anything I call order this regular meeting of the Barona Township Council for Monday the 8th of April 2024 Madam cler would you please read the open public meeting act compliance statement notice requirements of the open public meetings act have been satisfied with respect to this meeting of the township council meeting time and date were included in the public meeting notice along with the public internet link and telephone call and information said notice meeting agenda was posted in the municipal building sent to the official newspaper to the township the a of times in the Star Ledger Le 48 Hours preceding the start time of this meeting the agenda and public handouts can be viewed online at Verona nj.org counil meetings public comment period will be held the ORD listed on the meeting agenda instructions on how to comment will be provided at the appropriate time you please call them all Council holl here Council m here Deputy Mayor here mayor Toro here also uh Township manager Jody Aro Township attorney Brian aloya Deputy Township manager Kevan myself clerk Jennifer Kier and our CFO our CFO J sorry all right thank everybody the United States stand indivisible liy and justice for all with my marriage report so as most folks know at this point uh the O community in its 100th anniversary year suffered an ARs and hate crime this past Thursday morning criminal Acts or repugnant to the values and spirit of our town attack on o is truly an attack on Bron as a whole the Pais with the O Community is both repair the sanctuary which is in process and process the deeply violating nature of the horrible acts that they suffer thank you to the Verona Police departmenta fire department Verona rescue squad for their very quick very effective response to the fire appreciation further goes to Cedar Grove Montclair and calwell fire departments for assisting at the scene special thank you to the Arona fire prevention Bureau who fire investigator did a good Fort of that investigation the police department detective Bureau the es County prosecutor's office and our federal partners of the FBI and the ATF for assisting with the investigation as well I reached out to in state in contact with Father Peter last week and appreciative to Essex County prosecutor Ted Stevens who was receptive to my call about the security of and the town as a whole uh prosecut Stevens attended Sunday mass at o with Chief of detectives M McGuire and several assistant prosecutors and detectives on Sunday like to thank also Senator Christen Cado sen Christ Phillips sen manal baras uh police chief Chris Kieran and fire investigator Conor mccan for showing their support as well with us at o at that mass several of my Council colleagues showed their commitment and attended uh other services as well well so I think that was a a nice show of support by everybody so thank you for everybody for being there Bron is and will always be there for the church and all of our communities of faith in uh other words I had the pleasure of attending the meet the mayor's event held by many local Chambers of Commerce on Friday morning um it was uh it was interesting to have 20 Mayors in a room and an earthquake happened but uh some left very quickly uh but it was it was a great event thank you to deputy mayor makoy for attending was also great to see planning board member Jason Heyman there a lot of the uh issues had to do with affordable housing and utilities and things like that with a few exceptions all this County Mayors were in attendance and able to engage experts from uh psng from the State Assembly uh from the board public utilities and uh from the commissioner of um Community Affairs as well there was great conversations and the future about the future in New Jersey the environmental commission will be having its Cedar Grove Park Sorry Grove Street Park cleanup on April 20th uh from 9: to 11: in the morning they're also having a tree giveaway for Arbor Day as well uh while I was unfortunately not able to attend the clergy councils ifar event last week due to a work conflict um I heard from many that it was a really meaningful evening and I'm grateful to clergy Council for continuing their Spirit of ecumenical community building in Barona um I was delighted when father Jerry called to uh suggest this and I hope it's something that we continue to do in the future and keep those lines open and uh to that point it was very heartening to see all the communities of faith in Verona uh reach out the O after their fire as well uh I think that's a bond that we should only work on strengthening includes my comments I will call off uh Mr CRA count mayor and Council hopefully everyone's doing well um the cherry blossoms are out in bloom we had our 10k race yesterday very very well attended 1500 Runners and it was a super event this coming weekend on Saturday we have a one mile Fun Run and walk the credential concert Center and that's on Saturday from at 10: a.m. then we have Essex County Family Day in the credential Center which is off of Park Avenue and then Sunday we have balloonfest at the oval in the North Division from 11: a.m. to 5:00 p.m. so again you come to our website you everyone should have received this in the mail and believe me I was through the park today it is a great great view of we have over 5,000 churry blossome trees in in the county and they just look gorgeous today uh coming along in the next few weeks on May 4th from 8:30 a.m. to 400 p.m. we have the Public Works hazardous waste and I will give this to the clerk uh that's May 4th again and from 8:30 a.m to 4:00 pm and then on Saturday May 18th we have computer and electronics uh disposal of hazardous uh properties computers printers fax machines uh telephones Etc and then we're getting into our summer season and come June late may we have our fishing derby which I will give also to the clerk and she can post it on the websites but um we're getting into the Park season and there's a lot of events happening and hopefully everyone in town here can enjoy it and throughout the county uh that is my report for this evening is there anything else from mayor C uh thank you I um Mr CTR I also saw that there's a women's health event or women's health fair on Wednesday May the 8th in the afternoon I believe starting at one at the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center yes so yeah so that seems like a really incredible Health event for women and I believe if you scan a QR code women can even get free REM yes they can they great but the health department did not give me that information today as I as all the directors to but yes you you can check all this out either at the Health Department's website or the County executive's website uh all our events are on that okay so yes all and there was a uh inquiry about a tree that fell in Verona Park and the both directors because of the yesterday's event I could not get in touch with them today but I will follow I'm following up on that tree coming down and I do want to just observe I walk the trail the West Essex Trail a lot U that starts at brona high school and then goes through Cedar Ro there been a lot of Trail there have been a lot of trees that that have fallen but I do see that they partially taken care of but there's also a whole part by the cedar bro park park that's washed out so I do want to bring that to your attention great but you know it well so I do know there any anything else Council thank you next on the list is a we have a proclamation for AR day and we only name things when there's somebody present but tonight we the environmental commission was here to um give Awards but we give this the environment at the next meeting whatever day is coming up so we'll read it now the proclamation reads whereas in 19 9 the legislature set aside the last Friday of April as