one I have a full agenda tonight and I have some special guests so I'm going to begin um about five minutes early um and and so we begin soon as I get it out with uh our a short prayer salute to our flag so if everyone please stand almighty God grant us the wisdom to make those decisions that are in the best interest of all our residents May the heavenly father of us all bless those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and serve service to our nation and may He watch over and protect our service men and women now guarding the gates of Freedom salute to our flag I pledge alance 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 statement of publication Jessica take notice that this regular agenda meeting of the mayor and burough Council being held on this 11th day of March 2024 has been posted and advertised in accordance with the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 roll call Council person's Bala here poliisi here anoa here Roberts here sari rowski uh the reason I started early is I I asked the Imam to come today is the first day of the high holy day in the Muslim faith called r so Imam if you would come up I and thank you very much Mr Mayor and to our general public today is the first day of Ramadan and as you have offered us we have decided to come into the council chamber today and we will be breaking our fast our fast starts from morning from dawn until Sunset and today the timing for breaking the fast is actually 7 p.m. so we have about 2 minutes more well you're you're an experienced public speaker I know you can stretch we have two minutes more to do so um while someone will be calling the uh the prayer the the call to prayer I will give a translation what it means and then after the call to prayer we will break our fast with water and dates and um I'm sure the water and dats is already here and we will share with everyone and you and everyone will be participating in Breaking fast with us to understand the culture to understand the uh the sentiments of the Muslim Community uh because we share this with over 1.6 billion people throughout the world so in a minute so we still have two minutes more in the meantime um we can just say that the call to prayer is called five times a day in the morning uh just when the sun after that when the Sun Passes Meridian early afternoon we just did three times and now for the sunset prayer is the fifth call to prayer and then about an hour and a half after this call there will be another call later that happens in all of the MOs throughout the world where people prays five times a day uh prayer is not new to anyone people from all religious background have their own mode of prayers uh all the prophets previously were given prayers and they have worshiped God Almighty in the same way by kneeling down and putting the forehead on the ground praising God Almighty and that's what we will be doing today and we thank you very much for making that accommodation for us uh I think in room 3:10 we where we'll be saying our prayers after we break our fast so after we break our fast I will just make a short presentation of what Ramadan is all about uh which will take approximately 5 minutes and we want to award um the city of Coville the people of sville and we will humbly call the mayor to be up to receive an award and uh on behalf of the council and also the citizen of saraville thank you 13 [Music] seconds God is greater God is greater Allah God is greater God is greater I testify that there is no one worthy of worship besides God I testified there was Unworthy of worship besides God I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah God testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God come to prayer come to prayer come to success come to success God is greater God is greater there is no one worthy of worship besides God can we have this up to bring the fast am M would you like the council up at the railing would that would you like us at the railing would you like us to come forward to the railing is that it's fine okay so this is what the breaking the fast uh we normally break fast you could break fast with anything but it is recommended to break fast with dates and water um which is one of the practice of our Prophet so I will go straight ahead and make the short presentation in the name of God Allah most gracious most merciful the guaran of Mercy good evening Mr Mayor and respected council members I stand here tonight representing Masjid sadar and Community Center as the religious director and here I stand representing the Muslim Community of srail to bring Harmony peace and inclusiveness in this blessed month of Ramadan srail Muslims are the most racially diverse group and they come from a vast number of countries Muslims in sarraille approximately 3.5% of the total population of about 16 to 1700 uh uh residents ladies and gentlemen of the cille city board I appreciate this opportunity to share insights about Ramadan a significant month in the Muslim calendar it goes beyond abstaining from food it's a period of increased prayer reflection and acts of kindness Muslims use this time for spiritual growth gratitude and strengthening Community bonds breaking the fast together known as ifar in Arabic is often a joyous communial experience shared with family and friends it's a chance to Foster understanding and respect for the diverse culture and beliefs Ramadan is a time of fasting to increase your prayer and acts of Charity it holds immense importance for Millions worldwide over 1.6 billion fostering Unity empathy and Community Spirit as we Embrace diversity recognizing the various Traditions within our city day understanding and acknowledging Ramadan contribute to a more inclusive and harmonious Community relationship fasting has been a common practice among various religious Traditions including those of many prophets for Spiritual for moral and self-disciplinary reasons the act of fasting is seen as a means of developing self-control empathy for the less fortunate and a deeper connection with the Divine it serve as a reminder of the dependence on God and a way to purify the soul Mr Mayor and members of the council and members of the public I hereby present to you a token of appreciation and honoring your diligent and selfless work in this beautiful city of sville Mr Mayor I humbly request you to come forward to accept this appreciation on behalf from the Muslim Community of sarraille to the to the council members and the people of sarraille the citizen of sarraille at the whole family Mr Mayor how you doing we can you guys are going to come on the right and the left side and I'm going to stand in the middle so we get everybody where who who am I blocking out just like to read this yes please Masjid sadar and Community Center March 11 2024 Ramadan 1st 1445 honors mayor Kennedy O'Brien and the ser borrow Council for your outstanding dedication valuable contribution of exemplary leadership and unfading commitment to the diversity equity and inclusion within the city of sarraille your efforts are a remarkable example that will continue to inspire us all and we Forge and as we Forge ahead into the future building upon the strong Foundation you have laid for cille continued growth and prosperity that make our community stronger and better sure I I've asked the Iman uh if if there's a blessing that can be given during Ramadan so I pray oh Allah oh God Almighty I ask you with your power and your mercy in this blessed month of Ramadan to guide and protect the leadership of the city of sarraille we ask of you oh Allah oh God Almighty we ask of you to guide our mayor