their application to go on to uh the city council um and so um oh we do have uh just if we also wanted to mention that uh assistant City attorney Scott Miko uh submitted to Trenton city council an update on the Cannabis uh what we've done so far they uh 10 10 uh retail applications that are uh in line right now and we are still accepting of course other uh applications for other types of businesses here in the city um but from Theory Wellness we have Nick Freeman uh and two uh of their representatives Bo Hutch and Lynn Noak good evening I would first like to thank the entire Council uh for your time this evening and the opportunity to present um on our company and our proposal here in Trenton my name is Nick fredman I'm co-founder and chief strategy officer of theory in this presentation I'll spend a few minutes talking first about the background and experience of our company before turning to our proposed location here in Trenton and why we are an excellent candidate for recreational sales I co-founded theory in 2015 uh after my father became paralyzed and was using medical cannabis to relieve nerve pain Theory then opened some of the first medical cannabis dispensaries on the East Coast providing access to patients who had no Alternatives today we have become one of the largest and most point of order I'm sorry to interrupt you sure can we all just be seated so that we could pay attention to the presentation that's pay take that's taking place right now he gets 10 minutes to talk no problem um so today we have become one of the largest and um most experienced cannabis operators in the country with over 20 licenses across Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire Vermont New Jersey and Ohio including retail cultivation delivery wholesale and Manufacturing theory has about 300 employees and an executive team with Decades of senior leadership experience over the years we have built a reputation around retail Excellence notably the quality of our customer care and our operational compliance we have served over 3 million customers to date without incident and have maintained a customer satisfaction score in the 99th percentile we have an equally strong back of house we have a finance team led by our CFO to support our audited financials an HR department to ensure labor law adherence and a compliance team of six to ensure inventory control and Regulatory Compliance at all levels we have been described by our Regulators as a constant leader in the industry operating on on a principle of Integrity honesty and always in compliance with the regulatory structure we have maintained an outstanding record in terms of Safety and Security as well with support from our local police chief stating that they would recommend our operational team as a model for others to follow we have also made it a priority at our company to give back to our communities and to our team members theory has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to over 45 nonprofits we have volunteered held food drives clothing drives and sponsored education series on the responsible use of marijuana we offer tiered pricing to those with financial hardship and provide 40% off to Veterans additionally theory developed a first of its kind social Equity program where which led to the opening of the first black woman-owned Dispensary on the East Coast called Legal Greens in Brockton Massachusetts lastly Theory makes it a priority to be an employee first organization we have gone above the norm to invest in our employees we offer competitive wages a full benefit package free educational programming and we're one of the first companies in cannabis to offer a 401k plan for retirement most recently in Massachusetts we decided to transition full ownership of our company to our employees as of December we became 100% employee owned making Theory a first of its kind in the Cannabis industry investing in our communities and supporting our employees are fundamental principles here at Theory it is who we are it is our DNA and we plan to continue doing so here in Trenton so moving to our proposal for operations here theory is a unique candidate tonight as we already hold a medical marijuana license and are just weeks away from opening our dispensary at 461 New York AV we are therefore what is known to the city as an expanded ATC alternative treatment center and are looking merely to add recreational sales to our already existing dispensary footprint for years we've been developing the site and have invested over $1.5 million so far into site improvements and beautification in the handout that was passed around um there's a few before and after photos um our location has several characteristics that make it an ideal location for a dispensary first it's a standalone building a standalone location makes for more seamless operations by reducing chances of nuisance and enhancing our security presence second it's rely located but easy to access and third it has ample parking this is particularly important to reduce congestion or any other traffic related concerns in fact we conducted a traffic study to be thorough which concluded that our site would have minimal impact on road conditions as a business should we be approved we are committed to supporting Trenton and investing into this community in several ways first through direct Financial contributions to local n profits we have pledged to donate a minimum of 21 $25,000 per year to drug and alcohol abuse prevention centers alone we plan to begin with Catholic Charities and the Mercer Council on alcoholism and drug addiction we also plan to sponsor and work with additional nonprofits throughout the city such as IM Trenton second as employers we will be bringing well-paid jobs with benefits to the area we are committed to hiring locally and plan for over a dozen hires right off the bat we have developed a staffing plan in conjunction with the NAACP to ensure that we hire a diverse and inclusive Workforce with demographic representation reflective of Trenton's population moreover having already joined the New Jersey Hispanic the New Jersey minority and the African-American Chamber of Commerce here locally we plan to work with these leaders to host job fairs and socialize our hiring third through opening a successful and secure dispensary our presence here will bring economic stimulus to the area through tourism dollars spent at local businesses and site beautification lastly our staff will include a director of community relations which is our commitment to the city and reports directly to the CEO their sole job is to build and maintain strong Community relationships and look for further opportunities to support Trenton in summary I believe Theory to be a fantastic candidate we have unparalleled The Experience operating High trffic dispensaries in Secure compliant and professional manner we are a premier brand known for our excellence in customer care and Hospitality having served over 3 million customers and our chosen location here in Trenton is ideal for this type of use being discreet Standalone and with ample parking and lastly we are committed