thank you everybody and welcome to the first regular monthly meeting the mayor and Council being held at 18 Donaldson AV Avenue Monday May 6 2024 starting at 6:30 p.m. Missy could you please call the rooll yes mayor nunziato yes council president mwan presid Council B Robertson yes councilman Guzman yes counc Del con yes Council Quron yes councilman kley yes if you're willing and able could you please stand for the salute to the flag I pledge allegiance the flag of the United States of America to the rep stand Nation God indivisible liberty and justice for all thank you missy in compliance with the open public meeting Law chapter 231 public laws of 1975 notice of this meeting was transmitted to the record and Herald news and file with bur clerk on December 26 20223 and is posted on the bulletin board outside of burrow Hall thank you Miss Jane I'd ask you now to come forward councilman you got you got to use the microphone now just put it push it down and it'll justay it's on already it's on okay good evening everybody every summer the public library has a summer reading program that encourages children to read for enjoyment over the course of the summer last summer over 19,000 books were read by the 929 children that participated in the program this Summer's theme is Adventure begins at your library when children register for the program they are given a booklet in which to record the titles of the books that they read or listen to over the course of the summer I conduct a contest for children to submit an original drawing to be considered for the cover of the booklet this year we had 50 entries the entries are judged and the top three drawings were done by two of the children that are here tonight our third place winner was unable to make it tonight the winners are receiving gift cards to Barnes & Noble provided by the friends of the library so our winners can come up now our third our second place winner is Cia narar congratulations CA see this is for you too honey come here honey C could you just stay up here this C's drawing her beautiful beautiful drawing our third place winner by the way is Emma Lombardi but she was not able to be here and our first place winner this year is Dia nand yala [Applause] congratulations I'd ask the uh Council to join us at the uh in front of the dis to uh take a picture with the winners and this is the booklet that I'm referring to and her drawing is on the cover that n over 900 children beautiful wow everybody push it nice and close nice and close [Applause] mayor yes just a a quick little uh anecdote to tag on to the Celebration uh happens to play for my girls u12 travel soccer team and scored her very first goal yesterday helping us helping us stay in first place in our flight SE in Northern County so congratulations having a great week that's great all right at this point uh you guys you all probably want to leave before we're going down to real business so thank you for joining us conratulations we're going to move to the uh changes of the proposed agenda yes on page one under resolutions on consent there's been an update to resolution number 114 regarding the acceptance of donations also on page two there'll be a revision to resolution number 110 pertaining to the open space Grant application and that's all I have thank you mayor I also have a change I will be asking my colleagues later on to table an ordinance amending chapter 105 solicitor it's on second read okay so we'll be doing that upon ordinances correct okay yeah motion to accept the changes I'd like to uh have a motion to accept the changes motion motion by council president I have a second second second by councilman Del H any questions or comments by the council seeing n may have a roll call council president mcowan yes councilman B Robertson yes Council Gman yes counc dely con yes counc quatron yes counc M cley yes thank you August you're up so last week we uh can you get the mic closer yeah sorry last week at the Memorial Field tennis courts we met with the Cooperative vendor American Athletic track and field regarding the um the Reconstruction of the tennis Sports um we are anticipating a start later this month after the um the high school team uh is done utilizing the courts and we are anticipating the return of access on our about August 12th uh we also brought them over to the Tryon field running T running track where they'll conduct some repairs around the starting area by the Sprinter starting area um we also met with violia regarding their water M improvements along Veterans Boulevard coordinating the improvements with them this way that they'll be finished with their water M upgrades and this way we can finish repaving the roadway um recently Smith Sunday has been undergoing worked for the 23 roadway improvements uh Prospect Avenue is has been paved as of last week and Woodland Avenue is um currently Mill and awaiting Paving and this actually happened just today we received review comments back for the 24 roadway improvements program from the dot and we're currently uh working to revise our plan specifications and submit back to them uh we're expecting hopefully bid opening somewhere in June hope be the first meeting and that's it for all I have all right margus thank you for being here uh I'm sorry any Council questions comments okay you're good thank you thank you uh now up for the hearing of citizens anyone wishing to speak please a microphone state your name address and please keep your comments at five minutes your last hi my name is Jim Keegan I live at 264 fonia here in town and I'm just uh here because I know you're going to talk about the residential lighting ordinance and uh I thought it was important for my wife and I to be here it's the support that we really ins supportive it it's uh we've had some issues with neighbors with lighting and it's really affected the quality of life um we've had to call the police about it so just strongly support this ordinance if it you know anything we can do any evidence to bring that if we have uh we really support it okay that's absolutely so the way it works is you you you spoke um um I guess obviously WC speak so we can answer you right away usually we get everybody to speak first and then we respond