[Music] [Music] um at this time I will call this meeting to order Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker present commissioner bodc here commissioner delis for president commissioner granados here commissioner Kowalski here commissioner Mirabella commissioner Williams uh here Vice chairwoman Leon here and chairwoman pal mudad here at the record reflect you have eight Commissioners present for this evening's regular meeting thank you Clerk of the board please lead us in the prayer and salute to the flag humbly we ask God The Giver of peace and lover of Charity to give the entire family of Nations true agreement with his will and to Grant the light of his Spirit on all who work for justice in peace amen I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all Clerk of the board please read the statement of compliance with the open public meetings act the chair wishes to announce that pursuant to the requirements New Jersey statute anotated title 10 chapter 4 section 10 of the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting of the board of County commissioners of the county of Union has been given by mailing the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 along with periodic changes necessitated by circumstance to the newspapers circulating within the county of Union who are designated to receive such notice and by posting the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 in the administration building and further by filing the annual meeting schedule for the year 2024 with the office of the county clerk thank you than you may I have a motion to approve the communications so moov second a motion was made by commissioner Baker and was seconded by commissioner delisfort Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker I commissioner bodc I commissioner delis for I commissioner granados I commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I and chairwoman P mudad I chairwoman let the record reflect you have eight votes in the affirmative on all the communications thank you this meeting is now open to the public for the purpose of commenting on resolutions being offered for adoption Andor on any governmental issue that a member of the public feels may be of concern kindly state your name and town of residence for the record and if speaking on a resolution on the agenda please note the resolution number to which you are referring and adhere to the 5 minute time limit hi it's my name and town is that what you said yes Diana Gonzalez Clark so I'm here to discuss the Clark Reservoir which is a natural habitat and Wildlife Preserve first I want to thank the county and those who advocated for the reservoir dredging for years for their investment in the proposed plan today I'd like to confirm who the Commissioners are assigned to the open space program for further discussion offline the plan calls for an impressive Park to be built on the currently heavily wooded land beside St Agnes the park would include numerous amenities including a train ride for children a carousel a synthetic ice rink a fire pit a centerpiece Clock Tower I've been in communication with the community Through social media phone calls and in-person conversations in fact a Clark Reservoir committee has been mobilized if it were up to me I'd advocate for dredging an aration of the reservoir and stop there I'm not clear if artion is in scope but needs to be or else the overgrowth will return some feel a fishing pier a boat ramp and a pedestrian bridge spanning the reservoir par parallel to the parkway is okay most people feel a simple hiking trail through the woods filled with the sounds of birds and a view of the Waterway is where the line should be drawn while opinions differ there's a lot of common ground nobody wants to see deforestation in favor of paved Lots the kitty train line the Carousel and the rest of the aspects that make the project feel more like an amusement park the reservoir in surrounding area is a wildlife preserve and habitat and that must be our guiding principle in all that we do are you aware that 30% of birds have vanished since 1970 in the US habitat loss has been the main cause in the US a football field of land is lost every 30 seconds to development our forests are disappearing and affecting the global tree canopy we talk a good game about climate change and global warming but then turn a blind eye to overdevelopment part of the rationale for the project is to address flooding did you know that one tree consumes 100 to 150 gallons of water per day elimination of the forest will run counter to the storm water management objective we don't need more destruction of the precious little remaining undeveloped space left in this part of crowded New Jersey and it's not just Clark residents who are disturbed by the scope of The Proposal as Union County taxpayers Lyon residents have expressed dismay at footing their share of the bill a westfi publication supports the reservoir dredging but opposes the scope of the proposed Recreation Area a petition with with support across Union County has been initiated when I spoke to Victoria Durban Drake the Union County Parks director she verified that this is a concept plan that has to pass through hearings and the final project may look different based on community input and hearings our committee is in the process of collecting feedback and obtaining petition petition signatures which we would like to present to the county in shaping the final design we don't want to kill the project we want to rightsize it Clark houses a pro imately 14,000 residents unlike Elizabeth Union and Lyon with 130,000 60,000 and 43,000 residents respectively Clark