to make the right decisions for 4500 residents of sarraille and I pray that Ya Allah you will guide and protect the leadership we pray for the goodness of this community we pray for the goodness of all of our police officers those who are in the front line those who are in the medical field we pray for goodness of the society we pray for you yeah Allah subhah in this blessed month of Ramadan to give us that which is good in this world and good in the amen thank you our counil thank you very much thank you very much I'll wait till I get back chair I wait till I when I first met with the Imam and people of the Muslim Community and and we had a meeting and we discussed things that were going wrong and things that were going right at the end of the meeting I said America is a big 10 it has room for everyone and Sarah sville is part of America and we have room for everyone one of the things I found out this is the third house of worship that I have welcomed in my time as mayor beginning at the turn of the century and it has made S I always believe a church is a blessing on a community regardless of the denomination it's a blessing so I humbly welcome you um many of the members have been my neighbors for decades and one of the things I I found out was um when the Hindu temple was establishing itself and there was some right and there was some wrong and it's just human nature and that's where I come in um but what I found out 20 years later it was just recently that I found out that it was the children in the schools that took the abuse the kids heard it at home they get to school they give it to the they give it to their classmates I do not want that happening twice while I'm mayor I asked uh the chief uh Chief plumacher to make an appointment with the superintend attendant and the Imam and uh one of the things that came out the superintendent said you know we have 1100 Muslim children in our school so let's not if the adults have conflict it's between the adults it's not with the kids that that that is really something that bothers me 20 years ago in our town that happened so let's not allow that to happen again so welcome to seral I know it's time for you to go to prayer hope I don't think there's enough room in it but as you said you'll pray in shifts so but thank you my friend thank you very much and welcome to sel thank you guys really appreciate thank you and I heard I I heard I got it right I'm been saying happy Ramadan to everybody tonight and I asked IM man I said am I insulting or complimenting he said he said it's the right thing to say thank you my friend so much thank you guys you it yeah we yeah yeah yeah I'm G refer it to you experience officer I I don't want to interrupt the prayer and and vice versa could you could can you close it have the doors closed [Music] please forgot something okay with that uh we'll go to approval of the prior minutes of the mayor and Council council president make a motion to approve the prior minutes second all in favor uh roll call please Council person's Roberts yes Bala yes Poli yes NOA yes sari yes zabowski yes are there any proclamations no okay uh anything for executive no mayor okay all business public hearing on bond ordinance number 5-24 bond ordinance providing for water utility improvements by and in the burrow of saille in the county of middlex state of New Jersey appropriating $850,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $850,000 in bonds or notes to finance the cost thereof uh this time I'll open the public portion for questions or comments on this Bond ordinance are there questions or comments being no questions or comments I'll entertain a motion councilman Bala will the public hearing be closed the ordinance adopted on second and final reading and advertised according to law second roll call Council person's Bala yes kisi yes manoha yes Roberts yes sonari yes zabi at this time under appointments I'd like to appoint Dan vosen to fill in for the unexpired term of uh Dan Buchanan I don't need a motion on that uh next item introduction of the following ordinances ordinance number 6-24 burrow of saille County of middle sex ordinance addressing purchasing councilman Bala Mo the ordinance be approved on first reading advertising calling a law and a public hearing be held on 32524 second roll call Council person's Bala yes polii yes NOA yes Roberts yes sari yes zabowski yes next item ordinance number 7-24 burrow of seral County and middle sex ordinance addressing parliamentary procedure during Council meetings uh councilman Bala go ahead I move the ordance be approved on first reading advertising according to law on a public hearing be held on 32524 second roll call Council persons Bala yes poliisi yes NOA yes Roberts yes sinari yes zabowski ordinance number 8-24 ordinance supplementing and amending ordinance number 3-24 fixing the salaries of certain burrow officials officers and employees for the years 2023 to 2027 councilman Bala will the ordance be approved on first reading advertised according to law and a public hearing be held on 32524 second roll call Council person's Bala yes polii yes Ana yes Roberts sari yes zabowski yes ordinance number 9-24 ordance granting Municipal consent for the renewal of a cable television franchise for the operation of a cable television system within the burough of saille New Jersey to csct KR LLC doing business as cable vision of ridan Valley councilman Balon will the orance be approved on first reading advertised according to law in a public hearing be held on 32524 second roll roll call Council person's Bala yes polii yes anoa yes Roberts yes senari yes zabowski yes ordinance number 10-24 an ordinance amending the burrow of Sao landfill and Melrose Redevelopment plan councilman zabowski I move the ordinance to be approved on first reading advertised according to law and a public hearing to be held on 32524 second roll call council person zabowski yes fala yes kisi yes nooha yes Roberts yes sonari yes just give me 1124 is next I was trying to figure out if I had it make sure I had it under the right person ordinance number 11-24 an ordinance reopt ordinance 8423 entitled an ordinance of the burough of saal in the county of middlex in state of New Jersey providing for the exemption of certain dwellings pursuant to Public Law 1992 chapter 441 councilman Bala remove the ordance to be approved on first reading according to law and a public hearing be held on 32524 second a resolutions this time roll call hold up council person Bala yes kisi yes NOA yes Roberts senari zabowski he this time I'm going to open the public portion for questions or comments on resolutions other questions or comments yes Frank mayor mayor council professionals Frank you need to for for the record you need to say your name and and address okay Frank toino 32 Canal ourtown thanks uh mayor council professionals fellow residents uh resolution 24 884 authorized in designation of The Old Firehouse as a historical L Landmark I heard you all the vote Yes uh I know we submitted a plan it it's a long plan there's a lot involved but last last meeting it was requested and we we delivered as you know our duty is to protect to preserve and preserve the past to serve the future and we're doing that we're doing our best uh the master plan calls for for inventory and vitalization of existing buildings This falls right in your wheelhouse it's perfect Barry say we're in a small town everywhere we go for 20 years I've known you and all the veteran things and in here in ch well if we make that vanish small town is gone the last historic building of that that error uh there is historic value