Arbor Day to promote the planting of trees and encourage the protection of our forests from fires and pests to destroy the beauty and usefulness of our Woods whereas half of New Jersey's total land area is fostered or tree covered and whereas trees play an important role in the ecosystem in which we live and trees reduce the erosion of our freshest stop soil caused by wind and water clean the air we breathe and the water we drink reduce oxygen provide habitats for birds and wildlife and reduce Heating and Cooling costs by moderating temperature whereas fre planting of yards and farms and schoolyards and parks along streets and highways creates an enduring Heritage for Generations that follow in addition to providing pleasing aesthetic along walk streets of properties and municipalities and whereas brono was named Tre City USA in 2024 for the first time since 2020 whereas the Tre C USA war designation recognizes communities have proven their commitment to Be an Effective ongoing Community forestry program and is sponsored in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the US Department of Agriculture forest service now therefore be claim that I Dr Christopher tamboro mayor of the township of brona hereby Proclaim April 26 2024 as Arbor Day and invite the residents of brona to celebrate Arbor Day and support efforts to protect our trees and Woodlands we further Proclaim that I urge all citizens to plant trees and GL in the heart and promote the well-being of this and future Generations the witness whereof I here here onto set my hand CL the Great Seal of the Town Verona in the county of as state of New Jersey to be a fix on this 8th day of April 2020 um and finally uh we do have an appointment to the historic preservation commission this is a May World appointment because it's an alternate um so I am pleased to appoint my inspector Mr insector is a wonderful Community volunteer and very visible and present and that will bring phenomenal insight to the to the historic preservation commission which of course is one of the things as an historian very interested in making sure it works well i' like L my report and it is time for Mr dearo thank you mayor uh first item is the 2024 budget uh resolution uh for the municipal budget to be read by only the mayor and Council as you may recall budget was approved by the Town coun Township Council on March 11 and subsequently advertised as required by La 19th edition of the star Legend official newspaper of the township along with the notice of the hearing time and location pursuing to njsa 48 col 4-5 and six resolution e1a allows for the 2024 budget to be read by title I request that at this time Council passed this resolution thank you Mr do I have a motion to move resolution e1a so moved motions made by Council m grath is there a second second second made by Council in Holland is there any discussion on the motion this is just to read the budget by title very none Madam clerk would you please call yes councilwoman M yes Deputy Mayor M yes mayor Toro yes mayor Municipal budget resolution to be read by title will be number 20240 61 passes 4 to Z thank you madam clerk now it's time for the public hearing and Adoption of the 2020 municial budget Madam clerk which should please outline the procedure for the public hearing now is in time for the public hearing on the 2024 Municipal budget anyone wishing to address this item scheduled for the public hearing please raise your hand by Zoom you may raise your hand by pressing the raise hand button on your M press star n when you are you are attending in person you may approach the Le turn when you are recognized and advised that you're unmuted please clearly state your name for the record you'll have four minutes to to councel on the municipal budget for 2024 only the comments and question shall be limited to just these items there could be no cross dialogue during this public hearing after everyone wishing to speak has been heard the public hearing will be closed and for the municipal budget hearing the council or Administration May address your comments or no questions before the vote is called again you need to only provide your name and municipality for the record please be advised that this meeting will be um uploaded to YouTube and will not be edited for any reason please avoid items for discussed that's it thank you mayor thank you m you in the room please feel free to come forward to comment on the municipal budget if you're at home please raise your virtual hand hearing none I'm going to close public comment um close public hearing at this point do members of council have any comments yes I will make a comment I as I think I I briefly outlined previously but a thank our Administration providing this at times when inflation is high the rate of inflation is getting lower but we're still suffering the result of the previous inflation to keep any budget within the allocated tax levy cap is significant and I know a lot of hard decisions have to be made um making excellent recommendations about where to increase where cut um and also thinking about other Revenue mechanisms so I know this process takes months to do correctly I think you have a very good process between department heads and our CFO and our manager okay so I'd like to thank you for that um and question question we often get is you know what is Verona doing to keep clost low and the reality of it is the budget is definitely not um it's not outpacing inflation that hasn't so whereas inflation cost risen in double digits in the next few years budgets have only risen in single digit um in addition being very careful to make sure that any increases to fees and things like that um are reasonable and rational and based on use um and really doing our best to have creative solution so I thank everybody for that and uh for those folks who reached out me directly um I provided some more detail on thoughts on what the council has done uh but the one thing I can say about the entire council is is that I believe we are all on the same page and providing a phisically responsible pleasure for this municipality any other comments c um yes thank you mayor um I do want to thank our CFO and all of the staff on this budget I will um this is my fifth time through the process and I really feel that our level of transparency that we give to the public is far and above what a lot of other municipalities do so thank you so much for producing those line by line analyses um in particular I think we had a very good conversation on Capital Investments and I look forward to us actually passing some ordinances to make sure we make necessary repairs to our infrastructure and buildings that are in disrepair and then finally like I say every year we really do need to focus on Revenue generation I think that's going to tie into our affordable housing conversations which seem like we're going to have in public in May uh we really need to focus on increasing our tax base along the Bloomfield Avenue and Compton properties so that we can moderate these tax increases in the long term because our infrastructure is aging and to replace and repair is going to cost a lot um and so we need to have that eye on the future but I'm really uh excited that once again we have a less than a 2% increase and I will be supporting the budget this evening thank you thank coun thank you Mr Mayor uh I will Echo uh the appreciation and thanks that we give to our CFO for her really organizing this she's the quarterback here and uh you know it doesn't involve every other department in town uh the budget meetings are very well run and explained very well uh I do want to point out a couple of things on this budget I was going to bring it up in my report but I think this is more appropriate uh things that we should focus on uh I was up at the