to being a responsible employer and supportive partner to the community of Trenton thank you all for your time and I'll open it up for any questions questions thank you does anyone have any questions at this time Madam president Council um so one excellent presentation um thank you seem to have covered a lot of bases um in your presentation the um there are just a couple things that I did want to uh get clarity on on one which was you said that you gave you offered 401k to your management your presentation says to your employees as well so is it just restricted to management or is it to all employees to every single employee excellent and then the other uh question that I have is your you donate a minimum of 25k annual to drug and alcohol abuse prevention organizations and you support annual nonprofits I see a couple of them listed on here are you restricted to those are you open to other ones or these are the only ones that you plan on working with no we we aren't restricted to those and we certainly look to expand on that program that is our year one starting plan and the 25,000 is our floor commitment okay thank you anyone have questions right Council one thank very much uh so I have a couple questions um we're far familiar with your operation and um as a northw council person very glad actually to see you locate on New York Avenue it's a pretty desolate part of the north ward in a city and um taking up a building that's now not been utilized for quite a long time so as far as the wages that you'll be paying hourly wages um what are those looking like what's the minimum what would be the maximum maybe after a first year of operation and employment sure um the absolute entry level wage for us is $18 to start that has a six-month uh raise right after um and then it goes up from there and then as far as recruiting uh employees what's the plan for that so um one one Avenue is through a Chambers we are communicating with them already to post job fairs and disseminate information that way but moreover we're going to be posting bulletins we're going to use digital and um use essentially every means that we can to get information out and if there is other suggestions that you may have we'd be open to them as well I would like to actually make a suggestion the young professionals Network that councilwoman Edwards uh is one of the leaders of um so you might want to chat with her yeah absolutely that's a pretty vast Network there um as far as maintaining the property and the grounds legally we can't require a business to maintain all the frontage uh near them uh but do you already have a plan would you consider a plan to help maintain the cleanliness on New York gin and your little you bit of it I mean certainly that's the business we we do keep just as a manner of you know who we are as a company we you know cleanliness and um you know providing like an upscale environment at our facility is what is seen anywhere you go at a theal location and certainly Our intention in Trenton um we do have a plan for landscaping and maintaining Landscaping in a in a beautiful way and as far as the security plan can you kind of verbalize what that's going to look like going from medicinal to recreational yeah absolutely um the security plan actually is the same for medical and recreational for the most part um it's a 365 coverage um you know everywhere that you're inside the building or surrounding the premises you're going to be under video surveillance and there's an alarm system and panic buttons within the facility um you know we do have a security presence there as well um and we find that this combination of both digital like technological security but also a physical presence makes for the right combination and as far as uh that security plan uh has it already been reviewed by the Trent police Police Department in total or will that happen before you open um we I believe we haven't U that certainly will happen before we open I don't recall because it's been such an elongated time frame of us going through the medical process whether we have submitted a plan and had that review yet but I certainly will before we open our doors plan to sit down and have that review again I know that you know from the state's perspective the state does highly regulate how your security plan looks and we're we've certainly our work you know have gone through met all that requirement and our state Regulators come in for inspections prior to us being able to open to ensure that our security is up to that standard as well okay um I think that is actually all my questions because you've answered you know some before I just want to say I know this has not been an easy process and I just I'm glad to see that you have Steffen with it as we've worked everything out made the ordinance better here in Trenton and so forth so um you know wish you best success and good luck with this and we definitely want to see you succeed thank you very much Council woman Williams any other Council people council president councilwoman every thank you um I don't have any questions just more of a statement I just want to comment on your presentation in that area um just it's a great presentation I love it I love what you're doing with the building over there it it that area over there needs a lot of work it needs a lot of you know tender loving care um terce cycle has been doing their thing in the area but it is like a a very like underdeveloped area back there that could use some beautification so I'm glad to see the renderings of this and I'm hoping that you bring some life to the area and good luck thank you your councilwoman Works wel any other Council thank you thank you thank you and Madam president uh looks like we oh I'm sorry Mr jski okay Madam president it looks like we've reached uh point of public comment uh if As You Wish then we can go forth with public comment if we could have the clipboard please yes thank you and so the Public Public comment is for five minutes per person Madam President we have four individuals signed up for public comments this evening thank you and to the public just so you know you are able to address anything that you wish during public comment the council is not obligated to respond thank you our first individual uh listed is Cordelia ston good morning I'm current good afternoon even long day I'm stting uh res bar Avenue good evening distinguished members coun good evening distinguished members of council it's good to be back here seeing all of you on the Das uh tonight I wanted to speak uh for the doc for docked um number um 80 2480 so I just want to say to you I know I sent a letter indicating my interest in serving on the Trenton Housing Authority but and I am glad that you uh considered my application and um put me on the docket for appointment I just want to say that the work that the um executive director galani Garrett is doing is venal and that uh Choice neighborhood project millions of dollars is going to really turn the northw around in a big way and so and I Look to be a part of that and offer whatever assistance I can as a commissioner now let me just be clear this