but apparently the only one's here so we can respond right now that's cool uh anybody hi M Mr King yes um we briefly communicated I guess it was at the end of last week when I told you this was on the ordinance and I believe the mayor did as well um so I maybe I'm fast forwarding our discussion but basically why I put it on the agenda for today is a couple of more additional residents have reached out about this issue and where it sort of um hit a pause when we brought it up before the end of the year was um some of my colleagues had concern about enforcement um and also about safety I think those were the two main issues um so what I'm hoping to achieve today is a discussion about some compromise around those two specific issues um both trying not to overload our Police Department which I think was one of the ideas for enforcement but um East Rutherford has an ordinance that is um similar to what we're trying to enact and the police department actually is not responsible for enforcement so um that was really the focus of today's discussion and it's my hope that we can get the ordinance back on the agenda for voting so that wouldn't be today but that was the point of the discussion we had called the police and they had uh suggested that it would be under harassment because they actually came and saw the issue um un fortunately it's not a back and forth oh okay no that's cool we can talk back and forth after but yeah this but this process is not back and forth that's right I mean uh I will just say that the councilwoman has done her homework with the arbor attorney and we are really working on something because yes everybody up here agrees it's a quality of life issue greatly appreciate thank you very much thank you appreciate you coming out thank you council president thank you guys for coming out all items are authorized to be consent by the council will be enacted by one motion these items are routine and nature motion I have a motion by the council president I have a second second second by councilman Roberson Robertson I know Miss council president mcowan yes Council beg Robertson yes counc Gman yes Del con yes counc quadron yes councilman kley yes thank you next is resolution number 110 authorizing submission of a 2024 ber County open we have to do the public hearing item number nine uh my apologies I I thought that was a part of consent I'm sorry um mayor anybody from the public wishing to speak on this matter and this matter only please step forward to the microphone kimm if you have anything to say Bo or the chief I think all right I think we're good mayor we were opening the public hearing uh regarding the Burgen County open space trust fund application which is specific for the Lincoln Park gazebo thank you so this this is an application the borrow has submitted to the Bergen County uh Open Space Program uh we are looking to replace the existing gazebo in Lincoln Park uh that's um it'll require a match if awarded to us the estimated budget submission is about $150,000 if we were to secure the grant it would be a $75,000 match from us 75,000 for burn County open space so that's the proposed project to replace and uh obviously enhance the landscaping around the existing ski uh gazebo in Lincoln Park and uh hopefully uh make it a more attractive uh venue for future uh events thank you thank you um I just will quick quickly add that the the one that Bob is working on is is a little bit bigger um this has been a uh pet project for me since I got into Council in 2013 and uh I just and what's going on in the rest of what we've tried to do I just think would be a nice addition to the park so uh anything else from anybody from the council okay uh next I'd like to move resolution number 110 authorizing submission of the 2024 Bergen County open space trust fund Municipal Park Improvement Grant application for Lincoln Park gazebo motion I a motion by the council president I have a second second second by councilwoman quatron any questions or comments by the council I just have one question um would this eliminate our opportunity to seek open space funding for 2024 otherwise no right we we just have a few things going on parkwise so I just didn't know if this for some reason would eliminate our opportunity to seek funding otherwise for those projects and I don't mean Memorial Field but we've talked a little bit about some other no this this funding is is specific to um part of your tax bill is is is uh open space tax money and so the the county when it collects it through the year they offer opportunities from all municipalities to draw down from that that that specific funding for specific projects this will have no impact in any other Grant applications thank you you're very welcome council president McAn yes Council B Robertson yes councilman Guzman yes c m Del con yes C quatron yes c m cley yes we'll move move on to the uh the obviously lighting orance thank you mayor um I asked for this to be added to the agenda as a discussion item because as I mentioned to Mr Keegan I am hoping to get this ordinance back on the agenda hopefully at our next meeting um since we last presented it I think it was at the end of 2023 we have received additional complaints both to the mayor and to myself about um lighting issues I know that there were some concerns again as I said earlier um in response to Mr Keegan around safety and um enforcement I remember those being sort of the prevalent concerns of my colleagues so I just wanted to provide the opportunity for us once again to sort of ask our questions of each other um as I mentioned the burough attorney was kind enough to present um the East Rutherford ordinance for my review after a resident pointed out that they had one over in East Rutherford uh for controlling lighting for uh Residential Properties not just commercial it seems that the Lion Share of that ordinance which I'm happy to send all of you or have a bur ask our bur attorney to do that um is really around the direction of the lighting the strength of the lighting and the timing of the lighting so we're not trying to eliminate resident ability to light their properties but simply enforce the um experience of keeping it a little more targeted to their own properties and