already has two County Parks Oakridge and Esposito and nearby Roy Park and so many across the county we're not lacking in Recreation space we are lacking in open natural wildlife habitats frankly the county has a difficult time maintaining the parks we already have and greater funds or attention should be allocated to that endeavor we'd like to advocate for alternate access points to dredge the reservoir such as perhaps behind Grand centurians or the ball field or other creative options we cannot agree to deforestation as a first Resort even if access an access road is needed the size of that road must be kept to the bare minimum for each tree cut and hopefully none we request a tree replanted and a fact in fact in accordance with a 20124 njd tree replacement ordinance this is required we propose dialogue and Creative Solutions like running the walking path along the reservoir but bumping it out onto Madison Hill Road rather than running it through residents backyards there are Creative Solutions we can explore together in summary I'm here asking for your support in rightsizing the scope of the project with the guiding vision of maintaining it a natural habitat and Wildlife Preserve thank you uh good evening Commissioners um I'm from uh Lyon I'm officer Marissa Taylor I am one of the demoted sergeants that was laid off that was part of the layoff and I currently work at the jail I am a daughter a sister a mother of Two and a bonus mother to the officers at ucj I am here tonight because I have a heavy heart the nine correction offic that are being laid off were also part of the first layoff plan in 2021 they are more than just a number to be easily discarded they are my brothers and sisters and I literally trust them with my life Gina Lewis is one of the hardest working females at the jail her work ethic is impeccable she is the Sole Provider of her daughter she just came back eight months ago I have so much compassion for her knowing she is getting getting laid off and she still shows up every day and gives 110% I can't understand why you would ask her to come back thank her for coming back only to let her go if she goes back to ess's County they want her to start at the bottom she has five years of experience in Corrections and she should be paid accordingly Joshua gaml you want to hear a song boy he has a set of lungs on him Josh started on ABB with me as a supervisor eager to learn stepped up to the challenges and he was able to overcome coming back into all the jail and still maintains the eagerness to learn and has worked releasing on Fridays nights which is the hardest shift to work Jack foror has two beautiful twins that were just born with his beautiful wife they are the cutest and the happiest babies you will ever see Jack is also one of the demoted supervisors and after the shock wore off of the demotion somehow we got through it but now him being the first demoted supervisor to be laid off is absolutely crazy because of this Rush layoff plan to be approved no department will hire any of these officers before July 1st does anyone even care that they are going to go without a paycheck neest Rivas a decorated veteran still serves our country to protect the freedoms that we enjoy but we take for granted he is a father of four and is recently married NES has was my partner for many years on the worst floor of the jail 10B pod and when I was assaulted he immediately stepped into action and he took my as salent down I guess it doesn't matter that while he gives of himself endlessly and I mean endlessly he truly serves the American people being laid off twice is the than he gets I don't even know how he was laid off the first time when he was on emergency orders from the federal government go to ess's County they will take you everything's all right the last director that was here he went to ess's County as the Director Don now he got his son hired in Union County Sheriff's he didn't take his son with him so why is it all right for somebody else's son or daughter to go over there how safe is it what is the number of assaults on officers in the essis county in the last three years how many officers have permanently been disabled because of the assaults over in essics when you hear that one of your fellow correction officers at essis County was helping a sergeant and was brutally beaten by an inmate that's just one incident another incident an officer gets punched in the face so hard he needs major reconstructive surgery to fix his eye socket I am so compassionate about my brothers and sisters this is a career we chose not knowing that the state of New Jersey corrections is a dying and thankless career when you take a public sector job you expect to retire now all I see is anguish maliciousness and fabricators of the truth then on top of it this week not by my employer but we heard that the department is going to be closing in three years my question is is this true if you plan to close please tell us let us work accordingly let this be a smooth transition for you and for me God bless you your families this County and Jesus Lov us all thank you hello everyone I'm John Victor Jacobson I live at the end of the Clark Reservoir dam site there at Clark uh Melvin Court there and uh I'm a uh disabled veteran and a ground zero Survivor uh I've reached out to some of you in the past about the Clark Reservoir I've sent you some YouTube videos about uh you know certain things that have to be done there at the Clark Reservoir including large lake airation very important thing once you dredge 154 cubic yards of muck out of the reservoir you have to air rate it and if you do air rate it you will prevent it from ever