president fa in New Jersey uh they have a plan we're working with them it's it's a long plan it's very uh kind of complicated but we can work through that we can Revitalize it we can do some really good stuff we can put the fire chiefs over there uh it could be anything it could be a joint Community project it's it's worth it uh like I said preservation Jersey inspected it I was a civil engineering for two years A Little Rock just got my shirt today uh we inspect the building on a bases we knew what to look for and we were trained so I didn't expect that building with my experience it's got some rough spots but it's all fixable and doable we're just hoping you guys can help us out and do the right thing it's a it comes from both sides of the rail here your side and the civilian side which it's a community project we can really make something really nice over there I personally want to see fire housee Subs over there but that's long long process I just want to say I appreciate your comments and I hope you support us because I know deep down in your hearts you know it's the right thing to do thank you thank you Frank are there any other questions Arthur thank you mayor Arthur writtenhouse 33 delicate Lane sville trustee sville Historical Society I just want to follow up with what Frank said you know this is a historic part of town I know there's talk about revitalizing the downtown what is better than to have an old building a historic building so people can go and people can see it we've been working on this since 2018 as far as the preservation part of the building it's not something that's new mayor you even commented in 2018 how wonderful the building was because of all the Civic groups that met in that building and how it was used well we're looking at bringing back that building and let's use use it for things we don't know what we can use it for right now that's part of why the plan calls for a committee to set up all we're asking tonight is you adopt that resolution that declares it as a local historic site it's not costing you any money what it's doing is showing the people in town that we're not a woke community that wants to take down things and wreck things that we're a town that appreciates our history and that's what we want to look forward to and I would urge you to pass the resolution tonight thank you are there any other questions Jim thank you very much mayor Jim Robinson R square in Parlin on the uh landfill resolution that's going to the planning board a few years ago at the advice of attorney seran who came into a us with the affordable housing we adopted an ordinance that said that when commercial developments were um built they had to contribute to our affordable housing fund do we know how much this particular um project will contribute to our affordable housing fund L we don't know the number but yes they are compelled to contribute to affordable housing even a commercial development okay thank you I appreciate that uh that's that will help us tremendously going forward it's kind of amazing that only four years ago we adopted that ordinance um Town's have been doing it for a while under this project this land will be transferred this is bural property that will be sold and we'll get about $20 million for this is that correct yes and what are the bur mayor through you because you want the questions through you what are your plans for that $20 million our budget is about I don't know 62 63 million so we could reduce taxes by a third we could build a community center we could refurbish the uh first bar Hall Firehouse next store $20 million is an awful lot of M we could do a combination we could build a community center and reduce taxes um significantly what what are the plans for that $20 million there's no specific plans at this moment okay when when will there be plans for that when we when we get the $20 million when you get the 20 million then you'll start to make plans for what you're going to do with it first you get the money then you figure out how you're going to spend it really okay you may want to wish to do it differently but that's how we do thank you very much are there any other questions no other questions I'll entertain a motion all right so thank you second roll call we going to adopt the resolutions on or just the public confirmation okay this is just to close the public portion council person zuss zabowski fala yes kisi yes an NOA yes Roberts yes sari yes motion to vote on the on the consent cons I can take out I make a motion that we vote on the resolution items okay one by one one by one one by one or we can vote on the whole thing and if there are any any changes uh the person voting can sure so I'm gonna make the motion and I'm going to exclude um 20 24-8 and the reason I'm excluding that is not to say no completely to our history I think that's important I do however have concerns about the project plan this is part of what my background is and I did not see um the uh the balance in balances in there about costs and where we're going to pull funding from what the project is as a whole the details you're talking about are the things I need to feel comfortable about moving forward with this my understanding is that if we move forward with this resolution tonight that the building is protected and if it falls down tomorrow we would be responsible as a burrow to have to pay for it to be restored to the historic um version of it and I have too many questions right now to pass it at this point I do hope that you'd be able to come back and give me those checks and balances of costs and how we're going to raise those funds a project plan that we can start working with um I would need more detail than was provided to me already so that's what is your vote done is it yes or no so I'm no for that one just clarify council president I think at this point we're just entertaining a motion are you looking to have that particular resolution voted on separately we can vote on that separately because I wanted to have do all the resolutions yep okay so I would exclud exclude 2024 from my approval certainly so um since we're dealing with a consent agenda it would be acceptable for any individual member to request any item to be dealt with separately so um if you want to proceed on a consent basis there could still be a motion to approve the remainder of the consent agenda which would be 2024 74 through 85 excluding 84 I think let's do that separately so we'll do all the regular resolutions and then we'll discuss 2024 84 separately sure um council president are you making a motion to approve the consent agenda excluding 2024 84 yes okay second roll call Council persons Roberts yes Bala yes kisi yes anoa yes sinari yes zabowski yes now I'm be made on 2484 I'll make a I'll make a motion to pass 20 2484 make a motion to vote on it correct so vote on it okay is there a second second motion made and seconded are there any comments mayor I've made my comments you have but uh the the other Council people are there any comments I'd like to make com go ahead sush uh I was went to the building today excuse me I was in the building today and I was totally surprised that the condition that the building is in uh I was in that building many times 25 years ago I took my boat licenses there I was involved with the Coast Guard auxiliary I spent time there it is a completely different building that it is now um I am actually scared to go in that building and I feel that you need a DUS mask a respirator because there's all as best as shingles in there the lead paint for 50 years 100 years is in there I really don't want anybody even