thank you everybody Welcome to the second regular monthly meeting of the mayor and council at 18 Donaldson Avenue Police Headquarters being held Tuesday December 26 2023 starting at 6:30 Missy mayor nunziato here councilman kley here councilman McAn present counc here here here here thank you and if you're willing and able please stand for a salute to the flag flag uned statesis I know took her out he said Missy could you please uh read the provisions in compliance with the Oba Public meanss Law chapter 231 public laws of 1975 notice of this meeting was transmitted to the record and Herald news and file with the bur clerk on December 21st 2022 and June 2022 2023 and it's posted on the bulleon board outside of bur Hall thank you missy we have one presentation this evening councilwoman okay I have a proclamation in h honor of Brenda Fargo as she retires from the board of aded so I'm going to read it in entirety Brenda Fargo began her career with the ruford school district as the district gifted and talented coordinator in 1996 Brenda had already served as a private school teacher supervisor and administrator for 20 years and Brenda became research assistant to Rutherford's superintendent of schools in 2006 later titled supervisor of planning research and testing Brenda's responsibilities included coordinating State Testing application and implementation of federal and state grants and Brenda also led the mentoring program for new teachers and professional development for all teachers and staff Brenda coordinated curriculum riew and revision and Brenda served as the district's representative to the Rutherford Public Library board since 2006 Brenda has decided to retire after nearly 30 years of service and Brenda will no longer be employed by the Rutherford school district her Legacy and of service to will remain now therefore be it resolved on behalf of the burrow of Rutherford that mayor nunzi wish is to extend his congratulations on such a distinguished career and to express a sincere appreciation to this extraordinary woman who has done so much for Rutherford students by setting such a fine example for the community and to wish her continued health and happiness in her future endeavors we all stand up thank you thank you councilwoman we're going to move on now to the um review to the changes of the agenda Missy page two under consent for finance we'll be adding a resolution for an added Bill list on page three under police be adding item a supporting new time limited right turn restrictions from Route 17 southbound to ramp SRI x104 40 that's all I have thank you anybody else from the Council of any changes see none m a motion motion motion by council president may have a second second second by Council Roberson any questions or comments by the council seeing none may have a roll call councilman kley yes Council McAn yes counc B Roberson yes counc Guzman yes counc Del con yes counc yes thank you um we're going to move on now to hearing of the citizens anybody from the count um sorry from the municipality wishing to speak please come to the microphone phone state your name and address keep your comments at 5 minutes or less if you choose not to do that you may sign the book instead is it green can you hear me Laura Niner 54 Lincoln Avenue so first of all I want to say happy holidays I'm sure you all don't want to be here tonight and happy New Year and I would just want to thank you all for your service because I usually come here to complain but everybody appreciates what you do even when they do come here to complain so I'm here to discuss the empty lot at 50 Lincoln Avenue which is really the only reason I'm ever here um for those of you who don't know me lucky for you but I'm going to give a short recap uh of why I continue to show up here um also because I'm not sure which council members are in which committees anymore and I don't know who who of you among you might be relevant to this issue or not so I live next door to the home and properties and specifically 50 Lincoln Avenue which is the empty lot this used to contain a severely dilapidated house which was finally torn down in 2013 so in short the house was allowed to deteriorate over the decades despite all of my complaints of which there were many um which I actually began in 2018 with the previous mayor once the deterioration was totally Beyond repair the property and adjoining Lots were deemed an area in need of Redevelopment which to me is not a surprise but is more like it's the fulfilling prophecy um and that's where we are today so again just to be fair I appreciate your efforts over the years to stop at least some of the abuse of this property um after the house was gone especially the illegal use of the lot as a commercial parking lot and also thank you for stopping the use of the ex existing garage for commercial storage for alerting the health department to various violations and for making the property owner do some basic upkeep however over the past several months and especially this past week the property has become more rundown and littered and it's quite an eyesore workers affiliated with the property owner I assume that's who they are um occasionally use the empty lot for projects such as spray painting which we can smell from our yard um they set up a table of chairs to hang out on I'm not saying that either of those things is against ordinances but during the last Windstorm the do the door literally flew off the garage across the yard they put the door back on or at least propped it up but there are pieces of plywood and there's other debris and there's a pile of leaves in the back and as before the warehouse behind the garage behind that garage which ab buts my property has broken windows and you can literally smell the mold from my yard uh especially after it rains it's pretty gross finally the green barrier between 50 Lincoln avenu with 42 which is supposedly shielding the commercial uh vehicles from the view of the street and my