having to be dredged again which is going to cost what 20 3040 million do you have prices on that I bet you do anyway um the other thing is if you're going to build a park uh let's call it uh the St Agnes Church Park uh it'll be a disaster to the people that go to church there on Sundays if it's not closed on Sundays you don't want to have a train running around that place nobody wants a train running around that place I think that's a joke and three parking lots where there should only be just one I agree with a fishing pier I agree with uh a boat access if it's necessary but you could probably do better providing boat access behind the uh Grand centurions and then you have a boat house and uh a floating Pier out there I just don't understand what a boat house is for unless you're going to start renting kayaks is that what that's for I don't know but uh I think you're trying to stick five lbs of stuff in a 10B bag or let's put it the other way around you're trying to stick 10 PBS of stuff in a 5B bag and if you do it you'll be making a big mistake and you'll be changing the character of Clark New Jersey forever that's all I got to say honorable members of the board my name is Daniel Green I live in Clark on the reservoir I've lived there for 40 years so I have a big interest in what you have planned for the development of the Clark Reservoir in n in the early 1990s a group that I led saved the Clark reservoir from from development Plans by middle sex water company and uh due due to that today we have this opportunity to develop a a nice um recreation park that's friendly both to Wildlife and to Residents so now we're asking the county to return the favor and to show respect for the rights of residential property owners adjacent to the reservoir particularly with regard to privacy safety and quality of life while we we strongly support the the dredging of the reservoir and have no objection to a passive recreation park behind St Agnes church we are expressing our strong opposition to the proposed walkway adjacent to the rear border of the properties on the north side of Francis drive while we understand the importance of providing pedestrian access and promoting Community conductivity we have serious concerns about the impact this walkway will have on our properties and our quality of life an additional concern is the proposed recreational train that would operate about 10 ft away from the FR Eastern Francis Drive border rear property lines the train could operate From Dawn till Dusk seven days per week creating a severe noise and privacy concern both of these proposals represent an extreme insensitivity to the rights of residential property owners and would cause a devastating destruction of property value specifically we are concerned about number one privacy the walkway train will be located mere feet from our property lines compromising our our privacy and our and creating a sense of unease a minimum of a 50 foot buffer space should be provided between any construction or walkways and Residential Properties if there is not enough land for such a buffer then no development should be allowed in such areas we also have concerns for safety The increased foot traffic and potential for loing will pose a risk to our families Safety and Security we will never again be able to feel secure and always will be in fear of possible um safety problems particularly a walkway behind our homes within feet of our homes will be a conduit for potential criminal activity that will that will greatly exacerbate the U the feeling of being incure noise pollution with the walkway in the train it would generate additional noise uh with Machinery Bells whistles and pedestrians disrupting peaceful enjoyment of our property the property value will be negatively impacted making it less desirable and affecting its resale value in a negative way the environmental impact is also um an issue which um with the increased foot traffic and the construction process will harm the natural habitat and wildlife in the area the walkways in the train with no setback or buffer would violate residents rights to privacy and the peaceful use of their property there are no other parks in Union County that have walking packs paths right up against residential property lines there are always substantial buffer zones between walkways and residential property lines so why aren't we be being given the same consideration with this park Union County does seem to be trying to uh do too much in too little space so we're urging the county to revise their plans and remove the walkway behind Francis drive so and and have pedestrian and bicycle traffic which which can be easily redirected from the park for a short distance down Madison Hill Road and Raritan Road that way there would be no no need to disturb the residents of France's Drive ideally there should be no walkways at all between any Residential Properties and the reservoir there is plenty of available space for walkways along the north Banks and the of the Central Lake of the reservoir which are bordered by non-residential uses such as the deyer club the Little League the high school the municipal building and the library no harm would be done by limiting walkways to those areas and the and the train does not belong in a densely densely populated residential area this park would be surrounded by the Janice Drive development time sir I'm sorry okay anyway thank you thank you you give it to the clerk sir but it's time your time is up sir I'm sorry you can give the petition to the clerk you can get the petition to the clerk [Music] I have two items uh one is an agenda item and one is not an agenda item so do I