let make it quick this is a regular meeting of the township committee public notice of this meeting has been given as required by the open public meetings law a resolution was adopted on January 1st 2024 designating this date this Hall in 7:30 p.m. as the time for this regular meeting of the township Committee of the township of Union in the county of Union a notice of each and every meeting of the township committee was posted in accordance with the afet open public meetings law in one public place reserved for the posting of ordinances and official notices of the township of Union namely the bulletin board next to the clerk's office in addition thereto a copy of said resolution was forwarded to the local Source in Star Ledger a copy of said resolution is on file with the clerk of the township thank you madam clerk this evening the prayer will be given by committee woman Terrell and the flag salute by committeeman Bowser would everyone please stand as we gather as members of the township committee we pray that we ever we ever mindful of our opportunities to render our service to the fellow citizens and to our community keeping in mind always the enduring values of Life exerting our efforts in those areas and on those things upon which future Generations can build with confidence let us continue to strive to Make a Better Community amen amen Alle to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation Madam clerk can I have a roll call please Mr Bowser here Mr Terell here M Frasier here Mr Florio here mayor figorito here can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the conference and regular session of May 14th 2024 so moved second all in favor I I Adam CLA can we move on with the ordinances and resolutions please I have for your consideration on second and final reading an ordinance establishing a cap bank for the 20124 calendar year move the ordinance be taken up for second and final reading second calendar year 2024 ordinance to establish a cap Bank authorizing that any amount not appropriated as part of the final budget shall be retained as an exception to final appropriation in either of the next two succeeding years move to approve is there anyone from the public who wishes to speak on this ordinance move to approve second Mr Bowser yes M Terell yes Miss Frasier yes Mr Florio yes mayor figurita yes amending ordinance 3729 to add a handicap space in front of 727 Gates Terrace and delete one in front of 1042 Lorraine Avenue move the ordinance be taken up a second or final reading second an ordinance amending the designation of restricted parking spaces for use by persons with special vehicle identification cards in the township of Union Union County New Jersey this ordinance creates a handicap space in front of 727 Gates Terrace and removal of a handicap space in front of 1042 Lorraine Avenue anyone from the public wishing to speak on this ordinance Mo your ordinance be adopted second Mr Bowser yes Mr Terell yes M Frasier yes Mr Florio yes mayor figu yes amending chapter 26655 entitled schedule 14 parking prohibited at all times this ordinance affects Robert Street move the ordinance be taken up for second and final reading second an ordinance amending chapter 266-5565 Street anyone from the public wishing to speak on this ordinance moved ordinance be adopted second Mr Bowser yes M trell yes M Frasier yes Mr Florio yes mayor figurino yes you consideration on drafting first reading an ordinance authorizing a deed of easement and a right of way to New Jersey American water move draft be taken up on first reading by title at this time second an ordinance authorizing the township of Union's granting of a deed of easement and right of way to New Jersey American Water Company Inc Mr Bowser yes M Terell yes M Fraser yes Mr Florio yes mayor figurita yes moves draft be taken up at the next regularly scheduled meeting for second and final reading second Mr Bowser yes Mr yes Mr Frasier yes Mr Florio yes mayor figur yes the following resolutions authorizing the acceptance of a performance bond in the amount of $5,000 and establishing a special trust fund in the amount of $1,125 from brainia a Jr 1178 mors Avenue motion to approve second all in favor I authorizing the emergency purchase of a new police vehicle from Maple Crest Ford in the amount of 86,000 $591 81 whove to approve the purchase second all in favor I authorizing an award of contract to Horizon painting LLC to repair and paint the municipal courtroom and police department stairway for an amount on to exceed $4,875 move to approv contract second all in favor I authorizing a contract with Garden State fireworks to provide fireworks for the July 4th holiday celebration at their sole quote not to exceed $24,000 motion to approve second all in favor authorizing payment of all approved vouchers for solid waste collection Hol and Disposal at the interim rate of $759 per ton for household waste and $172 per ton for bulky we for the month of April motion to approve second all in favor I I authorizing the emergency rental of two air conditioning units from Rapid Recovery Services LLC for the municipal building for an amount not to exceed $134,950 44 for approval second all in favor I I authorizing a contract with Johnston Communications to install camera and fiber Network in the township through the Union County Co-op for an amount not to exceed 4,100 5,577 7 move to approved contract second all in favor I I authorizing the submission of an application to the njbpu for the community energy planning grant program motion to approve second all favor I authorizing the renewal of plenary retail consumption license number 201933 0144 Danny's Continental Lounge for the period of July 1st 2023 through June 30th 2024 motion to approve appr second all in favor I authorizing a professional service contract with colar engineering and design for contract Administration and inspection services for the 2024 Road Improvement program for a fee not to exceed $387,400 for approval second all in favor I authorizing a professional service agreement with Colliers engineering and design for contract Administration and inspection services for the Elizabeth Town Gas 2024 Road resurfacing program for Fe not to exceed $225,500 move to approved contract second all in favor