a little more targeted with regards to how long they stay on and I think I mentioned at our last meeting where I spoke of this I I have visited some of the homes of the residents that feel this is a big problem and it really is quite quite significant the amount of lighting that they are getting on their properties um from other places and Mr Keegan did send me a note that there in there are rooms in his house where he simply can't even spend time because in the evening because the lighting is so severe so I wanted to give ourselves an opportunity to ask questions of myself or the burough attorney um to see if those concerns still exist so that we can talk about them and then hopefully get a draft agenda a draft ordinance put together thank you um I've witnessed the lighting at councilman cley's house I think he can turn it off his PSC and J uh g bill at night because his neighbor lights just light up his house so we all truly understand what you're looking for uh if anybody else has any comments please feel free yeah a resident reached out to me this week as well so I thank you councilwoman for putting it on the agenda um I guess I just would love to understand because I heard I read that the light has to be parallel to the ground that's what I read so I just would love to know the rules what the rules are exactly if you drew a [Music] plane a plane where your property ends and your neighbor property Begins the light should not cross over into the pro property I guess I'm also curious if if we pass the ordinance um how will will it be enforced it'll be a violation of the ordinance with the penalty and that's work out with whoever the lays on or the sponsor whomever of you wish to be involved in the finalizing the ordinance he could have any number of people enforce the ordinance you get a call you go down you're violated but you know I understand there might be a a desire not to have the police involved in that so I'll speak with chrisy whomever else yeah if I can just add um councilwoman I I know that there was Talk of the police department and and some thought that that might be too much of a burden for our Police Department then there was talk of the building department and I believe presently it's Tom deia's team at the P building department that when there's a commercial violation they go out um and handle that um the east Rutherford ordinance speaks to the construction official enforcing as well as residents enforcing so I assume residential enfor residence enforcing is simply them calling the police department um but it doesn't actually read that the police department is responsible so I do think that's something we would need to figure out um and then deciding whether there's been a violation I assume but again open for discussion would sit with the building department um since there would be fines involved yeah the other thing I was curious about is what's the change management and how will residents be informed of this change apart from an ordinance um so that they know not to buy these lights in the future well I think obviously we' we'd go through our all our sites and our police depart would put it up on their site as well yes um I I'm I'm happy to see that this came back up it's definitely had um a lot of revisions from where it started and I think it kind of gets to the heart of what the real matter was um and and it does sound to me like this is something that would fall under Property Management right like um versus a police matter and I you know I I appreciate the fact that we're having that discussion because I'm always concerned about when we ask the police department to enforce something and it could escalate something that is not it just doesn't have the necessity to be escalated that way and so you know to me this is one of those um neighbor V neighbor kind of M ation or um what's word I'm looking for not mitigation uh arbitration of some sort is that is that a better word mediation is what I'm going for so um I I turned to the attorneys for the right word I I couldn't find it um so I'm I'm glad to see that's the direction this is taking uh because I I really was concerned about this becoming just another burden for the police department so I thank everybody involved for their good work on this okay I I would expect that um because the residents won't really know about the ordinance until they read about it if they read about it that the enforcing officer could go there and explain to them you know the issue a warning first or a notice and just have a remediated before more formal action Hasen totally agree and what we'll do is um I'll get together with the bur administrator um councilman you've taken the lead on this um as you are the senior Council woman and this is your request as well as you are buildings and grounds I'll get with Bob and we'll we'll figure something out as far as how we move forward after this as far as with Bo um I know that the police department has responded to several of these calls and has advised people the best course of action they can do just based on what is available to them so when we formalize this I think that'll help everybody out anybody else thank you councilwoman uh we'll move on now council president thank you mayor um so uh congratulations to the Kip Center on their successful uh designer bag Bingo you couldn't fit another person in there let alone another handbag I did not win anything uh but I did have a great time and um and it was incredible to see how many people came out to support Kip it's a very deserving organization um uh in the the engineers report we heard about the preconstruction meeting uh regarding the tennis courts it's probably going to take about three months um of a project so as soon as the high school is done uh they will begin that project so uh hopefully it'll be ready right along uh right around Labor Day and um and we're preparing uh I want to thank Bob and uh our B administrator of course and and uh Brian and tandola our engineer and the members of um uh the park committee that we were using but more importantly to be honest and transparent everybody has been a part of this so whether they were sitting on the committee or not everybody has had uh some input and so thank