthly reports tax collector report is March 31st land use report is February 28th and Board of Health is March 25th those those reports are available to the public uh upon demand you can see the clerk about that no I'm afraid not we're not going to change it we will be opening to the public again but uh twice we're GNA open to public um uh for for different things okay uh we have three ordinances before us since this is a first reading um there is um oh also before we do that the the ordinance that uh shade tree uh referred to is an ordinance that needs to be completed by a certain date is that not correct by May 1 by May 1 and if it's not introduced tonight we would not be in compliance correct because an ordinance requires two meetings one for introduction and the second one for public hearing and adoption so all the ordinances that we are about to uh move on a first reading will be Ur again at our next meeting correct and a hearing is attached to those ordinances correct because I have state statute so I want every already know that this is not a done deal this is simply moving forward okay motion that follows ordinances to be introduced and passed on the first reading and setting April 22nd 2024 at 7M or soon thereafter as the matter can be heard as the date and time uh Riveredge Library as place and zoom as a virtual platform for hearing on said ordinances ordinance 24-9 an ordinance to fix salary wages and compensation of the officers and employees of the burough River Edge in the county of Bergen in state of New Jersey for the year 2024 ordinance 24-10 an ordinance amending the revised General ordinance of the burough of River Edge chapter 384 entitled trees ordinance 24-11 calendar year 2024 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropri appropriation limits and to establish a Capital Bank could I have a motion from councilman glass and a second from councilwoman canel so move second it has been moved in second it is now ready uh for debate but before that uh Miss uh apella would you please explain uh what we're trying to achieve through 249 2410 and 2411 2409 updates the salary of non-represented employees these are just the salary ranges um based on some of the discussions that were held during the the budget meeting some of the employees it was found that the ranges needed to be adjusted um 24-10 as we had discussed it looks at the entire tree ordinance with regard um changing the shade tree commission back to an advisory committee um incorporating the Department of Environmental Protection mandated tree removal and placement ordinance and um it also updates other parts of the other language in the ordinance since it changes from a commission to a an advisory committee and the cap Bank ordinance it is an annual Financial tool tool that is used for um municipalities every municipality adopts this ordinance annually um and it sets aside an additional percentage that can be used in the cap Bank calculation and we also have our Chief Financial Officer if anyone has any further questions or comment uh Chris uh are you there yes great uh Lizette did a great job is there anything you want to add to the uh ordinance 24-11 or uh and we're going to keep you alive for the municipal budget portion um anything you want to add to that I think she uh I think she covered it it's a just a a standard document that we adopt each year to allow us to go up to um the statutory amount of three and a half% on top of our uh existing Appropriations from the prior year okay um so is there any questions from Council okay um is there it is open for debate is there debate hearing none uh all in favor uh no this this can be by acclamation right this yeah all in favor please say I I any opposed any extensions okay we now have the 2024 Municipal budget introduction 2024 resolution 24-1 121 LZ that how do you want to Pro um Miss APPA how would you like to proceed uh for 121 it would just be um a motion and a second but it requires a full roll call as it involves Appropriations great uh Mr bagl um bagia uh Chris if you could for the Public's benefit uh just explain what we're doing here and why we're doing it uh we are introducing the 2024 budget um we are required to uh by State Statute uh adopt a budget each year the uh extended deadlines for the budget for 2024 um listed the first regularly scheduled meeting after March 31st or March 29th whatever the weekday was um as the deadline for uh introduction uh we are doing that tonight um what will happen next if we introduce the budget tonight we have a 28 day period where public can inspect the budget and uh it will culminate in a uh public hearing at our uh May meeting the May date is May uh 13th uh so we will have our public hearing on May 13th also between now and then we will be sending our budget to the state um for to to to to file it and for review and as long as there are no issues we will be okay to adopt um on on that May 13th date all right um okay any member of council have a question and comment okay uh could I have a motion from Council president Matan Cohen and a second from councilwoman uh malari so move second all in favor please oh it has to be roll call roll call present no you have yes no yes here yes yes Council Bon yes Council GL yes all right okay uh now we have second readings there is an open public hearing for that we're going to move them both uh for the open public hearing um the following and could we have councilman Barry actually I'm not gonna call on you because your voice voice is barely there right I can say something we'll leave it we'll leave you for when you when you have to join if I could have from uh councilwoman canella and councilman monan mohen when we come to opening to the public the following ordinance published here within are were first read by title on March 25th 2024 and posted on the bulletin board outside the clerk's office ordinance 24-7 ordinance to amend chapter 206 of the r revised General ordinance of the burough River Edge entitled fees ordinance 24-8 an ordinance amending and supplementing the revised General ordinance of the burough River Edge chapter 400 vehicles and traffic some second all in favor okay before we begin uh Miss aerola would you please explain to the public what we're trying to achieve at 2407 and 248 247 the fee ordinance it covers um updating the outside Duty fees um for police to monitor traffic and it also establishes a vehicle fee and 24-8 of dates left turn prohibited locations okay uh any member of public who would like to make a comment or ask a question about 2407 and 248 this would be the time it's pretty boilet plate just give everybody a chance could I have a motion and second from any member of council to close to the public [Music] second all in favor please say I I okay could I have a motion in second to adopt 24-7 and 24-8 moved second all right uh this does require a vote um oh first it is debatable is there debate hearing none Madame clerk roll call please yes can yes M Larry yes councilman Benson yes councilman GL yes okay uh we are now up to resolutions uh we're going to move everyone except for payment of bills as a group uh 2 24- one22 through 24-29 does any member of council wish to pull out for a separate vote any of these ordinances uh resolutions rather does any member of council have a question before we move them I I do have a question sure which one 24125 if Ella can speak to that one that's authorized increases in deferred school taxes for local and Regional High School taxes um I would defer to my colleague Mr vaglia on that can you guys talk a little louder I'm sure no problem Chris if you could just explain what we're trying to achieve in 24125 thanks mayor uh we have what's called a deferred School tax um and that's simply just a product of the school being on a fiscal year and the burrow being on a calendar year so we raise we raise our taxes on a calendar year and we pay them over to the school on a fiscal year so there's always 50% of the uh I'm GNA stop you for a second um we don't set the tax rate for the schools uh they raise the tax we collect the tax correct that's correct okay I just want that doesn't seem like a big distinction but it is go ahead we we collect the tax for the school and the county uh and we send it to them yes so um part of the requirement of of uh holding on to that deferred School tax in reserve is adopting this resolution each year so this resolution uh actually is mem moralizing the balance at the end of 2023 so it's it's something that has already occurred but as part of the budget introduction the state wants us to file this resolution uh to show that we have a deferred School tax and what the increase was in 2023 so that's that's this resolution is more of a a formal requirement uh to do to to to uh accommodate the balance sheet entries that's all so it's essentially accounting process exactly all right uh any other member of council wish to ask a question all right that was a great question all right could I have a motion and second from any member of council to move resolutions 24122 through 24-12 N I move second okay it's been moved and seconded uh it is open for debate is there debate hearing none all in favor please say I okay who would be the ranking person on the finance committee um think I am okay could councilwoman canella please move read into the record resolution 