evening I call order of this regular meeting Council for Monday June 17th to 7 o'clock p.m. mam clerk could you please read the open B meetings at compliance statement the notice requirements of the open public meetings act has been satisfied with respect to this meeting of the cish council the meeting time and date were included in the public meeting notice along with the public internet link and telephone calling information said notice and meeting agenda was posted municipal building and sent to the official newspaper to the C Le City Times and the start 48 Hours preceding the start time of this meeting the agenda and public handouts can be viewed online at j.org meetings public comment period will be held in the listed on the meeting agenda and instructions on how to comment will be M Clark please call it all counc will holler here counc McGrath here councilman Roman here Deputy Mayor maoy here mayor Toro here may also pres toight is um Township manager joeo Deputy Township manager Kevin oan uh Township attorney um Victoria luo and myself mpal clerk Jennifer Kier thank you please stand to the flag of the United States of America to the repic for IND well it's good to be back in person after my long distance meeting two weeks ago uh I thank the deputy mayor for residing in my absence I was certainly uh an interesting experience to be on with others side of the zoom so thank you everybody for your help with that uh I would also like to than the deputy mayor for filling in for me at several events while I was away professional development for teaching job and uh for going to several events on on my behalf on Township's behalf that was much appreciated uh it was though I couldn't make the uh the intern um Capstone Town council meeting I am very pleased that uh it was a really nice group uh that was involved a lot of kids I've taught and I'm especially pleased that Ellie Battersby was selected as the mayor uh and sure that she would could jump in and do the job right now uh the real one if we asked her to the Office of mergen Management uh held a drill between the resue squad from police department uhco and it was veryy successful so thank you to Deputy coordinator Conor mccan who organized most of it and coordinator Joel Martin Deputy coordinator and police chief Chris Kieran there'll be another drill this Saturday on a different topic so we look forward to that this is a really important opportunity we've had unfortunately some incidents that required a lot of inter agency cooperations year uh and Dr was a good time to work at The Kinks rather than on the incidents themselves this had a a nice D teeth celebration I outside and flag raising I thank Bill Brown first vice president of the NAACP of the orange Maplewood uh for joining us uh bill is a run resident and uh a very engaged and and very important of community I did uh at the our County Leon just spoke to me about it I I thank the town manager I brought a concern that was brought to me about our traffic lights being uh not accessible for uh visually impaired uh most of our County traffic lights and uh I I did put that forward so I appreciate the County's uh thoughts on that as we move forward and finally I would like to thank the tus Avenue third graders for their thank you note which was a uh drawings of all their favorite places in Verona I had the opportunity to visit with the third grade a couple times uh one for read Across America and I went back there uh the recycling um entrepreneurship event which was fantastic I think that's what here before but I thank them for that because a lot of those are also my favorite places in TCT so I appreciate that and I thank their teachers Miss Ellen and M Graves uh for for their support as well and that is my report from this evening Mr C count watching home good evening mayor and Council hopefully we're getting ready for the hot weather um last week we did open up uh our new pickle ball courts in Verona Park uh the here say is that everybody's enjoying it and hopefully uh they're having a safe wonderful time utilizing it um couple of questions came up um a few months ago the town manager asked about a traffic light on Parson at no this is the one p excuse me uh p in Lakeside and I spoke with the engineer County engineer today and that's under design for uh traffic or Facebook depending on the it's been approved by the state so they're moving ahead with it the other one is porset and fair viiew uh that's under design also and let me uh open up my notes here and there is going to be a uh a meeting on June 25th at 7 pm at the West Orange minville Building 66 Main Street West Orange and it's going to discuss the 12 locations and really the only one on it is Fair View and paret in Verona and they're going to get a new signal so um that'll be that's on the drawing board so both locations will eventually have a traffic light and uh I know the town manager brought it up several times to me we met with the County engineer and uh it's on the drawing so that being said um some of the good things that are happening um we have the Summer Conference series again um and the hot thing in my uh my pocket that I love our fireworks will be in Branchburg Park on Friday June 28th and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will be there and then fireworks will be at dark and Men of Soul Tuesday July 2nd at week wake park and then the infernal will be on July 3rd and Brookdale Park and usually there's a very very large crowd at that location but at all of our locations and um I just emailed um the manager's assistant and County uh the county clerk the municipal clerk uh all these events so she can put them up on your local website um the other thing that came up is there's a wellness give me a second see technology is wonderful there is and there's a wellness program that I did mention and it's at the Essex County South Mountain reservation Recreation Complex a full body hit which is July 8th 15th 22nd 29th at 6:30 p.m. and that is they are Mondays then jamming in July is on Tuesday at 700 PM July 9th 16 23rd 30th and on Thursday if you'd like to do yoga that's July 11 1825th and that's also at 6:30 p.m. uh the zoo is open late nights um starting on Wednesday and Thursday to 800m and the emission I believe is uh last the mission is 7 pm to get in questions or comments just one I know questions going to come up at that meeting so it might help to prepare the folks at the traffic light meeting uh there have been questions already about why the traffic light is at person net rather than Lindon where the other traffic light is and what I've been explaining is that the person net intersection four-way Lyndon stops that airviews a four-way intersection um and is more of a primary school crossing but also ideally we can push left turn traffic onto person ad and right turning traffic on to Lyon and then we're not backing that up um but I know you'll have questions about why I will be helpful to pass that along pass that along uh I did not go to engineering school so I can't give you that that information um but whatever way we can help we glad to do anything else counc just wanted to say thank you for the investment in resources and time in improving the traffic safety community so really appreciate that work for thank you I will pass that on to the county executive and the engineering department yes um thank you so much for this update I think it's great um and thank you for you know the reference to the pickle ball court opening in b um I thought that was amazing and I actually had said at the time like the county executive spoke about how you know it's a major asset and it drives a lot of people to living in our community and that's totally true and that's my experience so um I actually spend a lot of time running in Verona Park and what I've noticed um over the last week was that there was a large tree that perhaps broken half in the Northwest section of the park um essentially between the pekman and Lakeside Avenue up by Bloomfield and I noticed it first on Tuesday morning at like 5: in the morning because I'm that crazy person that early um but then I was out again on I think it was Sunday and the treat was still there and it looked like maybe it hadn't been you know addressed so I just wanted to alert the county to that that and it does look like perhaps it had rotted or something and it just BR um so that's that's if you can do me a favor take a quick photo I'll try have a photo of it from the weekend to me and I'll on with it all right and then um I just also wanted to know that um a resident brought to my attention I hadn't actually ever thought about it before is that you know it's wonderful that we get these large events um and different events and and you know just really so much Community engagement at the park but sometimes it seems like perhaps um uh not every individual kind of leaves no trace and so there are some large tire tracks that have torn up some of the um some of the lawn that with when I walk around the park see the same sometimes it's just depend right now we're going through hot spell but I see that sometimes it's the police cars that path isn't widen enough or just uh Che Vehicles themselves you know Park Vehicles yeah I wasn't sure if there was anything that could be done about it but I did have a resident pointed out to me and I had to admit I was like oh you know what I had never actually really thought about it before but a resident out often but anyway thank you so much and I will send those pictures over thank you thanks m co thank you have a great night stay cool most likely I will we will be opening up cooling centers during the heat wave so if anybody needs to usually it's at Cody Arena and some other locations but it's important that the people have someplace to go J want you sir thank you man you'll also be alerted are open commity and along with the before I go my report in my short time here I want to let you know and I know you know already that J C has been enormously responsive to all the requests that I've sent to him including negotiating meetings for me on behalf of BR so did want to publicly say that before I forget to do that some thank you thank you the check will be on the M um before I get into my agenda um I want to tell you your Verona Hometown Heroes project that got