all right then calling to order the South River mayor and burrow council meeting number 19 today on December the 18th 2023 meeting is hereby call to order may I have the statement of notice of publication Madam clerk in compliance with chapter 231 of public law of 1975 notice of this meeting to be held at the criminal justice building 61 Main Street South River has been public in the home News Tribune on January 6 2023 posted on the municipal building bulletin board the burough website the front door of the Criminal Justice building at 61 Main Street South River thank you roll call Mayor krenzel here councilwoman Ballas here councilman ginsky here councilwoman Mira here councilman olera here council president Cula here please stand for the salute to the flag I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with Li and justice for all please remain standing for silence thank you please be seated we unfortunately must go into executive session now because we'll be discussing some matters that are on the agenda so we will come back after that and have our usual run of the meeting Madam clerk resolution 2023 36 346 whereas Section 8 of chapter 231 Public Law of 1975 permits the exclusion of the general public from a meeting of the governing body under certain circumstances and whereas the mayor and counsil of the burough South River are of the opinion such circumstances presently exist now therefore beon is hereby resolved by the mayor and Council of the burrow South River in the county of middlex of the state of New Jersey that the public be excluded upon the the here and after specific subject matter and that such subject matter to be so discussed is as follows litigation contract negotiations be a further resolve that such record of the above discussion will be made public when confidentiality is no longer required thank you pleasure on the resolution the resolution resolution has been moved by Mrs Ballas second seconded by Mr siula roll call councilwoman Ballas councilman kensy yes Council Amira yes councilman olera yes council president Cula yes okay we shall return f is seconded by Mr Olivera all in favor I against the eyes have it moving on to our regular agenda as we have reconvened to the public session we have the agenda session two things to uh discuss Mr zanga Bond anticipation notes yes thank you mayor we had our annual Bond anticipation note we received an interest rate of 4.5% also received the premium which gave us a net interest rate of 3.79 3 which is a very good rate that's it is stay in age yes it is do we have to do anything with this no just be mentioned okay vacant Council seat mayor if I may um just on this agenda one i' like to call for a special meeting on December 27th 2023 at 7 p.m here at the public safety building 61 Main Street South River New Jersey okay okay awesome okay um when Mr gindy resigned from the council the Republican organization had 15 days to uh present three names uh they have done so uh the council has officially received those three names and there'll be a special meeting on December 27th that's 27th y okay then there'll be a special meeting on the 27th I'll call for it and uh it'll be discussed at that time M Mr Mayor I'm sorry just a point of order are you calling for or is council president calling for it because if Council president's calling for it I believe Council rules requires a vote of uh council member so if you could just take well it's been suggested so I would call for it you're going to call for it okay then that's fine then if if Mr Mayor if you could just send out your letter um advising councel I would appreciate it thank you very good then will you see to it that that's done okay ordinances second reading by second reading public hearing 2023 D31 Madam clerk ordinance 2023-the SEC state of New Jersey amending the burrow code of the burrow of South River so as to amend chapter 22 entitled boards commissions and authorities and somebody will wave the full reading oh make a motion to wave the full reading sorry about that second okay motion to wave the full reading by Mr siola seconded by Mrs Ballas all in favor against the eyes have it we now have a public hearing on this ordinance concerning boards commissions and authorities please come forward give your name address and you can ask any questions or make any comments on first call second call Rich bur to set place I just like to say thank you for acting on this request uh we had on the environmental commission we had inadvertently uh appointed someone who was a St John Venni hell student uh who technically wasn't eligible um and this will now any Resident who's a you know a high school student will be in so that's uh thank you for acting on this okay very good sir again first call second call third call make motion to close public motion has been made to close by Mr sua seconded by Mr grensky all in favor all right against the eyes have it your pleasure on the ordinance the ordinance the ordinance has been move by Mrs Ballas second seconded by Mr ginsky discussion roll call councilwoman Ballas councilman grensky yes Council Amira yes councilman olera yes council president Cula yes okay the motion to adopt has been accepted and passed and now we move to 2023 d32 Madam clerk ordinance 2023 32 an ordinance of the burrow of South River County of middle state of New Jersey authorizing the sale of Block 105 lot 18.01 to Charmaine Larin and Jess buffalino in accordance with the provisions njsa 4A colon 12-13 make a motion to wave the full reading second motion to wave the full reading by Mr suula seconded by Mr grensky