community center this week with the high winds and nasty weather that we had I think we should uh really focus on a Community Center roof uh I know as I walked around the building I saw some shingles on the ground so uh it is in need of repair and I think this Council should be uh pushing that to the top of the uh the list on on what we do uh you know for our Capital repairs here uh other thing I just want to point out on here uh you know because we have a couple people uh that are interested in it and I receive phone calls on the on line item when it comes to the pickle ball and Tennis Courts uh we have line item of $375,000 on here uh I I think it would be nice if we can uh at least in the next couple months give an idea of if we really plan on moving forward with this or is this I know this was a line item that was here because uh we had planned on building new ones but the area we were going to build them in actually turned out to be an area that we couldn't build them in so just you know maybe in the next meeting or two or even at this meeting if someone has uh an idea of what's going to go on with that line item uh if it could be explained to our residents that are interested in the new pickle ball cours but once again thank you for all the time that is spent on this and the explanation in detail that we received thank you de mayor I just I will just Echo the statements of my fellow council members I mean it was a very robust process I think that you answered all of my questions when at the time so I don't have any further questions for for you this evening there are items in the budget that I'm not super thrilled with there are other items that I find to be you know positive I I do think it's important for us to be allocating funding toward Recreation and maybe there's not as much in there as I would have liked um but I do understand that choices need to be made um but I will continue to advocate for those projects that I think have Merit um and I do appreciate the effort that the administration is taking at least with regard to fees to try and establish rational basis and datadriven um analyses to support the fees that are put so thank you for your role in that Jennifer as well as uh you Mr dearo and uh Mr oin and miss mcara so thank you thank you Council see no other comments from the council I will yield back to the manager to explain the amendment resolution and I will yield to the CFO so great team of Department hello so before you have the amendment resolution we are under State uh review this year um again uh which will not change until at least 2027 budgets so we're under State review in reviewing the uh annual financial statement uh there was one change in note interest uh that the uh state of New Jersey wanted us to increase which was $1,510 which is most of the stuff you see on that page it just changes in multiple areas uh which is why the resolution I have to show it how it changes the revenue and the Appropriations and works its way through the only other change is moving um some of the health stuff from outside caps which is where I put it back to inside caps that was also um State recommendation so um so for my own edification and the publ what does it mean to be under State review so um we are under State review because of the covid emergencies because of that we have to continuously have our budget looked over by the state uh you can opt out of that if we were not under State review I could do a certification and opt out of and do self exam but because we have the uh Co emergencies we have to be under State review you no problem other questions do have a motion to move resolution E1 SE motion made by Council I will second the motion discussion on e1c not Madam cler call the r please councilwoman Holland yes Council McGrath yes Deputy Mayor maoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor e1c will be number 202462 it will uh it's pass 420 M CLK at this point I I'll just move it I move to adopt the 2024 Municipal budget resolution item e1d DEC second I'll second seconds made by the deputy mayor is there any discussion on the adoption of 2024 budget beyond what we have discussed thus far there none M cler would you please call the all councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yesy mayor makoy yes may Toro yes may resolution e1b the adoption of the 2024 Municipal budget we number 063 passing vote for than thank you thank you everybody you're funded thank you mayor and Council and mostly for the public now that the council has adopted the budget including the capital budget your staffs will be working including the CFO vigorously on moving all the capital budgets that are listed and we can advise the various commissions department heads in public that have questions on the capital budget they will will be in MO before the end of the year Pio you rest of your yes thank you mayor um my agenda outline of projects so listed if the council has any questions that was sent to you earlier and Deputy manager Uh Kevin of Sullivan will do the details of all the projects that are in motion so you don't have to hear it twice so suan highlights please getting r at the highlights um evening mayor council again I'll I'll highlight the report that I have um water and SE rates are are effective we are coordinating public Outreach and and putting a lot of information on the website uh we are kicking off a pool rate study for next pool season uh more information to follow on that in the coming months uh regarding Wastewater we've um we had heard a lot about that at the last several meetings we have a number of projects that will be kicking off in Earnest through this summer uh we made some progress on some of the immediate projects but some of the longer term projects will really start kicking off um and we will start having improvements to both the waste plant Waste Water Treatment Plant and the collection system over the coming uh coming months uh additionally we'll have a a contract uh for award on tonight's agenda for a specialized consultant to help with our permit renewal um moving on we also have discussed residential escrow fees at prior meetings we have an ordinance that we've discussed and it's presented for the council for consider a tonight regarding our water wells uh we have a contractor lined up to begin uh he's estimating his mobilization date April 29th for the lind Drive well Fairview Avenue well will be bid we're anticipating opening bids on June 7th so hopefully we'll get that project under construction by Midsummer as well uh we've had a number of updates with storm water projects we've had some discussions regarding storm water management plan uh we're going to be pacing that that'll likely be ready for adoption next year to coincide with updates the DP is is currently drafting we've stayed in communication with dp's office of blue Acres they're going to be reaching out to a number of residents in in floodways or repetitive loss properties and we do have a few meetings coming up uh both on Friday and Monday of next week with uh neighboring municipalities regarding joint flood interests regarding part parking meters again we've discussed that several times those new parking rates are uh will become affective May 1 we have them lined up for uh reprogramming on the actual physical meters and Park Mobile both set to to kick off on at uh May 1st dat and we're moving forward with uh new pay meter kiosks at the municipal Lots uh we've had some ongoing discussions with uh an uh a solar consultant to review all the municipal proper uh properties and buildings they are fine-tuning their feasibility study they will be coming uh likely in June to a mayor and council meeting to present their findings of their feasibility study uh we are also kicking we've kicked off our local government energy