Christine Gould and our intern was working on is completed it's completely funded by the community and you'll see that those banners up uh veterans and Memorial month of each month and then I'll move into a similary um one of the the suggestions I have for the council which I think we need to address and we've had some discussions here and there about the condition of your streetscape the brick work is uh ated all worn whatever in my recommendation to you because everybody has a thought of what it should look like including managers and whatever I've done in the past which I think may be very uh attractive to us is put an RFP out for design and competition so we put a committee together of chamber members business any the a council or two members and you literally put a committee together and have these firms present their designs from your downtown to you so you have those from professionals i' like to get that started for you then it'll take I think it'll be out there for two months at least so that those firms can come to the downtown we get the down CH and then start working on designs for you so sometime uh the end of September or November you'll have that kind of a meeting to select the design for the future uh the benefit to that is that um one it needs the work to get done two you have a lot of the affordable housing going up so your cdbg funding will start to increase because of the population change the low and moderate areas will be defined again and you'll get additional funding for that um and that's it in a nutshell so with the council's permission I'll get that started Okay so here number one um June 266 is the uh the total town meeting um there's a whole list of every Outlet Under the Sun including the mailer that we did to the entire town announcing that meeting and that's happening on June 26 um in close session Kevin and I will talk to you about the two major fundraising firms that submitted uh a request for a proposal we'll go into close session for this discuss those two firms and the details um the clerk did submit a report as requested on the midyear election I believe you got a report I was at to say Friday I apologize and I know there was a graph attached to it also so you may want to discuss that again uh I'll be going into close session with you for an interlocal Health Services contract discussion um and the mayor had brought up uh a wall of cwall college I touched Bas back on on the last meeting we have another meeting up at colwall College to discuss that potential um amenity use and expanding it to uh our discussions will'll expand to them about use of fields and other uh recreational facilities up there U at some point you'll be going into Renovations of a lot of fields and you need alternative planning that's I've added that to and thank you for the first suggestion there and I've added the additional items to uh the discussion with the president of the college um K's report will cover a lot of other items and including a pickle now um on the agenda listed by the clerk um David Ron director of community services his probation or period is is ended I think he's done very well in the time he's been there he's been very attentive and and um my recommendation is that he' be moved to the director's position given that Michael the recreation supervisor that he replaced uh David Michael's probation or rep perod under civil services completed also I'll be moving that Pap work and you should be aware of that and you are appointing Mr mcmah to the niac that's thank and with that I'll move to is that time of thank you there uh the uh the first time on on my report is the we study we continue to work with Millennium and community services department will present those recommendations on the rates and a strategic plan at the end of the pool season new sorry new strategies um the uh the next item on my report is a number of items on the Wastewater infrastructure uh the township will be moving into our smoke testing program we have some literature that's been drafted and ready to be circulated to start educating the public on the process of smoke testing that will be begin to be pushed out through all the different needs that we have available to us and we'll be scheduling a pre-construction meeting for that smoke testing program on June 24th and uh the entire Township will take several months there will be more focused uh messages and and door knockers and and um messages to neighborhoods as the contractor moves from Street to Street and that information will be made available approximately 24 to 72 hours prior to arriving to those streets but we're going to start with the education now and we will start beginning that process at some point likely in July uh continuing on a lot of the in uh investigation work we're continuing to work to clean up the Derwent Avenue trunk line the progress there we're going to continue to address that and pay attention to that sewer line uh we also have uh bid documents for the primary clarifier pumping station uh complete that project is currently awaiting authorization to advertise from the ibank and we are beginning the process of bringing in uh design firms for the UV disinfection system and the micr screen projects uh we are going to uh get proposals for those designs and you'll see that presented to the council at a later meeting uh lastly on on Wastewater one one water Consulting continues to work with DP they've submitted their quality assurance project plan to the DP for additional sampling for our upcoming permit limits on the Wastewater plan uh with zoning and building uh We've implemented a a number of the new rates that we've recently adopted we've also been able to work with the zoning and building department and with the assistance of our Capstone student we've begun uh preparing a land use resolution compliance process to help ensure compliance with all the projects that receive approval at land use boards so we continue to work on on cleaning up the the process of that department uh looking at the well projects Lind Drive well continues with construction there will be uh more construction activity the beginning the week of July 8th uh there's going to be some project material deliveries scheduled that week it works out that it will be after the fourth Fourth of July fireworks event but you'll start to see a little bit more activity on site after uh the July 4th fireworks uh Our Fair viiew Avenue well project continues to March forward we uh are nearing the completion of our uh public hearing for the uh for the diversion application we will be formally submitting that paperwork to the state and once it's reviewed and presumably approved we will then be going out to bid for construction of the Fairview Avenue well as well uh additionally we continue to work with special counsil on the posos class action litigations uh there's a number of settlements that have been reached between 3M Dupont and Tao and most recently BASF as well so we continue to work with submitting all the necessary paperwork to be members of those class action settlements uh with the Claridge Drive Pump Station the township received the permit on June 6 for the construction of that pump station uh we have followed up with the ibank again we're just waiting for authorization to advertise bids for that project and we will be able to put that project immediately out to bid as well uh we continue to work through a number of miscellaneous storm water items we've uh we continue with uh field walkthroughs and site investigations uh we are going to uh pick up uh the preparation of our storm water management plan in early 20125 we continue to have conversations with our with the blue Acres office out of njd they work uh are communicating directly with a few residents who have interest in their program and uh lastly we have the pekman River St channel stabiliz channel stabilization project which was permitted last month uh we are taking those permits finalizing the design based on the conditions of those permits and preparing those documents getting them ready for final bid uh bid specifications and getting final project costs and time line prepared to present to the council as well again that's the stabilization of pekman river just immediately Downstream of Bloomfield Avenue we will continue to work on uh investigating the rest of the pecman along uh additional areas uh of of concern and we will work not just investigating brona's interest but we'll work with the joint flood control Advisory board with Cedar Grove and potentially the uh the idea of expand in that board with uh interest from Little Falls in Woodland Park we're continuing to have these discussions with the board and with those communities uh regarding the parking meter rates uh the new parking meter kiosks have been ordered they should be installed in approximately two to four weeks uh the new rates have in effect at the existing uh parking meters and on Park Mobile the revenues have seen pretty significant increases as a result which allows the township to continue to reinvest in those parking areas and in the replacement of of uh parking meter kiosks and all the other Investments that are necessary in the uh the downtown area and the parking lots of of the downtown areas uh there are a couple updates on the energy initiatives we continue to work through our local government en energy audit and uh we expected presentation at the end of the summer and then we are also continuing to work on our solar feasibility study we did have a meeting with that consultant uh about two weeks ago they are addressing a a few items that were brought to their attention and uh we will be sitting down again with them uh approximately a week from tonight to review their updates again that as that feasibility study continues to progress we'll present that to the council when it is ready as far as the community center playground I know everyone is anticipating that construction to pick up soon the contractor does have a delivery for the playground equipment finally it will it will be delivered on or about July 29th uh based on that delivery date the contractor is pacing themselves to remobilize to the site and and start construction in Earnest beginning of July again it will probably come shortly after the July 4th fireworks event the