I authorizing professional service agreement with col engineering and design for contract Administration and inspection services for the Green Lane Phase 1 Road Improvement program for a fee not to exceed $131,700 motion to approve second all in favor I I authorizing a shared service agreement with the Bure of Rosel for Deputy tax assessor motion to approve second all in favor I authorizing a contract with Johnston Communications for the technology infrastructure and Associated site work phase two for the new library through the Union County Co-op for an amount not to exceed 4,649 7068 C move to approve the contract second all in favor I authorizing an award of contract to PM Construction Inc for the 2024 Elizabeth Town Gas funded Road resurfacing program for an amount not to exceed 1,879 566 move to approved contract second all in favor I authorizing an award of contract to lanch a Construction Corporation for the 2024 Road Improvement program Green Lane Phase 1 for an amount not to exceed $1,976 12 motion to approve second all in favor I authorizing an award of contract to Crossroads Paving Corporation for the 2024 Road Improvement program Phase 1 for an amount not to exceed 3,13 , 466 38 motion to approve second all in favor I ask you to approve the finances as listed on the agenda so moved second all in favor I the following Communications from Terry Miland a tax collector requesting the township committee authorized checks issued to the following representing the Redemption of tax sales certificates as listed on the agenda move to approve second all in favor I I from Joseph V A Township engineer requesting the following payments payment number seven to grenad Construction Corporation in the amount of $320,100 Road reconstruction program phase two payment number 11 to yourway Construction in the amount of $85,100 35 for work completed through May 13 2024 in connection with the rapkin park turfield improvements motion to approve second all in favor I from James Frasier resident requesting apply party on mild Terrace on Saturday June 22nd 2024 from 10:00 a.m. to 10: p.m. with a rain date of Sunday June 23rd 2024 motion to approve with the rain date end time change to 900 p.m. second all in favor I abstained all ratifying a request from Michael czecho to close 402 Chestnut Street to 420 Chestnut Street for a private event on Sunday June 9th 2024 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. move for approval second all in favor I I and the following Department reports municipal court and police department move to receive and file reports second all in favor I that concludes my part of the agenda thank you madam clerk we go to our committee reports so start with committee woman Terrell please thank this is for the Department of Public Works the road division the road division continues to work on repairing potholes and patching sections of the road throughout the township since our last meeting the road division has performed 143 pothole repairs and 148 streets were swept the sewer division the sewer division continues to maintain catch basins pump stations out and outfalls daily performing repairs when necessary since our last meeting the sewer division has performed 438 catch Bas and cleanings 60 enzyme applications to minimize fats oils and grease and one emergency call shade tree division the shade tree division continues to maintain trees in Parks town properties and in Township right of ways since our last meeting tree Crews performed nine nine removals 10 Trims and one stump removal code enforcement division the code enforcement division continues to inspect matters such as storage and disposal of garbage and rubbage rubbish driveway and Street storage containers and dumpsters since our last meeting code enforcement has issued nine notice of violations for driveway container permits and issued one notice of violation for disposal of tree branches all concerns or inquiries regarding all division of Public Works can be addressed by calling public works at 98686 1922 or by using the report a concern feature on the township website thank you thank you uh committee M Bowser please thank you mayor Police Department for the period of May 9th through May 23rd there were 2,759 direct patrols there was 1,420 calls for service 65 arrests for traffic control for the period May 10th through May 23rd uh 142 stops 151 tickets 334 were residents take that back should be 34 residents uh for the period of uh for Traffic Control red light enforcement for the same period there were 25 stops 27 tickets and four residents for the tra for truck enforcement for the same period there 11 stops 12 tickets and no deliveries I have no highlights uh for this particular time frame and that concludes my report thank you so much committee women G Fraser please thank you good evening um the recreation department is excited to announce the dedication of the pickle ball Courts at Weber Park and they are now open um it is on a first come first serve bases for those of you who are discovering the sport um there will be lessons and Clinics scheduled throughout the summer so come on out to learn the game and hone your skills keep an eye out on social media for the upcoming um information sessions about the lessons um if your family um did do not have equipment you can come to the recreation department to borrow looners um set of paddle balls and balls before you invest in the equipment you know um and you haven't taken your lessons so come on out for um free uh loners also um a reminder the recreation Department's next movie Under the Stars event will be held on Friday June 7th at rapkin fields we will be showing the newly released Wonka movie pre-movie entertainment include fent food vendors DJ booth and Lawn games that will begin at 700 p.m. and the mov will begin at sundown approximately 8:30 bring your lawn chairs blankets and the family for some fun laughs and Candy if you have uh any more questions please call the recreation department at 908 868 4200 for the senior center NJ snap registration um let your um if you need assistance with your groceries uh please please um come see the recreation department schedule an appointment um You can call the senior center at 98851 5290 this uh program is a great benefit for people who