audit that kicked off uh last week we've had a couple uh more in detailed meetings with the consultant they'll be performing F in inspections and surveys in the coming weeks and again that'll be another presentation that will be brought to the mayor and Council when that audit is completed uh the the next item on my report is the community center playground that project is under construction play equipment has been ordered we'll be finalizing the colors for the restroom building we'll be uh Distributing that to the mayor and Council this week so we can get that um that structure ordered and into production within the the coming week or two weeks we have a number of road projects that are are underway uh we do not yet have a Paving date specifically for Derwent Avenue but we have gotten a lot of responses back on tree plantings so we'll be coordinating both tree plantings and Paving on Derwent in the the next few weeks hopefully by uh by mid to late April we'll have durwent paved and landscaping and tree planting should be primarily wrapping up at that point Boston Whitney and windir is just underway that project is progressing and there have not been any issues du date not gone with um moving on there's Douglas Place was uh there was a bid opening on April 2nd there's a resolution to award that contract at uh on the agenda for tonight and the Lynden Avenue design is going to be kicking off that's one of the capital projects that was uh in that is in the 2024 capital budget uh there's been a number of Grant applications we've submitted uh some of them we well most of them we're waiting on responses for that includes a number of applications for ever field at this time we're just holding off on advancing those discussions until we have a couple of responses on those Grant applications um and there's a number of other smaller Grant applications that we're uh continuing to work with our grant writer on any questions from Mr Council so two things so on pickle ball which you have in the report um the plan is to renovate at the existing site right so the uh as as was discussed earlier there were initial concepts for new pickleball courts in another location which uh would would not work but the existing uh the existing location for the tennis pickle ball courts would be the new location we've uh fund it's been funded through the 2024 capital budget we will be working with Boswell to kick off those designs and we'll be Ki sitting down with the interested parties and pickle pickle ball Community to make sure that the design meets needs and the expectations of those groups okay great and then Douglas Place came in so low the bid that we're it's going to be fully funded with the grant we won't have to contribute correct the the grant award uh was it exceeded the amount of both the bids and the design and construction management contract so that project will be fully funded through that do local a we are opening up conversations with do to see if there's an opportunity to reprogram those funds to another road or to another open project um it's likely but we are asking to see if there if we can repurpose that money okay great thank you a questions from Mr off the H anything else you know I to C aware that all of the road projects are the shade tree commission is an integral part of those planning process as you're in a whole new phase of life where they involved in all all the projects um Millennium our grand writers I believe you received their annual report previously um it's still very worth 12 uh to have them on board in next meeting they'll see their contract on for the uh 2024 other than that if I could just add to your report um please and just mention the uh the continuation of the work that you're doing the funding of the Emer Services complex the capital and the legislative request um those those applications are in and um we are the qpa is finishing up the U Professional Services I should never went on vacation the Professional Services uh announcement so that we'll be soliciting the firms to do these major fundraising for that facility so we're waiting to that to get put in line also excellent thank you Mr gon okay we're just gonna pretend the lights are not flickering for a little while and uh we'll move on to council member comments I'm sorry do later mayor you're thank you Mr Mayor uh just want to mention that what a crazy day with the eclipse was today so everybody we'll have a sore neck tomorrow I'm sure is uh quite an interesting uh occurrence so uh very interesting uh I want to also mention the uh last week uh our Verona clergy Council getting together for the uh ifar the Interfaith ifar uh the uh the meal to break uh their fast at sundown for uh for the uh Muslim Community uh the it was very interesting that all the clergy got up and were discussing their differences uh different ways of fasting and it's interesting the differences and the similarities of it uh I was very happy to attend it I think it's a very nice thing for all these events when we can get everybody of every religion together in fona and and do something like this uh unfortunately I left for for a very good part of the end when they served food because I had a sustainable Verona meeting so uh I'll move I can move right into that uh they do uh sustainable Verona is uh scheduling uh numerous upcoming events in the next couple months or the more later on uh unfortunately uh I didn't mention this last meeting but the uh the proud family did do yesterday at the uh the library uh an event on green burials uh so if you're interested uh you can reach out to the proud family but they did that through sustainable uh and also uh on April 20th at 3M at the library they are one of the members are doing a a Verona Energy Efficiency Your Home Efficiency uh they'll be talking about life bulbs and things like that and what's best for your house so I encourage people to attend on April 20th uh also at 3 p.m. uh go from there to uh the mayor uh really said it best early on uh the tragedy at o uh it's just said that something like that would happen uh I will mention it you know it it's where we are these days it's just said that we really should be looking into the mental health of individuals uh and maybe that could prevent things like that uh that went on the arsonist but I do want to thank the Verona fire department and the other fire departments that helped out the police departments for their you know quick recovery at a very very 3:30 in the morning which is just uh response time to to to put it out was just fantastic it's just unbelievable how much damage could have happened uh and thank God no one no one got hurt but I did reach out to Father Peter the day after uh unfortunately I said to him he was at the event on Wednesday night he actually drove to Upstate New York and had to come back the next morning uh and cut his visit short with his mother so he was feeling that also but it was just a tragedy but uh the community coming together for something like that is just the way Verona is and that's where we react to all those all things like this so congratulations to the rest of the residents and the rest of the uh Faith Community in Verona for helping out uh I want to also mention as the mayor did the meet the mayor's event on Friday uh it's very interesting to to get there it's an opportunity to see other Mayors uh and it was uh the discussions on affordable housing uh energy uh from public service vice president from public service was there representative for BPU was there uh so you get insights from other towns and you know it's good to interact and talk to others about what's going on in their town but it was uh definitely an event they do every year uh thank you to the West Orange Chamber of Commerce for holding it but it is sponsored by many other Chamber