all in favor I against the eyes have it if anyone wishes to come forward please do so now to discuss or ask any questions upon this matter please give your name and address on first call second call third call motion to close public motion to close by Mr suula seconded by Mrs Ballas all in favor I against the eyes have it moving on to our reports finally got here so yes good evening everyone uh not a lot of change in the report but I'll go through it uh the 2023 local aid program we're working on that design the 2023 Local transportation projects Grant uh where we submitted application waiting to hear from the do the 2024 local aid program we submitted a proposal for that you received a grant and we submitted a proposal for the engineering work on that to you the 2024 Local transportation projects uh you haven't submitted for that you have until June of next year so if there are are any roads that you would like to please let us know on the substation we held the preconstruction meeting we issued the contracts and the notice to proceed and the New Jersey D storm water assistance grant application they have uh taken elevation or taken the locations of most of the catch basins now they're working on some of the mapping and that is it I will answer any questions you may have I have a question Bruce yes um um I we do have here that we're going to be authorizing for the um the Engineering Services for um gusi Park feasibility study I just was wondering what that entails on your part for this study it's really in the hands of our environmental division it will be to go out there uh review the area determine if there are wetlands or any other Environmental Al constraints if so locate them our survey department will go out and do a survey of those points and that will be put on a map so we can determine what land is constrained and what land is available to be able to build upon okay that's all I have anyone else no thank you sir thank you Mr Zenga nothing to report nothing to say okay and we have to there nothing for our police okay clerk nothing okay legal I have nothing tonight no okay did I miss somebody with fire fire nothing oh that's right congratulations yes our new Chief moving enough yeah that's right so anything Mr ba no okay uh let's see since I want to end I will start here Mrs Mar anything um for my committees I just want to say the environmental commission will have their last meeting this week on Thursday um we have a very strong group of volunteers on the environmental commission the Green Team uh the shade tree I just want to thank everybody for all the time they spent coming out and uh improving South River the way they do I hope that everyone who is on now continues to serve at their capacity uh I'm not sure whose terms end this year but I'm almost positive they would all like to continue to uh serve South River the best they can so um I just want to thank them for all their hard work and dedication uh like you guys see Richard burn is here at almost all of our meetings as well as being the chair of the environmental commission so I thank him for all the time that he spends here um for the library I just want to mention that uh they will be open during the winter break if any of the kids want to get stuff done or hang out at the library they always have new stuff new movies new audio books new games even hotpots to rent if you to um to use at home if you need it so please stop at the library until the end of the year especially if it gets cool out and you want something to do so a good book is always enjoyable uh that's all I have Mr okay thank you Mr grety thank you mayor uh the only thing I have is that the Office on Aging had their Christmas party at the RAR and Affair was uh enjoyed by all that's about it mayor thank you okay thank you Mr Al so from a parks and recck perspective we have basketball cheerleading and wrestling that are underway uh our cheerleading teams will have their first competition I believe January 6 if I'm not mist uh in mville uh wrestling had their first comp uh match already and basketball they have started practicing uh some exciting things that are coming up from a a wreck perspective we're currently going after two grants um one is through Green Acres which would help with walking paths at DA's Pond uh once we get the the funds from uh that Council woman mayor was able to get from us that's going to be able to help the field uh finish the cameras the backnet um and then this grant if we hopefully get will uh assist with The Walking path in addition to that we're also going after a grant for inclusive playground equipment this grant will cover 75% of the total cost of the project so we had a great meeting with Ben schaer to discuss uh different sites but this also requires uh Community engagement we hosted our first public hearing um to let's talk about parks and wreck uh but we only had one individual show up we will be doing uh some more during the New Year and we will be also releasing a survey for the residents to give us some input on on what we can and uh not what we can and can't do but what is recommended and what they would like to see at the different Parks so again as councilwoman mayor mentioned I want to thank uh Mr burn and the the Green Team the Shay Tre everyone that attended um this grant requires input from you guys and I just want to thank you guys for showing up in providing that and we'll let you guys know when our next hearing is all right that's all I have there okay thank you Mr sea no nothing to report okay Mr Ballas I have nothing at this time either okay I'll talk