24130 payment of bills at a regular meeting of the mayor and Council of the burough of Riveredge County of Bergen state of New Jersey held on April 8th 2024 be it resolved that the mayor and Council of the burrow of rivered approve the following expenditures current fund $ 356,550 trust other $ 5,413 3 unemployment trust 32,767 and7 C developers escrow $1,775 Recreation trust $221.50 so okay it's been moved you're actually second okay is there any questions or comments all in favor please say I I Okay so so we have this new business uh River Edge fire department request 125th anniversary 50/50 raffle ticket sale River Edge run Miss appella um well as it states here the fire department is seeking to conduct a raffle in honor of their 125th anniversary and take advantage of the expected crowd at the River Edge run to sell these tickets and um since this has never been done before um you know Joe didn't wasn't going to give blanket permission neither an nor I this is something that would have to be determined by the governing body okay uh so I turn it to the council is there a uh is is the council interested in granting uh the fire department's request for a 50-50 raffle yes I think that's a very good idea for the river Ed fire department to raise money yeah um you know that our fire departments all volunteer right we don't pay them they come out at all times of the day and night they're amazing fire nope nobody pay anything nobody's pay they get a clothing stien because uh you know once you go to the fire whatever clothes you have underneath your turnout gear is is completely ruined and there is loap which is how would you it's a it's a very small dollars that go Reser for their service and that's Statewide for both of those things okay um so it's been move uh it is it it's been moved so I'm I'll move it and seconded second all in favor please say I I very good sidewalk request for Willow Avenue um that um see a bur resident is requesting for the construction of sidewalk in front of their block for various reasons even though it is signed with various names of the neighbors it did come just from one resident and it's up to the governing body I mean the sidewalk and I defer to our B attorney with that increase the property assessment and the property own would have to maintain their sidewalk and we already have our curban and sidewalk plan in our 2024 budget that did not include this area so uh I I became aware of this uh I I asked for it to be moved to the council because the council would then have to send it to traffic and safety and it wouldn't be something we'd probably be able to achieve this year because of the lateness of the request but it's something we could consider in in future years and of course uh the the residents who this would impact need to be pulled because it's only fair if we're going to be uh making this change that they have some say so we would after traffic and saf if the council wishes to send traffic and safety then uh it would come back we would ask those residents to come in tell us what they think about this and then we would be if if the council was so inclined and the residents were so inclined we would be putting it into next year's budget if the budget allowed um so um any member of council wish to offer their thoughts should we send this to traffic and safety yes all right but I have a motion in second some move second all in favor please say I I very good uh youth recreation programs request to place lawn signs on burrow property who is speaking to that Madam clerk so the recreation superintendent U reached out to me um was requested by USA Sports Group who runs various Sports programs uh throughout the buau for recreation uh children ages two and up is this a for-profit organization I all I know is they pay up the fee um per participant for the it's for it's for profit go ahead keep going um so they're looking to place signs uh 2 by4 I believe no bigger than 2x4 in size in the burrow Parks uh kbg Brookside in Memorial Park to advertise for the upcoming uh season they're looking to start uh in the spring and have them up through the Fall have we ever allowed such signs to go up not not to my knowledge so it would be setting a precedent so the council needs to consider this um if we Grant uh permission to one group then we are Mr shenan we're essentially have to Grant it to any group correct it's this is a for-profit entity so I mean the answer is that you don't have to granted to any group but you do have to um have a criteria if you would that or standard that you're annunciating here in terms of you know for example with USA Sports they work in assuming that this is true what I saw that they work in collaboration with the rec department so if you have an entity that is the rec approved um provider you know or the or the whatever Department approved provider to allow them to put up a sign um I would I would tell you legally is okay um but again you know you're going to you may have someone come and say well we want to put up a sign for our program but they'd have to go through a process with wreck to be uh you know to make sure they're approved before you would allow that so yes if you open the door it potentially could be opening the door for more okay what does the council think what is the council's thoughts what would they be promoting and how would they be branded um there was a um a sample sign uh some classes oh thank you they're usually like the like the two Stak the two metal stakes they you know like like the campaign CES like you sticking in the sticking on the ground so so can I ask a question absolutely John you're saying that if they are sanctioned by the r then that will be the procedure to follow that's what that's that's that's the requirement that I I would recommend that the Council Place on with whoever you're allowing because otherwise any business can put a sign anywhere and then you you know you'd be overrun with signs yeah because we have other groups that are for-profit running soccer programs and things like that that are independent I think they're not connected to Reg right so that's that's that's the distinction that would have to be and I'm just referring to the business the Bal administrator that that's in fact accurate what it says on the on the on the proposed side um yes because um this was forwarded by our rec director if there were any inaccuracies he wouldn't have forwarded but that would mean any other group that works with r could also put up signs and then we can have lots of different signs going up I would recommend to the council not approve this at least not until we have a better idea of the scope of this what other groups currently work with wreck uh why would we be granting them fre advertising on our property and then um um what would this what would be the length of the signs and where would be the location of the signs I would recommend to the council that we simply don't have enough information to move forward on this but it is the council's decision not mine may could we ask Joe to come in and talk to it yes but he'd have to you know I would recommend that you guys re uh you require him to list any other group that could also make such a request and uh why he forwarded this request um I'm assuming it's because they're the only ones who asked but you know um because once we open this to this type of group because of their association with r we're opening it to other groups that have a similar Association I agree mayor um and just to my two cents uh looking at the image that was provided to us um I find it to be a pretty self promoting um yeah and and certainly we could have uh Joe speak to that uh Joe joa is our rec director we've been using first names I apologize and not without titles so uh is that is is is that what the council wishes to do is there a consensus yeah to ask for more information to ask for more information to ask uh for the wre uh director to come and speak to that and um and so to put this on yeah could I have a motion and second so move all in favor please say I is there any old business okay we're now at the public comment and we're going to be talking on on I think how just to show up hands how many of you here talk about the library yeah so we're gonna start with um if you don't mind because I'm a teacher with just some little education and I'm gonna ask our attorney to correct me or to elaborate in in any way our library as every library in the state of New Jersey functions by Statute is that correct okay now the library is run by a board now we have two boards in this town we have the Board of Education and we have the library board and they are similar and different okay we the council have no authority over the LI U let me not do the library let me do uh school first the board of ucation the Riverhead schools and the riverdell school we have absolutely no Authority they strike a budget they strike a tax rate they then tell us what that tax rate is and we have the obligation to go out and collect taxes in general our taxes are 25% of the overall ta tax bill so say your tax bill was $10,000 nobody's is but I'm just using because nice easy number well maybe some people are any case so 2500 of it comes to us the other 77,500 we don't uh we don't we don't have any control over it we are we collect it and we have and we pay it upon demand