is just on docket items or a little bit of everything anything okay good there's more I just want to um say a few things about you guys because I keep up with you on Facebook I'm not out too much uh anymore but when I do get out it's good to see you but I really mostly keep up with you on Facebook you have great interactive pages on Facebook your social media you're working it and that's a good thing uh to ji to councilwoman Edwards I just wanted to say I'm glad that you are on the canis can cannabis Advisory Board I know you have been advocate for that particular business in the city but also in a real responsible way I know that your input and your active participation will bode well for the city as as the organization so congratulations on that I wanted to speak to uh councilwoman Williams on reacting reenacting the northw CPAC that uh cpacs have been in existence since we re um restructured Public Safety and um they were actually something that the uh the residents wanted they wanted to have a way to communicate with the men and women who were charged to protect and serve their community and it kind of weighed off a little bit and uh I'm glad to see it's back because you have to have strong uh uh Communications with the police department if you want to see your neighborhoods become safer and it is a two-way street communication is key so glad you got that moving and to jennif uh and to councilwoman yeah you know it's get me a minute to give get you the councilwoman kitten Berg figuro I wanted to say um I read your uh Facebook post about the John Beach Park John beach park is such a cute little thing in the Southwood right and it's a and it's a real a good outlet for the residents there it's a very small community but they like their part and I'm glad for the quick action you did over the weekend to get that tree debris up I saw you got a lot of comments about it and those are the kind of things you know it ain't really what you think you have to do but it is you know you serve the people in whatever capacity and you guys are really keeping it real I like it all I also like U uh Tes oh my Lord Frisbee and uh and um Gonzalez for their Community meetings as well I think it's very good because you know the last term there wasn't that kind of interaction with the people and I'm glad that you are out there doing your thing uh C and for all the council people who are serving on the basketball team that is that celebrity basketball team next week I um what is it the second or the second I'm going to be there it was a shock to see y'all in jerseys you in particular lisiana I cannot wait to see you do what you do so then that it's a good thing right it's a lot of fun it's good that those kind of activities are coming back and the council is being a part of all of those good things you're you're um you know you're interacting with the community you serve and that's the best thing you could ever do I know I've gone over my five minutes thanks for being so gracious good night Stephen thank you Steph baluchi is that correct thank you just please St your name and address for okay Stephen beluchi uh 265 Cummings Avenue Tron New Jersey just want to discuss uh several ongoing issues of personal property damage that's going on in the intersection of Anderson and cummings Avenue due to logistical routes that are making deliveries in 302 Cummings Avenue now the main issue that we're having is that all the trucks that are making deliveries to this one place are 53 foot containers which basically the container and load weighs 10,000 pounds unloaded container weighs about 36,000 PBS and A Lo container can carry up an additional 47,000 lbs which is running through the residential areas of this area now to include myself along with an event that happened last night that I had the pleasure to meet uh east4 councilman Joseph A Harrison uh we witness a 53 foot container trying to make a left turn and damaging one of my neighbors vehicles and about to leave because he didn't witness it and we had to stop and the police came and everything like that but the main issue is the routes that are going to this 302 coming Avenue which is owned by curan Enterprises LLC uh has been continuously ordering these types of vehicles which is not legal to be driving through these residential areas and for my car my vehicle got damaged last year around $4,600 of damage on my car my girlfriend's car got damaged and she was parked on the opposite side vehicle making a right turn slashing through her car that's a additional 40 something th $4,700 damage along with several neighbors that also had their car damage but more in the hit and run I was fortunate enough to have video evidence on my end so I can deal with the insurance and I was fortunate enough to catch my girlfriend's damage because it happened to me I saw the vehicle I saw the damage and the clear damage was shown on the driver's vehicle so multiple companies are coming from long distances so it is cheaper obviously to cut cost and do a giant load over distance but it's not meant for residential entry to make deliveries this way that's it if anyone has any questions council person nope can I speak on can I speak on this okay thank you um yes uh got the pleasure of meeting Stephen last night and um not only did they see the pictures of vehicles that have been hit um the police officers last night told the truck driver that this is not a commercial area it's residential and the track the trailer was there this morning at 8 o'clock and two box trucks were behind it so they're literally blocking up one way Cummings Avenue and the people that live on there Cummings Avenue one of the ladies has has takes a dialysis so this is going to becoming a huge problem if you go in the back of the building there's pallets piled up there look it's your property clean this up this is an ongoing issue not only with this and other properties that this uh person owns um so I'm going to keep documenting this I'm going to keep submitting this this is a problem that the community wants addressed and it needs to stop because you don't need to come out have your car be pinned against the sidewalk this beautiful truck that the guy had pinned against the sidewalk and because a track the trailer there's no way you can make that turn there's no way so this is an ongoing issue and the police have told them over and over that the tractor trailer is too big to make the turn you're going to continually hit Vehicles so something needs to be done about this um I know the police have been saying something but the neighbors are really getting frustrated about this and there's other properties that this guy where I've reported before about garbage that's his property so until we continually address and the old saying is fine fine fine fine until you fix the problem the community is sick and tired of this so I feel what he was saying last night I seen it in his eyes and the neighbors they just want this addressed use a smaller truck then you would be able to make the deliveries without hitting people's Vehicles that's it thank you thank you council president Madam president just