get 10 minutes five minutes or I get five minutes to cover both of them okay uh Nancy tasus Clark New Jersey um the first I'll talk about the Clark um Recreation Center being proposed by the county I want to start by saying I'm not a tree hug actually I think most trees make a mess and belong in parks and woods and not on private properties where they fall on houses and clog gutters on the other hand I feel trees that are growing naturally for tens or hundreds of years are worth saving at the last Town council meeting I became aware of a project Union County is embarking on to turn two beautiful lots of natural preserves in Clark New Jersey into asphalt and playgrounds after I was born I came home from the hospital to Clark New Jersey when it was lots of woods and Farms as a kid I played in with the other neighborhood kids in the woods behind our houses until developers got a hold of the Hoffman property and changed the idelic area to homes and asphalt back then at least the developers left trees on the properties now there are no single family houses being built no Woods no Farms okay yes the your for ch's farm for now what Clark can now brag about are huge apartment complexes storage facilities and asphalt not exactly what I am proud of I know we can't turn back the clock but we have a chance to save a bit of the past by asking you to rethink the project on Madison Hill Road and Wendel place the dredging and artion of the reservoir are great plans and so are a boat launch and fishing pier but the rest of the lands are just another destruction of nature for performa of gadgets that need maintenance increases traffic on a road with speeding issues already and attracts visitors who leave garbage and make noise so the quiet space that used to be there is now an amusement park the topper being a kitty train you already took a big part of the raway park for a football soccer field I live near that Park so I get a lot of um music from the bands and from the soccer players playing their music and you're also talking about taking a chunk of the rtina park in raway for a dog park I hope you will work with the citizens of Clark who are speaking out and objection to the size and scope of the Clark reservoir uh project and proposed Recreation Area attach well here's a picture why can't Clark have this wouldn't that be nice take your children walking through nature instead of riding a kitty train looking at a clock tower sitting at a gazebo I hope you will rethink this plan and listen to the Cries From the taxpayers who are forced to pay for government and oppose this plan thank you my second is a question which I was here for last meeting and commented on and I think this is related to it on the department of engineering Public Works and Facilities Management number two the Ashbrook restoration project in an amount not to exceed $881,000 I'm wondering is that related to fixing the golf course if I can we do the answers after oh okay okay thank thank you can I leave this picture with the um that's a park in Staten Island congested Staten Island thank you thank you good evening I'm dilia Collins Clark New Jersey um I have three areas that I'd like to talk about the first one is the Clark Recreation Area I would like to invite you all to come to Clark and sit behind St Agnes church and enjoy the wildlife that is there I did there I sat there one day and there are wildlife and enjoy Wildlife enjoy the peace and quiet you today I came down St George's Avenue all the way into Elizabeth and all I heard was beep beep beep beep beep beep we don't need this in Clark on Madison Hill Road second part of this um about security for the people that live along this walking trail are there going to be officers stationed at this park uh 247 or is there going to be a sign just saying the Clark I mean the park is closed at dusk uh boating accidents who's going to respond Clark does not have a boat in their Police Department or in their first aid Squad which is right next door to the uh uh the reservoir uh you've had four years to conduct your play play playground dis uh just sorry your playground um development we've only had a few weeks to kind of see what's going on over there um okay on another subject on resolution 24- 459 I live in that area of Walnut Avenue in Chester Lang but in Clark um I brought this up at one of the township meetings in Cranford approaching the railroad bridge from ritton road going towards the center of Cranford there are trees along the area right before the bridge and then when you come up to go into uh Chester Lang these trees are blocking the hawk light that's there for pedestrians to cross maybe you can get some uh County Public Works people to trim these trees so people could see it starts at Allen o oel place and the other side of Lexington Avenue if you take a ride down there it dips and then it goes up and people cannot see the hawk light for the pedestrians that have to cross from um the school children and the pedestrians that walk the area and on resolution 24 I mean 2024 461 um about the deer management I I feel it it's disgusting that in 2024 and 2025 Union County has to be result or act on killing the deer and also this area in Clark was one of the areas that was uh marked for the bow hunt in 2023 so sorry guys Hunters you'll be missing an area of Clark thank you uh good evening chair ladies and gentlemen of the commissioner board various golden nuggets Bruce Patterson Garwood New Jersey um these are all resolution questions and if I have time I'll I'll touch upon the the reservoir uh reso 454 is awarding Trion Enterprises again the Pake riverbridge project for 3.5 million uh this is definitely