playground will be complete with the rubber SA surface and number of the other amenities however the Ada restroom is not anti anticipated for delivery until the second week of September so we will make a determination based on slight conditions of whether or not the playground can be opened with uh without the restroom and if there's a way to to safely make that playground available for the public uh there's few updates on all the road paving projects um the Derwent Avenue projects complete we're preparing our final punch list balson Whitney and windir is under Milling today uh they will continue with Milling uh tomorrow and probably on Wednesday and Paving will be scheduled immediately upon completion Douglas Avenue I'm sorry Douglas Place reconstruction is starting officially tomorrow contractors has mobilized and they'll begin construction tomorrow and uh those are both do funded projects are partially funded do projects uh on tonight's agenda is the resolution authorizing the next application for municipal Aid uh those include uh reconstruction of DOD Terrace after blow away and Summit Road those are the three lowest raids uh lowest rated roads in the road assessment uh performed of assessing all the different roads throughout the town so the three lowest roads were selected and will be included on the application do uh next item is Evert field uh we are scheduling a meeting with uh bbsl and an architect that has offered uh services to come up with a rendering for the Fieldhouse snack bar facility that rendering uh and the updated concept plans with updated costs uh less all the grants received and the donations received will be presented to the Council hopefully in July so we can get a final determination and authorization on Project scope and cost uh the pickle ball courts part of the approved capital projects that uh were approved in Prior meetings uh it has advanced through concept plans we presented those to the pickle ball community in Verona there have been some minor revisions those concept plans are being presented to the recreation advisory committee for the review and Cal comments and then those plans will be brought to the mayor and Council this summer uh we are targeting bids late summer or early fall with winter construction and the completion would be early spring of next year uh for there's been a number of sustainable initiatives as well that continue to move forward the uh most notable one is our five member green team that was awarded to the Township from PSG Institute of sustain ility studies they're on site June 12th for their Centennial Field kickoff meeting they are studying the replacement options for that field uh they were provided Insight from Administration sustainable Verona the township engineer public works department recreation department and BC so they'll continue to work through the next several weeks and come up with the final report and presentation to the mayor and council at the first meeting in August um the next item on my report is the Lakeside Avenue parcel the parking lot uh the contract for the sale Lakeside Avenue parking lot has been fully executed uh the township submitted the Grant application to njeda that would uh is an application that could cover potentially 80% of the cost of acquisition for the property uh concurrently we are working with the township engineer to finalize the cost estimates for uh the Reconstruction of that parking area and those costs will be put uh put together for a bond ordinance for pres uh presentation to the council in July and then the last item on our report is the council chambers technology uh Administration has a meeting with Comcast on June 25th to review the technology needs of both this room and the community center and we'll have up stes to the council thereafter just put questions Kevin first CC Roman able to attend that meeting with pcast has he been invited I would like his inside that room uh so we don't have to so we can do this right the first time I question is this a design session is this a discussion over funding is this the agenda at this point it it's a um it's a negotiation and coordination with their franchise renewal U discussions I would say we don't you probably not yet helpful you know knowing the idea what cost is stuff like that so hard question yeah yeah yeah just epare for that conversation um plan is I me the plan is it part their franch well yeah we just have to figure out it's important to know to have the assessment of what we need we basically wanted at least agreement on scope of work you know so they know what they have to do rather than you know them maybe trying to put a hard cost cap or something so we do have a yeah I'll I'll circulate the full scope of what's being proposed and the primary cost um that's being presented and discussed with concast I'll circulate that to the council and send us the the RO assessment yes list it would be helpful for us to know what's next sure I don't they haven't seen it's yeah I I'll circulate it there's a link on the website for uh for public accessibility as well but I'll I'll circulate Council question um thank you so actually on the road assessments um and I'm really glad that you know we moved in this direction which was something I advocated for um so that we could pick our project strategically there was going to be though like kind of so we have the road assessment um that and but then there's also the pipes underneath so on this and I don't know if councilwoman you were going to go in that direction but so on this have we assessed do we need to do any um water sewer replacement and then in the future we want to try to get to the intersection of what is badly needed water infrastructure that needs to be replaced and what is the condition of the road I don't know if you have any comments on that sure the um I I have begun having those discussions with the township engineer that it is part of what we need to assess um having that road assessment helps identify that there there are a handful of streets that are very poorly um uh in need of Rehabilitation and um I think what I've always seen happen is is typically you have a number of streets that are you you're going need to balance the approach some streets will need simple reconstruction without any utility work some will need both and some will need the utility work which will then drive reconstruction of those rows in this particular instance um we are still assessing to make sure that they don't need any sanitary or drinking water upgrades um I don't think there's any immediate history of of brakes or water needs haven't been ident identified in our asset management plan but undergoing the smoke testing study that we will be doing this summer will help us identify if there are needs in the sanitary sewer system so that that will be determined over this the course of the summer and as we hear about the grant Awards those typically are announced later in the fall so we'll we'll hear about the awards and what potential money the township may be receiving around the same time that we know the conditions of the sanitary sewer but if I'm interpreting your statement correctly like in the future all this is going to come together like because we're going to know the condition of the uh of the um of the water system we're going to pull everything together so then we're going to have more of a strategic plan on the whole thing yes okay uh the Douglas place did you have that Resident meeting how'd that go there was a resident meeting uh there was it's a it's a short Street um but there was a relatively good turnout uh there um it was a brief meeting because it is again a short streak but the the meeting went well the the schedule was um presented to the public and there was one resident that requested special accommodations for something that was going on during the construction period but we were able to accommodate that without is okay great thank you and so that on the my last question is on the Lakeside Avenue parking lot so we're basically bonding for both the purchase and potential construction costs in July is that your recommendation that's what's being will be presented but then we won't know if we actually get the grant until when uh the the grant was just submitted June uh June 5th the uh it's it's a pilot program for the state so we we don't know exactly when we're going to hear um the bond ordinance would be introduced in in the in meeting and it gives us some time to F out the uh the Eda to figure out when they will be getting responses and answers back on the awards so we're hoping to to hear back from the Eda sooner than later but there's no Assurance of how quickly they're gonna turn pilot program okay thank you um so thank you for your presentation I did have a couple of related questions and I I think you you answered woman M ask question so with the smoke testing we would for example you're saying you're doing it like kind of in a phased in process like different sections and it'll take several months but you would be you know for example doing making sure that the smoke testing you were doing would include those after glow that after glow area so that you would then know ahead of getting the grant whether or not there's additional costs associated with that or upda that's correct and those that project those the Reconstruction of those project projects are not bonded yet so if we were to receive those grants they would be bonded as part of next year's Capital which would then potentially include utility work if necessary um with regard to the Lakeside Avenue parking lot um I just wanted you to refresh my recollection the grant that we submitted was also in part um like Transit Hub was that an element of the grant that we applied for with Eda we use that to demonstrate the uh appropriateness of that site for this grant program so we certainly did highlight the fact that it was a Transit oriented location um and there were two different Avenues but the we we based our submission on the review and recommendation from our grant writing consultant who had several conversations with Eda okay and um this evening's presentation from the county it is indicating that we would get the traffic PL and crosswalk there eventually so that's that's very positive or safe you know parking and then um