in that building at this point uh the cost for the for the clean up is got to be astronomical it gets to a point where the cost of something versus the what we're going to get out of the building I'm not sure of yet so at this point I would like to meet with anybody that wants to meet with me and talk to me at your convenience about this but right now I'm going to vote no that I can't see it I'm sorry any other comments being no other comments roll call Council person's Council person's fala yes kisi no an NOA For Me overall you know my comment before the vote um is generally from an understanding that there's no confirmation that you know this is of a cost to the burough you know this specific designation you know so if I I've been listening to my colleagues on this and I haven't really heard any specifics on it so that's the reason why I'm voting yes for us to designate this uh this this this Landmark to be a historical site I think it allows our you know committees to pursue opportunities that will push our community forward I think that we should support that as a board so that's the reason why I'm voting yes thank you Roberts no tarski no zabowski no okay failed uh next item authorization mean authorization to accept the correspondence as listed make a motion to accept the correspondence there second roll call Council persons Roberts yes Bala yes kisi yes and NOA yes zarski yes zabowski yes okay next item May no no before that about Jo correspondence okay just just so everyone knows our tax collector our tax assessor of 40 plus years Joe Cups has has decided to retire effective April 1 Joe we want to thank you for the four Decades of service to the burrow and we wish you a long healthy and happy retirement uh committee reports Administration and finance councilman Bela thank you mayor uh I also like to thank Joe for all his years of service to the burrow and uh we got AFS is finally done we uh we're looking at over $16 million in Surplus which is up to over two million from last year which is good we're still working on the budget we're hoping to still introduce it at the end next meeting of March but we might have to push it off to April because of some other situations going on other than that progress thank you planning and zoning councilman zabowski thank you mayor uh planning board met last week uh due to adjournment the only matter that was taking place was an executive session uh at this point um what what took place place cannot be uh placed on the public uh um uh record but I'm assuming it will at some point our next meeting is March 20th Sarah met uh last month uh during that time we approved the resolation resolution for landfill 3 which was earlier discussed that's for a cold storage facility at the old landfill uh there were a couple of uh the reason for the resolution was although warehousing was already a use coal storage was not one so we wanted to be more specific on that and there were several modifications related to height buffering and parking and that's moving forward to the planning board also the next Sarah meeting and moving forward beyond that will take place in council chambers a more comfortable venue for that uh and when executive session for xero does take place it'll take place in the um in room 310 uh and other than that mayor progress thank you councilman Public Safety councilman and NOA thank you esteem mayor within Public Safety I want to you know use this platform to take a moment to extend my regards to the to our Police Department the efforts that they're doing even the positive feedback I've gotten from you know some of our demographics particularly that the elderly citizens as well um for the advancements that some of the police departments is making are making um you know in terms of public conversations I know that from a public safety standpoint we've had um consistently weeks now many folks speaking towards our our lights our street lights although it is day daylight saving time so it's going to be brighter But ultimately um you know that is a public safety concern that seems to be increasing you know a steam mayor I know you have a great relationship with the chief of police even um you know with leaders of other Burrows other towns as well nearby so hopefully we can get uh good news I know it's something that's uh high on top of your list in terms of priorities so I know our residents are really um you know eager for that and positive news in that area so that's that's uh one of the main priorities from Public Safety and looking forward for progress in that area thank you thank you Public Works councilman Kachi progress mayor thank you Recreation councilman sinari thank you mayor uh Recreation Department our first big thing is going to be the Easter egg hunt that's going to be on March 23rd 2024 that's always a lot of fun uh culture artarts uh we had a meeting this week but we're working on some things over there for the adult learning for the adult Active Adult Center uh then the human relations meeting I went to that also last week and there's a lot of progress okay thank you councilman water sewer and environmental council president May if you'd indulge me this is women's history month so I'd like to say a few words about that um I want to recognize women wom's History Month earlier in my career I was a contract speaker and one of the topics I would present was the Women's Conference which covered a variety of topics to spe specific to women the direction I was provided to kick off the conference was to discuss the accomplishments of five influential women those influential women were not named and it was up to me as the presenter to deliver what was promised I started with my attempting to find historic women then I tried to introduce more contemporary women like Sally Ry the first American astronaut Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton although these women were all greatly accomplished and worthy of utmost respect it really didn't evoke the emotion and pride to my classes I asked other trainers who led the seminar if they had any magic list yet I found that that didn't exist so during one of my conferences I thought I've already asked my peers let me see what my attendees come up with at least I'd have a handle on what women inspired them of course there were historic figures writers poets Business Leaders but here's what was consistent in that first group and every Group after that the most influential women are those who are close to us our mothers our sisters grandmothers aunts friends and teachers this was true for me also the most influential women in my life were my mother grandmother aunts cousins and others my mother came to the United States when she was 9 years old alone my grandmother could not come until she was cleared my mother's father was an American citizen so she could come it was a different story from my grandmother when my grandmother came to this country you can consider her a single mother she worked and saved and was able to buy property she was T they they were tough women who did what was necessary for their family so today in light of women's History Month let me acknowledge all the moms the grand moms sisters cousins aunts teachers and friends that we find strength then and thank you for all you do thank you anything else council president I do have a few other things to talk about that are more business related um the environmental commission had a presentation on rain Gardens from Dorian Kerber um the community garden is moving forward in its new location um councilman Z Browski had covered Sarah we are going forward with the Lewis Bay II