one e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e [Music] e you e this meeting is called to order in accordance with the open public meetings law adequate notice of this meeting has been provided this meeting of February 5th 2024 was published in the ker news and stall Ledger and placed on the borough's website notice of this meeting was also placed on the bulletin board at burough Hall with a complete agenda a copy of this notice is available to the public and a copy of the statement shall be included in the minutes of this meeting mayor Brian Gallagher here council members Teresa Bonner here Glen Den here Tom Mitchell is excused this evening Randy Pitts here Gina straic here Roger verm here please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty Justice for All I'd ask that everybody remain standing for uh for a moment of silence uh on the tragic loss that our burrow had um Mary Rose fely um and I'll have a comment [Music] afterwards thank you before we get started uh i' just like to uh to take a moment to make a few few comments on the uh uh the happenings of the past week which has weighed uh very heavily on uh an entire community so on behalf of the burrow Council our hearts go out to Mary Rose's Family on such a senseless tragedy Mary Rose was a Bright Beautiful Soul that had a wonderful impact on many people at her vigil last week her friends all spoke of a wonderful young lady bursting with life and enthusiasm and she pressed others to do the same this morning an arrest was made and a suspect was charged with murder our Somerville Police Department many of whom are here today and the sumerset County prosecutor's office worked tirelessly literally around the clock to bring this subject to Justice I remain in contact with our Somerville police department and the Somerset County prosecutor's office as this case moves forward the outpouring of love for Mary Rose and her family is absolutely incredible and it's palpable we live in a wonderful burrow where everyone is your neighbor and this has impacted our entire Community Somerville is at her strongest when those that are in need are enveloped by this caring community and it's very very heartwarming we've had many people call and offer their support and it is greatly appreciated while the council and I would like to provide additional comments we are obligated to allow the investigative work to continue any further comments regarding this case will come from the Somerset County prosecutor's office um but just as an aside uh I will tell you uh the Somerset County prosecutor could not say enough about our Somerville Police Department from the police chief uh on down to our entire staff the work that was done uh by our detectives and our Patrol officers was nothing short of tireless so on behalf of the community I thank each and every one of you for the work not only that you did over the past week but that you do every day so thank you so we have on the agenda tonight uh the promotion of three of our uh police Personnel uh and and it's very gratifying that uh that we do this um these are officers that have uh dedicated their lives to to ensuring that uh that the streets of Somerville uh remain safe and they do remain safe uh I think that's something that has been on the mind of a lot of people and it's because and I don't know Kevin can the camera turn around for a second and I'd like to get a picture of everybody in the back there if we could uh our officers have come out to uh to support the promotions of uh of these three individuals and I just want uh folks to see that uh we have probably half the department here roughly yeah probably a little more than half the department here um and uh again thank you all so the first one uh we have a resolution number 047 uh approving promotion of Sergeant deama to Lieutenant so moved second uh discussion roll call council members Theresa bonor yes Glend Den yes Randy pittz yes dinus traic yes Roger confir yes all right let's present the oath of office to uh to Darren dama and his family your left hand's going to go on the Bible you're going to raise your right hand and repeat after me I state your name I Darren dama do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of police Lieutenant all the duties of police Lieutenant for the burrow of Somerville for the burrow of Somerville according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations thank you congratulations you to they did a great job and don't worry about the baby I had five kids that's music that that that sound is music so that is awesome you bring her in here number uh 048 is approving promotion of Officer lipic to Sergeant uh do we have a motion so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa bonor yes Glenn Den yes Randy Pitts yes Gus traic yes Roger ver yes okay author of office to Jason lipik and his family you GNA raise your right hand repeat after me I I stay your name Jason lipic do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and just justly performed and justly performed all the duties of police Sergeant all the duties of police Sergeant for the burough of Somerville for the burough of Somerville according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations okay uh number 049 is approving the promotion of Officer suloff to Sergeant do we have a motion so moves second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes yes Glend Dene yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger vroom yes all right oath of office for Josiah suloff that's a crew you raise your right hand and you're going to repeat after make sure I know he got the same height I state your name I Josiah Su do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people I do further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially and partially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of police Sergeant all the duties of police Sergeant for the burough of Somerville for the bur of Somerville according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations you guys did a great job so I'm assuming you you really don't want to stay for the rest of the council meeting um so we're going to take take a two-minute recess uh the family can gather and uh um and then everybody can who wants to stay can stay and everybody who wants to get out and have a little bit of fun after this please do two- minute [Music] recess did he say I want to leave no no I heard a kid a little kid goes I don't want to leave that's good than you daddy daddy [Music] dadad really two it's for the middle [Music] one e e don't think'll be e f take care all right folks uh let's pick up on item number six which is the approval of the minutes of January 16 2024 so moved second discussion all in favor I opposed uh departmental reports and notices are as listed uh just a quick note on on a which is the updated policy on emergency warning devices uh that should actually mean a few less sirens in and around town uh all over they're finding that uh the sirens aren't making a a whole lot of difference obviously they need the at the intersections but as in in travel lanes while they're traveling they're finding that they don't need them um number eight committee reports uh let's start with uh Gina the resue sad has been serving the community meeting great thank you Glen uh for office of emergency management we had our debrief on January the 23rd about our January 9th and 10th storm um as if you listened last uh last council meeting Jason crasa gave an excellent report on everything that had happened uh many of the pieces had gone well things that we talked about improving we're trying to improve communication with landlords and renters and also developing an organized parking plan uh the environmental commission for the office of emergency management was also taking pictures of the flood areas which will lead me to environmental so environmental commission uh we meet next week so I'll have more then but since our last meeting we've had a number of members went to the Summers uh Somerville High School climate Summit uh and they were very impressed with the student presentations uh and as an interesting note they were even brave enough to taste banana bread made with uh Cricut powder or cricket flower I tried it and uh they uh they said it was pretty good so uh and they hope to have more uh collaboration with not just the high school but all of our schools here in town uh and then also we have two members that have been leading a virtual training for anck the association for New Jersey environmental commissions and uh we will meet here next week on Tuesday at 7:30 so you're more than welcome to join us all right excellent thank you uh Teresa thank you uh so the library Board of Trustees met on January 25th um and we were received a report from the branch manager Jen sulligan uh about it was the annual report for 2023 um the library Somerville library has been doing amazingly well uh just the last quarter uh program attendance and Outreach was up 270% circulation is up 14% uh meeting room usage up 57% um people are