uh residents getting into the brona park um with regard and to some of the road work projects I have had residents and neighbors asking about restoration of trees and restoration of property after all of the Reconstruction work on Boston Whitney and windamir I think some portions were reced after there was all the construction work but then some portions weren't um and I know that for example when we did an Street we likewise had residents asking about the seeding process um and the trees so do you have any insight into when that would be done I think doing it in the heat of the summer is probably the worst time to put down grass seed and plant trees but I I would like to have an answer if there was an opportunity so there were initial letters that were circulated to the residents to determine interest for tree plantings um there were going to be additional letters circulated this week to the residents to get um a count on total number of houses that were interested in having a tree planted U the weather turned pretty quickly from a moderate to very hot so the schedule of when we plant the trees we can wait and see if the the weather and the temperature moderates a little bit more um but the Hope was to uh wrap up the project as soon as possible the Milling contractor and their Milling crew freed up with an opportunity to get the project completed this week milling and Paving uh I would assume that their their Cleanup Crew with top soil and and uh and seeding will come back after the million Paving crew gets out of the way but for them to both be on site this week would be getting any way of each other yeah but they they will be continuing to Top Soil and reced everything that's been Disturbed we will be planting the trees if the weather allows for it we'll we'll try to get them done prior to the summer but if the weather just remains hot and dry we may push off until the fall till the fall nonetheless it's going to be under the contractor's through your maintenance B so it will be the responsibility of the contractor to replace if they die from disease or or some other reason okay so ultimately like it'll be weather dependent if we maintain the seed wve then we might actually be looking at doing some of this planting enough fall but it would still be the contractor having to come back and have that obligation okay um and speaking of the Heatwave I did have one um additional question I'm not sure if this is for you or Joe um when are pool um uh Communications went to the township it says that the pool would open full-time after school's closed but then it specifically says Friday with the heat W schools are actually closed on Wednesday if there's an opportunity to open the pool on Thursday I think that would be a big win for the community but um I don't know what logistical challenges that might present so I just wanted to see that there's an opportunity that that was addressed as the concern was get getting enough lifeguards D it itated and we did so that has been resolved well if we could get a communication out to the public just to make that clear I don't know if that's come out I haven't seen anything so um if that could maybe go out on community path I think you would have very happy residence between pooling centers and having the pool during the really hot day that would be important that was uh I know it was his intention to try to get that up by the end of the day I know he was pulling together sapping if we were just getting it done today it makes sense that it would go out but if we can get it out you know again it wasn't going to open until Thursday anyway so even if it gets out you know in the next couple days it will greate thank you Ling the day he did indicate and believe we had sufficient lifeguards to do that that's excellent I think that'll be a really big one so thank you so much anything else Mr thank you Mr Mayor uh two weeks ago sustainable Verona had a meeting uh the deputy manager just went over what we talked about in M of meeting uh the five member green team that we were awarded uh through uh Public Service uh study they will be their main focus is going to be on not Veterans Field Centennial Field uh they're just going to do a basic overview of turf fields uh there's different aspects of playing time uh the cost of uh a field over 20 years uh chemical exposure whether they were're exposed to P fos from turf fields uh heat was one of the elements and there's a couple other things that they'll be uh analyzing and and Reporting back to the council uh as he stated it will be August 5th uh we will have them come to the meeting and do their presentation so I am looking forward to that uh because it's the first field I think we're going to have to replace uh and we'll have several others after that so looking forward to it uh one other thing they discussed came up was uh some better signage at the recycling center as to what I know there is some signage up there I've looked since but something that's a little clear as to what people can throw in what bins uh what's recyclable and what is not uh and then lastly from that group they will be we're looking into uh in October uh there is the in the US a National Drive electric week from September 27 to October 8th uh they are looking to do a a an electric presentation on electric cars on October 5th and they will be uh talking to manager and staff yep about doing something right here in town center uh through the day and and they're G also talk to the library and do some educational so that was that uh this past week uh I did run the Valerie Fund 5K they had grown AP Park the race and the walk uh wonderful organization they've been doing it here I believe this was the 19th year uh so looking forward to uh 20 next year they did raise uh sh always come close to a million every year some some years they they go over but this year they're up over $900,000 for their event uh it is a great event because it brings so many people to Verona that really probably never came into Verona and once they see the park and they go downtown it is really it's good for businesses downt to get wrecking so um very happy to continue that and uh and to be involved with it uh and then right after that the uh entire Council as the mayor said he was away uh I was honored to officiate the uh progress pride flag raising ceremony we did uh Saturday afternoon uh it also uh for me uh being out in the sun for a good couple hours everybody said to me this past week like could you go on vacation so I guess I got a little son you know of that day but i' I'd like to thank you know we had all of our legislators here uh Reggie blo from the Essex County lgbtq uh coordinator so thank them uh the our police department and uh buildings and ground especially because we had some technical at the beginning uh and we had a couple Board of Ed members join us also but a lot of people from the town and the mayak committee uh that really put a lot of time into get this going and our uh public information officer also so it was uh a good weekend and as June goes we're doing more and more busy weekends and lastly uh I did attend the uh brona High School senior award ceremony uh had the privilege of giv out a scholarship to clar B Bole Memorial Scholarship uh she was a volunteer in Verona she was a uh a a town employee for many many years are basically our CFO uh but this this award is given because of her volunteerism in the town and how much time she gave so I was happy to uh to attend and I know there's there was over 70 graduates I believe that received Awards uh and congrat so congratulations to all the Verona High School students and I wish them well graduations is this Wednesday I wish them well and hope they are safe be safe uh and enjoy the next couple months that's all I have for thank you Deputy Mayor councilman you I'll be Bri since my comments will be see more repetitive uh just also wanted to uh acknowledge the progress bride flag raising and all people that went into putting together that event the deputy mayor did an excellent job going in leading that ceremony and the ceremony also just had the feel of being a festival and Su just a great event during the day so it was a lot of fun to attend so I'm really glad to see that come together um myself the deputy mayor also attended the pba's annual fundraiser just wanted to congratulate them on that it was a great opportunity to uh see see all the things that our Police Department that the members of the police department do in their own time to support the community and this was a major event for them in terms of making all that work possible so congratulations to them and then thank you to everybody for the juneth ceremony today again very nicely put together and nice my C counc thank you mayor um I want to thank the um County Executive and all the county officials on the pickle ball courts that we um that got installed in Verona Park and for being part of that photo op that was really a wonderful opportunity it was always great to talk with the park officials and with the county executive about uh what an amazing asset Verona Park is um I also um attended uh the pride of flag raising and celebration I um want to Echo all the comments previously made but really want to highlight the hard work and dedication of our volunteers at the Multicultural inclusion accessibility advisory committee that pulled it together and all of our talented youth including two wonderful singers from the high school jazz choir and our student speaker AJ who did a fabulous job uh this year and uh was really honored to see them speak um and of course our support from our two ministers at Holy Spirit who both um really um helped to round out the ceremony I just it's just such a wonderful event and to see all the community members of various ages celebrating and this year there were even t-shirts um it was really just a fabulous day um and then many people uh then continued the celebrations in Montclair later that day at the monair pride event which is if you've never been is really something to see um earlier that day I also attended the Valerie fun walk I was there supporting Daria strong Daria gabia is a junior soon to be senior at brona high school she uh she has a long fight ahead uh but she is a brave bright uh young woman uh she was profiled on cbs2 