really quickly I just want to real quick put mind um Mr balduchi thank you I've actually actually addressed this several times I have emails to prove it I've actually gotten adverse uh reactions from the police about you know whether or not the trucks are able to go down that street um so um councilman Harrison this is a street in an area that's neighboring both my district and your District so if you wouldn't mind if we could come together and work on this together so that hopefully we could get a better result moving forward because I know that I have definitely addressed this several times as well Mr balduchi you have not reached out to me directly but some of your neighbors have and I had that documentation so thank you for bringing that to our attention no problem man all right sir that is all your time thank you Diane d Diane Drayton good evening and my name is Diane Dron and I live 943 M Rose Avenue and I came here to make some comments and my comments are I've been living at my residence for 25 and a half years and I'm beginning to feel that the people who actually raised their families live there pay taxes if I take an estimate of how much taxes I paid over the course of those years I can approximately buy three cars and I think when you retire or you get to a certain age I think people need to pay their Fair sh share of taxes and I think when some people taxes are reduced and you live in a house that you have two floors an unfinished attic a basement that is not remodeled of course I have Cent a but if you have a house and if you have three floors and your third floor is finish if you have a garage whether you using that garage or not and you have a driveway why is it that your taxes is being reduced and it seems like the your taxes was before comparable to mine and it's not just one person so my comment is to is to this over the years I've seen so many people who were living in my neighborhood when I moved there and so many of them have lost their houses over taxes okay one gentleman in particular is over 80 years old had to walk at work at Walmart to make ends meet and he still had to sell his house my other comment is this the house that is next to me is 941 Melrose Avenue this house is owned by a private company the last people that moved out of this house moved out last year this house was redone yet their taxes is cheaper than mine the other thing is I reached out to this gentleman because this family has been a problem an aggravating problem about a fence that Sur surrounds my property that's on my property paid by me they were told nicely on many different occasions do not put anything up against it and they did everything in their power to aggravate me back a commercial lawn mower into the fence and damaged my fence I reached out to the building inspector and I was told okay you okay I came in with my pictures uh on second occasion I talked to her uh you have to have proof my concern is I live in a house that been living there over 25 years I don't need to have have to keep telling the family that was in there or this family or any other family in the future this is my property I do not want it damaged and I don't feel as though I should be aggravated behind it and I just feel as though I know that the city has to get their taxes and they put these houses up for sale but I do not feel that I need to live in my house and be aggravated over something that is obviously belong to me and those are my comments Leslie Wilbur is that correct Willborn sorry good evening everyone um first of all uh again I would like to introduce myself I'm Leslie wilborne and I'm a resident of the north Ward and it's 29 H Avenue um first of all um I just want to just give you a little background um of who I am um I grew up in the Tri State um mainly uh Yardley Pennsylvania across the bridge but um after I uh graduated high school went into military and moved back to PA and then I decided to make my home here in New Jersey um I resided in New Jersey approximately I guess about 30 plus years city of Trenton maybe 20 years um and that's just a little background of you know who I am and where I'm from my son also um Robert wilbourne he has a business here in Trenton along with his partner so I do have a vested interest here in the city of Trenton and I have a couple of issues um namely uh one issue is uh not directly on my street but directly across the street from where I live and that's 207 Ellis Avenue and it's a house that's been vacant for I would say approximately about eight nine years and I do believe the owner may have passed away I'm not quite sure but the problem is it's uh been vacant um and it's been undisturbed for quite some time but recently we're finding people um apparently they must be living in the house going in and out out of the house and I also saw some police activity over there just recently today so um I just like to know wonder what's going on with that property and um also another issue is on our street we have a lot of two and three bedroom houses and a lot of those houses are rental houses and um the problem is we have a lot of families that uh move into these single family houses and they they they they have like four or five families living in those houses and that poses a problem in so many different ways namely uh parking is an issue because everybody in that family seems to have a car so we already have limited parking so I'm just wondering if there's something that could be done with that and um also before I go any further I would like to thank uh councilwoman um Jennifer Williams um for her tireless effort in helping to secure a oneway for our Street and we really appreciate that um because we um and on behalf of all the residents on that street I'm speaking on their behalf as well and I'm sure they thank you for it because they've been trying for 40 years and we've always been told oh it just can't be done because of the hospital so I said to them let me give it a try I don't believe that so I thank you for your tireless effort and um also one other question is there a rent stabilization board I'd like to know if there is and if there is I think that um if it's not active it needs to be active because it's getting to be ridiculous the rents that you're paying in the city of Trenton for some of these properties that are so run down and it's just a disgrace um also um I hear a lot of last I think I was here last month for the uh council meeting and I hear a lot of people came up and they were you know trying to open up cannabis dispensaries I have no issue with that but I think that we um um are getting to the point where we're just having so many of these year um dispensaries in our neighborhood we're only eight miles plus radius here in Trenton so how many dispensaries are we going to have and also um is there a limit to how many we're going to have in the city of Trenton and also these uh people that are opening up these dispensaries are they residents of the city of Trenton are they going to be you know um I mean I think that's very important so if we have to deal with these dispensaries um I I think they should probably