going to the library which is wonderful um and uh please if you're interested in attending any of the many uh adult programs or children programs in February and March um check out their website um the uh Somerville Public Library website and um you can register for the events on the website okay great thank you ready thank you youan good evening everyone the downtown C Alliance held their annual meeting last Monday at alonso's the meeting was well attended with more than 50 plus stakeholders in attendance I want to thank everyone who took the time to come out especially councilwoman Teresa Bonner who was honored for her services to the DSA as well as councilman Glenn Denise uh some of the highlights the district had a total of 3.5 million visits in 2023 with more than 800,000 unique visitors um the average visit was about 111 minutes spending time throughout our downtown um the DSA um welcome more than 10 new businesses in 2023 and already have several new businesses in the pipeline to open in 2024 uh 2023 highest performing events was the Somerville St Patrick's Day Parade which the DSA will become a premier sponsor uh drawing over 25,000 participants followed by the holiday Jubilee event with more than 15,000 attendees um you can view the entire annual report on the dsa's website at downtowns somerville.nj uh Recreation update uh so spring soccer registration is now open for youth in grades 1 through eight who reside or attend school in Somerville travel players are eligible teams play intertown teams with surrounding towns in a league admin administered by Bridgewater Recreation practices will begin in early April uh we need coaches new coaches must obtain the Rucker safety certification and submit a fingerprint SLB background check if you're interested please contact the recreation department um the cost for the uh for the registration is $55 registrations are accepted on a first come first serve basis players will be wait listed if a team is full or without a coach no late registrations will be accepted registration will be open until March 3rd uh residents are encouraged to register online at register. communitypass.net slumville and that is all I have this evening okay great thank you uh just a two items one uh volunteers uh this burough is run on uh on volunteers and volunteerism and uh this year we've opened up three new committees uh one is an infrastructure committee another one is Public Safety and another is uh seniors and Veterans and we are looking for volunteers if you go on to the burrow website uh we have a link on there which will give you descriptions of the three areas and uh and what we're looking to accomplish in those three areas um and uh we are encouraging anybody a lot a lot of us uh get online and and we we make comment but what we're trying to do is to bring people out and actually volunteer their time uh you'll find it a very rewarding experience and as you volunteer you'll you'll discover a whole lot of things about Somerville that you didn't know so highly encourage people to come out and volunteer um and then second uh just so folks know there is a resolution on the agenda tonight um it's a referral to the planning board from from the burrow Council uh requesting that uh the planning board begin a zoning review for firearms and firearm stores for future uh doesn't affect the one uh that is planned for uh um Union Avenue now um and uh I can also tell you that the burrow has been served with a civil action on that uh store so we are not allowed to make any comment whatsoever uh from this point forward on that application uh on that store uh the opening of it um we are precluded from that uh by the uh by the court and by our our attorney as well um so there's really nothing that we're going to be able to talk about uh because a resident has filed a civil action um but I can tell you that again that the planning board will take this up um it's to amend the existing zoning laws to determine what is appropriate and where it is appropriate um so people understand you cannot Zone things out of your community uh that's called exclusionary zoning um and correct me if I'm wrong uh uh Jeremy uh if if we do exclude a use out of the burrow completely uh it opens us up for an action and essentially uh we will lose that and it then will be allowed almost anywhere so what we have to do is create very specific zones for specific uses and those allowable uses so um that is a referral uh should the council pass it which I think they will pass it unanimously uh that will go to the zoning board the zoning board will then take that up um and they'll do it in a very public process and uh they will then make recommendations back to the burrow Council uh for amendments to our existing zoning uh should they be necessary and uh and then the council would have to vote to adopt that uh that that revision to the zone in ordinance that's how the process works um so uh those are my two comments I will go to number nine which is a discussion item and I've asked Colin driver to uh to kind of give us an update uh on New Year's Day what I articulated was that I'd like to do somewhat of a deep dive on issues uh at each council meeting so that the public is aware of what's transpiring what has transpired with a specific issue and I I want to try to take one every meeting unless we have a voluminous meeting take one every meeting so we can give the public an update on exactly what's happening at this moment in time with a project or with an issue in town so tonight is the uh the solar project that is proposed for the uh the landfill uh that's just behind us uh on on the old land Somerville landfill so Colin I'd ask you to come up and uh and talk to us all things solar thank you is it red no it is now okay thank you want P that a little bit closer there you go you got a volume button up there too um I don't have a pointer that's going to work with this so um I'm going to take you through this uh as quickly as I can this is a a quick background okay this is a quick background on on the landfill and then how we got to the solar project um most of you know that the landfill was in operation for 30 years and closed in 1984 um during the the 80s there 90s in fact there was a developer appointed they were going to do a number of things but um probably by 1998 uh it all fell apart and the burrow Ed into um litigation and it was resolved I think in 2005 correct me four um in 2006 and 2007 public visioning took place over 18 months uh determining what we couldn't couldn't do or what we shouldn't should shouldn't do on on the landfill in 2007 we U issued an RFP for development of the whole landfill area that's including this part pardon me back into the green seam and in its entirety and we we got about 10 responses to that RFP of varying types and descriptions as we were entering into the interview process with those developers the 2008 financial crisis crushed us and all the developers went away um in 2020 um well I'll back up even though it's not on this little chart here um in 2012 New Jersey Transit issued an RFP for the development of the property the owned in the Redevelopment area and that's what we see now that's this whole Dev development is um built on what was former New Jersey Transit land me in 2020 um we were approached by a number of companies that installed um what they call Community solar and that is a special program put out by the b or endorsed by the BPU and it was in its pilot stage and the governing body at that time said well you know we put out an RFP which we did and we we got providers of solar power to come in and talk to us and we chose a company called um CS energy and they trade as Hathaway solar um at the same time we amended the Redevelopment plan coming back to what you were talking about mayor zoning to include the remediation and installation of a community solar project on specific portions of the landfill um in 2001 we submitted an application for two and I don't really understand these numbers but they're Big 5 megawatt um generation facilities there um under the um pilot program and um we missed it by two points so we um refiled an application but in um 200 23 the BPU pulled the pilot program short and went to a permanent program which um eliminated what they call co-located solar programs that's having two 5 megawatt programs together and I'll get into that in a minute um in in while all that was going on um the burrow applied to the D um for a modified remediation plan and also grants to remediate the garbage loes on site and um we've been fortunate we've uh received 10 million plus dollars to actually do that while it only represent 75% of the cleanup cost and I'll come back to other 25% shortly um we also received D approval for the closure and capping of the landfill which is an important step because that includes Wetlands mitigation storm water management and all the other things that you have to do um we received um interconnection approvals from psng because we'd have to plug into ps's um grid to provide the electricity So currently what where we