property uh that's beginning to kind of deteriorate also so I often wonder if if you have all seen the property here it's like less than a block away or have seen it recently um it's an isore it's in what I think is one of the nicer parts of town and it does get worse all the time which is why I'm here I'm trying to nip all of this in the bud one final thing from the past your own developer of course notably called this garage an illegal accessory structure this was almost four years ago so in 2020 when they issued their report about the area in need of Redevelopment neglia described this garage as follows and I quote lot 7.03 is is vacant with the exception of a garage with unsightly plywood doors to the rear of the property which is an accessory structure without the principal structure it is also a quote dilapidated non-conforming garage so while this doesn't sound like a really big deal I bring all this up because I feel like I need to stay on top of this issue so that it doesn't get worse and worse with disrepair and accumulating debris and all of that so I really wish you could convince the property owner to do a little bit more than they are doing right now according to your own people this garage should not even be there should probably be taken down before the you know the windows fly out and the doors fly off and whatever and finally one last thing I do have a couple pictures I took today I don't know if I should send them to the buau administrator or oh I don't have them printed out on me right now but I can uh I can email them uh that's all thank you thank you Laura anybody else from the public wishing to speak seeing none I'm going to close it to the public and open it up now for any Council comment anyone from the councel um I will ask the b b ministrator to uh make a real follow up for you with the um with the building department so if you want to reach out and I'm sorry also uh Council um Laura thank you so much for bringing this to our attention again I'm one of the new bees on the council so we have not been acquainted but it's nice to meet you tonight I am the leison to the Buildings Department so it's really worrisome to hear what you're describing um and I have to admit I haven't seen that property very recently but I'm going to take a look at it now and I don't know the history of the violations and what we have been able to do but I'll pass that on to Bob to talk about thank you so the two of them will follow up and get you a better answer um the councilwoman will definitely work with Bob on this see uh nobody else and nobody else from the council wishing to speak and my microphone really doesn't work we're going to move on now ccil president thank you mayor first I'd like to move to approve the regular meeting minutes of December 11 2023 motion I have a motion by the council president may have a second second second uh councilman Guzman any questions or comments by the council seeing none may have roll call councilman kley yes Council Macwan yes Council B Roberson yes councilman Guzman yes counc Del con yes Council Quon yes thank you mayor next is the consent agenda all items are authorized to be consent by the council and will be enacted by one motion these items are routine in nature motion I have a motion by the council president I have a second second again second by councilman Del con any questions or comments by the council see none may have a roll call councilman kley yes Council mcum yes Council B Roberson yes councilman Guzman yes councilman Del Co yes yes thank you we're going to move on to committee assignments council president thank you mayor first I'd like to move resolution number 265 and endorsing the application for the Bergen County Community Development block grant for the fiscal year 2024 Grant cycle motion I have a motion by the council president may have a second second second by Council quatron any questions or comments by the council see no may call councilman kley yes Council McAn yes counc B Roberson yes counc mman yes counc dely con yes Council yes thank you next is resolution number 269 authorizing the award of non-fair and open contracts to spatial data logic Inc in the amount not to exceed 40,000 motion I have a motion by the council president have a second second second by councilwoman Del con any questions or comments by the council see n m roll councilman kley yes councilman mcowan yes counc B Roberson yes Council Guzman yes Council Del con yes Council quatro yes thank you next is resolution number 267 authorizing the award of non-fair and open contract tax to action data services in the amount not to exceed 25,000 motion I have a motion by the council president I a second second second by Council you right Council Roberson any questions or comments by the council see n m roll call councilman kley yes counc mwan yes coun B Roberson yes Council Guzman yes coun Del con yes counc qu yes my apologies to my colleagues for I went out of order finally I'd like to move resolution number 271 authorizing the transfer of funds motion I have a motion by the council president may have a second second second by Council quatron any questions or comments by the councel see none may have a roll call counc kley yes Council McAn yes counc BG Roberson Council M Guzman yes counc Del con yes counc M yes uh mayor finally I just want to thank all of the members of our community that uh volunteered to serve on all the Committees and our boards uh that I'm a part of and that we all support and uh I wish everybody uh a very happy 2024 thank you thank you I just want to speak to one of your leaan assignments Le ambulance Corps um if you want to expand on what our goals for the Jubilee sure so um in 2024 our um ambulance Corps First Aid Squad will be celebrating their 75th Anniversary we are so excited exed to be supporting them they are currently um in the planning stages of a Gayla event in the fall um uh I've been working with mayor nzi and our public information officer uh to