be at least half of them should be residents of this Trenton of the city of Trenton and I know there is a lot of legal dispensaries that are operating so I guess if we can get some of the legal ones out of the way and get some of the legal ones in the way that might solve some of that problem and that's basically all I have to say thank you Miss W just real quick I'm sorry you said the house across Street was at 207 Ellis Avenue Ellis e l l i s thank you okay y thank you any other questions no ma'am thank you for your time on your call Madam president you may proceed thank you certainly Madam president when we move to uh reach the point of old business and I will go through the docket as prepared uh Madam president if you want to ask for a motion to approve the minutes for this meeting for May 2 4th October 5th uh September 19th December December 7th of 2023 as well as January 18th 2024 yes may have a motion to approve the minutes from May 24th 2023 October 5th 2023 January 18th will minut September 19th 2023 December 7th 2023 and January 18th 2024 so moov second I'm sorry that was moved by thank you Willams got it second was Edward thank you very much so we move the second roll call uh councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figero kenberg yes councilwoman fby um I'm sorry you said October 5th regular meeting as well October 5th correct um so there I do have um there is a correction that needs to be made on that one so okay um I need to not um go with that I have it adjusted moving okay uh moving on councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams and council president Feliciano yes motion carried um and uh councilwoman frisbee if you would like to make me a note I'm sure we can uh make the correction that is required absolutely certainly and Madam president now if you would like to ask for a motion to approve Communications and petitions council president councilman Williams yes uh 2J had not been corrected ma'am I have corrected where he had petition in opposition oh that's the correction rather than correct the wording and the else that was the correction thank you thank you councilwoman you may continue uh certainly Madame President just looking for a motion to approve Communications and petitions yes we have a motion to approve Communications and petitions so moov back in noted roll call councilwoman Edwards yes Council vice president figero kevinberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion carried on to ordinances ordinance 24-7 ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 14 of the code of the city of Trenton traffic four-way stop intersections as it applies to Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard and Ingam avidon are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time seeing none Madame President if you want to ask for a motion to approve yep may I have a motion to approve so moved second call the rooll certainly councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-8 Capital ordinance providing for improvements to the West State Street in San hean Drive Improvement project 11 by the city of Trenton in the county of Mercer state of New Jersey appropriating 1, 39,9 38 to pay for the cost thereof which amount will be funded by a gr Grant from the fiscal year 2024 Municipal aid program received or expected to be received by the city from the New Jersey Department of Transportation are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time seeing none Madam president if you want to ask for a motion to approve may have a motion to approve so moveed second call the rooll certainly thank you councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kber yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion Carri ordinance 24-9 ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 14 of the code of the city of Trenton traffic oneway Street as it applies to heel Avenue are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time seeing none Madam president if you want to ask for a motion to approve we have a motion to approve second councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kber yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion Carri ordinance 24-10 an ordinance continuing certain positions fixing salary ranges therefore and setting forth certain regulations for the implementation of same analyst trainee assistant purchasing agent senior purchasing agent senior program development specialist aging and yard supervisor are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time seeing none Madam president if you want to ask for a motion to approve may have a motion to approve so moved second please call the vote roll call councilwoman Edwards yes coun Council pres vice president F gr kenberg sorry councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-11 in ordinance to revise certain positions fixing salary ranges therefore and setting forth certain regulations for the implementation of same administrative secretary employee benefit specialist paralal special account clerk senior account clerk principal account clerk management assistant sanitary driver are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordance at this time may have a motion to approve so moveed second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-12 an ordinance amending and supplementing Section 1 15-3 of the Trenton city code relating to penalties for illegal dumping are the rounding members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time seeing none Madam president if you wish to ask for a motion to approve I have a motion to approve so move second counc roll call councilwoman Edwards yes Council of Vice President Figo kber yes councilwoman fby yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilwoman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president for Feliciano thank you yes get it right my bad old have time anyway she got me um Council Council Madame President Feliciano we are on to consent agenda let us move past all of that we are reached the point of consent agenda yes yes if you want to ask for a motion to approve a consent agenda consisting of resolutions 24-50 51 52 53 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 may I have a motion to approve all of the resolutions that have been named by Mr Garcia salute second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kinberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president felano yes motion carried thank you on to roll call resolution roll call resolution 24-54 resolution adopting the settlement agreement between the city of Trenton Department of Water and Sewer and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and settlement of an administrative order and notice of civil administrative penalty assessment for the alleged Air Pollution Control for Alle alleged Air Pollution Control Act violations in total amount of $441,500 may have a motion to approve so moved second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion carried on to ordinances for first reading we have an ordinance 24-15 ordinance regulating and keeping or regulating the