are as CS energy haway has submitted a waiver request to the Board of Public Utilities the reason for this is the whole project was built under the pilot program guidelines and it will be profitable both to CS energy and to the burrow if we're allowed to develop under those pilot guidelines so we've applied for a waiver um we've been told that it's been accepted we have a receipt for it and pardon um we're now waiting to meet with um some senior people at the BPU to plead our case with them otherwise we just get trapped in the the circular discussion and staff will make a decision in some point in the future so the benefits are Community solar provides um discount electricity to um medium and lwi income houses and to government entities um it would it needs to be managed and it' be managed by CS energy we believe at this particular point in time um the the beauty is that under the Redevelopment law um we maintain the ownership of the land that the solar was built on and we're actually charging CS energy rent for that and that rent or a portion thereof will pay the Burrows uh contribution to the clean up of and capping of 25% so the I've got my cheat sheet here it's not in the slides and I'll show you some pretty pictures in a minute um our current agreement we will have to amend it depending on what the BPU says but the current agreement we have with them is that the rent will be around $400,000 per year the contribution to the cleanup varies somewhat but it's in the vicinity of $150,000 a unit and the difference between 400 and 150 is what the burrow gets to keep now I I'm pretty confident that that will decline somewhat once the BPU makes a decision on what we can and can't do we work out the final costs of remediation right now they've gone from 11 to a little over 12 million just because we've moved a few years down the line um right now we've got 10 million in change in the bank waiting to start the cleanup um we're hoping that we can begin the cleanup anyhow regardless of BPU in the coming year um one of our big concerns was if we if we've got to argue with the BPU for a number of months is the project going to stop and we've been told no we've got the money let's move with it and if it takes a little longer to have the project built out out and we're not receiving rent the developer will um fund the part of the cleanup anyhow and we'll reimburse them at some point in time through the rent rebates so we have 10 we've got we have 10 about $10 million 10 10 and a quar million I believe waiting so that we can begin environment you've got a a resolution tonight to take except the last $2 million correct yeah and that that is all money that's earmarked for the CLE the environmental cleanup yes okay so col Colin I just want to make you aware that the PowerPoint is not streaming but but certainly you are and everybody else but if you're pointing your your presentation is perfect but but you because you were covering what was on there but now you're leading it the pictures so I just want to make you aware that it's not streaming the picture but so just as an FYI thank you Kevin what I'm showing here then I'll have to change the way I talk a little bit I guess is an overhead view of of the uh proposed solar plant you'll notice that it's actually in four sections even the we're only calling it two um on on the main garbage lobe you've got two huge arrays um to the right close to um Station Road and the py development there is a lesser array they are joined and um on the bottom which is also a garbage Lo we've got a smaller array now I'm sorry that people can't see it but there's a series of um purple search light shining on this and we'll get this up on the website uh I could switch cameras and try to stream that if you like yeah why don't you do that okay yeah better than looking at me I'm nearly done it's okay we want the public to be able to see this well we should probably still should be able to put it up I think is it streaming good know one El can you see it up there no it's Kevin's working on it not very well though you need one of your kids to help you yeah [Laughter] you got to get that one to show this yeah there we go oh my God is that a bull patch thing sorry oh God that's worse that was successful we'll get it on the website we will coming back those search lights are keys to what you're going to quickly see and as we were going through the design process uh we were concerned about the residents particularly of the the py development so what you see here the top illustration is taken from the second floor of the tow houses along South Davenport the uh lower one is is an illustration um taken from ground level um this is the future entrance to the green seam with and without solar panels right right and the the top one is a current photograph if you go out there now you'll see that break in the fence and you'll see that trail which needs some grass cut and and just looking out over the garbage loopes the bottom one shows what it will look like with the solar array installed that is another second floor but it it was taken from a different Vantage Point looks across all the installations the building you see in the the left mid view there is Sarah James this is the view of the entrance to the landfill off 206 current and what it will look like and just to bring you back it just so shows the connections it shows the um the solar Fields it shows the linkage if if those of you recall that if you go on the Green Scene there's a bridge over the stream they'll be utilizing that bridge as um a place to hang the power cables off right um and then the the parking lot below that in Gray um when they when they are building the solar farm that'll be a lay down area um for all the materials that come in and the little spike it looks like an upside down thumb that will be the internal con contion so that the um construction vehicles can get up and do their job and that's all I got okay so so essentially the status now is we have to put our team together to go to the BPU and help them understand that their change in the rules Midstream has had a uh a serious effect on our project yes absolutely and we we've we've reached out at uh your encouragement to the commissioners of the BPU and hopefully we'll meet with at least one of them in the not too distant future to know start the process and and again the problem is originally you were allowed to have two five megawatt sites side by side owned by the same company owned by the same company now you can only have one one okay and what that would mean if we wanted and and if CS energy wanted to stay in the game with us we'd have to subdivide the landfill they'd have to form another company somehow along the line and it would probably delay us another 18 months two years so so the problem is government process getting in the way of progress the interesting thing you correct me the interesting thing about this is the endorsement we've got from the Department of Environmental Protection has been fantastic because it meets every one of their stated um forward goals of um renewable energy um Greenhouse emission reduction all that capping a landfill capping a landfill um and and we've got their full support in fact know some of their senior people have reached out to people at the BPU already well you and I have faced a few challenges where one arm of government says one and another arm says the other and we try to bring them together true gently yes sir okay uh does does anybody have have any questions at the council table okay just thought it was important to begin to bring everybody up to speed on these various projects so Mr driver thank you very much thank you man' appreciate the info and we will get that up on online uh the next day or two yeah I'll get this to Kevin tomorrow and from there um it's up to Patty and she she's good she'll get it up there good Kevin did you share with Colin the uh contact Jeff lambor from EC and and I were at a Somerset sustainable Somerset and uh the vpu um commissioner spoke yes yeah absolutely yes all right thank you Colin thank you sir all right item number 10 ordinances for introduction uh item number 020 sorry item number 2727 uh is amending chapter 147 Section 5 entitled permitted number of stickers stickers bulk items specifically amending section B amending the cost for stickers to and specifically allowing bulk items to be a part of the sanitation sticker program this essentially increases as of July I believe it's July 1 Kevin yes uh the uh the bulk uh sticker pickup cost which is currently $5 it is going up to $6 um it's not required by law but uh I do allow on ordinance introduction uh public comment so I will open up the P I'll open up public comment on number 2727 hearing none yep yes sir yes just state your name and address for the record and please address your comments to me for sure uh Jeff lambor 32 Lisa teras uh what constitutes a bulk item Kevin yeah uh it's a little complicated and the idea is is that we're trying to get people to recycle and reuse and repurpose things um but bulk items on