news uh with John Elliot which was a thrill to uh watch um and that team alone raised um over $112,000 for the Valerie fund for which you know she with her long cancer treatment has uh been the recipient of their services so they know how important the um the funds are needed um and as the deputy mayor said a wonderful event every year um the Sha tree committee met um they talked at length about Resident education about the health of trees um and also their Hazard window survey which they're planning and will'll be following up with with the uh Deputy Town manager um and that window Hazard survey will help to prioritize uh tree removal work that's necessary for safety reasons uh they're really excited to get to a more strategic driven approach um and serve as an educational resource for residents so I really love serving on the sheet tree commission with these dedicated volunteers and um I doo want to wish all of the uh graduates from uh the high school um good luck and for the middle school graduates who are uh moving up to the high school I hope everyone um has a safe start to their summer and I look forward to celebrating uh with High School uh uh class on Wednesday and that's my report thank you thank you Council molland thank you um I just want to acknowledge as well what a busy month uh June has been and you know we've still got time to go um earlier this month we celebrated young VI's awareness day I also joined my colleagues at the pickle ball and um the pickle ball opening ceremony as well as the pride event here in town as well as this evening teth ceremony so I did just want to make a note about the importance of having a community here where people feel safe and welcome um to live and work and play here within Barona inclusion really does matter and I am so grateful for those residents who have dedicated their time in helping Verona to become a much more welcoming place um I do have a meeting tomorrow night of the recreation advisory committee um there will we will be discussing a number of of outstanding items including pool memberships and um and in particular like where we are with those pool registration numbers and other areas of improvement for recreation so I'm excited to be attending that uh later this week I will also be attending the Verona High School graduation um and earlier today I was at the Forest Avenue fourth grade farewell which was also a very moving experience so I wish all of those um young graduates an exciting summer as well as they proceed with their academic careers last but not least I do just want to acknowledge the Heatwave that we've mentioned twice before and just urge residents to really take all necessary precautions it's really important to do what you can to avoid heat stroke to keep hydrated and to make yourself um to Avail yourself of things like the cooling center and the leg um and of course as we move deeper into hurricane season it's so important to have preparedness at your home in case of power outages so make sure that you have that emergency preparedness box um in the event of a storm that causes power outages so thank you so much that concludes my remarks thank you at this time I will open for public comment on any items the public would like to address mam cler would you please read the publication statement public wish speak on any matter if you are attending in person you raise your hand to approach the Lector and if you're attending via Zoom you can raise the Hand by pressing the raise hand button on the bottom of your monitor if you're d l in by phone you may press star9 once you are recognize clearly state your name and Township residence for the record you'll have four minutes to address the council please understand that you do not need to give your street address however if you do these meetings will be posted on the township YouTube channel it will not be edited for any purpose after wish the speak has been heard the council May address your comments and her questions this is Mr Ryan on Zoom yes good evening um mayor and Council Kevin Ryan Verona New Jersey uh speaking to you tonight on behalf of the Verona Lions Club uh just a a couple of quick reminders about some of the uh events uh that uh the alliance Club are involved with this month uh it was my privilege to be able to coordinate the uh the white cane spring P letter that should have gone out to all of the members of the community uh just a reminder that uh the drive continues and just to remind folks that uh the Lions Club has done a number of wonderful things uh for the town I'm not going to enumerate them all here if you go to our website uh at www lionsclub Verona nj.org that enumerates all of them but the main one that uh I think we get a lot of credit for and deservedly so is the medical supply closet that uh that we run for the uh for the town uh so any of you um contributions that you would make to the fund Drive are fully tax deductible and I I know this is a a tough time of year everybody is asking for money but please keep the uh Lions Club uh in your thoughts and the second thing that the Lions Club has uh gotten involved with is a um a supply drive for the uh United Ukrainian American relief committee this is the second time that uh the Lions Club has uh volunteered to work with the committee to collect medical supplies uh the town has generously allowed us to uh set up a collection points at the community center and I believe at Town Hall and uh once again I'm not going to enumerate all of these supplies if you go on the uh the Lions Club website uh my Verona also ran a very detailed article recently on it but the that drive runs from June 17th through July 19th uh we uh have gotten a great deal of thanks from the uh Ukrainian American relief Community for doing the first drive and hopefully the second one will be as uh as successful so thank you for uh your attention to that I appreciate it have a good night Mr Ryan any the room or that one that one right there you say your name municipality um good evening I'm Monica Vincent um I intended to come a couple of months ago but uh my work travel schedule uh has prevented me from doing so I purchased a home here in in Verona six years ago and in response to an email I received last year from the Town Council um and some of the actions that have taken place since tonight I'm here again to ask the Town Council to reconsider houses of worships to promote Church events on public property our public property belongs to all residents regardless of their religious beliefs or affiliations by permitting religious groups to advertise their events you are inadvertently endorsing a specific Faith which can make those of other beliefs or non-beliefs feel excluded or marginalized the establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U US Constitution is often interpreted to require separation of church and state this separation is crucial to ensuring that the government does not favor or appear to favor any religion over others allowing religious organizations to use public property for promotional purpose blurs this line and could be perceived as a governmental endorsement of particular religious views allowing churches to promote a events means extending the same privilege to all organizations including those with controversial or harmful ideologies for example here in Verona while the Eight houses of worships have longstanding histories three have seen significant changes in the past six years in fact new religions are housed in those buildings this raises the possibility of future churches or organizations with divisive or dangerous agendas such as ideologies of hatred and oppression but we don't have to wait for the future you this Council has already allowed a church to promote events on public property promote events where they're raising monies not for RONA but for their church for taxpayers like myself on the back of what we're paying significantly already a church that has a history of oppressing women gays lesbians and worse yet their sexual predators I urge the council to uphold the separation of church and state by not allowing religious organizations to promote their events on public property ensuring our public spaces remain welcoming and fair for all thank you um I just want to also make another comment Miss Miss Holland um I grew up in this town I moved back up here from Georgia and the comment that you made about welcoming um you find it disheartening because this to me Verona there was a reason why I specifically chose to move back here and I took that comment that you said very personally um because I think we I think the folks here are welcoming and I think any of my neighbors would probably say that I'm a good neighbor um it's hard for me to say this because it's probably the first time in my life where I wanted to get a cach but I had a neighbor harass me they were new was a way they assumed that I did something that had nothing out of my control but I if I had known if I gone up to him I've made every effort to meet neighbors it's the people that are coming in that I think need some Humanity so thank you all I appreciate you considering this thank you Miss vinent thank you next up Mr good on Zoom good evening Fred good Verona New Jersey um I'm called to talk again about the um combination of the Police Department fire department and am ambulance services and I first I would like to say thank you for making sure that all the notifications went out to all the town residents and I did follow some of the advice of one of the council members and I did speak to neighbors and other residents of town about their feelings about the project and some of the things that did come back was the location of the project the size of the project project the distance of some of the services from the center of town and the time that would be involved in reaching all portions of town um and I did have suggestions about alternate locations and again I'm coming back to request the creation of an advisory aboard with the town residents who are concerned about this project and who want to see this done properly and in a way that will address one of the biggest concerns that I receive receive feedback is cost and I think that there are some solid suggestions and they may not all be feasible but not to have more defined conversations