confusing in December we discussed this bridge a lawsuit and you noted tricon was thrown off the site due to non nonperformance you also then gave $100,000 to Jersey pre-cast the third tier contractor uh so I'd like to know what was the original bid price back in 2016 and what has happened to the $1 million Grant we received for this project by reso 26 2016-13 uh reso 455 is awarding Fletcher creamer construction a contract of nearly $900,000 for an Ashbrook restoration project which another Resident had asked about uh what exactly is being restored also what is happening to the lean that PS and G uh regarded the County trespassing and damaging their right away at the Ashbrook swamp and also the charges from the njde regarding the major damage to the Ashbrook swamp Wetlands that you committed reso 459 is allowing Cranford to reduce the speed limit on their Walnut Avenue from 40 m hour to 25 mil hour Garwood just did the same on our South Avenue isn't this telling you and all the other elected officials in the state that something is not right that there is so much traffic people becoming desperate going from point A to point B and speeding we are the densest State overpopulated with people and Automobiles our roads are at 100% capacity intersections rated F commissioner delis for understands this we have a state program of affordable housing to be built yet the develop ERS are allowed to build an additional five luxury rate market rate units for every one affordable unit this is the underlying problem as Commissioners you must join and advocate for change to this program impacting our infrastructure and quality of life this recent affordable law resolves nothing Common Sense needs to come into play not politics from developers of these high density projects that donate to political campaigns reso 460 is increasing GPC in contract another half million to 22.4 million for the fire Cod upgrades at the county courthouse uh what is this half million for how much of this $22 million is the courthouse stairwell issue inspection failures that sorely need to be resolved reso 465 is advocating for a sech charge on corporations to fund New Jersey Transit just another illc conceived tax by the chuckleheads down in Trenton commissioner delis for will understand this corporations are bailing out in New Jersey and mass and then their campuses are being converted into huge high density residential projects this tax just forces more companies to leave New Jersey one of the highest tax states in the nation it's a downward death spiral of our once great state you want to save New Jersey Transit Advocate hitting up all those greedy developers building the hundreds of thousands of high density residential projects reso 482 is given CME Associates nearly half a million dollars in paper shuffling for Warren ankko Park Baseball Field improvements not even for a shovel in the ground what an astronomical waste of tax monies except when you find that CMA CME has donated 150 Grand to the Commissioners and their cronies campaigns and this is just a non-competitive contract freely given out I'm sure you guys are happy to approve this one reso 491 is increasing Genova Burns legal contract up to $110,000 in the suit Andy Kim versus Union County which involved the reformatting of our election ballot the legal contract now up to 110 Grand because you wanted to keep a poorly designed ballot intact which favored your political anointed and it looks like you're lost instead of forcing the public to pay for this travesty can we get County Clerk Joan ropi and elections director dero to split the cost since they may be the responsible parties uh to the reservoir I read the CME study in April TW of April ail 2024 and it notes that actually over 50% is actually will be impervious surface impervious being that water won't be able to come down so you have to have a storm water basin off on the side which is open where actually the suggestion is put the storm water basin underneath the ground much like the developers do with the high density projects that that's my suggestion on that thank you seeing no one else I will formally close this portion of the meeting I would like to ask um director p and our uh engineer Rick Matas to um speak upon uh resolutions 454 455 459 and 460 R you chairman thank you resolution 454 2.1 million of that is grant money right and it 2.1 million that's grant money is still good thank you secondly the um Ashbrook swamp is also a remediation project and hopefully May alleviate some of the the flooding in the area it's for the brook itself not the go course yeah at the brook is named Ash Brook um 460 is the the stairway it's for additional equipment to bring the fire pressure up the fire water pressure up to coat CH chair if I might maybe on the Trion matter just just to make clear Trion is no longer on the job this was uh a a long-standing litigation in which the county settled the case with trion's Bonding Company who are paying substantially most of the cost for Trion failing to fulfill their obligation under the original contract this resolution is really just to clarify the language um of the prior resolutions that's why tricon is mentioned but they are off the job the bonding company has designated a new company and this long stall job will move forward thank you chair thank you and forther question about the trees by the crosswalk uh DPW will take a look thank you uh at this time I would like to ask for a motion to adopt resolutions 2024 D5 453 through 224-4913 Ed by commissioner Williams Clerk of the board please call the role commissioner Baker I commissioner bodc yes to all abstaining on 488 and 490 commissioner delis