need um assistance with your groceries a memoir writing starts um July 11th through July June 11th through July 4th 10:30 to 12:30 uh memory plays a significant role in writing it is through memory that writer recall past experiences emotions and ideas which can incorporate they can incorporate into their writing um active creative craft Workshop June 13th and the 20th July 18th and the 25th from 11: to 12: p.m. working with a wide range of materials to enable me members to experience with the process of art AARP smart driving is June 13th from 9:15 to 300 p.m. $20 for AARP members and $25 for non-members and then movie day June 26 from 1 to 3:30 an entertaining movie about time of life that isn't often represented on screen queen bees um this has a great cast and a story that'll make you laugh and cry popcorn and ice cream will be served upcoming trips Wind Creek Casino at Bethlehem PA June 13th $35 tickets departure is on Janette Avenue and then the second trip resorts Atlantic City July 11th from 9:30 to 3:30 p.m. tickets are $40 departure on Janette Avenue if you have any additional questions please call 98851 529 and then we have some exciting news the New Jersey Department of military and Veterans Affair will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of a state veterans service office in the township of Union Union County the grand opening is Friday May 34th at 11:00 a.m. at the township um Union Center if you want to attend you have to RSVP the email is here the number is 6 9530 6953 this is a great opportunity for our veterans um to make appointments and to know all of the um services that are rendered to them this is exciting news see and that concludes my report thank you Deputy Mayor Floria thank you mayor uh for past two weeks Union fire department has responded to 233 emergency calls and 79 medical calls that's over 300 100 calls in two weeks some of just a few of some of the significant events in that period there were car fires on Portland Road boxall Road in the Garden State Parkway for your information if you don't already know our fire department and our police department has to respond to any incidents on the Garden State Parkway a Route 78 within the union borders so we were out there almost constantly in those two roads there was a large dumpster fire with some extension to the building on Mars AV a motor vehicle action record extrication on Route 22 again for your information we've constantly updated extrication equipment as the as the vehicles changeed with different types of metals we had to supply our fire department with the latest fire cutting or extrication equipment we're always up to date whenever we need for our fire department to make sure you're safe there were mutual Aid responses to both Hillside and Elizabeth the past two weeks okay we have something to do with if a fire starts in your house you've been reading a newspaper has been awful lot of fires lately here's a couple of pointers for you remember to get out and stay out and call 911 if you live in a building with elevators use the stairs leave all your things where they are and save yourself if closed doors or handles are warm or smoke blocks your primary Escape Route use your secondary way out never open doors that are warm to the touch if you must escape through a smoke get low and go under smoke through your exit close the doors behind you sometimes might good idea if you can wet a towel and put it over your head as you crawl help you also with the smoke once you are outside go to your meeting place and send and send one person to call the fire department if you cannot get to your meeting place follow your family emergency communication plan and that's my report for tonight mayor thank you Deputy Mayor I'm going to begin my report with My Traffic Safety rhetoric I will continue doing this until we bring the speeding down in our town again slow down on yellow stop on red and stop at stop signs I've seen so many people blow through stop signs important that you follow the speed limit it saves you saves pedestrians could save any other vehicle that you're going to encounter and try to eliminate any distracted driving uh such as a sandwich such as a drink such as texting calling and share the road you know today with E Scooters and all these ebikes out there you have to be very careful that's where the speeding is so important that you bring it down to that speed limit and uh as the days get bigger still if it's N9 o' check that your home the doors are locked check that your vehicle doors are locked it's important that you do that and Common Sense take anything that's visible out of your vehicle whether it's in the driveway whether it's parked in the the street um and again I'm going to offer our police department they have a free prevention survey you can call 908 851 5252 and they'll come out and assess your property and give you some pointers um I'd like to begin the body of my report by congratulating the 2024 Union County Middle School track Champions both the boys and the girls won County T titles at the middle school championship meet last week that's amazing this is a great yeah that deserves some Applause I heard it in the back it's a great way to end a successful season of hard work congratulations again to our youth there and join us this weekend as we kick off pride month with our annual Union Pride begins this Saturday June 1st our flag raising begins at 1: p.m. in front of town hall and the Party in the Park will run after after that from 2: p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Russo Park and that's across from town hall on mors Avenue festivities at the park will include live entertainment and music photo booth giveaways at beer garden and more if you'd like more details on that you can go online or just check on uh union centers.com for more information on that our 2024 Union Farmers Market season is almost here this year we're excited to welcome our new and returning vendors and continue hosting monthly Market parties featuring Inflatables live music and much more our Market located at Beer Temple Park will be held from 300 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and will feature two farmers plus over 20 vendors for more vendor details you can go on uniontwpschool