of Commerce uh and uh sponsored MoneyWise by a lot of a lot of other groups I think PSG was actually one of them but it just showed in the like there was all table of Public Service Executives there and unfortunately the the earthquake after about five minutes they all had to get up and leave so they had a cut the uh the morning short by because of that but uh we thank them for getting there and educating us uh I have uh I I would like to honestly thank our uh Deputy manager for your response to our residence on their went we've been going through uh storm events and their backyards getting flooded because of sewer lines being clogged and you know we we did camer them found the blockage cleared it out uh and they have been contacted uh being been in contact numerous residents and I I just want to commend the manager and the deputy manager for your responses to them uh after the last storm last Tuesday Wednesday uh it seems like that part of the problem is solved so I'm very happy for those residents but it just shows you you know this is what we need to fix our infrastructure and these are the areas where we should focus some of our money uh in the in the short term and obviously there's things in the long term that we need to take care of also uh and lastly I just want to follow up and uh I know we uh we've talked about this several times since January February but I just want to update on where we are as far as hiring or talking to our planner about redoing our zoning order ordinance have there been any updates as far as a conversation with our planner Mr and that's unfortunately I just got back vacation and I haven't followed up planner you'll be doing so yes excellent and that is all I have V mayor thank you thank you Deputy Mayor councilman McGrath thank you um well um I too want to talk about the purposeful damage that was in icted on our lady the Lake Church um as many residents you know I am a member of our Lady the lake um my children have celebrated um we my family celebrated many important moments there I one of my sons was baptized there they both made their first holy communions there one of my sons was confirmed there um I've been in that church many many times and like many residents I am very unsettled that this has occurred and I am looking um like everyone here for assurances that our community will be protected from this ever happening again while the legal case is proceeding I also heard father Peter's uh call to action this week during mass um and we do need to do everything that we can to address the serious flaws that we have in our country on how mental health is addressed and dealt with the night before the fire I attended our community's first ever inter Faith um afar at the community center and it really was an incredible and amazing event our faith leaders from across our community discussed how uh the importance of fasting in religious life and threaded together are shared values in the process and then we all shared a very delicious meal together it was really for me one of the most beautiful community events I have attended here in Verona and I'm so thankful for all of our Faith leaders in our community uh since the I heard about the fire I keep going back to the strength that I found in that room at the community center and what I felt when I celebrated bass this Sunday at o we are a strong community and for many faith is an underpinning uh despite this violation to one of our religious spaces we will move forward as a community to heal like my peers I want to thank the brona Poli department and the brona fire department and all of our First Responders and officials from the Essex County Prosecutors office for protecting our community and keep us safe uh and I want to thank uh Father Peter for his leadership at Our Lady the lake and I look forward to celebrating more with the O Community when the church is reopened which I hope is very soon uh moving on to the Committees for which I'm liaison the Multicultural inclusion and access advisory committee met since our last meeting they talked about how to make our events more accessible they have set a date for the Annual Pride flag raising and celebration which will be on Saturday June 8th at 11 a.m. um they are planning uh an event for older Americans month at the Vera public library and they have been asked to help with sustainable Verona with a piece of their application which relates to diversity equity and inclusion uh next week the shade tree will be meeting at the community center at 5:00 pm. and that's my report thank you councilman C Holland yes good evening um I will also acknowledge um the deliberate damage that was done to O um it was very saddening to hear this um of this arson so early in the morning however notwithstanding the damage to the church building it is clearly not broken um our community spirit in particular the O Spirit but also so many um in our community showing support for that that faith community and religious institution and so it's very clear that there is a tremendous amount of resilience and that um the church will be rebuilt and that the community is not broken and that is what's so very important um speaking of mental health I will change the subject to acknowledge that April is autism awareness month I think it's really important for us to recognize the illnesses that are not necessarily visible and autism is certainly one of them so April is an opportunity for us to raise awareness about this developmental disability how it affects members in our community children and adults it really has no age or um ethnic like limitations everybody can be um subject to autism or experience uh the symptoms or um illness itself or or know people um that are suffering from this so I think it's so important for us to to be inclusive as a community and really think about those with special needs in particular also um I want to recognize the work of the May community and being so inclusive and bringing events um that actually allow uh different individuals individuals who are differently abled I guess I say to participate in particular like the sensory Santa and some of the other events that have been hosted at our library facilities tomorrow is also library of workers uh recognition day so I do just want to acknowledge the amazing work um of Claudine and all of our library um staff for bringing some of these events to life without them I I don't think we would have um you know such a rich um number of occasions that we can attend April is also volunteer recognition month and I think it would I would be remiss to fail to recognize the number of volunteers that help to make Verona work um so not only do we have our Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad that were available to respond to the O emergency that has been referenced um earlier this evening but we have the number of advisory committees the planning board and other positions that really help to drive the work of this community um and make the outcomes possible that really serve our residents volunteerism is at the heart of our community um and that does extend even Beyond these Township boards and committees and services into you know Recreation and all of the programs like I mean we even just recently got Outreach from bbsl indicating that they have over 500 kids in their program that takes a tremendous amount of volunteer support and so that's such an important thing for us to honor and recognized during the month of April in addition I will be joining uh speaking of volunteerism I will be joining representatives from Cedar Grove at the first joint flood advisory committee meeting later this month we will also be holding a wre committee meeting where we will be discussing different as aspects of the recreation program as well as the pool fees uh the Verona