outside of the meeting scheduled for the 26th would then create a situation where we're truly not investigating all options to their fullest extent and I I look forward to working with everyone and and to to continue to get this done but we do ask ask that we have some additional input from the form of an advisory committee to to accomplish that thank you any else this time I'll close public comment um I thank Mr Ryan for calling in on behalf of Alliance Club who does amazing work and I Echo their support uh I hope everybody will consider that it's Vincent I don't have any particular response because we adjudicated this matter uh in detail previously um and that science space that was erected is governed by ordinance at this point and is open to any organization that does that um I would I am going to say that I think I have a different opinion on Church ises the ones that are advertising for events that provide to the community uh and uh especially our our church J does a lot of fun and they run our food bank uh so there is a certainly a thing about any organization of course can use that space it's not a municipal space it is a a public a public speech Zone in that way which are good I appreciate your comments um I encourage you that you have alternate uh ideas that you communicate them with Mr TCO and Mr Sullivan uh I can say that we have heard Council of of location ideas um and up on this one so I do encourage you to stay in contact Mr mran and share those ideas that you have and and share with you the feasibility because I enture guess they probably been been address uh and I also encourage you to go back to the uh public visitation where we went over several of these alternates that any other comments on sure I just want to say that I want to thank Miss Vincent for her courage in coming forward and and sharing her feelings with the council this evening my remarks were merely that I want our residents to feel welcome and included in this community um and so I think it's really important for everyone to have that opportunity and safe space to be heard and to be seen and to be included as Community thank you uh moving on to hearing an adoption of ordinance we the only ordinance on the agenda is lab 81 first reading am oh you 12 of the Cod the township specifically section 10 stop intersection section one no parking and section two no parking certain hour yes uh before I call for Mo on the there are two speakers from Zoom are still visible to the public if you could the a some like to move the ordinance so moved motion Council M there second second is made by Council Roman this Council discussion Council Holland yes counc M yes Council en Roman yes mayor M yes mayor Oregon spee one will be number 202 4-26 it will be published reporting public heing on July 1st thank you next on our agenda is agenda we have 17 minutes we have 16 resolutions no license to permits does anybody have anything they would like um yes mayor if we could please pull K8 and K 10 that would be thank you anybody else thank you Council for giving me the heads up on that somebody like to move the agenda minus those two is made by theut mayor made by romman this time I'll call for public comment on the consent agenda only same public comment statement applies except comment is limited to these 14 resolutions yes public comment CL um okay K7 I you just point out a small scribers error but in the context it does need to be changed um and the now be it resolved um the contract is awarded for the purchase of fixed automated License Plate Reader cameras um so specifically please remove four Police Department Vehicles out of that and our fixed automtive um PL cameras and that is signicant change uh thank you I just have a couple comments I was actually going to comment on that resolution uh this is one of the projects I know we get a lot of comment about auto theft and what that's just recently uh this to the fix license readers are a huge Advantage uh in fighting that auto theft because most people come into town with stolen vehicles to steal other vehicles look at the hits so putting those strategically least Department also shares information and and uh those camera hits across other police departments uh so that is uh it's really helpful El I believe one other comment but um thank you mayor I also was going to comment on this resolution um the as it mentions there's a $57,000 Federal grant that is because of the great work of congresswoman Cheryl um she got a grant for several West essic towns um as part of the last budgetary process and even though Verona is still is technically not in her uh District she did not forget about us as the public May her call um our uh police chief and I attended a big press conference that she had and push um boy at this point it's probably a year and a half ago um to get State funding for these readers that was not successful and so she worked money um and earmarked in the federal budget so I want to thank congresswoman Cheryl for her advocacy on this issue and for including Barona um even though we are in what was Congressman pay's District the 10th so um I just wanted to make a comment on that to make sure the public was aware thank you comments please Holland yes Council woman mcgr yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes chor yes um resolutions K1 through K7 K9 and K 11 through 16 will be number 102 through 115 Clark somebody like to move resolutions 8 and package the motion paid by councilman Roman second can we separate you want to separate please so I'll my motion to okay the motion is made to uh adop resolution K to0 seconds second it F this is some discussion uh at this time we'll call for public comment on resolution K8 comment appes not I'll close public comments any Council discussion on K councilman Holland yes Council McGrath obain Council Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor Toro yes mayor um K8 be number 2024 D16 passes Z than like to move k made by second all second uh call public comment on resolution K10 if anybody would like to talk about Plumbing now is your chance no public comment public will close public comments and Council discussion on resolution Cas there on councilman Hol yes councilwoman mcrath obain coun Roman yes may main mayor Toro yes may K 10 will be number 17 it passes out vote of three to zero exensions thank you m clerk uh we do have an addendum this evening one resolution will somebody move M1 pleas thank all second uh this the public this is authorizing a contract with Montana construction for the cleaning of our catch basins I call public comment on theendum theum only appes want talk about catch B see comment is closed any Council discussion on M1 there's none curious have any historically contracted out the service I Contra it's on a rotating basis different entire doing for a while my cat I spent time cleaning myself do you find that we clean them less since we've had the sweeper cycle you have to all leaves go in other that goes in you don't clean them your storm you experienc that a lot with Ida especially ad Clark Holland yes coun mcad yes C Roman yes mayor maoy yes may yes may M1 be number 118 thank you uh we are moving on to new unfinish business first item is one which is Municipal leg expenses uh we did receive a couple statistical documents on vo turnout uh one of them was today I a chance to test that I made a pretty exensive comment the last meeting I don't have to add else have anything you to have on side you know reviewing this document reviewing this document I did find the 2023 statistics fairly interesting and that we had a very active municipal election and the burnout was pry kind of looking at this data here I you know I don't know that you know I don't know whether or not there's a serious turnout issue I'm not seeing one from the statistics it seems to be you know consistent with what I would expect so um that's I may CH has but I umou space with the deputy Cy clerk this afternoon um with those I don't know what the change would be but with the numbers posted for 2023 um there's a little bit discrepancy with some of the mail so for the next meeting solid number for 2023 in terms of the municipal and in terms of the general general election uh yes thank you um I do want to thank the municipal clerk for all of her follow questions I thought the statistic and correct me if I'm wrong um Miss Kieran that um when the law was passed on the fact that nonpartisan elections that could be moved from May to November there were 87 municipalities I think your ema6 86 and now there are 13 15 15 okay so it went from 86 to 15 uh municipalities are left and I think the majority of those are actually in Essex County that's correct so we seem to uh really still be in that kind of May election mode which we know because obviously we share with um Cedar prob and South Orange correct and the other one just had yeah I think a question at hand for us if we may have this discussion is um the opportunity to put a non-binding voter referendum on for November and that's where the clock is sticking I don't think this council is ready and and I think a lot of people want to do some research and kind of think through things and whether or not it's the right move to actually move the election but the opportunity at hand is to put a non-binding referend on for November again this is this was a $75,000 election there is risk that the election could be even more and is this actually you know well I think a lot of us agree that there are some benefits to having the election in may we are now we have enumerated in past conversations and the public has written to us about the downsides that are in place with keeping it in May versus moving it to November and you know frankly the cost out savings are are pretty significant and are almost equaling other major decisions we've already made like for consolidation so um you know I did my own research um in between the two meetings there was a law passed in the N uh 201819 legislative cycle that sets a very high threshold for even doing a non-binding voter referendum to move the election it is an ordinance that as the super majority uh that would be four or five of us um and so if we were to put that ordinance on we would be looking at I'm looking at the municipal clerk I don't know two yeah four