future Municipal leader scholarship the deadline is April 1st and I'm working with Mr Howard at the high school to get those entries in and the public hearing we had at the environmental um Commission on Kennedy Park bathroom was passed by resolution today so thank you all progress thank you thank you uh under my comments um just to put things in perspective it's not that anybody up here is mean it's not that we want to uh make anybody's life uncomfortable but I had a discussion with engineering before the meeting about roads we have 600 roads in sville and for whatever reason all the different plans to do the roads have never really produced a good outcome so this year the the the plan is to do 10 roads which means we won't do all the roads until 60 years from now it's not what people want people want their roads done so the the the the issue is where are we going to put the money and most of the people this year when knocking on doors all the feedback I got was they really want their roads done there are many roads that that haven't probably are there any Jay that haven't been done for 60 years or close to that yeah there are so I I'm not looking to rain on anybody's parade but you got to prioritize so we have to prioritize what comes first the the the problem with with the firehouse is they have a foot of water in the basement they may have lead pipes which have to be removed they may have to they may have asbest which has to be removed we have to put in a fire suppression system we have to put in um an elevator we have to make the bathrooms ADA Compliant we have when when an old building closes that's why many times when a parochial Catholic school is shut down for a year or more you can't use it because to cost of bringing it up to code is prohibitive and that's the problem that we as a burough Council face with the with uh the old burrow Hall next door my understanding and and what I'm being advised is just to get a certificate of occupancy it's a $2 million Endeavor the other thing that has to be considered is once something is earmarked or or designated as historical it's not a simple thing to fix you have to follow a very prescribed um method a a and and bring it back to its original context it's a very expensive proposition and and and my discussions with with the people from the historical society is my comment to the people of Cal is we can buy the building or we can fix your road and one of the things I recommended to the Historical Society uh is to put it on the ballot and and let the people decide where they want the money to go um and I still I still think it's it's it's it's a it's a good idea and then all the facts will come out the plan will come out the costs will come out and people can decide uh and that that's my recommendation on the on the building next door with that um we'll go to the next item authorization for the tax collector to refund taxes and cancel all subsequently bill taxes due to 100% disabled veteran tax exemption for the following 19 Martha Boulevard in the amount of $20,600 55 342 Washington Road in the amount of $3,236 55 beauty shop application received from Monique Deval trading as glorious hair rest restoration Salon to operate a beauty shop with four chairs located at 162 a Main Street authorization to award a contract for a grant writing consultant proposals were received on 229 and are being currently being reviewed um authorization of scrap filing cabinets no longer needed by the burrow before you go further I just need Glenn to comment on the shape of the filing cabinets their approximate age and approximate condition they're in so that we don't have an issue um that we're throwing out new product uh anything that's reasonably new is getting repurposed all of these probably date back to the 60s they're steel and covered in paint of an unknown origin so they're clearly beyond their useful life thank you next authorization to add Board of Health ordinances to the revised General ordinances to allow County Health Inspectors to properly enforce the health code um as you saw in your packet I received a memo dating I think it's about 22 years ago originally from uh the Board of Health to have those ordinances added to our uh code and they were never put in or presented to the mayor and Council so it was sort of a cleanup uh request to travel receed from from the following seral engine company to attend a golf outing fundraiser on April 26 2024 in Colts Neck authorization to renew a non-fair and open contract with poll services for social work services at the police department in an amount not to exceed $87,400 12 cents coin toss requests received um from the several Junior bombers football for July 13th and 14th and several Junior bombers cheer for August 10th and 11th application for special event received from first Presbyterian Church to hold a yard sale on April 27th rain date May 4th and for them to also to hold a flea market on September 14th with a rain date of September 21st authorization to memorialize an emergency contract issued to pumping Services Inc in the amount of $ 36,9 24 for the repair of pumps at the river River Road pumping station that's great uh Glen in anticipation of five upcoming retirements we're looking for authorization to call for a certified list for patrolman for the Department of personnel any objections next item authorization to promote Deborah Turner to record supports technician one retroactive to January 1st 2023 that's due to the fact that her she was given the wrong title when she was hired this assistant administ uh no change in pay or anything but the title needs to be changed on that employee any objection next item we had a request from the county uh to engage in a $2,000 annual contra contribution to the blue cares program as the federal funding for that ran out that is the uh program by which we refer people who overdose uh for follow-up care for uh uh counseling and treatment uh any objections next item authorization to emplo Jacob Rivera from laborer one part-time to laborer one full-time in the Department of Public Works effective March 16th and that's to fill a vacancy any objections next item authoriz to appoint John colic The Pump Station operator in the water and SE Department effective April 1st 2024 also due to a vacancy any objection next item authorization to appoint Susan feno from record support technician part-time to record support technician full-time in the police department effective March 16th 2024 any objections next item authorization to appoint Beverly Johns as tax assessor effective April 2nd 2024 any objection anything else I have I have one add-on and I'm sorry we didn't have this in time for the agenda cut off looking for authorization to dispose of scrap value floating docks that were recovered post hurricane Sandy that have been sitting out at Fort grumpy since that time and and the proceeds would go to the general fund yeah okay any objection anything else cfo's report Denise budget transfer resolution and authorization um for self-examining ation of the 2024 Municipal budget authorization to accept the safe and secure communities Grant number 24-1 1219 with the state of New Jersey Federal grant program administered by the division of Criminal Justice Department of Law and public safety for the period of June 1st 2024 to May 31st 2025 in the amount of $4,150 thank you thank you borrow Engineers report mayor no report this evening thanks borrow attorney's report good evening mayor I don't have any report happy thank you public portion uh questions and comments on any and all issues are there any questions uh Jim thank you