Park Conservancy is holding a cleanup the same weekend as the Verona envir mental commission is hosting their cleanup at Grove Park so you have more than one opportunity for cleaning up our environment um in late April so I do encourage others to um attend those events as well so thank you that concludes support thank you at this time I going to open for public comments I'm sorry uh actually I'm open for public comment on any item that anybody would like to talk about these same public comment statement appli the public is not changed Madam cler correct correct okay anybody want to share I just want to say we we missed the so say my name just say your name over here you want to raise that it's going great to raise the microphone like this yeah so Jamal yeah Verona your last name too oh mmud okay we all know it but yeah not not not one of the other not Jamal Smith um so yeah no I just want to say thanks for to everybody for uh uh including pickle ball in the in the budget every few on the docket about this so I just want to uh say thank you on behalf of uh our contingent here and we missed pickle ball to come here so that was a big that was a big thing but uh but anyway no thank you very much appreciate it thank that's all I thank you um any other public comments none I'm going public comment just one reply um in the meantime before ours get built remember that the Verona Park pick ball courts Mr wat I shared this with before as soon as I got the news I had to tell someone uh in the the mayor's meeting with the county executive um they are putting the book ball courts there so please use that um and ition uh councilman sorry Deputy Mayor maoy and I were approached with an interesting proposition regarding pickle ball um as a shared service um at a local University um and uh we will share that with the manager to track down um and it's another interesting idea as well that could be a lowcost option for a lot of municipalities we have many pickle ball related things in progress uh my only request Mr Waka is that you teach me how to play pickle ball as soon put teach that you're you're a teacher so you'll be patient yes okay thank you any other replies no okay hearing n we'll move on to hearing adoption for amendment of ordinances mam clerk the next item on the agenda is an ordinance on first reading Le H1 Madam CL would you the title of H1 into the record therefore and authoriz 47,500 notes of the township to finance part of the CL thank you madam cler with somebody please move the ordinance so moved made by counc m second second second made by councilman Holland is there any discussion on ordinance H1 uh I actually want to make a comment on this and I actually think it should have been moved to new business uh we have our policy now that ordinances go to new business to be discussed before they get put up for an ordinance uh this is money I'm looking set aside we have not gotten an updated plan the only thing I've heard is that we're don't we're not doing Turf we're doing natural grass but uh really for purpose of financing preliminary planning expenses it's not I'd like an update on exactly what this money is being used for uh I believe we've already allocated 30 something thousand uh towards design of this field so I I really thought this should be in new business uh rather than put up for an ordinance this quick not that I don't want this to get done I am fully in favor of redoing ever field I probably drive by it more than uh anyone in this room prob mayor the expenses incurred by our engineering firm for planning well which is already in motion those over all the reports and the meetings Etc that we have to pay for this is only for the planning kin right this is the funding mechanism to pay the contract that was authorized for the that initial 35,000 change in that range for the concept plans there are also additional t for n bills and planning have been paid so are you are you saying we're up to $85,000 we're past the 35 yeah well you have we have the engineering course and there's been multiple meetings and the design changes and you have Millennium cost for grants in here really would love this information before this is put up as first reading but it's already on do you wish to make a motion to move it to new business or you okay with being heard it's I I would I would really like more detail on exactly what these expenses are I thought $35,000 should cover we had the original the only change that I've been told from the original plan was that it was going from artificial turf to Natural grants uh to me that would greatly reduce the engineering of this plan because it drastically changes the storm War management portion of it which would be very detailed if it was artificial turf so I mean I just think we're we're approving $85,000 total if I may Stephanie mayor you're approving 50,000 we're approving 50 but we spent there's been multiple meetings and the council is aware of all the meetings that we've had were meetings in the field with the engineer uh with the shade tree environmental we've had multiple meetings on this project and every time recommendations came in from either the public or the council we need those soci those assignments when City the engineer for redrafting and redesigning and meeting some field this project has been very time consuming and it's not 85,000 is 50,000 I understand but we're we're saying here that there's been many changes like you get you look at stuff in the field things have changed but we as a council have not seen any these changes the only plan I've ever seen was the initial plan if it's the desire to move it well we'll get a detail breakdown which is already on file we'll get the detail breakdown for the council and we I believe we have a motion we but we do have we do have a motion we're in discussion on motion is there got discussion abut right um just that I mean um with these types of funding mechanisms we don't yes our process is put ordinances in new business but this for the funding mechanisms they do sometimes Justa on and for that I'm comfortable this is just to introduce I think these are good questions said the deputy mayor has and we can get the further DET detail for when we vote uh you know on Final passage um so I'm in support of moving forward with introduction the comments I I appreciate i t to agree with Deputy Mayor maoy that it would be helpful to know what exactly we're spending the $50,000 on what we spent $5,000 on um by also agree with councilman grants point that we can see that in between um so I I'm inclined to permit this at this point on first reading but the provisor that we get the information that's been requested I would agree with that if we don't then we'll be back to square one at first reading at the next you know after the next meeting so um clerk call the rooll please Council col yes Council MCG yes Deputy Mayor Mao yes mayor Toro yes mayor H 2024 year 16 it will published according to law and a public hearing will be held on May 6 forward to that love details actually Mr and about sludge the next item on the agenda is labeled ordinance H2 Madam clerk you please read the title of ordinance H2 into the record for first reading in ordinance to amend chapter 8565 schedule of fees of the Township Code by creating section nine zoning fees thank you madam clerk will somebody please move the ordinance so Move Motion paid by the deputy mayor is there a second second seconds made by Council McGrath is there any discussion on this motion I'll just make one comment I appreciate the administration inserting the delayed date change I think that go a long way us communicating that we need to make sure that we have our zoning office um in in full workking order uh before we start charging fees for the use of our zoning office and I have a lot of confidence