out the five of us sorry if I misspoke um but I don't know if we could introduce as late as July 22nd or if that's when meeting is or if we have to introduce on July 1st um to do an ordinance but you know we're we're running out of time to see if who like to do a non-binding referendum in November else I'm with that law question on comments all right right your com your your comments from the last meeting about you know if you are going to ask this question when do you ask it you know pretty well taken if you ask voters who vote in November if they'd like to continue voting for everything in November they're going to say yes if you ask voters who vote in May whether they'd like the election that voting in May for to be moved to November that's a question about a change rather than the status quo um I don't I don't see the urgency in making a change here particularly given the the high bar for undoing things if you do make this change so I just don't see a definitive reason why this would need to go on the November ballot and you know why we should scramble to put it on the November ballot so I you know position on record is I not be in favor of putting this on at this since counil Roman referenced my comments from last meeting I did bring up that bill if we I don't think we necessarily need a referendum on the issue but if have a referendum I would do it in May when people are voting in this election uh they' be able to give us the people who traditionally vote in the non Municipal elections would be able to Signal whether they wanted to move that or not um but I agree I the 10year um prohibition on changing it back is concerning uh I am undecided on the issue and uh when I get undecided issue I do want to take my time and thoroughly research it I want to do some other analysis and uh so I made my comments in the last meeting as far as where my thinking and there the things that I am uh through so folks are welcome to offset favor of putting this on a November referendum uh because the I think we to ask the opinion of Voters to vote any spoken yes um I just want to defer to our minicipal clerk about whether or not we can do any referendums in um for referendum initiatives um are only on the November ballot special elections um cannot have a SE nor can the Municipal elections are he have asked we had a question in May on the space t i don't someone H yes thank you I just I just wanted to make one additional note that it seems odd to me that there's an underlying assumtion that the voters in May are not also voting in November I think what you have are even if we're taking the assumptions of others that voters in May are you know more active ly engaged in seeking out that nonpartisan election the assumption would should also be that they are voting in November that's why you know when you look at those turnout numbers there is a slight uptick in November and so I mean it makes sense to me as well the referendum is only available on the November ballot because adding that also increases or could have the potential of increasing the complexity of that nonpartisan election which may increase the costs but you know again I don't see the harm in asking the community the question because I think what better data would there be than to have our actual voters communicate to us what their preferences and so asking for that non-binding referendum I just think is is is a pretty easy move and so you know seeking that public input would provide the best data for this Council to make a decision moving forward okay all right uh moving on to N2 this is the council meeting date discussion I did send municipal clerk one day it's supposed to be a Monday list you got that you were the Tuesday the 21st of October should be Monday 21st of October does anybody have any issue with the um States as presented n no and I would like to thank the clerk for moving the August meeting back because I know the uh the green team was had their group scheduled to do their presentation on the fifth because their their uh last day is August 7th and that's when they they all go back home so they wouldn't have been able to make the next meeting wanted to do that so thank you madam SM what is the adoption on this have resolution January July 1 we have the uh yes thank you for pointing out that October 21st is a Monday but November 12th is a Tuesday so that is a Tuesday meeting because of veterans so Tuesday Tuesday present right moving on to M3 discussion on the the C2 zoning changes and any comments on this I think we had a go presentation with the last meeting I'm sorry keep that on for the next meeting discuss regard to the C2 zoning I just wanted to make the comment that I I continue to have some concerns about the intersection between approving that zoning change and the timing of our affordable housing um obligations and how we're going to do that so I I would like to see continuing discussion about how affordable housing and that zoning change are going to be complimenting each other um you know I I do appreciate the importance of you know increasing rateable and and you know addressing some long outstanding issues but I do also want to make sure that we are not taking action now that could ultimately either be held against us or really not support us in that next round of affable hous so getting more input on that would be helpful um I do appreciate there was comment on it at the last meeting but um just sitting with it further I just feel like I needed more information on so thank you time I'm G call public comments so sorry Point order um Lon the agenda we got that was printed didn't have this on but we have these ordinances for discussion there was um remember receiving the attorney was on the Committees right yes restruct of advisory any comments on this thank you um I actually mine is on the Green team one only because and I don't know if councilman maoy noticed this as well um so there's three salar full-time members of the township technically on the committee and so when our Township attorney revised the ordinance uh that's like an unusual thing from the other advisory committees like it's an additional staff so when they were talking they change here um except the township manager the manager design and the governing body member all members should have the ability to vote on matters that require approval should we be also excluding in that sentence the three full-time salaried I willne oh and do they have to be voting to getable status specifically do we have to vote on this is the first seeing like go and uh the last item I think that's not on here not cler but emailed about was the process for building some of the open appointments um they open positions so standpoint I think we've tried a number of different things over the years ranking systems things like that I'm much more comfortable if a member a account and the motion is adopted voted on and so on and and just do it that way I don't think we need to have any ranking systems or unless anybody wants to make a motion otherwise to not make a motion uh but I think that the more that we uh follow the process that's best way to conduct feeding items um there was a question about the zoning board appointment um the there is a uh an alternate position open the chair the zoning board had requested more people with engineering experience so I had buil that position yet as a mayor appointment um so that was a thing that had come out some feedback that he had so I have been trying to recruit people with some engineering experience so that's why that it's uh not build just yet um but I I am talking to some folks but U Get it's not a huge lift uh but there's a lot of plans to review and stuff like that so people are just picking time more information about that and that appointment will be made but I I am trying to find some more technical background um for my anybody has any recommendations please let me know um thank you so when we have so for a lot of our boards and committees we're not overflowing with applicants um but should we have scenario where we have more applicants um than open slots typically we would we would pick our we would we would email like let's say the clerk um who our first choice would be and then whomever has the most votes would be the person who would be put up for the appointment is that you're proposing that we continue that process no I'm proposing that somebody poose a name and on the name I just wonder if it would be I mean in the past we've done things where before we've talked and closed I mean I just um I just want to ensure that you know we're so thankful that residents are volunteering but that we have a chance to maybe have a discussion no you just wanna we've never done it that way before in my five years here I think I think that's plure procedure um if we wanted to have close discussion we can certainly had that um but I don't agree with ranking systems and emailing in I think we need to have that convers public uh but we uh if we want to have a close session item I think historically what I I thought to council members on the phone if there were multiple applicants and shared my thoughts and council members have Shar their thoughts and uh that's been that's been fine having to Rice people we have this discussion on whether we need to Rice someone and then get rice it becomes a whole whole thing and people are concerned about the rice think the council is talking to one another offline then can the uh so you're I just to clarify the process are you committed then to having those conversations as may your coord you know making sure that all members of the council are equally consulted before an appointment I think the members of the council can call each other things capable of doing but we don't want to get into a situation where we're whipping up votes so right so we get into that situation c as as you know you have called me and what Happ forward and listened to you before uh and you have me fine on Locas about and more and I actually and I think that works just fine fact I think I okay voted in favor of the person that you called me about so I'm not sure why you think that there would be any happening okay I just from personal experience many many years ago was just I just want to be very sensitive that we don't actually turn off volunteers with