mayor Jim Robinson Parlin I have to say first I'm a little disappointed with the historic preservation vote and a little surprised that might get your change uh in vote since the last meeting uh I've been talking about open space and I did a little research October 10th uh of last year the then mayor Kilpatrick said she had met with former mayor John McCormack not the Woodbridge McCormack that you reference all the time but cil's former mayor John McCormack to discuss open space and she recommended the burough purchase the 40 acres adjacent Kennedy Park and preserve it as open space the minutes of that meeting say councilwoman Roberts made a motion to get appraisals for block 252 Lot 2 it was seconded and approved unanimously at a subsequent meeting there was a discussion Donna you might remember this about do we need two appraisals or three appraisals and we said we would go with two and if the third one came in that would be fine January 18th the open space committee agreed with the council and reaffirmed the purchase of the 40 acres behind Kennedy Park and some other Parcels I think the one by Sherwood Forest where they wanted to put up the mini warehouses and I was told one of the committee members had some great suggestions about a company that facilitates these Acquisitions I don't know if that's been pursued or not but in October of 2023 the council authorized getting appraisals in November it was said two would be okay in January the open space committee agreed with the council's action to get appraisals and said that was a top priority for those two the council and the open space committee both voted to move ahead I asked before and the business administrator said he's waiting for the open space committee the open space committee voted in January and is waiting for the council and the business administrator and we're all waiting for action on preserving open space so now that I've read you the minutes what the council approved what the open space committee did where are we and are we going to just keep bouncing this back and forth no uh we met with Mr moo and he has no inclination to sell us the property well I know some other people have spoken to Mr Moo first of all that's not required and the tax assessor spoke to Mr Moo um in his capacity as the open space committee and and I have a different read on that um so did we get appraisals uh I believe we did yeah are there two or three I believe it's only two there only two okay are we going to pursue that third well it seems kind of pointless being the property owner has absolutely no inclination to that's your version what the property owner says I maybe the mayor who was sitting at the same meeting can attest to what I'm saying he said he didn't want to sell it okay well we'll we'll we'll pursue that and that's not a requirement either is it that the property owner it is it a requirement no but it seems pointless to spend taxpayer money for additional assessments when the property owner does does not wish to sell we going to let this drop we're not going to try and pursue the purchase of that 40 acres we're going to let Mr Mako develop it instead it's Mr mako's property yeah okay that's that's that's an interesting attitude and that's that's why we're in the situation that we're in that's why we're building almost 4 million square feet of warehousing in the center of town on Main Street and on Cheesequake Road mayor you mentioned that Joe cups is retiring uh you know people don't often have high regard for folks that have tax in their title um Joe cups is is one in a million um he served this burrow with distinction for 42 years 42 years and I've called him many times over those 42 years for advice on things in Cal and outside of seral I deal with a lot of tax collect tax assessors throughout the state and when they find out I'm from cille they say well you have one of the best and I called him today just to wish him well and he told me the thing there were two things he was most concerned about one was making sure everything was in order for his successor and two the purchase and preservation of open space especially the 40 acres adjacent to Kennedy Park he said he is spoken to Mr Marco he has said the committee's worked hard on that they make it a top they've made it a top priority and I would hope that uh we would honor Joe a true public servant and do everything we can to preserve that space um um and keep going back to Mr Mako who's who's been around the block a few times and knows how to negotiate and knows what an opening position should be now a while ago I'm going to try and do this quickly because I want to talk about veterans housing at the end I have a very serious concern about Veterans Preference housing but a while ago someone called me and mayor I spoke about this at the last meeting about the chief of staff's position and does the full-time Chief of Staff mayor work under your direction they both do they both do okay all right and I'll tell you why I'm wondering somebody called me about this a while ago and that's how I first got involved and I don't use LinkedIn much because I'm winding down my career I'm not looking for a new job I'm looking to give up volunteer positions and not come back to Council meetings very much and something popped up and it said Zach has viewed your profile and I thought Zach has viewed my profile so I looked to see who Zach was and it said Zack was the mayor's Chief of Staff now at that time we haven't even created the position so I was really confused I didn't know why somebody was calling themselves a chief of staff if we hadn't created the position I certainly didn't know why he would be checking out my profile and mayor was this at your direction that he checked out my profile on LinkedIn we did advise that you were an active resident at the public portions okay so am I under surveillance by the mayor's office well you may be under surveillance but not by my office okay am my water bills being looked at as well as I said you may be under surveillance but what about my water bills are they being looked at should I stay away from third floor windows I wouldn't know Jim you know I got a coule calls are you paying your water pills one was from somebody in the law enforcement community and one was a former official who told me I should be very careful because some of my questions have rubbed some folks the wrong way um and I and I'm seeing what they they talk about now maybe you know maybe he wanted luse advice maybe he wanted to ask me how mayor McCormick was able to get the DuPont to donate that land for the first aid Squad so I'm gonna I'm going to suggest you know the the motivation was the best and and leave it at that the other thing I want to talk about is the preference for Veterans for housing in 2019 your time's up when we I can't talk about affordable housing for Veterans your time's up you have five minutes to do the business of the borrow you can come back up later because veterans housing is very important mayor and I'm is up I would appreciate it I'll take 30 seconds to talk about vly please sit down I can't talk about veterans housing sit down you can come back but you can't on this breath all right mayor councel Arthur writtenhouse 33 delicat Lane disappointed in the vote on the um resolution to make it a local Landmark unfortunately many of you are uninformed if we did a local landmark it doesn't require that we have to keep the building the burrow owns the building it's your building now that wouldn't change if it became a state or national landmark then the building could stay the same it would not have to meet Ada or