later on there too um uh let's see moving on let's public comments if you have anything you'd like to say please come forward you have 10 minutes give your name and address address uh Richard burn 11 betet place um I wanted to talk about the uh senior Fixit program uh back in 2011 Atlantic County implemented a senior fix it program and I had fortunate enough to be able to volunteer uh a couple of times for that and it was one of the most rewarding things I got to do down there and uh so to see that you that you're going to put one in uh here in the burrow um I'm just I can't tell you how how satisfied it is and uh that Jim Hutchinson is a great guy to uh to run that program so thank you uh for for doing that um I was going to say uh to Mrs Mera that uh you know your last uh meeting well actually you'll you'll be here Thursday but I'll I'll say you know it was a pleasure working with you on the environmental commission I'll uh still get to see you because I'm going to come for her Cuts but in in fact I'm going to ask tomorrow but um and uh you know we we'd love to see you come out for events again uh in the future um for mayor krenzel I I was going to prepare remarks but if things go the way I think they're going to go we're going to get you back so I'm going to reserve those comments for the for the for the first so okay um thank you um and that's it thank you okay thank you anyone else good evening Dan canel Court um so I just have a couple comments just uh this is my well I guess since the first time that I came which is about six months ago um when I introduced myself the first time that's when the water issue was first brought up and I'd be remissed if we didn't bring it up again today because it should be brought up uh every single time I know you guys are still working on it at some some uh level we're unkknown of what the entire plan is as as residents but with that being said um I've been watching so for the um meetings that I haven't been here I have been watching them on YouTube and the two meetings ago um I was a little taken back by the remarks by you Mr Mayor um when you gave the little speech about the man in the arena and yes this is not a you know this job probably goes a lot without being you know pat on the back it's kind of thankless probably in many aspects and I understand that but if you're taking this job to receive and seek out pats on the back then maybe you taking this job for the wrong reasons I listened to what you talked about for Sandy I would live here at the time but it sounds like you're ministration in your city you did outstanding work for that um but what you have not done is taken care of the residents and the water issue you knew about it in 2019 there was a report that was done sometime in 98 you know we you know Mr Aliva points out you know we shouldn't point fingers about which Administration here which Administration when point is you were the leader for the last 12 years the infrastructure is what it is far worse than it was 12 years ago and I'm sure a lot more expensive to repair today than it was 12 years ago um social media is not the place I don't agree with that being the sole source of people to voice their concerns and complaints but there's probably a reason why people do that before I started coming here I heard from other residents the council doesn't care they're not going to respond they're not going to change they don't reply I still haven't received an email back from you six months ago little disappointing I brought that up to you six months ago when I was here so that's one outlet that those the residents go to it's pretty sad that we come here the seats are empty why is that when an interaction I don't know I'm not out there with you guys but what interaction are you doing with the residents to encourage them to come here and voice the good things you're doing because not everything's bad I want I want to preface that not everything is bad that you're doing but there are things that need to be improveed that leaders should stand up to do hold people accountable so many meetings that I've listened to and you ask questions of this gentleman here I don't know I don't know we're waiting for this I don't know how is that okay it's not so moving forward into 2024 for those of you that will be here the new mayor that will be here I encourage you listen to your residents go on the social media and pre you can read through the lines what what's legitimate what's not but be responsive be responsive take accountability own up to your failures your successes will follow learn from your failures your successes will follow as was a platoon Sergeant in the military police Corps I wasn't the most like guy but I knew every night what I did at the end of that day I could put my head on my pillow go to sleep well because I did right by the people that I was that's all I ask of you thank you anyone else on First Call good evening it's the first time for me here your name address I'm sorry my name is Sam TW I live I own 68 and 67 Causeway Street and about the war talk about the flood I'm losing every my shirt because when I bought it they told me oh sometime comes sometime goes you know well I spend all my money as a cash I pay all the taxes behind taxes Mr fright I mean Towing with they own back taxes I paid all of it but I'm not getting no service no garbage collected my water bill up to the sky nobody knows they come read the The Meters oh that's from 2019 but I I wasn't there 2019 but you follow I say want to give me the bill every month I receive it say well you have to for your mail but the