the current list list everything is there's a master list and it does list everything from from you know from um fencing to to uh extra bags um predominantly couches yeah predominantly it's Furniture is it this the same list that exists currently or is it additional items you say bulk items no it's the it's the list that that exists currently I should have started with that that was question yeah yeah thanks yeah and that list is available on the website so if people have a curiosity as to to how many stickers they would need for a couch or uh some other type of bulk item they they can they can access that info okay thank you thank you other public comment hearing none we'll close public comment on 2727 motion for introduction move second discussion roll call council member is Teresa boner yes Glen Dene yes Randy pittz yes Jus traic yes Roger verm yes okay ordinance number 2728 is an ordinance to exceed the 2024 Municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a c Bank Kevin do you want to give us an overview on this please yeah so so the state the state um state of New Jersey dep Department of community fairs allows uh puts caps into place on spending if we if we have funding left over that cap we're able to put it into what they call a cap bank and and then utilize it the next year as part of our budget process so it does allow us a little more flexibility in areas uh that are governed by the cap um this is you know this is kind of standard we we you know we're in the budget process now we're getting close to the really end of it um and allows us just a little more fle flexibility when when when we have the cap spending limits in certain areas so it allows us to save previous year's Monies to be able to use in the next year's monies correct yeah if we don't we don't utilize up to that cap then we're able to bank it and then use it again next year okay uh I'll open up public comment on 2728 hearing none close 2728 and motion for introduction please so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glen Dene yes Randy pittz yes Jus traic yes Roger V yes okay uh ordinance number 2721 is amending chapter six of the burrow code entitled marriage and civil union ceremony fees uh these fees this these uh the the rate and the fees have to be codified under an ordinance uh it just it's the rate that's established for for me to conduct a uh a civil union or a marriage um motion for to open public comment so moved second discussion roll call this is for public comment council member is Teresa boner yes Glend yes Randy pittz yes Gus traic yes Roger F yes okay public uh comment on 2721 is now open hearing none will close 2721 and motion for adoption so moved second discussion roll call council members terresa boner yes Glen Den yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger V yes all right 2722 is amending chapter 166 -50 schedule 9 entitled stop intersections uh these this is the intersection of Hamilton and fair uh Southside app sorry I was going to say Fairview but Southside um this allows this to be a four-way stop on this intersection uh and it's a lighted four-way stop so uh can I have a motion to open public session on 27:22 so move second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes lendon e yes Randy pittz yes Tina straic yes Roger ver yes all right uh public session on 27:22 is open hearing note oh yes it's a good idea yes thank you uh yeah please come up and you didn't state your name in address for the record Rich no that's okay that's all right we know who you are Hi Megan Britain 37 Southside so it's my neighborhood um and I think you was already up so it's very useful I see people still uh getting used to it still looking around the corner but I'm so happy it's there especially if the Southside Park is going to be built there and there's going to be so much more traffic and it's just so hard to see It'll slow down the traffic of people speeding down our wider Road and so I'm thankful for that there for that being put there already I'm also thankful that you um worked on the lights for PS that light next to us it looks a lot better on our street thank you so thank you and thank you for coming out and making your comments known thank you any other public comment hearing none uh we'll close the Public's portion and motion for adoption please so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glenn Den yes Randy Pitts yes Jina traic yes Roger V yes 2723 is amending chapter 166 entitled bus stops uh these are bus stops that will be placed onto Veterans Memorial Drive by the ramp access for the train station on either side of the road both East and Westbound uh we'll open up the public hearing on 2723 with a motion for it so moved second discussion council members Teresa boner yes Glen Den yes Randy pittz yes jus traic yes Roger V yes public hearing on 2723 is now open yes do I need to State my name Jeff Lamborn 32 Lisa terce uh which bus lines or or plans are for those bus stops uh this is for the county is it the scoop the scoop bus they they actually stopped there without a designated to stop so we're just creating that designated F nice okay thank you thank you any other public uh comment hearing none we'll close the public comment and motion for adoption so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glen Den yes Randy pittz yes Jus stavic yes Roger ver yes all right 2724 is amending chapter as noted on street parking meter zones reducing meter parking time requirements on Veterans Memorial Drive East on the south side of the roadway to 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday this is so people can actually park for free so so they can come to a council meeting and not have to pay to come and speak at a council meeting which I think is uh extremely important so uh can I ask for a motion to open the public hearing on 2724 so move second discussion roll of Honor yes Glendon yes Randy pittz yes Jus traic yes Roger verm yes public hearing on 2724 is now open uh hearing none we'll close uh 20 724 and motion for adoption so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glen Den yes Randy pittz yes Gina traic yes Roger verm yes 2725 is establishing chapter 103 of the burough code entitled legalized gaming uh this is essentially housekeeping uh it uh just codifies the uh the ability for gaming Bingo uh Raffles to be able to take place on Sundays um I'll ask for a motion to open the public hear hearing on 2725 so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glen Den yes Randy pittz yes Jus straic yes Roger V yes 2725 public hearing is now open yes Bill Cisco 37 Eastern Avenue would this possibly open up the door for uh gambling for um slot machines and all that stuff I'm just curious no no this is relegated state law uh uh trumps here and and this all this does is allow us to run game I shouldn't say games of chance Bingo uh Raffles um it came about we had an applicant who wanted to run a raffle or a uh um some kind of 50/50 on a Sunday and and the burrow code did not allow for it so it was in Conflict the state code allows for it uh but no it's not going to open it up for uh for for slot machines or poker or just want to be careful as because of other issues have been going on understood okay thank you any other public comment on 2725 hearing none we'll close that public session and motion for adoption so moved second discussion roll call council member Teresa Bonner yes lendon yes Randy Pitts yes gvic yes Roger ver yes 2726 is amending ordinance 2682 as noted establishing a salary range for employee titles to be paid to certain officers and employees of the burough of Somerville uh as a matter of uh day-to-day business housekeeping we have to have uh set a minimum and maximum salary for every employee within the burrow and that's what this does uh so motion for public hearing to open public hearing on 2726 so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa boner yes Glendon yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger firm yes all right public hearing on 2726 is now open hearing none we'll close 2726 motion for adoption so moved second discussion roll call council members Teresa Bonner yes glenan yes Randy pittz yes Gus travic yes Roger verm yes okay uh at this point we are going to open up uh to the meeting to the public uh I would ask that you state your name and address for the record and please address your comments to me you can come up to the to the microphone here to my left maybe on your right um for those who came in late what I will tell you is that if you want to make comment on the uh the firearm store uh that is fine uh this is the forum for it uh but we are not allowed to comment on it a civil action has been filed uh and the burrow is included in that civil action so we can make no comment whatsoever on uh on that so um I will ask for a motion to open the meeting to the public so moved second discussion roll call council members terresa Bonner yes Glenn Dene yes Randy pittz yes Gina straic yes Roger ver yes okay uh public is now open hi everyone uh Michelle frim BOS three