for I to all abstaining on 457 and 489 commissioner granados I all commissioner Kowalski yes commissioner Williams I Vice chairwoman Leon I and chairwoman pal mudad I let the record reflect you have eight votes in the affirmative on all resolutions with the exception of resolutions 2024 d457 488 489 and 490 where you have seven votes in the affirmative with one exstension thank you at this time I will call upon my commissioner colleagues for their reports and comments and I will start with commissioner bodak man County Manager Oatman the parks director Victoria Drake and her staff the County police and all of those County employees who work so hard to make to provide a fantastic Rhythm and Blues Festival concert this past Saturday it was a wonderful afternoon at drew a large enus enthusiastic crowds I want to thank you all for your help the Union County Board of County Commissioners invites nonprofit organizations to attend the new fundamentals of managing a nonprofit a free professional development workshop on Wednesday June 12th 2024 from 3:30 to 5:00 P PM this will be presented on Zoom by Pat Bois founder of Bois and Associates a firm that provides management and training to nonprofits participants will learn about today's best practices policies and procedures for operating a successful nonprofit organizations can register at www.nj.org nonprofit DW Workshop this Workshop is coordinated and hosted by the Union County Office of cultural and Heritage Affairs and is made possible by funds from the New Jersey state Council on the Arts a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts for more information contact the Union County Office of cultural and Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2578 High School's Arlington Avenue parking lot located at 950 Park Avenue in planfield the shredding event begins at 9:00 a.m. and its rain or shine it will continue until 100 p.m. unless the shredding truck reaches its capacity residents are encouraged to arrive as close to the beginning of the event as possible to ensure that their capacity for their material residents are limited to 10 pounds which is roughly four bags or boxes per vehicle and are intended for personal sensitive and residential generated documents only business documents will not be accepted for shredding at this event for complete instructions and information please visit www.nj.org recycle or call the Union County Recycling hotline at 908 654 9889 and that concludes my report thank you commissioner kski thank you chair um I'd like to just point out that with um our resolution 2024 4- 465 uh we're calling for governor Phil Murphy and State Senate President scari and speaker of the uh assembly Craig coplin and the legislature to support the corporate Transit fee and to work to reinstate the full corporate SE charge so that New Jersey Transit and other essential Services can can have the money to do the repairs of our trains and our train system that we so desperately need um New Jersey Transit is uh covers uh one of the most one as has been mentioned here one of the busiest areas of the country and most other transit systems have a dedicated funding source New Jersey Transit does not and it would uh help things immensely to have uh have funding that every year is dedicated to New Jersey Transit and and addition of course you know we pay for tickets but that doesn't really cover the cost of running the trains so um I thank my colleagues for joining me on this and also we're joining the Raritan Valley rail Coalition the Raritan Valley Line Mayors and many other legislators um who support this uh this effort so um thanks for that and uh also I want to thank everyone who participated in the primary election whether you voted or whether you ran for office uh this is an important part of our democracy so thanks to all of you that's it shair thank you commissioner Baker uh yes I'd like to Echo my colleagues U position in terms of the primary uh election and want to thank those who did participate in that Democratic process U the surrogates court office in Westfield has has expanded its o its hours for probate and administrative Services appointment only services will be offered at the Westfield office on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays the office is located in the Count's Colleen Frasier building 300 North Avenue East in Westfield residents can make their appointments through the surrogates office website ww. ucnj.org surrogate or by contacting the Elizabeth's office directly at 908 527 4280 the office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and the last appointment will be accepted at 3:15 p.m. so um that is hopeful I mean needful information for those who may need surrogate Services um so um take advantage of it if that is the case um uh that concludes my report Madam chair thank you commissioner Baker commissioner Williams thank you chair uh we uh the Board of Commissioners we are excited to invite all residents to the inaugural Union County lgbtq Pride K 5K and fun color run at at Oakridge Park on Saturday this Saturday June 88th in addition to the race residents can enjoy family familyfriendly activities and explore various resource tables from Union County departments and our Community Partners uh Color Run is a unique kind of race where participants can walk or run along a chosen route while being showered with colored ecofriendly powder check-in opens at 8:00 a.m. and the 5K kicks off at 900 a.m. followed by a non-competitive fundr run at 9:15 a.m. the first 100 registrants uh we still have some spaces left will receive a free Pride 5K and fun Color Run t-shirt um there is a registration uh for