to the schools count and the county you with me so far okay so who they hire as a principal who they hire as teachers what books they do what time the school opens the school calendar when vacation is who they as supervisors has nothing to do with us and the reason I'm bringing this up is because there was a whole thing about seven eight months ago if you're a m about reconfiguration and we made it very clear that we have no Authority we had our legal council presented we asked our labor attorney to weigh in we had no Authority okay now the board that runs this library is slightly different okay the of education has its own buildings they own those buildings they own that property they do all the maintenance they have their own payroll department they have their um own attorneys all that stuff the library board is a uh is a quasi independent group would would that be correct because they do have some Authority and we have some Authority we we own this building uh we repair it we maintain that would be correct right correct um we um if there's any major construction it's going to go through our engineer but the operation of the library we have no none zero zip because it's a board okay so just as the school determines its calendars and its hours the board the library board determines when this Library opens when it closes we have no authority over that just as the Board of Education decides what teachers are going to hire what they're going to pay them so to the library board now why I caused the Quasi is because under the law state statute uh we have uh I don't even know how to describe it it's it's a term called the third of a million obligation so if a town has a library out of our 25% so that's $251,000 we have to give a third of a mill to the library that's what that's Our obligation and that this year that is $770,000 in change give or take give or take um in fact let me pull that up I think i7 yes50 91 okay yeah hear you so a little bit louder uh it is $770,000 91 so your tax dollars that's how much we're obligated to give we have never given the minimum as long as I've been on Council I've been on the council now this is my 13th year well first year we did um but the library was suffering so we gave more and on average our CFO has already helped us understand at the budget meeting if you look at the last 30 minutes so of the budget meeting which is on YouTube you'll see that that we that we typically give $109,000 extra to the library okay and um this year is really no different now um so the library gets a budget by Statute and they have to function within that budget and for the last 12 years I've been mayor uh or council person they have and to the best of my knowledge for the last for the entire lifetime of the library was that about 100 years 80 years whatever it is they've always lived within their budget so what happened recently I'd like to read this to you with regards to the library there was no budget cup that's the fact the library overexpanded in other words they they did not control their salaries and their hours which is their obligation is the director of the library's obligation the library over expended on their salary and wages in 2023 in which the burrow had to cover the overage to meet payroll in early January so essentially they misappropriated money that was not theirs okay and that amount was $5,695 eight it's their obligation they're aboard just like this board of education they hire we don't hire we don't interview we can't fire anybody who works for the library we can't hire anybody who works for the library they do that that's done through the board and the director okay the library um so we had to so there was only two choices when they overspent we could have simply said legally I think we're not paying that and then those employees who had worked in December would not get paid we couldn't do that that would just be wrong so what we did is we put it into this year's budget correct we did a transfer in January we did a transfer in January so we took from the other portions of the budget that are not the library to cover for them the Library operating expenses were kept flat but in this year's budget we gave them a 2% salary increase so we took their salary line and we increased it by 2% okay um and then health benefits went up we did that and we don't charge them for accounting we don't charge them for payroll they tell us they give us their their payroll but we run it through our payroll department as a courtesy at no cost okay so the library received in this year's budget a 2% salary and wages uh they had the overage of 25,6 $88 that had to be deducted from the salary increase so the salary increase was first put in the budget and then the the money has to come from somewhere the the transfer had to be repaid had the other departments had to be made whole furthermore the libraries insurance premium went up by %. we also put that into the budget so they didn't get a cut they got a 2% increase on salary and an 8% increase on health benefits so the burrow is appropriating $865,000 what we were required to appropriate was 770,000 so there is a $95,000 2929 greater than the state requirement now if you take that 25,000 26,000 if you want to round it and put it back into the uh 95,000 so if you you go 95,000 plus let's say 25,000 it's just easier we get 120,000 above what they were entitled to so that's not a cut can't call that a cut never was a cut having said that I know some people oh they're hours I know they're cutting hours they their budget for accounting purposes is broken up in the so if you you look at the get a look at Town budget you'll see it's broken up at the lines but those lines are only for accounting purposes they can do whatever they want with that money so if they want to take money uh out of a quote unquote purchase for books and put it into part-timers they can do that and when I had our CFO uh I asked him I said was the 2% just for uh increase was that calculated just for full-time employees or for hourly employees it's mayor we did it for all employees full-time and hourly so the 2% was not limited to um the full-time employees of which I believe there's four yes four so it included all of them so having said all that I just wanted to make sure that we set that um and everybody gets two minutes and we're going to write down everything you say and then we're going to close the public and we'll answer any of your questions that we're capable of answering okay all right who would like to go first come on up please state your name and your address uh oh there's one acception if you are married to or are I should rephrase that if you're a police officer or married to a police officer or cohabitate with a police officer or a judge you should not give your address you are exempt from that under Daniel's law go ahead my name is Pat yugar on 204 Cherry Lane in River Edge yeah and I sent you an email and I got a response from you and while I can understand the money part of this this library is more than a library it's a community center and when they cut the Adult Services and that Jillian lost her job I got upset yeah and that's why I'm here I've lived in this town my whole life I have never come to one of these meetings but I'm here because I feel so strongly that this needs to be a community center needs to stay open people that work can come after that you're getting home at 6:00 at night you can't get here before 700 you got to eat and everything else so I just wish that would take into consideration that this is a community center everybody loves the library this is National Library week and I'd love to thank each and every one of the ladies back here that work here well I'm not gonna answer any questions because that's not our PR but I want to tell you I love this Library I think they do a phenomenal job the programming is great the hours thing I can answer that but I'm not because that would not be our protocol and therefore we can't do that but I will we'll address that okay yeah thank you very much thank you for coming anyone on Zoom I see no hands back to in person yes come on up good full name and address as long as you're not involved with Jonathan Le 275 Midland Avenue um I've been living here for 11 years I've come to this Library every week um before when I was working in the city I could never get here uh before 74 five um so the thing is is what I've noticed is this place is used a lot more than just books yeah and kids hanging out it's a place where people are connecting um from the students to adults to the elderly um and to cut hours just based off a discrepancy if the staff had upheld their budget spans for that long you think there would be a discussion before a budget cut before hours cut I I know you don't want to call it a budget cut but the hour cuts are a budget cut so what I want to say is um I think for the benefit of everyone in this community we don't have a lot in River Edge so to have a building we can all feel safe in and go to and be with one another it was massively important okay do anything else that's it thank you for coming we have we do have someone online okay uh hi hi good a good evening this is a fuzia Michelle my name is fuzia Michelle and I live on 136 Continental Avenue River Edge um so I've been in this town for two and a half years and and I Echo what uh