South Middle Street in Somerville when you were referring to exclusionary zoning do you know what you were referring to specifically no uh that's a that's a general statement okay it's not correct so I mean I would really look into that before you make sweeping statements like that well if you're referring to the Mount Laurel project that is for residential only not for businesses so I just wanted to encourage you to check your facts before stating that to the town uh thank you thank you Jeremy can you clarify that please I think you meant it as a more general term has been used in the context ofur housing but it does apply generally tocl exuding specific tyes of uses not I'm sure that's how you that's correct thank you yeah that you if you if you would like to State something else please come don't yell from the audience please do you have a site that you can source that from just that's the diary that's that's the way way was wasn't it's a specific term to Mount Laurel so if and there and Piscataway has excluded that use from the town so it is possible so I would just caution against that it absolutely is possible but if you're challenged in court you stand a very good chance of losing it's not a guarantee right thank you any any other public comment hi Rebecca Scot 107 Mountain Avenue as a longtime Somerville resident and parent I'm here to express my strong disagreement with the planned gun store and to explain a few of the reasons why I'm most concerned I know many of you I've supported your campaigns and I recognize that this is a thankless job with that said you have been elected to support all of our residents and all of our best interests so we are counting on you to do what is right one council member has talked about working tirelessly to improve our community and this business certainly would not first off the proximity to our elementary school is incredibly concerning we pride ourselves for being a walking district and even have a walking school bus that means that many children would be walking right past this new store each and every day I worry about the impact on our children's already fragile mental health sadly this generation is very attuned to gun violence going through regular lockdown drills at school and hearing about school shootings far too often thoughtfully thinking through all of the implications of this store including permits insurance and countless other factors has not taken place these plans also have not been shared widely with concerned residents and parents everything has been done very quietly making this all feel sneaky which is not right gun stores have a frighteningly high rate of robberies and those would be taking place in the heart of a vibrant neighborhood filled with children of all ages given that a car flipped over on that street just a few weeks ago and a serious accident ended up on someone's lawn last Christmas this street and those around it are clearly not equipped for increase traffic I grew up in Somerville I love raising my kids here I enjoy coaching Recreation Sports supporting our schools and other Town programs and initiatives I've always been proud to say that I'm from here and I was proud to come back I love this town and I understand the need to bring in new businesses but I love my kids more and I demand that we prioritize the safety of our community Community I'll end on a personal note a colleag classmate and friend of mine lost her daughter in Sandy Hook and what her and her family have been through cannot even be described in words I honestly don't know how she has gotten past it her children her other family members her friends and hearing her Reflections and her anecdotes reflecting on what their experience has been absolutely heartbreaking we planted a tree in Jessica's memory but I also promised myself that I would take any opportunity to speak up in her defense and to always stand up for our kids and for school safety we now have that opportunity together and we cannot allow this store to move forward thank you thank you other public comment uh Jeff Lamour 32 Lisa terce uh I'm uh coming to talk about uh what you had started the meeting with tonight talking about about uh the events on the evening of uh January 30th um in light of a lot of the ears that are in the room not going to get in any specifics but the seriousness of the incident um certainly was something that um I was surprised the the burrow itself had not released a statement regarding that it's nice to hear that tonight um but I would think within 24 to 48 hours after such an event um something could have been said uh obviously specifics about the incident and investigation related to it are out of out of that jurisdiction but um bringing together of people and and a lot of the nervousness that uh my family and a lot of friends in the neighborhood that I know are are feeling currently um it would be nice to see that addressed from the burrow um but thank you for bringing it up tonight thank you other public comment yes Robert slowski 411 Williams Street I'm here to talk about first about the 25 mph speed limit through the town and there's um little situation on Union Avenue that needs to be addressed I had mentioned it to a couple people that are involved in the town but I haven't seen any action done on it yet so over by the school Vander school coming eastbound um no that's sorry that's westbound there's the end of school zone sign and then after that there's a couple 25 mph signs that were put up but you can't really see them because the trees are in the way so that needs to be addressed the trees either need to be removed the signs either need to be moved or they need to be trimmed and then I'm just going to bring up the trucks and the speeding on all streets but I live on Williams Street so I want to address that too um the patrols on that street have been less and less I you know I don't know what's going on I've been told that you know they're patrolling all the time and they do that on that road but I don't see them that much then the next I'm going to bring up is the street cleaner I guess it has disappeared I'm not sure it doesn't come around much but I think it's it's very important for the street cleaner to come around more now that the roads are being uh redone and if if it doesn't come around the roads are going to start getting bad and I have another one about the roads U pscg and the water company they do horrible work I mean I'm driving around in my van my van is falling apart because you know all the big potholes and the raised bumps and stuff you can't even drive up William Street coming up from Grove Street it's just horrible and uh then I have a personal problem with water coming in my backyard from about three or four different neighbors and it comes through my neighbors next door neighbor's yard he had some landscape work done and now it's coming into my yard and it's really bad I don't know what to do about it I had sent an email to Kevin and I don't know if he received it or not but I got no response so I don't know what to do about that and then last I want to mention a problem about you know drugs I think that's a bigger problem than the guns will ever be in this country and I just was hoping I can hear a couple comments of maybe some of the things I had mentioned thank you thanks so I I have a list I just want to get through public comment before I address any other public comment Brun pooi 63 West Orchard Street Mayor Gallagher I've been doing a lot of thinking since the last burough council meeting on January 16th we about a dozen of us spoke out against the proposed location for High Caliber ordinance since then I've had some time to consider what you said that evening when you spoke before opening up public comment that night one of the things you said was I want you to know that this is not something that we can change and a few moments later you said there really is nothing that can be done tonight you see before you concern citizens as I mentioned at the last meeting for every one of us who is here to speak tonight you better believe there are countless more people in town who feel the same way but aren't able to be here and their voices and opinions matter too I know of business owners who are considering not renewing their leases or searching for alternate locations so that they don't have to operate in close proximity to a gun shop I know of teachers exploring jobs in other districts and substitutes who will refuse jobs at Vander so that they don't have to teach just steps away from a gunshu and I know of homeowners who have heard from their Realtors sell now before this gunshu opens in your property values tank I have seen the Investments and improvements that have been made here in Somerville over the last 20 plus years I've seen our downtown fry our schools attract engaged and motivated teachers and our property values rise and yet now we're faced with a store selling firearms and ammunition just steps away from where our youngest children attend school and when we express concern you tell us this is not