keeping of certain animals and wildlife in the city of Trenton it's 14 I believe that's typo my apologies it looks like it should it should be 14 because 15 was what was removed uh Tuesday right thank you and Madam president if you want to ask for a motion to approve yes may have a motion to approve so moved second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried and Madame President those are all the items I have at this time uh we've reached the point of Civic comment and it is your choice who you would like to start with yes thank you councilwoman frisbee this way this time so good evening everyone I don't have actually a lot tonight um there is just one that I wanted to reiterate great and that's with the um on what is her name Grant there's a new homeowners um program that is going to be uh going on um if you are interested if you um have a need know of anyone they will be at Greater Mount Zion am Church on March 2nd which is next Saturday from 12: p.m. I'm trying to read this small writing 10: a.m. to 2 2 to 12 um I will have a flyer put in the back again but um those of you who are interested I have had actually two people call me about their program so um if you're interested if you know of anyone and you want to get into your own home please come see me for this is for first time home buyers and there is um funds that are available to you um also I want to iterate that this city has put into practice if you put your um if it is snowing or anything otherwise if if you are not someone who is disabled differently abled and there's not a sign that is put outside of your home for a space to be reserved for you if you put your belongings chair table whatever you want to put out there it will become the property of the city another and then the sanitation department because it will be trash they will take it so um those who are online those of you who are here if you know of someone who does that tell them they are not allowed to reserve their parking spaces um in that manner at all um other than that I have nothing I want to remind uh watch you know I'll leave that for councilman Harrison um the city's uh mission statement which is to rec recognizing that the people of Trenton have made us Guardians of the public trust we are committed to govern with integrity and fiscal responsibility to seek excellence in the city's operations and to serve all the city's people with respect and compassion and I did um want to acknowledge uh Miss Cordelia one it's good to see you back out here this evening um always nice is always a treat to see you thank you again for the acknowledgement I did make a commitment that I would um have Community town halls and uh we did start that in December and I wanted to keep my commitment with that so thank you for the acknowledgement of that um to Mr Steve uh Bal balui um balushi uh um thank you for bringing to our attention about um the damages and all of that it is not fair and one you're in uniform so thank you for the service that you do for our country um I I appreciate that and I'm sure that we will have it at least looked into to see about getting that rectified uh Miss Diane uh Drayton I I'm not sure what to say about that that's a tax issue um and the aggravation no one should be aggravated while sitting in their home no one should be um harassed especially after living there over 25 um years and I'm hopeful that our city will be able to do um something to help come to a some type of of median where they can live peacefully and harmoniously with one another and Miss Leslie Wilburn you're here constantly so it's always good to see you in the building um and you had a lot of questions some of them yes there is a limit on the number of can cannabis dispensaries that will be allowed here in this City it is not regulated by the number of residents and whoever it is that is purchasing they just have to be in compliance with our board those are um so everyone there is a criteria that they have to go through um and I'll leave the rest I'm not sure about the rent stabilization board so I can't speak to that but I do want to thank everybody for coming out here um on this such a lovely evening enjoy the weather as it begins to change up a little bit for us and enjoy the rest of your evening and your weekend councilwoman Edwards thank you madam president uh good evening everyone um it's a pleasure to see you all as always um thank you for being here with us this evening um I don't have many comments to say but I want to say thank you to Mr wski for the warm welcome you and your board gave me at yesterday's meeting um it was a pleasure to sit there and listen to one of the uh cand applicants that uh that is trying to open a business in the City MO weed and what he has to say or his business had to say about their plans um and um thank you for allowing me to speak and you know being a part of the process as well so I appreciate that um and as we move along I'll be providing uh monthly or or periodic updates to my council members on a you know need basis whenever there's things transpiring with the board um I want to speak to the trucks being in a city this is something that we have been complaining about for many years um ever since 129 was uh put in in 29 and they drive down and they drive through the city to avoid tolls and and what have you and they're tearing up our roads our trees and our vehicles and what and a longer list of other things that they damage in our city and I think that we need to put up signs around um to council woman figuroa kg's um Point uh these trucks are too large to be here but when we were sitting here talking I'm like I don't think that uh we have signs prohibiting them from driving through our neighborhoods so I I would love to or an ordinance now that I'm being brought to my attention so that's something that we're definitely going to work on and um um and those of us that we work with our southb representative on that and provide the support that she may need um this is definitely important all throughout the city to do as far as the rent stabilization board this is a Hot Topic um that we have been bringing up for the last several months just about every council member has talked about it um the city is working on reenacting it I do believe that there is a posting out looking for board members so if there is anyone interested in being on the rent stabilization board I would urge you to um submit a resume and a letter of interest to the administration to express your interest and any other board that we have with the city of Trenton a letter of interest along with your resume so you can express interest them being on the boards because we we do definitely need our residents to participate in this and making sure that we're providing efficient services and protecting the residents to to as um landlords are definitely outpricing our people as far as the dispensaries 10 retail dispensaries are permissible at this time as per our ordinance um and there's no limitation on what side of the city we just try to make sure we do our due diligence as council members to spread them out so that they're not all