in our zoning officer uh who's done a great job in uh in other work that she's done and uh look forward to seeing not continue mayor if I may your zoning office staff is fully staffed and functional at this point that is excellent Madam cl to call the ball please councilwoman Holland yes counc McGrath yes depy mayor mavo yes mayor tamboro yes mayor H2 will be number 20247 it will be published according to a public hearing will be held on May 6 thank you mam the next item on the agenda is an ordinance on first reading labeled H3 M cler could you please read the title of this s the record in ordinance to amend chapter a565 -1 fees of the code of Township of Verona by amending plary retail consumption and plary Retail distribution license fees thank you m Clon please move the ordinance so moved motion is made by Council mcra PA second the the motion is there any discussion on this motion none Madam cler would you please call all yes yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor Toro yes mayor H3 will be 20248 will be published according to law a public hearing will be held on March 6 thank you madam clerk we are moving on to the agenda this evening there are sub resolutions for reminder to the public if anybody downloaded the uh document earlier resolutions six and seven have been strien by the administration that are being replaced on an addendum we have two sets of minutes nine ordinances no licenses or permits Council M um yes the mayor I request that we remove K what was K8 the contract with the Cougars from consent agenda please okay may like to move resolutions 1 two 3 4 5 9 10 and 11 and the two sets of minutes J one and J2 thank you C silence happening is a second I'll second thank you this time I'll open for public comment on the consent agenda only the same public comment statement applies know comments on the consent agenda I open for Council discussion the chair recognizes C thank you um I have a bunch of uh uh little observations so uh the dates are slightly different from K1 to K2 this may be this is a question for our Administration so we're appointing the deputy register from 24 to 27 but then the backup is from 24 to 26 was that intentional I'm sorry I it is the regular regist the names are correct in the body okay of each resolution okay the first one is the I'm you're correct so the first one's the regist so my question is on the second resolution the date only goes to March 31st 26 was it intentional that was a shorter term than the term that's listed in K1 yes that is pursuant to statute put I put 26 8-17 but the deputy registar it's a twoyear it's a two-year time okay that was my question thank you then I think I saw um a date on k6 it says here oh did we pull that one yes oh sorry okay we got that that um then um my next point is on the pool rules and I raised with the administ ation uh this afternoon just one concern I had on rule A6 so do you have a new wording didn't I did not get a response back to I sent it over to the super okay so can we still pass this if we so my for the rest of the Council on A6 it says membership in the Verona community pool is limited to Verona residence only for our conversations about the fees for our first responders non Barona residents who are First Responders who qualify for the free pool membership can join the pool so this statement is not i' asked Dave to send over a language that you would recommend I think we certainly add clarifying language to that that say um except for some members of the First Responders I think we can just do that here yeah that would just be clarifying language that wouldn't actually be change at anything even though it's only a resolution in any of it yeah so consider that then I'll work with the administration make sure the resolution appropiately has that phrase I think that's it thank you thank you Council MC thank you madam clerk for uh sharing the St earlier any other comments step in there yeah I just have one comment on K9 pool rules I know this came up when we were going through this it might have even been last year that and nothing needs to change now but in the future I'm going to put it in everybody's head just to kind of group them together a little better so that all the rules like pertaining to children are all in one area and the bathrooms like I'm I just circle them all like 1415 and then it jumps to 31 and again undressing is put only in the locker room just just for clarity I just want to put in people's heads to to you know next time we go through this to maybe adjust counc thank you um I would just add with regard to the pool rules um I understand that this has been done previously and I understand that the pool rules are an improvement from prior iterations however I do think it's important to have a comprehensive package so part of the challenge um is that you know we're asked to approve rates um and other aspects of the pool and then separately we're approving the pool of rules and like this this kind of like incremental process should all really be presented together in and and that would help to contribute toward this being a more strategic approach to the pool going forward um that way you know it's just we have one meeting where it would be all of the pool related items addressed I mean obviously if you have ordinances there would be a second reading as well but that I think would be very helpful to get like kind of a comprehensive package so thank you I will support it this evening but I I do think that that we could do this better next year thank you councilman any other comments any further discussion on the agenda off Adam cler would you call the please councilwoman Holland yes Council mcra yes got be mayor makoy yes mayor tamboro yes May resolutions 1 2 3 4 5 9 10 11 will be numbered 64 through 71 thank you madam Clerk and at this point would somebody like to move resolution K8 I'll move resolution cage so we can talk about it is there a second I'll second it so we can talk we can talk we need to talk uh I will open for public comments on resolution K8 only the same public comment statement applies no public comments on resolution comment Council M bre would you like to address this yes so um we have been receiving quite a few emails questioning the uh rates that we're charging our Barona nonprofits for pre-season pool parties um and I applaud uh you know our residents for really digging into the numbers uh that's um an important part of being an Engaged Citizen and resident and so um uh they are asking some uh really good questions and that resident then appropriately uh kind of looked at this fee that we are charging for a nonprofit external to Verona and it's questioning one why is the fee not ra rising and two what is the math behind this fee as compared to what we're charging our nonprofits and frankly I have the same questions uh so I would like to table this resolution for this evening to give the administration time to um get back to us with a comprehensive response to uh this fee versus the other fees that are being discussed than M I would just like to Echo that I am in 100% agreement with that I I think it was uh this resident that was one resident that was emailing us uh that I know uh definitely put up a very good case uh and I would like to see better numbers on this and see what the reason is why we're charging uh residents and grona nonprofits uh the rates as uh Council woman grass said the rates that were charging them versus uh a private company group like this so I'm in agreement thank you Mr no objection no we'll be working on that tbling this would not create a problem with the cont we need a motion try well we can we need a motion to table the original motion like to I would make that motion to table the motion's made to table is there a second I will second second this is a