mailman doesn't come because the water flood that's my problem now cost me over $50,000 the past maybe five month of flooding cars and trucks and the cops they are good they're doing job they come give us a tickets because they parking the side because on the street and there no sign say no trucks no commercial they come they put piece of paper on it no trucks allowed fine and I see a lot of trucks come from different town or different place park there that's that's supposed to be ticket but they ticket the trucks the one in front of my shop or they tow it and that's my problem sir you I'm trying to you've got several different problems my problem the water flood anything about it we're going to do something about it I call up the county the county of the Town town I'm just going around the circle and uh the water is not going any better the problem is is that the river flows yeah but and it comes up the sewer line is clogged the water goes but come back actually you see live fish in the street you see live fish in the street because the seore line is clogged it's like cement it's no more cleaned it's supposed to be dig out come out replace them this will be done to be considered by the water I think we've complained in the past has the county ever come out to clean this SS but I know they do good job for the bank they come they did great job I asked want to do the same thing with our s right here said no it's not an our map to do it I said but this is a town I mean County streets is not a town that's the answer sir well for the project for 2024 write them a letter and ask them when are they going to come in 2024 to clean out the SE okay leave your uh address with him and he will CC you a copy of that letter thank you sir and I'll bring this up at the next County Commissioner meeting because I I tend to go to those so I I will speak on this next time the sewer is not going to be problem they have to take it out because it's cement it's the clock the war goes but it's no valve to to clug it to go back the one is supposed to be smooth going out coming back yeah okay thank you you have your project anyone else first call second call third call close public portion motion has been made to close public Portion by Mr siola seconded by Mrs B all in favor against the eyes have it moving on to new business there is no new business then we come down to our governing comments we will start with Mrs ball May you're right mayor if I may could I ask for uh resolution 351 to be read separately yes I have a flooded basement so I'm in a hurry to leave okay Madam clerk whereas resolution 20231 authorizes the burough Council to utilize a consent agenda to adopt various resolutions of a routine and non-controversial nature at one time nether therefore be and is hereby resolved that the below listed resolutions are hereby adopted by the burough Council in whole as if the same were individually acted upon consent resolutions 2023 347 to 2023 359 347 authorize the acquisition of funds for payment to the custodian of school monies 348 authorizing the cancellation of all balances less than $10 349 authorizing CME to provide Engineering Services for gregowski Park feasibility study 350 authorizing a stien for the implementation of the Fixit repair program 352 cancelling unexpended Improvement author authorizations 353 authorize certain util refunds 354 resolution authorizing the carryover buyback 355 approval of agreement with South River Sewer and Water Association 356 transfer of year 2023 budget Appropriations 357 accept December 4th 2023 regular meeting minutes 358 authorize the bills and claims list and 359 resolution appointing Council on Aging member your pleasure on the ordinances ordinances resolutions second by Mrs Ballas seconded by Mr Cula roll call Council Ballas yes councilman grensky yes councila yes councilman Ola yes council president Cula yes with the exstension from 358 um numbers 23-2 974 0316 03185 03260 and 03 3 261 okay now resolution 2023 351 resolution in support of assembly bill number 4536 Senate bill number 530 oh can't see s304 to establish minimum registered professional nursing staff standards whereas a one patient increase in a nurse's workload increased the likelihood of an inpatient death within 30 days of admission by 7% and whereas mortality risk decreases by 9% for ICU patients and 16% for surgery patients with the increase of one FTE RN per patient day and whereas nurse staffing shortages are a factor in one out of every four unexpected hospital deaths or injuries caused by errors and whereas a 2021 study published in the American Journal of infection control found that each additional sepsis patient per nurse was associated with 90% higher odds of inhospital mortality and whereas a study of New York hospitals in 2021 showed significant decreases in patient deaths would occur if patient care was limited to a ratio of four patients to one nurse 4370 deaths would have been avoided in New York just among Medicare patients during the 2-year study and whereas under Staffing at hospitals Ambulatory Surgery facilities and state Development Centers and psychiatric hospitals have been demonstrated to be an underlying cause of the current nursing shortage because higher patient assignments create higher levels of job dissatisfaction burnout and turnover rates among nurses now therefore be is hereby resolved the governing body of the burough of South River as follows the burrow of South River hereby urges its elected representatives in the New Jersey state legislator to adopt assembly bill number 4536 Senate bill number s304 a copy