in one one area so um you know so that it's fair and accessible for anyone who want wants to partake and um if if there's any other questions you may have about Canabis feel free to reach out to me as well I I love questions um and that's all I have for this evening oh and congratulations Miss Cordelia on your appointment to the Tren Housing Authority have a good evening everyone thank you councilwoman councilwoman Gonzalez thank you council president thank you everyone for being present um just brief nothing too um long tonight one thank you to the presenters that was an excellent presentation so thank you for that and for being so detailed and answering our questions um I just want to say congratulations to the trous and Authority for receiving the choice neighborhood Grant which is a big deal and will actually help improve our city in a huge way so I'm looking forward to the to the outcome of that Grant um thank you Miss stayen I would call her forever councilwoman for being present and always encouraging us uh Mr Steve thank you also for sharing Mr Stephen thank you for your service and thank you for sharing your concerns um and bringing that to our attention Miss Diane I saw her leave out and I'm I wish she would have stay because I wanted to encourage her to possibly um apply or show interest in the rent stabilization board I believe that has been posted um Mr Garcia we finished the advertisement so it is up and available I think today tomorrow uh yes that will be aail that will be available should be uh posting tomorrow the um rent stabilization board is primarily mayor appoint mayoral appointments and they were advertised independently thank you you got so anyone that is interested please please encourage others to um show interest as we need a collective diverse group on that so that we can help our renters and make sure that things are fair for both both landlords and renters um uh to miss wilborne thank you so much for sharing um your concerns and bringing those issues to our attention and I was going to say that's it a couple of announcements um we have February 24th which is this Saturday is the second annual African mask making family Workshop which will be from 10:00 a.m. to 1: p.m. and that's at the Trenton City Museum also the four centuries of African American soldiers this weekend which is also Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. and that's at the old Barracks Museum also to conclude our Black History Month there will be a black history program at TR Central High School on Thursday February 29th and also some HBCU alumni we are hosting an afterwork networking event which is February 29th and that will be at Cooper River viiew from 4 to 900 p.m. all are welcome to attend not just anyone who went to an HBCU but t be a nice time just to close out black history month so all are welcome and I believe that say also I want to give a huge huge um shout out to my uh Mentor my coach Miss Sharon Grady who is going to be celebrating her retirement this weekend also so I'm sure some of us will be present and we just want to say congratulations to all of the years of service she has done to the students here in the city of Trenton thank you all for being present have a good evening councilman Harrison good evening everyone um first um I would like to uh thank the wonderful job that uh P Brown did in the Super Bowl he had one interception almost had a second one was kind of hoping he was going to get the MVP um but they came close and they battled hard so T you represent this community and you do so much for these kids you're a blessing this city thank you so much um to Steve he said you're right the neighbors are getting sick and tired of their vehicles getting hit uh this needs to be addressed and um me and my colleague will be working on this to make sure this gets addressed um also I would like to thank councilwoman frisbee uh for helping with the resolution we're going to be honoring Mr McCrae he has the The Pantry on Stenson he's been helping feed people for many years uh the city is blessed to have a man like Mr McCrae and um like I said if if you can tomorrow morning um at uh 's Funeral Home 3:2 for bellw Avenue it's the funeral for Mr mcgrey he's a wonderful man and he's done so much good in this city he has helped not only feed people he's given coats and everything else in the community so this city doesn't I mean we have a lot of great people but Mr MC gray very special man and dear to my heart so thank you um Miss Stanton for always getting up there and having a positive message for the city and for everybody else who comes in the here who wants us to work together to move the city together thank you and have a blessed evening councilwoman Williams thank you council president uh first I just want to uh thank former councilwoman ston for joining us this evening um you have been very helpful to this Council and getting us off to a good start when we first started and it's always a blessing to see you here with us I also want to uh say to um I don't know your rank I apologize Mr valuchi thank you very much for serving our country currently and then also um to one of my constituents Miss Leslie wilbor and thank you for your past service to our country um I have some announcements some things I wanted stock it up briefly uh as Miss Drayton U mentioned earlier uh we have a lot of situations for our seniors where it's very difficult for them to hold on to their houses particularly um even with their minimal uh amounts of money that they fall behind I had a constituent approached me about that last night and uh one of the things I think we need to figure out as a city know we're very very very with another capital V VAR uh cash strap for tax money in a city um as was said earlier there a lot of taxes are being paid but we need to figure out a way to keep our seniors in their houses and I'd like to um I'm just going to say that I I'm going to bring to Administration and I like to enlist my colleagues efforts in the future to figure out ways that other municipalities and there are some uh and even states that we can maybe uh figure out ways with taxes uh to maybe after a certain age uh that a senior will not have their taxes raised upon them once they particularly out of their Prime working years that's something I think we can look at but we do need to make sure economically that it would work for our city I just want to also this came this afternoon was mentioned earlier but um councilwoman pigro kber want to H thank you for your quick action on John Beach Park as many most people would know I did not not as Pastor John Beach was a medal of honor winner in the Civil War um he is buried in our city so it's an important Park uh Historic Park and a memorial to uh someone who did so much for our country this afternoon um councilwoman gonzal uh council president Feliciano and I had a really good meeting with the mayor uh director Marie Richardson and some of our senior health department staff at the grant school and what's going to happen uh regarding the Le soil remediation and What needs to have for testing it was very positive