um move forward with assisting in the planning and to ensure that the burrow is um supporting this outstanding effort and most importantly recognizing the incredible work of of our first aid Squad to the burrow of Rutherford more to come thank you council president we're going to move on now to police councilman thank you very much mayor uh first up I have resolution uh res resolution supporting new time limited right turn restrictions from Route New Jersey 17 southbound to ramp srii x144 I like to motion this I have a motion by councilman G have a second second second by council president any questions or comments by the council would you like him to try to repeat that I want see n m read councilman kley yes Council McAn yes counc B Roberton yes councilman Gman yes C Del con yes C Quon yes thank you anything else sir yes I'd like to congratulate uh Brenda Fargo on her retirement that's all I have thank you thank you councilman we're going to move on now to Public Works councilwoman thank you mayor um first I would like to accept uh move to accept the resignation of Nicholas mazako labor to effective December 14th 2023 motion I have a motion by councilman D Co may have a second second sorry second by Council Roberson any questions or comments by the council seeing none I'd also like to thank Nick for his service um as well as his continued support of our fire department Council M cley yes Council mcowan yes c b Roberson yes Gman yes de con yes Clon yes thank you I'd like to move resolution number 268 authorizing the award of non-fair and open contracts to Ridge Hurst Auto Parts in an amount not to exceed $35,000 motion I have a motion by councilwoman call May a second second second by councilman Roberson any questions or comments by the council see May roll call councilman kley yes Council McAllan yes counc big Roberson yes counc M Gman yes counc D yes qu yes thank you and finally I'd like to move resolution number 258 authorizing the award of non-fair and open contracts to Granger in an amount not to exceed $25,000 motion I have a motion by Council Del Co I have a second second second by councilman Roberson any questions or comments see no mayor roll call councilman kley yes Council mwan yes counc big Roberson yes counc Guzman yes councilman de con yes Council quatro yes thank you anything else Council um the only thing I'd like to uh add is that I would like to thank the burrow employees for uh welcoming councilwoman quatron and I to the council this year especially our burough administrator and our burough clerk who um definitely spends time with me teaching me a lot about all that goes into this job um so I just would like to express my gratitude for their welcoming and their education um also I would just like to wish uh everyone a Happy safe and health new healthy New Year um we have a lot of exciting things coming in 2024 so I think it's going to be a good one thank you thank you councilwoman um before we move on I'd like to do a clarification when I said I want to congratulation congratulate Nick on his resignation he actually he was accepted into the hackin sack uh police department so that's what I meant so sorry uh we move on the fire councilman Coley thank you sir uh business first like to move resolution number 270 authorizing the award of non-fair and open contracts to State Line fire and safety Inc in the amount not to exceed $25,000 motion a motion by councilman kley May a second second second by council president any questions or comments see none mayor roll call councilman kley yes Council mcowan yes Council B Robertson yes councilman Gman yes counc Del con yes Council Quron yes thank you in closing just want to Echo uh councilwoman Del con's sentiments and thanking the bureau administrator and the buau clerk and all of our buau employees for their guidance and tutelage this year it is a pleasure working alongside you uh happy merry Christmas and happy New Year to one and all thank you thank you councilman we're going to move on now to council quatron thanks mayor I have nothing under my committee assignments I do they stole my thunder because I do want to Echo my colleagues also in in thanking all the burough employees burough administrator everybody we work with in the burough um the dedicated employees have gotten to know this year for their for their amazing dedicated work and I look forward to getting to know more of you this year and I especially want to commend and thanks the employees of the building department and of the library and I look forward to working uh behind the scenes for the library's 30th anniversary gala coming in March so stay tuned thank you so much thank you councilwoman um we're going to move on now to Recreation Council Robertson oh I just want to amend that it's the 130th anniversary 30th wouldn't really make sense so sorry about that not a problem I'm glad you fixed it okay that's how old Bob is so worry about okay so I have resolution 266 approving independent contractor rates for 2024 motion have a motion by Council Roberton may have a second second second by council president any questions or comments by the council see roll call councilman kley yes Council McAn yes counc B Roberson yes Council Guzman yes Council Del con yes yes okay okay and finally I just want to leave everyone with some thanks today I really want to thank our recreation department they are are our most public facing Department in the burrow and they are a small But Mighty team and as we know Moren bigle is up is this her last week this was this was her last week and she would be missed greatly and that's small But Mighty team is led by Pat Bonner and they are so responsible for the culture that has grown in our town from the Easter egg hunt to all the Halloween activities bacula the um Halloween parade the doggy parade the baby parade poad all the PO and the parade you got to say it again May yeah um and and the sports and the Arts and all the contests um so I just want to say thank you to