of the resolution upon its adoption shall be furnished to Senator Patrick Dagan congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman assemblyman Robert carab and assemblyman sterley Stanley and a copy of this resolution upon its adoption shall also be furnished to the governor of the state of New Jersey your pleasure on the resolution move the resolution the resolution has been moved by Mrs Ballas second seconded by Mrs mayor comments councilman Ballas yes comments comments oh sorry you want comments I I just wanted to thank you Mr Mayor for being able to put this on the agenda as we saw at our last meeting we do have um um a lot of nurses who live in South River and supporting something as easily as safe Staffing uh is much appreciated both to them and to us as we use the hospitals you know when we need it so we're happy to help them when they need it yes I entirely concur that's why I put it on definitely uh I mean what was it four months that uh They Were Striking there in new br I mean it was ridiculous but let's see if we can give a little bit of nudge to the people in power anyone else then roll call councilwoman balis yes councilman grensky yes councila yes councilman olera yes council president Cula yes okay very good then reading the agenda carefully we have new business none governing body comments okay this is B that was me okay um first I'd like to thank the forign police for uh Santa Sunday I heard it was a success I saw the the trucks going around I unfortunately had no kids to I but they should cut into my house but uh I heard it was it was really really nice to councilwoman miror it's been a pleasure serving with you I'm sure you're going to stay involved with the with the town and I hope that you do and I wish you all the best and whatever you do in the future so the mayor I've known him for 50 years now my God we're old and uh uh we've been through quite a bit together lots of one elections less elections um I appreciate you bringing me through the ranks way back in the day in the in the 80s and um you've been a great mentor and a great friend and I wish you all the best thank you um first of councilman mayor um it was aure pleasure serving with you um Good Luck on all your future endeavors and as Mrs Balor said hopefully you still be around with the uh environmental and stuff like that and keep active um I have one thing I'd like to do Christmas wishing everybody uh the holidays if you like to please come forward mayor on behalf of the council the burough of South River like to present you with a plaque presented to John M kenzel mayor appreciation and recognition for his services rendered to the burough of South River as mayor in 2012 to [Applause] 2023 okay in closing um i' like to wish everybody a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year thank you thank you Mr ol um I said my farewell speeches last meeting because I didn't think I was going to be here because of work so whatever I said last meeting will carry forward to this meeting but thank you uh Council mayor and mayor krenzel for everything um I know there was a special meeting called on the 27th I will not be here I will be on vacation with my family um unfortunately I don't even think I'll be able to call in because I will be in Puerto Rico and I don't know where type of service I'm going to get so um and with that you know I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holidays uh again thank you to the fire department and the police department the collaboration with the Grinch and Santa was awesome to see this year and Hope as we mentioned in public safety we're able to continue that so thank you guys once again and happy holidays to everyone thank you Mr griny thank you I think uh councilman Oliver said it pretty much all and uh I'd like to thank our police and fire department and everything too for the showing and the involvement with the community also Robert Wood Johnson um everyone else on the thing uh councilwoman Al it's been a pleasure working with you councilwoman Council that's councilwoman all counc Council woman sorry uh with that I wish everybody a very happy holidays and everything Hanukkah has passed and Christmas is upon us and K Quanza and everything else with that I thank you mayor thank you councilwoman well thank you Mr Mayor but before I start uh so I'm clarifying we are having a meeting for December 27th yes that's official we don't vote on it we're having it okay so this won't be my last meeting I thought it was going to be my last meeting but uh I want to say thank you not many of you will miss me though I know that of being up here but in the last three years I didn't think I could make any type of difference being the only Democrat up here against this Administration um but I think I was wrong uh in my own opinion I have even thought myself to be the only person to hold you all accountable for certain decisions up here um now I am leaving and I hope it's not for a long time again I've got 30 more years to run up here uh if I'm if I'm hoping to continue uh helping this town so um residents need a voice you are that voice um you all need to listen a little bit harder our infrastru structure will not fix itself uh your decisions up here will so act like you want to be here um you are here because our residents do believe in what you can do for them and um and that is why we hold you accountable so much for the decisions that are made here uh I say it for myself as well I've enjoyed being up here because this job is a privilege uh it's not thankless I think I am thankful every day to be able to