Pat Pat had mentioned and the last speaker that the library is a community um I think this is the only social place that we have to be honest uh for adult uh programs ESL um you know it even for kids that have their tutors this is like a meeting um meeting location um as far as closing hours and and mayor thank you for clarifying everything I just feel that there's still a discrepancy because of the closing hours it still remains I feel as a budget cut um I know from what I've remembered from the board meeting that I attended last last week um there was you know it was approved to give that salary increase right and it's just that I'm just gonna hold up are you saying the board approved the salary increase or are you referring to the 2% for the salary increase or the changes that the board made mid year to salary increases that caused the overage I think I believe it was a salary increase like an email was approved by an official I believe um and that's what I understood from that meeting so because it was approved you know the liary went ahead and made those increases to their staff um I just got to stop you there too only because I can't have anything unfactual said the town did not approve any salary increases the board made salary increases but were told that they had to stay within their budget there is it is it is we don't have the jurisdiction to approve a salary increase if the board has said that we approved a salary increase other than the 2% that we approved in this year's budget that would be uh well that would be a lot MH okay so I just I'm not trying to tell you what to say I just can't have you know things that are not right I understand and this is what from what I heard that's that's all you know I'm just trying to put the facts together you know and that's why I'm here tonight um I just think that it's you know because of what's occurring you know it's it's unfortunate the library has to lean towards clo closures of hours and and reducing staff and I just think that it's just going to impact the community and um it's going to impact a lot of of the kids and and adults as well so I just want to share that but that's where I come from so thank you no you're fine did she have more time just seconds well I cut her off so we give her more time do you need more time no I add it I stopped it I paed it oh okay all right uh thank you thank you anyone from the uh who's live and if someone uh remotely would like to please raise your hand and we'll come to you next go ahead Cindy Beque 745 7th Avenue um so a few years ago when the um the town was considering putting in a recreation center this may be something everybody knows except me and I don't know the answer to it so sorry advance but when we were considering doing a recreation center here there was money in a budget that had been saved uh towards doing something for a recreation center if I recall they've money put aside over years so I'll definitely answer that when we when you finish okay that's so um if in fact there is something there the the to me the library is not really a rec center but it does um count as something because we have Boy Scouts come in here Girl Scouts come in here Town groups come in here that if we had a rec center in town they would use it and so you're cutting back hours and I gotta keep it factual we're not cuttings I just I just that's I started to say no I refract that the hours are being cut because of a budget they are the ones that are having to make that decision I get it however if there's some way that this town can help the library in another capacity because it does act like a rec center in its own way not just as a library that would urge you to consider that um and try to help out because the people that work in this Library do a fabulous job um and I would hate to see I don't like seeing anybody lose their job but I would hate to see the different groups of people that are not going to be able to come use this anymore because of this so thank you all right go ahead uh anyone online anyone here I'm on and I'll call in you next I I have a question you have to state your name and address kathle no you have to we need to have it on the bike okay thank you Kathleen uh Kathleen Jerome 109 Madison Avenue in rivered go ahead Kathleen um I had heard some place that they put in a new um heating system or something and that had caused a cost but but that's covered by the town right so that is not part of the overage I'm not supposed to say yes or no to that well I'll answer that in a second okay so if that if that um Capital Improvement should be covered by the town then that's not really in their budget so you know that's a different thing but um also if the change of hours is completely unex acceptable because adults will not be able to come to the library it won't be open for them um how do we address that if the council can't do it we have to go to the library board and say you know okay you've closed the library to everybody that lives here I it's I think the easiest thing would be to find enough money really uh we pay a lot in taxes we were able to build that lovely parking lot that cost us millions of dollars for no reason we could scr together $25,000 so that the library can stay open till seven or eight so just so I'm getting it right you want us to increase the tax rate to cover their misappropriation of money is that what you're saying I just don't think it's a misappropriation of money it was unless I'm wrong was over they were over budget but it's but it's harsh you're you're right it's we'll absolutely talk to that in a minute because there's so many things I'd like to say but we're going to give everybody their chance to speak okay but you said you would answer the question about the capital Improvement we are I wrote it down okay um so another person in begging for you to find some way inside the budget you know instead of building parking lots and other stupid things we don't need to find $25,000 to get to the libr okay I'm done sure uh do we have anybody online no come on up they yeah go ahead Diana o' hey 297 vanon Drive yeah lifelong resident of riverid finally retired finally can come to the library can come to the library I just feel like yes there's probably a lot of stuff going on back and forth whose fault is it whose fault isn't it I get it there's a shortcoming in money again I feel put put Faith in the fact that we need the library and and and uh and whether it's a misappropriation of money or not I guess I would just say like geez if the fire department or the or the police department had that happened what would you do don't tell me it won't I don't get it because I'm not what if it was another department sure we'll if it was another department it was the rec department or something where you felt that there was a value and the community would benefit from it what would you do I feel the same as everyone can we find the money okay done good anyone online anyone in person come on up hello my name is Christine George you actually just heard from my neighbor I'm at 291 van on Drive okay and um I guess I should start off by saying here that like I grew up in the library I worked here as a page I did my homework here um I am a librarian now so I can tell you too the struggle we are currently having hemorrhaging Talent from the profession so my bias is 100% with giving the increase for that as a resident of River Edge I grew up here and everything I am just well I'm angry obviously but honestly disappointed super super disappointed to hear the mayor use an incredibly biased term like misappropriation that's not biased that's fact incorrect go keep going yep I would like to have my time and also the fact that we had to come here and now ask for money to be found in the budget because that's the thing sure okay you didn't cut the budget but the fact is the budget needs more money so we have to come and ask for that rather than somebody from Council who everybody I I mean I didn't hear any anti- Library people on the board overtly so everybody likes the library so nobody came forth to say hey we have some ideas about this we're going to try to figure this out nothing we're coming and asking for that hugely disappointing especially because this is such a central part in not just the town but libraries in general with the fact that they're your social safety net people who can't afford like child care and stuff which I mean I know having worked here like not great to have the kids running around but like fact of life it's happening with that I work in New York City I am on the 706 be the 709 the three minutes kills me but anyway in the morning I can't get here it was a struggle for me to get here tonight so I actually do appreciate you having the closed session because I was on time so but I mean the fact is you're living off the commuters and missing thank you anyone else hello Kathleen Murphy River Edge New Jersey hey Kath C you got oh no you don't no I don't have to that's right that's right actually nobody has to they don't have to give their address you should check that out they do have begun so um so when I was watching the budget meeting um the fire department requested $770,000 for turnout gear but then uh Miss Kaufman decided to increase it to 75 without asking just give him an extra 5,000 why would that happen that wasn't never