something we can change in the face of data about what gun stores do to crime rates and property values in a neighborhood in the face of an ongoing teacher shortage and in the face of all the progress that has been made to turn Somerville into a great place to live it seems extremely Reckless to just ring your hands and say there is really nothing that can be done most voters don't elect leaders expecting them to feain helplessness in the face of adversity your constituents have been telling you for weeks that this is not the right location for this shop you get to choose whether or not you're willing to hear us and whether or not you're willing to do some hard work and think creatively and encourage the owners to find an alternate location for their business there is plenty that can be done and if you don't do it and this shop does open in this location then you all will be affected by the consequences both as residents and as elected officials thank you thank you any other public comment Caroline flamos 37 West Spring Street so um I support the council sending the motion to the planning and zoning boards to reconsider the zones in our town they are very out of date I strongly encourage the Council planning board and Zoning Board to consider doing what Piscataway did which is to make a 1,000 foot gunfree school zone as the crow flies from the boundaries of school property a zone that can sell any type of weapons additionally I ask that our town look at the process for approving businesses and consider New Jersey law s368 requiring that current certificates of insurance be collected from a landlord and tenant to ensure that they have at a minimum 500,000 of liability insurance and that the company is aware of the business taking place on premises as the policy could be voided if not and therefore our citizens would potentially be at risk visiting that business walking on the sidewalks of that business or walking into any other business within the same building if the policy is voided by the landlord not telling the insurance company what business is taking place on premises and I speak from knowledge because I used to sell commercial insurance policies please consider our children as your first responsibility they're our most precious and irreplaceable resource I say that coming from a very strong strong place because while it would be awful for the town to experience a lawsuit from a potential business I want you to understand that those Sandy Hook families no matter how much money they got from victim relief funds no matter how much money they got from whatever lawsuits they filed will never replace their children children are an Irreplaceable resource they are human beings and they deserve for us to protect them they will be your doctors your lawyers and your counsil people as you age they are our future and we need to invest in their physical and emotional safety we are seeing a mental health crisis since the pandemic and I believe it is it is in no small part due to the fact that adults have been placing weapons ahead of their health and safety and by these children having to walk by a gun shop in their walking school bus on the way to school what better reminder every single day on the way to school and back that their safety and health is taking a backseat finally I would like to urge the council to look at the safety procedures in public and private schools in town inclusive of dayc carees we have no children to spare and no parent deserves what the parents of Uvaldi had to experience I identifying their children by their sneakers just marinating that for a second my mother we lost my sister as an adult she died a few years ago it's actually six years ago this week she will never be the same it shatters families and that's losing an adult child imagine losing your precious baby thank you thank you other public comment hi I'm Kate Ambrose I live at 204 East Cliff Street thank you for allowing me to speak I made my feelings known last council meeting on I appreciated the opportunity I just listening to people talk about Piscataway zoning restrictions on firearm sales I just wanted to list the number of ways this shop would have been excluded from opening in this very location if we had anything close to what piscatway has the premises is not within 1,000 ft of any of the following Nursery schools preschools child adult or special needs dayare centers elementary middle or high schools state or County University or colleges other schools not falling within the definition of subsection B4 and five funeral homes Health Services facilities other firearm sales dealers assisted living facilities churches or other places of worship Sunday school church or religious school liquor stores establ lishments in which alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises Parks playgrounds and commercial recreation facilities how sad that this shop is allowed to open within number of these things when we appeal to the zoning board to look at these um again can we please look at something similar to what piscatway has done in order to protect ourselves from these shops opening in these locations in the future thank you thank you any other public comment Bill Cisco 37 Eastern Avenue um just want to thank everybody for those comments those are great um um I have a different safety issue I'd like to address and uh um I would like you guys to consider it and you could probably get this done really easy so would be a quick win for the for the council um and I know you had you're in starting a new safety team and I appreciate that but by the time that's put together and they're able to do things I just didn't want to wait that long so that's why I'm here tonight um turning left out of the Somerville middle school parking lot on the High Street I do it in the morning when I drop off my kids for uh early band camp it is extremely dangerous it's so extrem dangerous that we now go through the parking lot we've our way around come out on the Davenport and go around but just closer to more children um okay so that's that's what I want to talk about during periods of high use especially in the morning um and being near the school students and I want to say that there are already blocked spaces on both sides of that entrance it's not enough okay um um and then the other thing uh is that when you put SUVs at those first parking spots you can't see around the SUVs all right rush hour at drop off times and AM PM make it even worse speeding on High Street we know speeding is a big issue in town it's especially big on on High Street the morning Sunrise comes right down High Street and when you're turning left you look and you can't see anything and you have an SUV there you have to creep real far out just to make a safe turn okay so my suggestions for improvement are to block off the three parking spaces to the east of the exit and the two spaces to the West this can easily be done and there's precedents all over town There's precedents right around the block on Cliff Street so it's easy to do it could be done tomorrow um I would also suggest you make the corner of High Street in Davenport a four-way stop inter a four-way stop um that will help slow down traffic as they approach I can't believe there's not one there already considering how many students cross cross there um uh in in addition lights need to be improved it's a very dark corner um reduce the speed limit on High Street from Ross to Mercer from 25 to 15 it's a school zone let's reduce it slow down the traffic erect speed humps um install flashing speed sign there are lots of different ways we can do it I will email this to you all for consideration um and uh again um it's really dangerous I I we we do everything we can to avoid it so uh go do it someday in a bright sunny day get there at 7:30 8:00 and try to turn left out of there you'll be scared out of your mind so thank you thank you any other public comment hi hi hi my name is Maisy Walsh 17 West Cliff Street um so I wasn't going to speak today public speaking is not really my thing um this is my first town council meeting ever and I like it it's nice it's nice to know that I can come somewhere and I can talk about you know how I feel about things that are going on in my community you know and um today as you can see I'm talking about things that not only I feel about but that a lot of a lot of our our community has very strong feelings about um so so yeah so my comments today are largely with regard to the gun and ammo store that is intending to open within the gun preschool Zone at V Elementary School um a little background about me uh my husband and I bought our first home in summer in 2021 uh we were super excited about it we were actually not intending to come to Somerville at all we were going to go to one of the surrounding towns um only to find that this big sprawling suburban area was not really what we wanted and um we only found that out by driving from one end of that town to the other and coming through Somerville um and in doing so we saw that Somerville was this amazing