having split votes in public and and stuff like that it just it you know I just want to encourage a positive volunteer that's my concern but um okay yes um selections yeah we should have those C member wants to change their these on position we don't normally do them by we we have them on because they're one deal but we normally belong to our asons for two years if anybody has a desire do probably to talk to another council member and see if wanted to switch whatever thank you right um any other new business very young we made a we pass a resolution go new executive session this time we are going to do that I'm sorry more public comment actually appreciate you um I'll call the public comment now on any item to read same stat applies Mr Ryan you're up yes good evening good evening again Kevin Ryan uh Verona New Jersey uh I just wanted to throw in a a thought about relating to your discussion about moving the elections from May until November um this had come up informally a few times while I was on the council uh I think one significant uh change that may occur and May influenced your thoughts on that is the way the ballots are going to be constructed uh going forward in the last uh uh primary we got rid of the party line designation and uh I from what I understand all that ruling only applied to the primary election but going forward if that's made permanent I think it does uh mitigate somewhat towards uh the idea of moving the nonpartisan election uh to November M because one of the objections before was that uh putting a nonpartisan uh election on the same ballot as one with where there's Partyline endorsements might tend to confuse people in terms of uh you know what what the difference would be I think if they eliminated the party line designation permanently uh it might uh mitigate some of the confusion for people if the whereas if the positions were just listed as a block and the people who are running for the positions that were just listed there uh I think it's a fair my personal opinion it's a fair way of of doing things and um I'm hoping that the uh the court decision will become permanent I think New Jersey is one of the very few states where we still have uh Partyline uh designation so that's just some some food for thought for you the other thing I wanted to clarify uh there was a recent article in in my Verona where uh uh I think missano interviewed uh Miss Kieran extensively about the cost of the election but one thing I didn't see and you can correct me if I'm wrong is actually the cost of the number of hours that Miss Kieran spends on on these special elections uh there was a lot of back and forth about uh you know what the County charges and what and Etc and what you have to do to pay pole workers but I think going forward if there's any way that uh Miss Kieran can uh you know try to estimate the number of hours that she spends on the uh the election and that there's there's a negative effect that it takes her away from her ability to do some of the many other things that uh that she's tasked to do and I and I have noticed that uh youve tried I think to mitigate some of that by actually giving her an assistant clerk so uh that that also added a cost in essence that wasn't really clearly articulated you know to my satisfaction uh in the article on that so just just some food for thought for you to consider uh going forward uh in terms of putting a referendum up uh I'm going to say that basically I I think you folks are charged with making these decisions uh I think just look at the numbers of people who vote you you have a long history of uh going back and looking at the participation in Municipal elections versus the uh November elections and quite frankly I think it was councilwoman Holland who made the correct assertion that uh you know if somebody's going to for May if they're interested in Municipal elections they're going to vote again in November I I don't think you're going to have a drop off uh in people who are interested in in local government and if if you do get an increase hopefully the people will take the time to become familiar with the candidates but thanks for listening have a good night close public comments sorry comment um Corey Shore uh chair of Rec committee um Verona New Jersey uh I just wanted to make a couple comments about the um reorganization of the Committees um I didn't have a paper in front of me so I don't know what you guys are thinking but I could probably give you my thoughts as chair um the committee will also um vote on this tomorrow about some of the uh recommendations that we have I think an attendance Poli policy is some is a direction you should go I know for the committee that I am shair of we've had a individual miss the entire year and been no way to replace I think when you serve a committee you understand and take some responsibility uh for that and there people have lives and things happen but there needs to be some course because uh with a committee that has six you're down to five and sometimes it's uh a little you know you want people there that are really committed to what we're doing and I think most of them are but in that case I think it needs to be intendance uh I also agree on we have only we have depends on how it goes out but we have six members and then five and it really should be an odd number so if we can just get a little bit of thoughts about what you're doing I think this uh something I suggested is good maybe for all committees because there there are conflict of interest for some council members uh for the mayor I didn't say Hello by the way so hello Mr Mayor and Deputy Mayor and the council and town manager I apologize for that I should have sorry about that um I just think it's important uh uh just let us know what is the um process that you're fulfilling these positions um I remember last December when the committee changed and moved to where mer of of the public would be chair which is now me um we would not talk to we would there's no consultation it just happened and as a as a committee some members were like what happened why did this happen I think educating us through some of these uh changes that you make is important to filter down to the committee so they understand why that's being done on a council level all the way down to the um to the down to the um to the committee so once again thank you for everything you guys do appreciate it and um thanks time close for the comment uh I thank Mr Ryan for his comments I do agree that getting rid of ACC L as a l democracy for sure um and I hope that the the court decision becomes uh permanent as well um and to Mr Shore thank you I I'm certain that as we we hav't even we're just starting discussion on these items I came up the last meeting I know our town manager will chair Thoughts with commit and on well and we do appreciate the comments uh just in all of these things I think we always have to when we think of numbers we always have to think of do we want more people or do we want more engaged people and that's uh that's always the question we have to figure out but think one of the things as we talk to all committees and this came up in the last meeting is really looking at attendance and things like that um I would like that just on this topic and I I failed to mention it earlier but I would like any notice go out um on our social on our newsletter that says that the following committees have openings and perhaps we can get I always like the help wanted because it shows sense of urgency and um and sometimes we have things that that's right uh we have to move to we already have a resolution to go to Executive com just I want to address Mr Shore uh there was always usually and Unwritten rule of if you don't show up for three meetings four meetings you're not on committee uh you're not putting the time in then you should be should be asked to resign uh I know because we're in spoil you have to that person actually send a letter in and say I'm resigning from the committee it's happened on several other committees and it just took a little bit to get someone removed to get someone else back on but uh I totally agree I think attendance is probably your number one because you put a burden on the other that are there and want to spend time and I think on all our committees we've always tried to have an odd number uh I don't know how it's gotten away where there's not an OD number people and it's for voting reason but you're you're there was confusion about whether the the aison votes whether they don't vote in all the years that I've been on involved with any committies in town they've never had a vote it's never even come up as a question we are just aison that's that's it and if there's confusion as to what the council is doing then you should talk to your liaison and there that's the person to answer your question so thank you for bringing this to our attention thank you thank you councilman Holland um so if I will I I the the issues that brought this matter to the council came from the rec committee that Mr sh is referencing so I I brought them to the last council meeting meeting because there was an issue where we had received the legal advice that my participation in a meeting counted for qu to the deputy mayor's point that seemed highly illusion so we wanted to clarify the ordinance because the ordinance when read you know just plain language it would incline one to think that I counted toward quum even though I didn't vote and that seemed very un the advisory committee likewise our director of community services and the Township Lea the township uh designate the township manager designate we're also counting towards for forum and so that's what the Genesis of this was and of course I do give a thorough report out to the r committee um I'm actually on their agenda and so I did give that report out I believe Mr sh was indicating that he hadn't gotten that the committee wasn't communicated with prior to that vote but I did communicate so thank you and thank you for coming forward and speaking this evening and um for making these strides with the rec committee so I look forward to that meeting tonight thank Youk right we have passed resolution go to Executive session will we be taking any official action so we'll see everybody on July all right we are exective s thank