community in support of a local family uh our second annual networking For A Cause is to benefit a 5-year-old Battle Hill Preschool student and his three-year-old sister who recently lost their mother to cancer the event will take place on Wednesday June the 12th from 6:00 p.m. to 900 p.m. at lagar restaurant on Styers Avenue tickets are $35 per person you can purchase these online via Union Town ship.com hope to see many of you there to support this family in need and save the date for our annual juneth Festival this wonderful afternoon of community celebration music food art and more will be held at rapkin Park on Saturday June 15th from 12:00 p.m. to 6: pm. activities will include Mrs T's face painting a 360 photo booth OMG Bubbles and paint Noir art Lounge for a complete compl list of table vendors food trucks and entertainment schedules you can visit uniontown.pa you to sign up for emergency and general notifications online at ww. uniontown.pa up to the public reminder there's a five minute limit please state your name and your address microphone is open hi Les celor 1291 Barbara Avenue Union uh first of all aside from you Mr Mayor I hope I'm not losing my hearing but everyone is very low toned it's very difficult to really understand some of what you're saying back there when you're not even close to the microphone or whatever so I encourage you please it's like here I I have to say that uh the other thing is that uh I think everybody hopefully knows where Manny's Texas wiener is it's across the street from the Home Depot Valley Street and Springfield Avenue come together well a couple weeks ago I was there at breakfast and what normally happens in that corner is there an accident ambulance come police come uh tow trucks come I think the this last time maybe two or three ambulances uh maybe about a week ago again I was in the area another accident luckily in this situation there was no ambulances there was nothing I I don't know whether it was a fender bender whatever whatever but this situation has been ongoing for years and I'm not blaming the people that may be running the light or doing anything I have been blaming the light that is at that particular area it's like here it's the worst light that there is because if you ever come down that road and you're really not on top of that light you don't know whether you have a green light a red light or whatever light now I brought this up a couple years ago with director Zer and uh he had told the do that hey we've had a lot of accidents here blah blah blah and there was like a bad situation and the do as usual they say you're full of garbage and it's like here the lights are perfect we analyze it everything is perfect and apparently these lights are different places all the time and I think the the police department should know by now how many accidents have been at that particular light I mean they they keep a record of it one of these days somebody's going to get killed and this town is going to be sued like hell dot is going to be sued and it's like here you have something that's so preventable and the do is turning a blind eye on this and I'm not sure what pressure the police department can do the township can do but there's got to be some kind of analysis done at this particular light you're probably having some of these big accidents probably once a month I'm guessing I don't know but it's like here everybody is to me grossly negligent in not addressing that situation when you have a intersection that is constantly involved with accidents you're taking you know important people ambulance police everybody you're taking them there and the people that are being shipped over to Overlook hospital or whatever they have some serious injuries and it's like here nobody seems to be recognizing the fact and you can't blame well I didn't see the red light you can't blame the driver all the time and it's like here I guarantee you if somebody would actually talk to some of these people that are in the hospital it's like here they're going to say they didn't see the light and it's like here I know whenever I'm going down that road I am scared to go over there I actually have to slow down even though there's a car behind me just to make sure that that light is green and it's like it's and then I got to look at carefully as to what the cars are coming now I'm familiar with that area but there's a hell of a lot of other people that are not familiar or you know quasy familiar and they're going right through and that's when it happens then you get three four five cars involved in a major accident one going this way the other one going this way and then somebody's going to get hurt so I just want to tell my Spiel again I did it to Zar a couple years ago and I'm telling it again something's got to be done and I'm relying upon you guys the police department and whoever it is to take some kind of action it's like ridiculous thank you Mr I comment to that uh I agree with you this is started a few years ago not just there they started installing these new lights and some of them with the reflection you can't see until you're right on top of it you can't we made a complaint to the dot we've got no response really because they're installing I don't think they're going to uninstall but those lights are terrible they really are you could some of you can see some you actually can't see till you're right on top of it so I agree with you 100% that's a very dang not just there all over where they're putting these these new lights up but they installing them and I guess that's their plan to install these things even though they're dang but that's where again I have no idea what the town can do what the police department can do or whatever to push back on the do somewhere somehow I mean we have this you I mean we have the statistics here I assume that you know annually we have 15 accidents or whatever it's like here there's got to be some kind of police department look at that and use any muscle that we can as a municipality to pressure the state to reevaluate that SE thank you okay I'll be back again next year and nothing will be done that's fine Mr thank you anyone else wishing to speak seeing none AEM motion to adjourn so move second all in favor have a good evening everyone