any of the other requirements because you can't change it they had a question when we first submitted this because they widened the door for the fire engine because fire engines got bigger we had to explain that to them in 2021 and 2022 and then they said okay we understand that and again we did not come up here this shouldn't be a battle between roads and the firehouse we came up here not asking for a penny we came up here asking for that local designation to keep our heritage for Ely the only thing I think we're going to see with that building the way the council is acting is our new Christmas ornament which comes out our holiday ornament it happens to be that building which we picked over a year ago as an ornament so I guess the burrow people in town will see that and they can have that as a memory of this building if any of you had wanted questions about this you should have contacted us you should have come with us Frank's been in the building stash you could have asked questions you know I'm very disappointed in the way this has gone I don't understand the background to it or why it's happened this way but you were given every piece of information you wanted and still turned it down and wanted more we're not in a battle over the roads we're in a battle to keep our Town's history and as I said before we're turning into a woke Council mayor and counsel just like the people tearing down statues and everything else around the country and that's a shame just one comment about Mr Moo Mr Moo does things in town without permits and nobody ever follows up or does anything with it thank you any other questions Ken thank you mayor kenel shesky 108 North Edward Street I too want to talk about the uh uh the resolution that was defeated uh tonight on the building next door and I have to admit I don't know much about historical landmarks the rules regulations on them uh so I'm at a handicap and what I might have to say I'm looking more for information that I am to offer anything to you um I I think I got some from uh from art just left the podium um but what I'm hearing things like well we got to put an elevator in there if we designate this a historical landmark or let me start first in saying if we don't do this what are our plans for the building are we going to bulldoze it and put a parking lot there or something there's no plans to do anything at the moment so it's it's it's going to remain there then you're telling me at the moment there's no plans um okay um have we looked at the structural Integrity of the building and what I'm talking about from the outside is the building in danger of falling down or anything bad Happ and not talking about this putting something in or putting people or putting an elevator in it I mean do do we have to put a use a second floor in this build you have to do anything as far as use at the moment uh but my question is do we know the the structural Integrity of the building and there's no certificate of occupancy it is not it does not meet code for buildings we have not spent any more money investigating that because for us to bring it to code before we do an INB we spent money doing an in-depth uh engineering report we're at $2 million and right now now I'd like to do more than 10 streets well I think as art writtenhouse uh a said here a minute ago I don't think it should be the building next door versus doing roads uh we know there are lot of roads in town have to be done there are roads in every town that has to be done everybody wants their street done tomorrow that's that's a fact and the idea that we're going to have X amount of money to do all the roads in town that's that's fantasy talk that's it's just ridiculous uh we have a program for doing roads maybe it wasn't a good enough program maybe it needed to be speeded up I think the councils up here in the past few years have done more roads and tried to speed this up but to say that you know we're going to do anything uh versus redoing everybody's Road in town or putting it on the ballot do you want your road done you know that's kind kind of a crazy thing in my humble opinion um but I want to get back to the the structural Integrity of this building um if we don't do anything at the moment uh this anyone have any reports this a building is in danger of falling down don't know what anybody know that Mr Cornell be able to speak to this maybe in a little bit more detail but the burrow uh contract with CME to do an assessment of the structure uh back in 2019 and if I remember correctly there's three grades basically poor fair and good and it fell into the fair category but that was you know 2019 what's evolved since then I couldn't say yeah I I'm just getting the idea that we're talking about what we have to do to get the building and the shape of moving people into it or putting an elevator to use the second floor I think quite frankly that's putting the cart before the horse uh if we have a building uh if we ask our legislature both locally both both uh uh on the Statewide and and on the uh on Washington basis uh to help us we apply for Grants I think we might have a method of saving this building but the idea of we're going to put everything in one pile and say it's going to C us X millions of dollars to put this building in order I think basically is it's just a joke it's it's like saying well you know we're going to throw this out so it's an impossibility it can't be done and my le comment is uh I hope we look as wisely at spending money every single time we have an agenda here as we're doing with this because sometimes looks like we're spending money like water and nobody really is looking at it at all thank you are there any other questions Jim M mayor I I want to talk about um Veterans Preference for housing but I do just want to say something I I'm on the board of a of a building that is a historically preserved building I've testified in front of shipa a few times in Trenton about historic preservation I do know a little bit about it I know there's a difference you use the analogy of opening a school their standards are different when it comes to schools it wouldn't be the same for this facility that's why when the 425 Main Street the old administration building was closed and then later became the historic Museum's headquarters you didn't have to go through all that because the standards are different it's not a school and all of the reasons that the folks gave for voting no because there's no money there a reason to vote Yes because what they are looking to do is be able to go get grants to preserve it we talked last council meeting about $7 million we're going to get for ball fields in a parking lot or that we're going to apply for in time we applied for 1 million we're going to try and get total cost to 7 million we know there are grants available for things that we want to do and as I indicated ated earlier mayor there's $20 million that we're getting for the sale of the old landfill on Journey Mill Road but they're not even looking to spend that money even though our open space committee is called the open space uh farmland and historical preservation fund but they're not even looking for that they're looking for Grants to be able to do this but before you cut me off I want to talk about Veterans Preference for housing in 2019 when we were going through your affordable housing debacle I provided a pamphlet to the folks who were then on the council on creative ways to address our affordable obligation one of the suggestions was family housing with a Veterans Preference and when the when the place on blaska court I think is it is was approved