mind apologize keep going you have your two minutes it's on the um on the website the 2% is the cost of living would that be correct the increase you have two minutes um in the budget meeting the health department has a flu Clinic that hasn't been used for four years and it was decided to keep that money in there just in case very um interesting I think that um cutting of this uh funding for the library is misguided I think you using that term misappropriation is absolutely abor okay and it is a negative con connotation when you have the um Farmers Market where do they go to the bathroom there why isn't this meeting held in the courtroom where we were able to do that in 2014 why is the public being um inconvenienced the courtroom set up nobody's down there why are you taking up this spot so I would revisit the budget you know it's not a lot of money and um as you can see it's important to everyone in this town it's a small amount of money that is all okay anybody else and Sh come on up is this only about Library no this is open for anything Cindy well U right after uh maret Shirley 172 Mohawk Drive okay um I've been the reference librarian here for 18 years now I am a lifelong resident of the town I was a page here when I was in high school after college I went to graduate school and got my masters in library science and Miss Heckle hired me right back I was here for four years my first four years as a professional I went to other libraries gained more experience and have come back home to River Edge I wanted to let you know I am not speaking for the board or the director I'm speaking as a lifelong resident that the onethird of a mill formula means that out of $11,000 of your property tax the library gets 33 cents God it that formula is about 40 years old and really needs to be revised so yes the mayor and councel do give us extra money but that's because you would have a Bare Bones building if we had to live on 33 perents per $1,000 so a third of a mill sounds a lot like a lot but it's not and that's what I wanted to say as a lifelong librarian and a resident of this town and I look look forward to helping some of you in the future thank you oh yes Cindy come Cindy spoke on the first time he opened we're now opening and that was opening on anything on the agenda so now we're opening in different opening so I allow it spoke about Library I had two things to say I didn't no I I thought the first thing was about the library you speak to about the library last time Cindy last time when earlier tonight just a few minutes ago yeah no you don't get second chance I'm sorry I don't want to speak about the LI I asked if I could talk about something else that's what I said when I came up here I have a came and spoke she the problem is is that once we break the protocol then 10 meetings down the road we we we have not fulfilled our our Satur our expectation so for a minute Cindy I I have no problems with it I just I just have to make sure that we don't open oursel up to a law suit so go in a minute goad okay okay okay so this is about the two things about the trees and the shade trees so um I do a lot of walking around this town and as a topic I brought up 15 years ago we have sidewalks here that are in horrible condition because the trees that the town planted um The Roots have picked up the sidewalks and they're very unsafe for anybody whether it's somebody walking in a wheelchair and I wish we could do something about it and I wish you would consider trying to do something except waiting till the we could do something except for waiting till the house is sold to make somebody fix that that's number one the second thing is I'm very concerned that with this change in the shade tree group it they seem to be very upset about it it sounds like it it's and I'm concerned that we're going to lose these people who have spent a lot of Gears helping our community and I think that I would love to hear that you are going to be open to talking with them instead of just making this outright decision okay thank you Cindy anybody else oh is anybody online please raise your hand as we go back and forth we'll come to you next I think there was a gentleman in the back come on up Alice Malone I live on to 74 Oak Avenue in River Edge now was go ahead now I did come for the library but after I hear about the trees I have to second what that lady says I walk now with a cane outside here I'm fine yeah but the sidewalks all the mess I have replaced mine so far twice and I have to replace it again because of the pin out tree in front of my house M so I think the town should at least pay PA or have somebody go around because the sidewalks in this town are terrible well I believe when I moved in 44 years ago and I'm not 100% sure the town used to come around and repair it and then we'd get buil for half but I don't they don't do that anymore so I do think we have to do something about the sidewalk now we're getting more children in the kids all ride their bikes in the streets they never ride it on the sidewalks partly because of the bumps and stuff as I said I got to replace mine again now for the third time okay thank you you're welcome anyone online someone in here I thought I saw a hand yes come on to the library don't worry go ahead uh Donna Dapper 301 Princeton Drive 31 years or so in town um I was super disappointed to hear about the library budget changing um I won't call it a cut I see your point but I did in fact watch the meeting of the council and you're talking about the budget meeting that happened on Saturday right go ahead um and honestly the the the library budget port looked punitive it looked like a punishment it looked like we're going to make them pay for this mistake I also went to the library meeting yeah and yes there seems to have been an understanding that they were going to be as a onetime thing allowed to use an overage from a prior year clearly there was a misunderstanding yeah I also find it very strange that you guys covered the money to pay those Library salaries in December why didn't you tell the library they were over because they only seemingly learned they were over their budget a few weeks ago which means they not only were over budget last year they've been over budget for three months of this year which is why they're having to cut those hours so severely you're right they are cutting those hours because they don't have the money to pay their staff and something else said here what I understood was they have budgeted money money for staff and salaries and then they have budgeted money for books and whatever all of their other expenses my understanding was they're not allowed to go back and forth on those is that not true I can answer that but only when we're all done okay um anyway yeah I was super disappointed I agree with everybody who says this is a community place this is where my son had a million meetings on his way to being an eagle scout this is where I came for Boy Scout meetings um it's where ESL is obviously didn't need that but it is kind of a hub of River Edge and we don't have a lot of that and this difference it's not so much money in today's world and we're giving our town less time sorry you give everybody two minutes maintain the same protocol thought that was was it I hope you guys go back and sharpen your pencils uh anyone else are you going to answer how come people don't know their got a whole bunch of answers question okay I hope to hear Liz did you come up in the open public you only came up at the agenda right so you can come up yeah yeah anything you want please so I just wanted to correct the um B administrator on the ordinance for the storm order Ms for the ordinance um that is for private property the state ordinance put sh Tre Commissions in charge of public property we do not want to be in charge of private property and if that's the only issue that should go under code inspector DPW whoever we absolutely agree we've brought an ordinance before the mayor counsel twice before in the in the previous past um with that suggestion and we would not be a part of it at all so that is the information was incorrect and I think you made a decision on an ordinance with incorrect information and that's very important um and the other thing is I did go through the ordinance no offense to you I I but these are the corrections I have it's flawed it's a flawed ordinance that you just voted on there are flaw definitions there's no such thing as some of these definitions um the chart is incorrect and then you're putting liability on the town so just you know you voted on a flaw ordinance just so I you know okay anyone else no Kathleen you only get one chance I'm talking about trees now no you get one chance to speak on anything you want you got your two minutes anyone else we I thought we could talk one on ke you were on the council you know that's not true come on but it was a good try so funny uh anyone else all right could I have a motion second to close to the public don't say can all in favor please say I well there's a lot to cover here um let's start with what would happen if this happened if another department had done this um another department head if if another department head sees that there is a salary issue a Personnel issue they request to meet with the Personnel committee which is comprised of the mayor and to council people