serve this community um you're right we don't need a pat on the back we appreciate knowing that we make a difference when we can and uh I hope to continue to to do that uh eventually so I am thankful for the time that I have been up here and I will continue to serve the community I have also been asked by elect if I'd like to be on any commissions I'm going to say no because I want you all to continue to allow the people that actually want to volunteer on these boards and commissions to do so um we've seen in the past year that people wanted to be on certain boards that weren't appointed we should not be turning down any volunteer for South River South River needs our community to come together um um we need the input from all of our residents and show the support from all of our community so um that doesn't mean I'm going away I'm sure you guys will hear me plenty from now until next year um and just know that our volunteers are so important to this town and I hope we continue to let people know to come and serve the burrow just like we do I think everyone has the same goal and that is to make South River our home because I've lived here all my life most of you have lived here all your lives um and I continue to want to see South River grow um that's why my family's here that's why I'm not going anywhere so um I just hope that South River does bring change for the new year and I hope um you know we're going to have a meeting next meeting to fill a vacant spot I I hope that just means we're going to have more change for the new year but I guess we will see what happens um other than that I just want to say thank you for everyone who allowed me to serve my term for the last three years for the burough of South River um other than that I hope everybody has a safe holiday um stay warm I know it's getting windy and chilly and I hope to see everyone in the new year thank you there is a long tradition that we've had in South River of gadflies coming to our meetings and you know people usually look down upon them but to be a true gadfly is to make sure that what goes on up here is done for the right purposes and that is what you have done you've kept us on our toes you've asked the questions sometimes we didn't want you to ask those questions but you ask the questions anyway and that is what the people who are in as we say the loyal opposition is to do is to make the comfortable uncomfortable to come up and ask the questions and I hope that you will continue to do so and you may have somebody there in the uh who's also of South River to come to our meetings and ask questions and as Mr scall would come up here and you know I mean you know what are you doing that for 15 years ago you tried it and it failed then it's going to fail now um they become the collective memory people up here change but the people who sit out there in the audience do not so by all means thank you and we have something for you too councilwoman mayor B South River middlex County New Jersey presented to Julie R miror in appreciation and recognition for your services to the burough of South River as a member of the South River burough Council 2017 to 2019 and 2021 to [Applause] 20123 okay uh few comments from me nice to see Santa out yesterday uh good move doing it early because the storm was coming in came in excellent uh our next uh official meeting on the calendar will be January 1st 2024 in the cafetorium that's our first meeting of the Year special meeting on the 27th should take about 5 10 minutes um I've talked about two meetings ago about the past uh talk about the future at the last meeting now I'm going to talk about me um it's been a blast 12 years South's longest serving mayor uh it has been something uh first year baptism by fire with Sandy last few years dealing with covid uh in between all the craziness and everything else that comes up the slow realization I get more comments on Facebook from my food porn than anything else um you know it's a great town made better because of the great people who live here uh I especially want to thank all those who serve uh during my Administration these 12 years uh the professionals uh that I've gotten to know uh Joe art uh Bruce all of you uh Todd uh the volunteers countless volunteers who take their time and effort to uh come together quietly working to make this town work uh thank you all um somebody once said it's it's you know we have all the disadvantages of a little town and all the advantages of a little town we fight but we come together uh one of my favorites was the Ukrainian flag raising the war had begun I get a call Friday night ukrainians want to raise the flag we have a place for that cut through the red tape yes we can do that we can raise the Ukrainian flag do we have a Ukrainian flag no well okay that might be a problem but within 12 hours got the Ukrainian flag and just setting this up on a Spur the moment 200 people showed up the Bell Russians who do not support their government who supports the Russians they came to support Ukrainian people the polls uh the other groups that came out uh uh because when the chips are down this town does unite and that's so very important I just to uh borrow from St Stevens's uh motto uh South River is a little town with a big heart um I wish you all the best please please um never lose that little town feel and so for the last time I remind you lower your chairs is there anything else to come before us hearing none may I have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second motion by Mr siula seconded by Mr Oliva all in favor I all against We Stand adjourned