um we were told there they would offer a Veterans Preference well after they were up and running and and and um taking on tenants I called there I got an application and the application doesn't even ask if the applicant is a veteran that's not even a question on the application I pursued this a little further and finally after phone calls and emails and back and forth I was told the preference was actually for homeless veterans not low-income veterans not veterans who need some rental assistance to get by not temporarily unemployed veterans homeless veterans and there are only of those I think they're 97 97 units close to 100 units there are only three or four of them that are for these homeless veterans and to date they haven't accepted one homeless veteran in there and that's that's not what we were told that's not the way this was sold to us and a veteran a man or woman who served their country needs to be homeless living on the street in order to qualify is just crazy I that's not right and I brought this up at the council and Sarah and as you know the former Sarah chair and I didn't enjoy the great relationship the current Sarah chair and I have and I was told that that was statutory there is absolutely nothing they could do and I don't think they pursued that but this is wrong this is wrong the men and women who served their country who might be in a situation where they don't have funds flowing shouldn't be treated like this you ought not to have to be homeless to be able to even apply and if you meet that qualification there are only three or four units available out of 97 that's that's not just not right I don't know if it's statutory I'm not attorney an attorney I the I I see the chairman of Sarah is is taking notes and I appreciate that and I'm sure he'll look into that and I would hope the council would as well because that that is not what we were told that is not what we were led to believe I don't know what was negotiated I wasn't a part of that but that's just not right and I would implore this governing body to look into that and and please provide me with an answer when you do and I would appreciate anything you can do there John and um mayor any progress on the discussion with Dupont on their property for school bus depot to help end this ridiculous lawsuit I would make a recommendation that if if you are anxious about uh uh proposed solutions for their bus depot you bring it to Dr Labby and let he and and the Board of Education review it and if they have interest they will contact me I have spoken to Dr Labby I've spoken to the board of education and what I'm doing now and I've done before is taking the example of former mayor McCormack who got that property for the first aid Squad because he just he he went in the ass Dupont time's up Mr elesy got more than five minutes time's up okay thank you I appreciate it so but can I have an answer on your time can I have an answer your time's up thank you thank you for coming up your time's not up though you can answer J I know you I know you orchestrate this at home before you come here so you can be play a victim I was babysitting this evening until I came here mayor thank you very muchim uh are there any other questions Frank here Franko 32 Canal ort toown the referendum referendum would that be in November how do we go about putting this on a referendum counselor there's provision in title 19 for a non-binding referendum that could could be placed on the general election ballot on a public question what are the requirements um I we'll check for you I believe it's a an ordinance of the governing body or resolution yeah all right Jessica can you send it to Frank the resolution or the howto on yeah just steps ABC the the governing body would take the action the attorney yes sir okay we do it certainly yes okay so put it on put it on for the next meeting that will we we'll create a ballot item okay I appreciate that that' be pretty cool and I was talking to my my wife a minute ago and heard something about plans for the building you guys have plans for the building can't hear you any plans for the building I I heard roughly no okay okay uh referend would be you know that's our next option I believe and uh that time because we can formally more of a plan with the grants because we got our girl she's all over the state and we don't get a chance to see her as much as we should so if we can get on a referendum and give us a couple of months to get everybody's questions answered and uh okay that's that's about it but it's it's a solid building I I I know from my experience does have its little problems there was a flood but because there was a street blockage not because of the building um all right thank you thank you Frank guys any questions or comments or anything please let us know I have an open mind we have an open mind I mean it's it's a joint Community program to make everybody proud um right when when not here as adversaries we just have to make decisions where we're putting the money and as you know the DPW garage is on its last legs and we have to we have to address that sooner rather than later so so there are certain things that are that are calling out for money that have a higher priority yeah we're not asking for money I beg your pardon we're not asking for money Frank it's $2 million to get a CO to get a CO we work the girl who works with us she but we're not asking for money we're not asking for money it always comes to money Frank let's put it on the ballot see what the people want as I told you sometimes I get it wrong and and the people say no we would like to do this I'm okay with that okay we could wait I mean we could give right now I have to we have to put money in higher priorities yeah but we're not asking for money eventually there'll be some cost I'm sure minimal C light bill Etc but uh and there was one church that that they got grants for $20 million they fixed up a church I forgot where it was that was the biggest Grant and it came out beautiful so one one and a half two millions we should be able to obtain that so all right thank you everybody I appreciate it are there any other questions or comments yes on up Demi hello everyone um my name is demitra Wagner 7 Roma Street srael there's a really really bad pothole on Main Street uh like you're heading towards Washington Road um and it's right at where Schmidt street is where is it Schmid so I was wondering Washington Road or on it's on Main Street head towards Washington Road and it's right by where Schmid street is wait let me find out for you Jay is is that is that a function of the repair they're doing there I I think that area mayor the county removed the Old Trolley tracks and they haven't had a chance to finish the final Paving so I think that's where you're referring to the intersection of Maine and schmider oh okay because it's really bad like you could break a rim or lose some tires or you you know I I think we could reach out to the county and ask them to do temporary repairs until so how does that work when it's a county road is it a combination of seral and the county or is it only the county because it's a county road we have to ask the county for help and they'll come over but I'm talking to them tomorrow okay thank you thank you thank you are there any other questions or comments being no other questions or comments I'll entertain a motion to close CL the public portion make a motion to close the public is there a second second all in favor I opposed is there a motion to is there any other business before the governing body if not I'll entertain a motion make a motion to adjourn any second