both the 5K and funr run and um let's see and registration information can can be found on www.nj.org lgbtq uh the 5K race is certified and professionally timed by Split Second racing ensuring an accurate and enjoyable race experience for all uh for more info please contact the Union County Office of lgbtq Affairs and register uh to register for the 5K and fun Color Run uh you may visit www.nj.org lgbtq thank you cheer woman that is it for me thank you thank you commissioner granados thank you chair I'm excited to remind everyone that our County spraygrounds and pools are now open on weekends through June 29th and starting June 29th through September 2nd they'll be open seven days a week we've had an amazing start to the season with over 3600 residents enjoying wheeler spray park and more than 2700 visiting our pool over the first two weekends so far the participation has been incredible and we're just getting started to make your visits even more enjoyable uni count residents have the added advantage of purchasing tickets online if you can go to ucnj.org and purchase a ticket to the website this not only guarantees your access but also helps you avoid long lines so you can spend more time having fun our parks and Facilities offer a wide range of activities for everyone whether you're into tennis discall golf archery nature walks playgrounds or any other outdoor activity or sport we have something for you so I hope everyone grabs their family and friends and enjoys this beautiful summer at our Union County Park system thank you chair thank you County Council Bruce berkin thank you chair nothing thank you County Manager thank you Vice chairwoman Leon thank you the Union County Board of County Commissioners and the department of Parks and Recreation invite all middle and high schools to participate in the 2024 fairy house art contest this contest invites students from 6th to 12th grade throughout Union County to design and create magical fairy houses with a special prize awarded at the for the winning entry participating schools are asked to submit one fairy house which will be evaluated by a panel of professional judges and displayed in one of Union County parks for a list of acceptable materials for design please visit our website the progression of the project must be submitted through the following link provided in the application www.nj.org slf uh house uh SL updates uh SL participating students must fill out and sign a media release schools must submit the registration by Monday June 24th 2024 no later than 5:00 p.m and the project must be completed by Tuesday October 15th 2024 for more information and how to register and participate please visit wc.org fairytrail application thank you and also I want to wish um my colleagues and those that celebrate happy pride month love is love thank you the Union County Board of County Commissioners announces the return of the Union County women mean business Summit on Tuesday June 11th 2024 the women mean business will take place at the galing Hill Golf Course located at three Golf Drive in kennworth and pre-registration is required admission is $55 and that includes a continental breakfast breakfast and lunch attend attendees will be able to attend a variety of workshops and discussions with panelists from various Industries and professions ready to share their knowledge uh we have great uh sessions already planned so I'm I'm looking forward to the day we also have a Fab abulous keynote speaker her name is Aden beu from uh founder of the Aden beu and companies she immigrated to the United States after escaping Civil War in Liberia at the age of 13 she was inspired by her grandmother and she owns seven restaurants including four IHOP franchises and is the second largest employer in Irvington she co-founded cornbread a farmtable soul food chain and launched Brick City vegan in a successful real estate developer she transforms vacant and unused spaces including the former Irvington General Hospital site into lowincome housing uh she's going to be a phenomenal speaker I am so excited to meet her um for more information on the women mean business Summit please visit ucnj.org wmb uh and this is a super super busy time of year for everyone um over the past couple of weeks we've had two flag raisings in front of the courthouse we had our Portuguese flag raising uh a week or so ago and then the other day we earlier this week we had our pride flag raising and I think the two of those flag raisings were some of the biggest crowds we've had it was really great to see so many people come out and and support um both of those uh flag raisings they were really fun to be at so I'm so happy and proud that we had so many people participate um we also have tons of graduations uh that are coming up in the next couple of weeks they may have already happened or they're coming up the next couple of weeks so I want to wish all of our graduates uh the best whether they're graduating from preschool kindergarten Middle School elementary school high school college um they're all great successes and and families and friends are always super proud to be a part of them so we're so proud of our students as well um and we also had a great Rhythm and bl uh Blues Festival I know uh commissioner bodak spoke on that we had a great turnout there um and it was a lot of fun and I want to thank our Parks staff for putting that together it was really really hot as it always is um but they did a fabulous job in in making sure that the program ran seamlessly so thank you um and with that being said I think I am looking for a motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor I thank you [Music] [Music]