beautiful Community just vibrant um we have this amazing downtown um we have the downtown Somerville Alliance and I now know know that just does wonderful things for the community they just do these amazing events and you know they take care of everyone um and overall what we really noticed was that Somerville was a super diverse family town and we love that and so we bought our first house here and we started to build our family here um today our family is continuing to grow um uh one of the other reasons why I'm up here talking is for my son my son at home and of course my the one on the way right and um this is really about them um so with that all being said so child safety is at the Forefront of our minds mine myself and my husband you know we always reevaluate changes in the town so traffic patterns all these stop signs you know all these like accidents that happen on cliff and Grove right all the crazy things that go on all the time we're constantly re-evaluating that and we're thinking about you know the path that our children are going to take to to school you know they're going to take a walking path to all of the schools that they're going to be going to and um and we think about that a lot and and that's why when we found out that this gun and ammo store was opening where it was you know we were shocked it's on a walking path that our children would take um and that just shocked us to our core just based on everything that we had learned about Somerville in the time that we had been here that that would be happening we really can't imagine why such a family-friendly and safe town would agree to doing such a thing um one reason that this is so surprising is that crime rates around gun shops are so high and I know someone else mentioned that as well for the ATF federal firearms licy theft and loss report in 2021 gun shops were the victims of theft and robbery at a rate of two times a day in the United States that type of statistic is a major concern when considering child safety in our town additionally in 2024 so far it's the beginning of February there have already been five incidents of gunfire on school grounds resulting in three deaths and seven injuries nationally gun violence at schools feels like an epidemic in this country recently the mental and emotional wellbeing of students and their parents is suffering to open a gun shop specifically on the Walking path of many students unnecessarily causes anxiety a general feeling of unease and a lack of feeling safe in a town that everyone calls home some people are criticizing our argument and they're saying that this is an argument about gun control in the Second Amendment it is not this is an argument about our kids and their right to Safety in our town it's not an argument that a gun store shouldn't open in Somerville rather it's an argument that a gun store shouldn't be allowed to open in a gunfree school zone our kids deserve better than this thanks for listening thank you any other public comment Christina Edelman 42 cottington Place uh last time that I spoke with you I spoke um words really requesting and looking forward to seeing what your actions would be uh after hearing our concerns um I am enthused and hopeful about uh rezoning and having those reflect the values of the town and the values of the council I'm not here to speak to you about um the things that I've already told you about my feelings about guns their nearness to our children that has been well established and I imagine their concerns felt by a lot of you so my words are so far of thanks but also encouraging creative thinking as has been mentioned before uh I know that we all operate within the laws of our town and within the bureaucracy that we need to function in and I would encourage all of the council everyone listening uh to think creatively about what within our laws uh can be done can be done to ensure the safety of our children uh working with and hearing from some of the very wonderful civilians who have jumped into action C at this to learn about laws that I had no idea about to find flaws within our own systems uh to find bureaucracy that could potentially hinder or prevent a store from opening uh so work within the systems that you have to get the results that you want thank you thank you other public comment hi uh Aaron St Angelo 41 RW Street me and my wife actually just moved to town and we moved here because my sisters lived here for 15 years and we thought it was a safe place to raise our family so just coming from a scientific background I just want to give some facts this is the 36th day of 2024 the United States has already had fitting 36 shootings which have resulted in 66 people dying and only nine arrests have been made in all of those shootings another what we have also seen is the opening of any gun dealership within 100 miles and 4% increase in crime and as a hurricane is said the walls of the eye are the strongest and that puts Vander school right in that path so I implore you to think about the children our town our surrounding towns and not do this thank you other public comment hi there mallerie Craig carum 41 RW Street I'd like to thank you all for this opportunity and giving us time to share our thoughts um I'm a new resident of Somerville that's my wife who's getting over a cough and uh we moved here from San Francisco we've lived in New York City we've lived in in big places where crime was extremely high and violence was something that you thought about on a daily basis part of the reason why I work in New York City but live in Somerville is because I want to feel safe in my town and I want my family to feel safe in my town I am a product of the Coline generation I'm a '90s kid the day I got my first cell phone was the day Coline happened my parents were devastated all of our parents ran to our schools all of our parents ran and picked us up and ever since Coline every year of my education I have had gun drills where I'm under desks where I'm practicing covering doors with my teachers and my classmates and I don't want that for my children and my nieces and my nephews I have a niece who's six years old who goes to vanir who I see pretty much every day I have a three-year-old nephew the news of the school shootings impacts them my six-year-old niece has asked me Aunt mallerie what do I do if someone brings a school a gun to my school and wants to hurt us and I tell her there will be drills you will be safe but what can we do to prevent my niece and my nephew and our children from experiencing what I had to experience growing up in the 2000s in the colum Vine era we can do whatever we can to make Somerville safer it does not matter what's going on in the rest of the country it's not a constitutional issue right now there are ways where we can think about just our town I just want to be here in my town and feel safe with my family so I really implore you to think about kind of what we need as as your constituents thank you so much thank you any other public comment hearing none I'll ask for a motion to close second discussion roll call council members Teresa Bonner yes Glen Den yes yes Randy pittz yes Denis traic yes Roger ver yes so as as I had stated um first of all thank you for all coming in um we we do listen uh I know some of you don't think we do but we do um we share concerns um one of those is reflected tonight we understand that there is a concern and at this point we can prepare for the future what we can do is refer this to the planning board so they can begin to identify what zoning is appropriate and what zoning is not appropriate in zoning laws you can't anticipate everything you just cannot anticipate every scenario for every store and let me also explain that when a store conforms under zoning it's not as if it comes to this body for review and approval the the the review and approval starts with the burrow approving the zoning ordinance once that zoning ordinance is in place it then has the ability to be administered it's administrative in burrow Hall every business that comes into Somerville is not reviewed and approved by this governing body it doesn't happen it doesn't happen that way and I think there's somewhat of a misconception that that we looked at this and pushed it through and said yes go ahead uh that is not the case the case is they complied with the existing zoning and therefore it is allowed um many have expressed the concern that it shouldn't be and I understand that I live fairly close to that area I think actually a number of us do um we share a concern what I would encourage you to do is to go to the zoning board or to the planning board when when we begin this process and talk about it I love the folks that come with positives that say you know let's think creatively about how we can look at this a little bit differently I love that that's what we want that's what we need um that's what encourages the council to do things a little bit differently and and we need that I said at the beginning of this you know the the the burrow runs on volunteers and that volunteer capability is