to request any authorization or any changes so all the Departments monitor their Staffing and advise if there's any need for changes whether it's combining positions changing a full-time POS a part-time position to full-time or vice versa if there is a vacancy if somebody has to be brought in interim for a Le purpose so this is what all the other departments do okay and what would happen uh the question was specifically what would happen if one of our department heads had done a $26,000 overage well I won't use the overage anymore whatever you want to call it unless it was an emergency That Was Then covered and explained why it was an emergency affecting public health safety and Welfare then the department head would be disciplined okay so that was the first question that was the question I jumped to uh Heating and uh improvements the Capital Improvements we covered that entire thing didn't we yes there was a a grant um it was before I started here there was a grant that the B received under there was a grant that the library received under um this new bonding law that came out a few years ago that through a referendum but again this is a municipal building the library canot award a Construction contract so it was bonded for by the burrow overseen by the burrow the information on payments issued by the buau was given to the library director to submit to the state for rep for reporting so that way the burrow would be reimbursed because grants are reimbursable the burrow has to lay out the money first submit Pro you know proof of contract Awards vouchers invoices payments and then we receive the money back to pay off the debt now but I think the question went to did did it come out of the third of a mill that we had no no that was Capital there Capital funds are different than the third ofth Mill the operating and salary is one set of funds capital is like your credit card you go into thatb it's for specific purposes construction purposes and things that have at least a fiveyear lifespan but I think with the question that the public was asking and uh I think I have a correct is was their budget in ever in any way uh uh required to pay any portion of that none whatsoever Whenever there is a capital project for the library that is covered by the burrow through debt that is not part of the third of the-mill calculation but it does 5% of it does go into the mun municipality that burrows yes uh operating budget yes that all falls under the capital Improvement fund whether it is a capital project for the library for the police for the DPW for for the fire department for shade tree planting that 5% down payment covers all capital expenses and so that was covered by the town not by the library so let's finish that one next courtroom could you speak to the courtroom because we looked into having our meetings in the courtroom we did look into having meetings in the courtroom and um it does not allow for hybrid you may see a TV there but that is specialized equipment under the Judiciary and we do not have a de there's if you've been to the court there's only room for the judge and the court administrator it is not um suitable for Council meetings there is not that space available to run an efficient meeting that's why land use isn't held there that's why none of our other boards meet there okay um is it the responsibility of you or the CFO to uh administer the budget of the library or is that the library director's job that is the library director's job in conjunction with the library board just like I work with the mayor and Council okay but that wasn't really no no no we're not We're not gonna do that just keep paying out so ours it's just common sense so ours ours ours ours is the next thing that came up and the library is free to do whatever it wants with its hours so you're saying 7:00 is 2 early to close the library could on Tuesday and Thursday be open from 1 to 9: instead of 11: to 7 um the library chose to make that their decision and it appears that that might have been intentional to draw some of you out I don't know but it seems odd that they are not doing what other libraries are doing law you to stop speculating no I'm just simply saying because I had residents come to me and said why isn't the library staying open later I said that's their decision they could have chosen anything they wanted to community center and uh R so um this is an extraordinary liary does a great job it really is a community center in so many ways and that's why we have always given more money when I came on to the council 13 years ago the then Council wanted to close the library there were two members of the council wanted to do that I fought for the library I fought every year out of the 13 that I've been an elected official in this town to make sure we could do it as much as we could the budget this year is 4.76 because of all the healthcare increases that have happened over the last 3 years 20% here 8% here 177% here uh we've been using some of the leftover funds from previous years to try to mitigate it but this year our budget started at 5.15% we spent 15 hours maybe um uh as a council and the finance committee spent time before that and normally we try to keep the budget increase to somewhere under 2% this year it's 4.76 we did not want that but Healthcare and everything else kept going up we don't have any control over that BCU um bcua Burton County Utility Authority we spend about 1.3 million getting rid of Po and P basically we get rid of that's our that's how much it costs every time we to gets flushed so in this year's budget we went through every single line item and as former councilwoman um Murphy mentioned if you go back and look at that you'll see that we tried to cut everywhere we tried to cut any unused funds over the years we asked the Departments if we could do that so we did that on Monday which was the first meeting and then on Saturday the second meeting departments came back and said you have to keep this line on them because it's a requirement by law you have to keep this line because uh if if this occurs then then there has to be a line for that but everywhere if you watch the what was it probably uh it was uh yeah but how many hours we you say it was all together and a half five no it was like eight eight or nine hours between the two day we went through every line in the budget to try to bring down the best we could do is 4.76 now I think the board and director and the Librarians do a great job but the question comes why did they go over they went over because it appears um that they in they made salary increases mid year they did come to us and say we want to do salary increases and we said you you can do whatever you want but you have to stay within the budget and that you have to monitor the budget and if you decide to increase uh a full-time person person's salary which is a salary adjustment you have to find that money in your budget which now the budget has all these line items but the way the law works and correct me if I'm wrong is we're giving them a budget and they can do what they want with it so they can move it around however they see so if they have more money for a uh audio books and they want to move that into their salary line so that they could have more part times that's fine too and I believe that they also increased the amount of part-time hours they knew that they had to monitor their budget it's not the Ba's or the cfo's job the director is being paid to do that that's his job so the question comes how did they go over well they said they didn't realize they were going over but that's the director's job that's been the law for decades and decades and this director has been done a phenomenal job for over 20 years I believe and somehow this got Beyond them so I'm not going to speculate but I don't understand how you can do the same job for over 20 years live within your budget except for the year where there were where you where the board and decided to increased salaries that has to be so do we reward this no do we punish it no so when the council was trying to put together its budget the U ba said to me well what about salary increases same salary increases that we give everybody the Librarians shouldn't be punished they should get the same thing but where does that 25,000 comes from well at a a 4.76 budget which is heart breaking do we then say to the public well the library somehow didn't understand it was going over by $25,000 and now we're supposed to just take that pass that on to the public could we do that I guess we could we could should we do that I don't know ethically if that makes sense I'm not trying to punish anybody I come to this library on regular basis I got a book out today I use Libby all the time I love this library and I praise it all the time and you know we talk about the third of a mill we are it's not like every town in Burton County or in the state are doing over a third of a mill I know mil New Milford right now is considering only giving a third of a m I know that there are other towns we've never considered that this is this is this is not our making but I hear you loud and clear what you're basically saying is they went over budget we should ignore that we should not hold them accountable and ethically even though we're we should pass it on to the public to you and you guys are for that to be