you to everyone um it's we're moving towards preparing to to uh continue at Phase One um and address diamonds five and six which is exciting it's uh coming very soon um hopefully uh you're making a face of I not right no I'm good oh you were grimacing you're happy that was happy sorry I I got nervous for a second um uh so we are looking to award the the turf part of this uh forthcoming um and the goal is to have that project done this summer which is fantastic so that these young people are going to have some incredible Fields um I do want to just put it out there again that residents and everybody who uses the fields over the summer and certainly in the fall they need to be mindful there are going to be implications to all of these phases um I know historically we are uh those uh in town get very used to having access to certain Fields they're going to be need to be amendable because um there's going to be a lot of moving parts so I want to thank Patty Bonner in advance uh from our rec department um and uh I I'm also looking forward we've been having talks with uh our grant writers about projects we could do at tamblin field um and um potential money possibly for the continuation of our commitment to um providing uh Ada playgrounds um and so what what better time to do that than in our 10th anniversary have access for all um and the idea of maybe even uh at tamblin field moving that play Space closer to Woodland so that families have access um this could be very exciting so more to come I thank everybody involved and our grant writers who uh met with several of us and really gave us their their their time and their treasure and I'm hoping they find us treasure it's it's Monday it's the best I got I'm sorry so anyway thank thank you all and that's all I have for tonight the only thing I'll add to that is Bob and and his brain confetti is uh desire to move that project forward the uh the children's uh playground was coming up front that was a positive that wasn't a negative all right Council wow that's a new one brain confetti is I like that dealing with so many iterations of this park he's just been like trying to bounce stuff around um I just want to share that the W department is hard at work and the mayor is about to announce our summer seasonal staff and these aren't just names on the page these are people that are going to be taking care of our children in the summer and which is so amazing um I can't believe we're at another summer but I just want to extend my gratitude to the rec department for um getting ready for summer and all all all the work that's going to take place and that's it thank you thank you for that and really thank you for um disrupting My Life by not being here next summer but you know uh councilman Guzman thank you very much mayor I have nothing new on my committee or liaison reports um I'm I just want to uh thank my colleague here uh councilwoman Del con for uh the lighting uh bring back the lighting or ordinance uh we all need to be able to live in our homes and be able to enjoy them and be nice to one another as neighbors so uh I'm very very happy to see this back on I can't wait to uh to read the draft so we can get this thing these thing moving so thank you very much for that um I have nothing else thank you thank you Council councilman Del con thank you mayor um I just wanted to thank the Green Team and all the volunteers who helped with uh the town cleanup on Saturday um I also wanted to mention that also on Saturday was the opening of the community garden which also was run by the Garden Club um I spent a lot of time over there on Saturday morning um talking to uh Nicole Miller who runs the Garden Club her knowledge of plants and flowers was pretty unmatched and um I I feel I would be remiss in not mentioning that the green team has made various uh requests of us as community members whether it be uh Native plantings or being mindful of what sort of pesticides we use um as we come into spring and summer when plantings are abundant so if you ever have questions about what might be best for the environment um around your home or to plant anywhere um I do encourage you to leverage uh the Garden Club and the green team because like I said their their knowledge was was pretty unmatched um so I just want to thank them for that and also thank our DPW I feel like every time I talk to the Green Team I go to the DPW making a request whether it be uh fixing a flower bed or removing a tree and moving it somewhere else so I don't want to uh ignore the fact that allowing us to have our Green Team volunteers um do this important work is really really built on the backs of our DPW so thank you for that um when I last was here I guess two weeks ago I was going to be attending a tanak meeting um about Teterboro Airport and the noise issues and the mayor warned me that it would be one of the more frustrating experiences of my life and he could not have been more accurate so um I am encouraging residents to reach out to me who would like to be part of this effort I did make remarks when it was open to um guests at the meeting to make remarks about my concerns and unfortunately some of the answers were unsatisfying and I think it's largely because we're dealing with the FAA which is a federal agency that does not have a lot of ability to move things quickly um but what's interesting is following my remarks I actually have heard from a number of residents in neighboring towns um who would like to partner with us to um make some changes that I really do think are possible to request of Teterboro Airport and the FAA um you know I I will say that tanak was a committee that was created many decades ago and um you know in response to my comments they kept saying that they have achieved more than any other um any other Committee in trying to regulate noise and while I'm sure that's true I sort of was pleading with them not to rest on their accomplishments of the past and maybe think about the fact that we still have some some issues to address going forward so um this sort of Falls in my green team um Le's On Assignment I think because um noise pollution is a real concern of the green team as well but I just wanted to mention that it's something I'm working