not just you know sitting on a committee what you're doing here today is also volunteering you're volunteering your your passion your belief your conviction um and and that is a good thing um I would like to give you an answer but you know as it as again as it relates to this specific store we are now precluded from speaking about it we we just can't um so I can talk in Broad Strokes of what the next steps are uh and the next steps are creating that zoning that that provides Our Town overall Safety and Security not just for guns this is overall um we're carving this out we anticipated looking at our zoning ordinance overall this year um that I outlined on Jan January 1 uh this is a specific request to the planning board that we take this up as a single item and begin to review this uh so that we can craft an appropriate zoning ordinance for the future um we may have more to say about the existing but at this point we can't we just cannot say anything more on that um but I do thank you for coming out uh many of you um you know I've seen many of you I've talked to some of you um you know I understand the fear I understand the anger um I've raised five children in this town I get it I absolutely get it but we also have to abide by laws we live in in a uh a society of laws and without that it begins to destabilize now I know you're going to say well the you know our children matter the most and they do without a doubt without a doubt every one of them does um come to the planning board meetings be a part of that process that is the future of what safety looks like it's the future of what our zoning looks like be a part of that process and be creative about it um and at the end of it I think you'll come out understanding a little bit better what the zoning process is what it can do what it can't do um but I think you'll come out of it it uh with a with a a a good understanding and probably more important a uh a part of the process so thank you uh sir in regards to your comments you had a number of them so so the uh the the trees covering the 25 M per hour signs Uh Kevin can we get DPW out there tomorrow to take a look at that those are those were installed by the state I believe uh it doesn't matter let's take a look at them okay we we'll take a look at them yeah drout 28 cuz cuz if we wait for DOT it it could it could be forever if we got to trim a few trees I think they just installed yeah then then we'll do that um on Williams Street uh traffic enforcement um we'll step up uh I'll make a call to the chief tomorrow if you can follow up with the traffic officer Kevin and uh let's begin to step up some enforcement and I William Street has been been been an issue for for a while um it it's it's perceived as one of those cuts and the challenge is people are on 28 as a state highway and they go a certain speed and then they hit that residential area and they don't realize it you know they 28 turns left they keep going um the street cleaner I agree uh it needs to be out there more um I believe we share it with Raritan is that correct Kevin no we have one operation we do cuz I know we lost we lost one generally during the winter months they're not active so generally December January yeah just because they're water based what I will also tell you is psng I I agree William Street is horrendous it's like driving on the moon um I have a very lengthy list for psng and that is one of them um you know they're doing a lot of work in town they've done a lot of work in town uh but that doesn't pre preclude them from doing good work uh even if it's temporary it uh it needs to be leveled out uh because that is I mean it's literally just those are your speed humps you know people going eastbound uh actually have to go slow uh people coming westbound are are the Speeders right now um uh as far as your water issue if you can resend that email to Kevin um he'll send that to I have you'll share that with me okay uh yeah it's it's it's we're examining the the property improvements that were done in surrounding area Okay potentially made his property U more wet yeah one of the challenges on something like that is typically it becomes a civil issue uh where the burrow doesn't have much uh control over that um but uh I guess bur Hall will take a look at that you know your letter and and take a look at the situation um as far as the drugs issue um it's everywhere and and it's awful uh regardless of where you stand on the marijuana issue you know opening up Stores um uh I'm not a big fan uh but I think it it leads to other things I think if you ask a lot of police officers they will tell you it's a Gateway um my feeling is when they pass the uh uh the marijuana ordinance or the the sale uh overwhelmingly the public passed it overwhelmingly but I think the the idea was to allow people in their own homes to you know to to do what they want um not realizing the ramifications of it you know I drive to work at 6 o'clock in the morning between 5:30 and 6 and I can smell it on the road from the cars in front of me it's it's it's everywhere it's prevalent um it's a problem uh do I have an answer for you I don't I don't um I think we have to look at our laws locally Statewide um and and our state legislators that's really you know the the loosening of laws I mean they're talking about loosening up um laws for uh psychedelic mushrooms now I it just you know 10 years ago I don't think anybody any legislator would have ever even considered talking about that well now they're talking about it it's it's a problem um what message does that send to our kids uh so I agree with you it's it's a big problem um Mr Cisco if you can share that with us uh I don't disagree with you I've tried to turn left out of out of that and it's just it's a recipe for disaster um it it's I think what we can do is actually have our traffic officer go out it would take some coordination obviously with the schools as well uh to try to figure out what that solution is um even maybe a some kind of circulation plan uh whether it's a right turn only out of the parking lot whether it's you know in one and out you know the Davenport although Davenport gets very tight too so when you're trying to turn out of the Davenport that that can be a problem as well especially if you've got a larger SUV you're swinging into traffic so what's that I have suggestion good okay all right yeah please do please do um and uh I think that covered all of the comments so but again I thank all of you for coming out uh for sharing it this is the forum for it this is what you're supposed to do um um we believe it or not like to have people here at our Council meetings um it's uh I can tell you from years past having two and three people at a council meeting um it's nice to have the public engaged so thank you uh consent resolutions are there any that people would like to have pulled off all right uh 050 is approving the refund of performance bonds uh for a total amount of $16,600 7 for the py group Somerville station project 51 is authorizing the burough of Somerville to apply for 24 through 26 spotted Lantern fly Lantern fly programs population reduction chemical control treatment Opportunity Grant through the state of New Jersey 52 is accepting a grant of $2,742 from the Hazardous dis discharge site remediation fund program through the New Jersey uh Eda and the Department of Environmental Protection 53 is authorizing vehicles to be disposed as scrap value 54 is approving the Alpha Romeo Owners Club to utilize parking spaces in front of the historic Courthouse as noted 55 is approving overpayment refund for land disturbance permit located at 52 Fairview Avenue to Durer re in 56 is requesting that the Somerville burrow planning board conduct a review of the current zoning laws and regulations regarding Firearms retail stores and outlets and propose recommendation to the burough Council for consideration 57 authorizing an intent to purchase a 24 Chevy Tahoe under New Jersey state contract through gentility Motors and lighting package through East Coast emergency lighting for a total amount of $77,200 58 is approving Spartan Spirit 5K Saturday June 22 8:30 a.m. contingent on OEM and PD approvals 59 is approving the Central Jersey Corvette club to utilize parking spaces in front of this the courthouse June 7 and August 2 2024 5: to 9:00 p.m. for Cru tonight display 060 is approving a 24 Farmers Market seasonal fee schedule and application process for the Somerset County Regional farmers market do we have a motion so moved second discussion all in favor I opposed bills and vouchers yes sir I would like to move in the amount of 2 milon 72,0 65386 do we have a second second thank you uh discussion roll call council members Teresa Bonner yes Glenn Dene yes Randy Pitts yes Gus traic yes Roger V I need to recuse myself from the January 9th and 10th uh Duty vouchers the rest yes great thank you all right um I'm going to ask for a motion for adjournment Tom's not here so who wants it Randy made the motion I'll make a motion to adjourn second uh all in favor I opposed this meeting is adjourned