honest with you uncore but I don't think that that's what we were elected to do to moderate our own interests um I don't know the council I don't know if the council can change the bun at this point I mean the council could consider it and I think they've heard you I think they've heard you I were parking lot you know sarcastic marks right marks are are the parking lot was part of an improvement for our park when we have the Fourth of July when we have events at the park when we have all sorts of sporting events they use the park it was if you go back and look at the council meetings when they talked about that yes the parking lot was going to be a part of the community center but it was also there were hours of discussion and planning saying listen we have to take down the old DFW building it the building couldn't do that so we could have taken it down spent all that money and covered it over with grass which is not bad because it's near a park or we could have put in the parking spaces that would make it available so that we could have other events in the libr in the in Memorial Park and and stuff like that and we'd have parking because we didn't because we had parking problems we have people saying when there's you know two baseball games happening and there's something else happening in the park uh people are people are going and parking on the streets in front of people's homes around there so you know I get where you're coming from say it's a parking lot but it was not the decision it was a decision not to waste money we were taking down the BFW anyway why not put in a parking lot and we did put in stuff because we thought the community wanted uh a a community center the community didn't want it and unlike the whole situation that happened last year with the school board we listened to you I wanted the recreation uh the recreation center I still have the plans for it you didn't so we stopped it there was another idea should we have uh a soft girl softball field because we weren't getting any traction with the uh school board at that time you guys came and said we don't want a so we stopped it the question I I hear loud and clear you're saying you love the library I do too you're saying that we should overlook the fact that they went over budget when they should have known they were going over budget because that's their job they shouldn't be doing mid budget salary increases and then pretending that we somehow wronged them we didn't last year we gave them $188 was it $188,000 over here you I I think I did we we gave them the ton of money now because of because the state has reevaluated we only had to give them $700,000 last year the state had reevaluated River Edge and it says our minimum uh one out of a third is now 770 we didn't say as other towns are listen the state all of a sudden says I got to give you 70,000 more than we did we're not going to do that we didn't do any of that and we all the only thing we did was charge them for their overage we kept the 2% in there we kept the 8% in there um and we did what we ethically thought was correct now you're saying that we should ignore all this and just restore the 25,000 I guess that might be possible I don't know we'll look into it um but as I said you have to you if you're going to be fair you have to say how is it that they didn't know when they gave salary adjustments that they were going to go over how is that possible now they said well there was there was funds from a previous year that's not again the statutory rules about accounting have been in place for almost a hundred years or some incredibly long period of time and they have certainly been in in place for the last 20 years and everybody knows that at the end of the year whatever you use your budget goes into what's it called Reserve reserve and it doesn't get put into your budget for the next year nobody that doesn't happen with Police Department doesn't happen with DPW doesn't happen with Recreation doesn't happen with our um clerical people it doesn't everybody knows that you know that you don't get to keep last year's unspent money it just it doesn't exist anywhere in the United States the council I I don't know if the council can consider that but no can't come no you can't you can't use with budgeting for reserves any money not spent in 2023 cannot be spent in 2024 you had to have made a purchase drop a purchase order have it's called encumbered those funds you may not get the bill until March April but you already placed the order you already committed it that's the only time you could use Reserve funds you can't say oh we didn't use money this year come October can we use that did you place an order for that no then you can't the state does not allow it and New Jersey has one of the strictest Financial regulations uh let me deal with a couple of things I I think I uh didn't deal with uh moving in between the being in between the library um yes when um when farmer markets and we open the bathrooms in Memorial Park but do people come into the library of course they do that happens absolutely does um Liz had a public private Flor we're going to deal with that in a second um Community Center we talked about our ours as we've already talked about it's their decision if they want to stay open they can but I hear loud and clear you're saying go back and increase the tax rate by $25,000 which probably isn't that big of a deal Overlook the fact that they should have known there was no way they couldn't have known that they were going to go over um what's the percentage point for increasing the tax rate to 25 like what you're saying that I think it's 25 I think it's Point 0.25 on the percent I think uh it's a it's about a quarter it's about a quarter 100,000 a point right 100,000 is a point so that would be a quarter so that would change the tax rate from 4.65 to 4.76 to 5 5.01 4.76 to 5.01 things here spending on the salar going to continue yes and then of course that will continue it will multiply each year it would continue to fix it for this year we'd have to change the tax rate from 4.76 which is extraordinarily high in my opinion to5 now here's the good point we have been so conservative and I want to give a call out to edman yon and to Al balone and to um VTO aquaf fra who has passed on they they formulated a more conservative budget process for us in River Edge than any other town that I know of in Burton County we put more constraints on ourselves and because we did according to our CFO which you can also see at the beginning of the first meeting other towns are starting at 8% 11% some towns I think 20% what 12 12 no 12 so and we started at 5.15 we were able to get it down by L literally looking at take a 100 off of here take 500 off of there trying to cut wherever we could we got it down to 4.76 without doing layoffs or anything else to our police department and DPW and stuff like that and to be honest with you if that hadn't gone over the overage the library would and did get a 2% increase on salaries and an 8% increase on health benefits and we didn't reduce anything else so yeah I guess the council can consider this and I apologize if somebody took offense to me saying misappropriation I wouldn't say that anymore I'll just simply ask no I'm not G again I'm sorry I'm just gonna simply say I don't know how you can increase your increase your salaries and not know but that's a disciplinary process you said all no but you see that's the thing of that listen to this it's we don't have any authority over them we can't discipline them they aboard that's why I started out with that we have no we can't fire anybody we can't discipline anybody we have no authority over the employees we strike a budget we give them the money and they can do with whatever they like so next year when you strike next year's budget yeah if if you raise the percentage by whatever usually whatever it is and then this process starts again for the next year wouldn't wouldn't those wouldn't all those line items increase just like the fire department and the police department everybody has an increase in their budget that's just the way of the world I get it that you're going line by line and you're taking money where and and you know what I appreciate the work you do I really do I believe know in the business world yes it's Ty difficult what's so frustrating right now is here we are in April second quarter of the year and we're already behind the April and so again this well that's partly because that's the way the process has been designed by the state we don't go into budget season until until we know for instance we have to know what we're going to get from the state by way of funding we have to know what we're what's going to be charged by bcua we have to know there's there's a million things the state itself hasn't even struck its budget and W for a couple more months because they have to have us strike our budget before right correct I guess what I'm saying is like Okay so we're going to pay for this mistake the town going well right now you're not paying for the mistake you're asking us to have the town pay for the Mist pay for the next 20 years for this mistake maybe we're willing I don't want to speak everywh but maybe we're willing to do that this one time because it's only happened one time in however long it's happened and whatever fault it is