uh we uh as a city are looking to um get testing rolling uh in the coming weeks uh we have good partners we've been told at the state of New Jersey level um but I just want to make sure the citizens know that council is a key part of this and we're going to be on top of making sure that things proceed forward and that information's provided uh went to the meeting last night the gr school was the open meeting and um information is being provided by EPA uh and the key Partners but we have to make sure we hold their feet to the fire and all the right things are done and I can assure you this Council will do that just a couple more things um regarding rent stabilization board uh I'd like to encourage and not to put you on spot Miss wbor if you would consider applying for that I believe You' to apply to the mayor's office I think you'd be an outstanding member and we need outstanding people if we're going to turn this city around and may I ask how much time I have left ma'am okay good thank you so much okay I'll be fast uh thank you and God bless for uh live having us four-way stop at MLK and Ingam Avenue it's GNA be a huge Improvement for safety uh the oneway street on H Avenue thank you so much for putting your trust and also never giving up on Miss wbor and then uh also for with Council woman Feliciano call authoring with me the illegal dumping ordinance hopefully that will make a major difference but we have to get cameras out there to capture people and um I think I might actually have t to everything yes I did so thank you very much for your patience everybody and have a great weekend Council vice president Figaroa kenberg good evening everybody um I'll be very brief um again Mr balduchi if you have a few moments to stay behind once we leave okay I want to just show you um some messages that I received some conversations that I've had and emails that have been sent about your issue going back to October you know sometimes these issues don't get resolved overnight or as fast as we'd like for them to be resolved you know there's um Street studies traffic studies you know ordinances that need to be created and the like um but I would like to show you those things just let you know I have been working on it and I have been receiving those complaints um including and not limited to um maybe creating a loading dock for that business or even to specific delivery hours if they're going to to allow those trucks if we're not able to you know keep those trucks off those streets all together which was something we'd like to do okay um but thank you again for presenting and thank you for serving our country as everybody else previously stated um other than that the only other thing that I have is please join myself and whomever else would like to be there on February 27 a celebration for Dominican Independence Day in the atrium is City Hall um we did have one last year I know we had one in years prior but it was a great um showing many people came out um and spoke and there's music and food and everything so if you're not doing anything please from 3: to 6:00 pm on February 27th join us in the atrium at City Hall for the celebration of Dominican Independence thank you guys very much and have a wonderful evening thank you good evening everyone thank you for staying with us tonight for being present for the meeting meeting um and for any comments that were were given to Mr balduchi I do extend I extend the same sentiment as my colleagues thank you so much for your service to miss Wilburn Mama lit we thank you for your service as well thank you and thank you for coming to the Forefront and being present and for caring and for not being quiet about the things that matter um in our city to miss Drayton who she did leave um I do like what councilwoman William said about looking um at other municipalities and what they do when it comes to seniors so I'd like to work with you on that as we work to figure that out to that part about the seniors I'm excited uh we'll be accepting um well there'll be appointments for the senior citizen Advisory Board uh so we're excited about that looking forward to bring that forward as we work to move to help our senior citizens to hear their um to hear their their needs and their concerns about what it is they would like to have done I think to Cordelia ston eie thank you for being present tonight thank you for shining the light on my colleagues not being selfish thank you for that and that's what it's all about and that is an exemplary example of what teamwork looks like so I'm blessed to be under your tutelage and your guidance as I continue to move forward to be the best that I could be as I serve with the council and I serve the city of Trenton and its residence change sometimes is hard and I understand that but change is here we're moving in a different capacity we're moving in a different level we do have new leadership councilwoman Figaroa kenberg is the vice president doing a phenomenal job working with me to help us work with the council and just to let people know we take it very serious the work we do out in the streets but the work that we do in here as well we've look to schedule meetings with each council person individually so that we could talk with them about what it is they'd like to see how we can work together to make the city better I am thankful to the council members that have sat and spoke with us because that is a true Testament of collaboration and efforts in moving the city forward we shouldn't be divided we need to be together we don't have to be friends and love each other but when it comes to handling the business of the city we should be on one Accord with that so I do look forward to meeting with those that remain that will meet with us as we push to move forward and do right things we'll also be looking into the possibility of having a retreat for our council members because that is important as we sat and talked about it excuse me councilwoman figuroa Council VP figuroa cber and I councilwoman Edwards we do believe that it is important that we do have a retreat where we can come together and talk and move um you know just just be able to move forward it shows growth it shows maturity right it shows collab collaboration and it shows effort to do things right and on one Accord and it is needed because no one is perfect we're all different in our own rights we all move differently we all think differently but when we come together as councilman Harrison said we all should be working together for the good of the city I pledge myself that I would be doing that and I will continue to do that and I thank everyone for their support I thank the council colleagues that support the movement thank you for supporting it thank you for embracing the change and thank you as we continue to Journey forward together to help our city thank you all for coming I bid you all farewell and good night May I have a motion to adjourn so mov second councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman Frisby yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams and council president Feliciano motion carried meeting conjour