on and something that's probably going to take a while I do have a a very strong girl scout troop behind me but um and Lois D Tomaso who comes to every single meeting and conversation about this issue um so if you would like to um join our efforts I really or if you have questions I think I'm in a lot better position Than I Used to Be to answer them please do reach out to me that's it thanks thank you Council councilman kley oh I'm sorry councilman quite wrong sorry thanks mayor I don't have anything on my liaison assignments today but I do want to mention that uh since my colleague mentioned the Green Team cleanup this weekend I participated with my daughter who's 10 and it was just such a great communal event and just a great way to we we participated with a few girls that are from the girl Stouts and it was just a great way to teach kids about caring for their Community um it's just very up close and personal way to get to know the community better and I got weirdly into it cuz like my OCD kicked in and I was like so obsessed with picking up the litter which I've actually never done before in a systematic way that it was like actually kind of fun um and it was a small But Mighty group of people that attended this you know was like 9: in the morning on a Saturday but after I told some of my mom friends from town that we did this they were like oh you should have taken my kid you should have taken my kid you know they I had like 10 more kids that wanted to sign up so next year I'm going to even put out the word even more it was such a great event so congratulations to the Green Team on that I have nothing further thank you very much councilman Co thank you sir uh just a quick uh bit of gratitude to councilman Guzman and chief Russo uh last week I alerted them to the intersection of stent and West Pier Pont around pickup time 3 pm. at Lincoln School it had this year become an incredibly difficult place to navigate with a young child for about the 20 to 25 minutes surrounding that time uh that Chief Russo and an officer down and you know cleaned the intersection up so sight lines were available um I fully recognize that we do not have the resources to send an officer every day and the same offenders today came back and proceeded to park in the yellow and the crosswalks and the fire hydrants I would like to say to the public that the letter that went out from the police department on behalf of the board of education is for Real to councilman Guzman's point there is going to be Zero Tolerance um it was a mess again today I know you understand or you think or you believe that you're only going to be a few minutes but it just takes a split second to alter someone's life and by you parking in the red we cannot see through the turns people cannot see us Crossing with our children if you park in the crosswalk and we have to come around the back end of your bumper that is even more dangerous so please please please just take a few extra minutes park down the street walk up the half a block I myself park down on deor get there 10 minutes early and make the half a block walk it's 99 days out of 100 it's beautiful and it's perfect extra few minutes to walk with your child or the per the child you're giv care to and have a quick little conversation about their day so please read the email again and if you have a friend who is notorious for violating this particular policy have a conversation with them this is for Real thank you thank you councilman and I believe once we uh councilman uh Guzman changes the ordinances and the cost of the fines uh I think after the first few people that get them I think that everybody's going to figure it out so and once the are are you know we have uh four officers coming out the Academy the chief will be able to get back up to where he should be so we'll have more Patrol and we're going to have new fines so if that doesn't deter you well then welcome to paying for more more in taxes helping us defer our costs uh I'll move on to me uh the only thing I have on my agenda right now is the 2024 summer camp uh seasonal staff the Memo's attached um so everybody can view it including Teddy from home uh we're going to move on to ordinance mayor I'd like to make a motion to accept the appointments I was getting there but you know I forgot um council president motion I have a second second second by councilwoman Roberson and any questions or comments by the council seeing none I have a roll call council president Macwan yes councilman beg Robertson yes councilman Guzman yes counc Del con yes councilman quatron yes councilman kley abstain thank you now we're going to move on to ordinances on second read councilman guz thank you very much mayor uh first ordinance on second read have is establish a handicap space on Eastern way Miss eek would you please read the ordinance by title only an ordinance to amend and Revis chapter 126 vehicles and traffic of the bur code of the bur of Rutherford I'd like to motion that the ordinance be passed on second reading and advertised according to law I have a motion by Council M guzom have a second second second by council president anybody wishing to speak from the public please step forward to the microphone there's nobody here so I'm going to close it to the public public and open up for any Council comment seeing none i' ask for a roll call council president McAn yes c b robon yes coun Gman yes coun Del con yes coun quatron yes coun kley yes thank you very much uh next ordinance on second read I'd actually like to ask my colleagues to uh support in tabling this uh ordinance for now I have a motion from the councilman to table this ordinance may have a second second second by council president questions or comments by the council seeing none I'd ask for a roll call open it for Citizens oh I'm sorry I'm going to open up to the citizens anybody from the council wishing to speak see none may have a roll call I'm sorry I'm going to close it to the public now and open it up for any Council comment see May roll call council president mcowan yes Council B Robertson yes counc yes yes counc clut yes counc cley yes I'm now going a motion for an adjournment motion motion by counc President all in fer hi thank you have a great night