whatever bre the bullet well what what would the difference in taxes be if like on 100,000 assessed value what would the impact on a household be I don't know you know I don't know I want to tell you I don't know by adding this $25,000 in I don't know and what would the detriment to the town be to decrease this even in in property values one of the first things that I looked at when I first came to this town where the schools and the library yeah and I chose to pay more for a house to be in town that had things were wonderful and you know and then that's why I got so upset when I saw that the hours are being done yeah um I don't know I mean you know U we can we can certainly look into that uh I don't know uh where we're at with with the whole legislative process whether we can increase but right now we have cut everything to the Bare Bones uh so if we were to give the library $26,000 in addition to 26,000 we've already given them because that's what we're doing because we've already given them 26 you're asking us to give another 26 so we're basically giving them an extra $52,000 they went over so that's the first 26 right that's for last year yeah so then we're and then make now have the public pay the extr so okay so if we were to do that I don't know what its impact would be on the the residents but when residents get their tax bill they don't they tend to look at what the rate is and they tend to look at its impact on them and everybody would be different I mean because it's a yeah I know I'm going over I should stop my throat um I just I I feel the emotion in this moment I I feel I I I I I I hear you I think the council hears you um and I think we've answered all the questions said for the private and public uh fund that uh Liz said was BL oh I have a question um why wasn't the library's operating budget increased at all we didn't really did we really increase anybody's operating budget the operating budget was FL but last in 23 it was increased from 22 every Department had to provide a justification whether like Road Sal was increased or contract for Radio Service or what not so that was DPW and that was fire department and police department so they would have to offer a justification for increasing it they would they would they they it's a very complex Pro not complex it's a very in-depth process the the uh CFO and the ba and the finance committee sends out emails in December saying look through your budget if you need October October October look through your budget see where you need increases and if you need those increases please tell us justify why you need those increases so salt was one of those things that that what that's an operating budget for the DPW so as the soft cost went up we'd have to increase that that also happened with the the thing of when councilwoman uh um Kaufman said change from 70 to 75,000 for whatever Kathleen quoted that was because uh Council Coffman had been in contact with Jason and he said that that that no not schlosberg Rob schlosberg our fire chief he said that that uh that that that Line's probably too too too low I don't know what the justification was for the operating I know that the board had asked the library board had asked for 15,000 and instead we're being kept flat at 2023 figure we all know what question we can look into that I watched the budget meeting and um the budget Council woman said we can leave it at this figure okay well we'll look into it okay uh yeah go ahead confus the director in the library board the payroll yeah do they have access to the account money comes from and the absolutely they can call and they have well that's CFO yeah but they should be keeping track of it as they go but that's not their first I gotta stop so you're you're trying to make it there is communication but they have other so I just want to know definitely own pay P of Ed has its own payroll the library no you said bard of B yeah they have own yes but we we give that to them at no cost we do their payroll so the same way you do the library no we don't do the board of EDS payroll is that what you're ask yeah I I I let's talk afterwards okay that's all right all right does budet no seriously because this hasn't been covered at all what so next year when you guys do the budget assuming it stays where it is how much does the library get does it go back up automatically every year every budget is reviewed and if there's more money needed for a justifiable reason then we do that that's how we ended up with 4.76 this year instead of 3 going up I mean that's just the way it goes and salary increases are also determined every year what seems to be the growing weight what is the going rate what can the people of River Edge endure when it comes to taxes well because that's what they say to me you know and I get it I get it because I'm paying taxes too you know all right you know I just hope that we don't not overshadow I mean I believe the LI is to I up here being BN as well so I but but I just the shade treeing is really important okay I just don't want that to get down on so that was the last thing did we respond to that the priv the the the language comes from that was stated was flawed the definitions the calculations that's all from the state model and the private and public what I said was DPW is being involved to be more you know responsive since they are here and they are on call they are part of an emergency management team right to answer these issues that residents contact them about instead of putting the onus on volunteers this is not to take away all the great proactive programming and education and grant writing that the shade tree does that is not being taken away it is just the regular daytoday um responding to Residents and on top of the D requirements because storm water falls under DPW and the and the ordinance was reviewed by two lawyers okay but no we're gon we're we're gonna move on we're gonna move on could I have no no Liz we're not going to get an argument about this Liz resp I don't know why the the council isn't even concerned about this you're voting on something that this has been reviewed by two attorneys three attorneys this has been reviewed by three attorneys are they on the council so okay could I have a uh is there any uh is there any Council comments Barry I think you had one I did um and could you read the council comments please to counc Bon losing his voice I'm going to read uh counc comments on his behalf I am honored to serve as the leison River Edge fire department starting this year the commitment and family life sacrifices our volunteer firefighters make every day to ensure our community safety is something I was not aware of until I have had the opportunity to spend more time with the chief in his Department there are so many things the fire department is doing to keep our community safe it's hard to keep my comments short but I just want to give a shout out to Tom Carol and Neil Carol for their work on the river fire department radio committee I also want to thank or OEM Joe SC for assisting the committee they have arranged to get all the department radio is properly identified and programmed correctly with the necessary channels so the River Edge fire department can properly communicate with the tribe bur and buron County this was one of our new fire chief priorities for 2024 all of us in River Edge are safe today because the work you did congratulations and Well Done councilman I not counc U Mr shidan thanks bear so uh I just want to make sure that the public understands with respect to the ordinance process that all that happened today was an introduction of an ordinance the council didn't vote on anything they haven't approved anything they haven't adopted anything it's simply a mechanism because every ordinance which is a is a permanent law right ordinances are permanent laws it can be changed by ordin by by create crafting another ordinance but as opposed to resolution which only lasts for the term of the council which votes foro for one year um ordinances stay on the books forever until they unless they're changed down the you know at some later time an ordinance takes two readings or takes two meetings so this meeting it was for introduction comments were comments were made from the public with respect to the ordinance council's heard those comments the next meeting when that ordinance is up for adoption because there has to be a publication so the world knows that that ordinance is out there more people can come there's going to be another there's going to be a full public comment section with respect to that ordinance what uh and its adoption and then at that point the council then can debate it again and decide whether or not to move forward with the adoption of the ordinance but I just want to make it clear that nothing was passed today I was only uh with respect to shade tree sorry yes only introduced any other member of council wish to offer a comment I just have one comment may I just want to uh remind the public that um Regal and little league are having their opening day on April Saturday April 14th okay uh 10 at 10 a.m. yes oh I'm sorry it's it's Saturday it's Saturday Saturday whatever the date is Saturday the 13th sorry about that any other member of council could I have a motion second to close the uh to adjourn the meeting so uh all in favor please say I I