the rec department they work so hard in that little office um under burle and um I just want to appreciate them and I look forward to all that's going to come for them in the New Year and that's it for me mayor thank you thank you Council woman I'll move on to my agenda I have nothing to report on my Lea On Assignment to the sports and Exposition Authority uh I have several appointments to make firstly um Kim be goian permanent appointment as a public information offer affected December 27 2023 in accordance with the rules and regulations of the New Jersey civil Services Commission I'd ask for C Council consent motion motion by council president may have a second second second by councilwoman Roberson any questions or comments by the council seeing none by roll call councilman kley yes Council mcgaan yes counc B Roberson yes councilman Guzman yes counc Del con yes coun quatro yes thank you uh next up Joe Ronco provisional appointment to M uh maintenance supervisor effective January 1st 24 in accordance with the rules and regulations of the New Jersey civil service commission motion motion by council president May second second second by councilman Roberson any questions or comments by the council seeing none the only thing I would add this is a long overdue appointment Joe's been um very very helpful and responsive and I think Bob can't even admit that this is overdue all right I ask for a roll quot councilman kley yes counc McAn yes c b Rob yes coun Guzman yes coun Del con yes coun quro yes thank you next up um I have three appointments to um Casper godik Oscar cor Lucas Gomez 20 um 2024 special Law Enforcement Officers class in accordance with the rules and regulations state of New Jersey civil service commission I'd ask your Council consent motion motion by council president I have a second second second by councilman Guzman any questions or comments by the council seeing none that ask for a roll call councilman kley yes Council McAn yes counc B Roberson yes counc Gman yes counc Del con yes Council yes thank you next up I have Dominic Ferry C3 collection systems operator for 2024 Danel raid 45 $500 I ask for Council consent motion motion by Council de con may have a second second second by council president any questions or comments seeing none may have roll call Gman kley yes counc McAn yes counc B Roberson yes counc Gman yes counc D con yes counc yes next up I have Chris Viola 2024 camp director i' ask for Council consent motion motion by Council Ro have a second second second by council president any questions or comments see none may roll call councilman kley yes counc McAn yes Roberson yes C Gman yes c d con yes coun yes thank you next up I'd uh ask for the uh list the attached list for the 2024 crossing guards to be approved I'd ask for a motion motion motion by councilman Gman may have a second second second by council president any questions or comments by the council see see none every roll call councilman kley yes counil mwan yes coun Rosen yes counil Gman yes counil Del con yes yes thank you see nothing on first reading ordinance on second read councilor we're going sorry sorry sorry sorry ordinances on on second read so I so that triggers the hearing of citizens oh sorry as second meeting of the month I'll now open this up to anyone to speak on agenda items and agenda items only anybody wishing to come forward and speak wait a little longer all right I'm going to close it to the public now and I'll open it up for any Council comment mayor may I yes you may council president I just wanted to remind the public that on Friday January 5th will be uh the next meeting of the mayor and Council which is also the swearing in um of The Honorable mayor Frank nunziato and I am honored once again to be sworn in with my Council colleague Matt kley and we invite the members of the public to join us we will be hosting this in burrow Hall not in this chamber but in the old Chambers at 5:30 p.m. um and we look forward to seeing everyone thank you councilman anybody else from the council wishing to speak um the signing i i i and then our last meeting uh our last business meeting for uh the 2023 year actually happens on the same day on Friday January 5th at 5:00 pm and it that twoo will be hosted in uh burrow Hall in the uh former Chambers thank thank you anybody else from the council all see the only thing I will add is that if you guys notice that they moved both the file cabinets away from my legs so they can both kick me for the next four years uh motion oh I'm sorry second read ordinance please Council thank you mayor um just by way of reminder I will not be participating in any matters involving Comcast um Comcast owns NBC Universal which is my employer so I'm going to recuse myself from this thank you thank you councilwoman Del con you can just go right out there we go oh just she can stay in the room correct okay we we will be moving forward on the renewal of Comcast cable television and communication systems in Rutherford Missy can you please read the ordinance by title only an ordinance granting renewal of Municipal consent to Comcast of the metaland LLC to construct connect operate and maintain a cable television and communication systems in the township of Rutherford ber County New Jersey thank you thank you I'd like to make I'd like to make a motion to move that the ordinance be passed on second reading and advertised according to law I have a motion by the council president may have a second second second by councilman Guzman any questions or comments by the council seeing none I'm now going to open this up to the public for any Council comment seeing none well I did that backwards but miss could you please read the role counc M cley yes coun McAn yes coun B Roberson yes coun Guzman yes coun Del con [Music] yes thank you seeing that that is all we have I move for an adjournment I have a motion motion motion by council president all in favor all right have a great week everybody thank you Happy New Year