non- debatable motion all those in favor by anybody opposed motion is TE okay we are concluded with our resolutions uh we do have one addendum three addendum items this evening I'm going to propose these as a package Dum like vot the consent agenda somebody like to move items M1 M2 and M3 motions made by the deputy mayor is there a second second second is made by Council mcrath this time I open for a public comment on the agenda items only the same public comment statement applies you guys sure you uh we're fortunate to have somebody in the gallery before hearing no public comment I will close public comment is there any Council discussion on any of these items uh just for the note of the public there were several um extensive memoranda provided related to these items from more deputy manag uh and so we did have some background on these items hearing no further discussion Madam Clark face call the RO counc Holland yes Council MC yes mayor M yes may H yes mayor M1 through M3 will be number 72 73 and 74 thank you m Clerk and at this time it is our time from new business um I just want to bring one point up on our budget hearing today um we we approved the submission of the budget to the state had a draft Capital plan I uh noting items and I think that the administration did um some good work with the prioritizing certain items um I could vote on the on theal idea because that doesn't encumber us to the money we just want for the public edification everybody to understand that as these items come before us we'll have more substantial discussions on these items and what my thought is Mr Dio Ken at our May meeting is to have a more robust conversation on what you're proposing for this year for Capital and if there's anything a council member is concerned about we could approach it in at at that time versus when the ordinances come up for discussion um but I didn't think it was super productive to peace me things during the budget discussion because we're not encumbered to actually spend this money at this point um but there uh there was some good detail there and I encourage members of the public to look at that detail contained it's unfortunately buried in like page 100 of the the budget worksheet um but I think we need to have a good strategic conversation about about what we're doing a couple items that I think we might be able to creatively find other things for between now and then I will share my thoughts with the administration my Council colleagues will do the same um so that they can be prepared for the the May meeting but I'd like everything on the table uh if possible my thought is if any council memb is concerned about a particular item we in they can be there at the meeting discuss it if there are concerns on an item we don't necessarily need to invite that with everybody okay so we have a little homework Council well I already did that piece and met with um the town manager and the deputy Town manager over concerns I had so I will just go back to my notes and reiterate what our conversation was so thank you great um any further new business we are going into executive session this evening we takeing any official action before we go into executive sessions we have one last H comment the public has been very active this evening uh so we will give one more opportunity for that other comment the same public comment statement applies you have a hand up excellent all right is your call evening yes thank you for for your time one second trouble hearing you on our end give you all the try again can you hear me now no it's that speaker yeah there the volume is it on I'll try to is there's sound coming out of there but it's just the volume isn't as high asone is mran is your volume up I will try to adjust my volume yes crazy might be a setting on the laptop that's connected to that I I'm trying to adjust it can you hear me very fortunately we might need to interpret yeah we quiet I'm speaking in more closely does this better no not really well we're all going to be very quiet and we will try to hear you and we'll try to repeat back uh what you say go ahead sir um all right well I'll do my best to speak as loudly as I can I've been a resident of Verona for 10 years now almost exactly to the date really enjoy living in this community the one thing I've just not gotten used to is the Verona emergency horn and I am understand there have been several reasons explained to me why we have this emergency horn that volunteers would not respond to calls from their phones or their cell phones and so we need the horn to alert them I just find that a little bit uh difficult to adjust to it's a it's a big annoyance and I I understand there are a lot of other communities here in New Jersey that do not have this daily sometimes numerous times in a day interruptions to the peace and quiet so I would like to ask what can we do to find a way to replace this very archaic form of communication and would love to hear thoughts on that regard conclusion of your comments sir yes thank you thank you any other public comments heing on I will close public comment uh I am happy to respond to this I um yeah so the horn is something that we hear about quite often um Mr diaro is holding his his head I did first just want to provide some information on the horn um it belows a 6 o' as a test to make sure Works um and in addition the horn is used for fire emergencies which are about 300 times a year and then it is used for second calls for the rescue squad only the rescue squad answers about 1,400 calls a year it is only blown if there is a second request so for some reason two people didn't call out for the rest Squad call that they're refunding uh or that there is a simultaneous or multiple simultaneous emergencies or something that requires additional Manpower like a cardiac arrest event or something like that the township has uh invested in infrastructure related to digital radios um and also um uh analog radio pagers to alert in addition the emergency services use a tool called e dispatch which is a tool that takes the analog page and alerts by text message and also recording of that page um out to the members of the fire department the rescue store unfortunately there are times at which um none of those Technologies work at the same time that's why a lot of the horns exist um fortunately those times are minimal the states system is not always under our control the analog system is more under our control sometimes those systems don't speak to each other uh Chief Christopher Kieran is on the call and he can attest to this and uh we can tell uh some stories about that but he does a great job managing this as a as a member of the council I feel that there is some room for the Emergency Services to revise the use of this device and I have made that clear in my opinions to the emergency services however um at the same time like we do with a lot of decisions involving the Emergency Services because there's only one of us at the Bas who's actually an expert in this area we do generally leave the uh decisions on those items to the chiefs of those emergency Services I'm going to ask Chief Karan uh OEM coordinator Martin Township manager diaro perhaps get a working group back together to discuss the status of the horn um it is a matter of significant concern in emergency services I can attest despite my feeling that there is some room to revise its use there have been times that I would have only known that an emergency is happening and been able to respond to it if the horn with the horn blown that being said the its use has significantly declined since I started uh when I moved here there's a dox system that the horn would below number of times equal to the rid of the address so could blow 18 * 3 we don't do like that anymore the fire department 212 I think twice res Squad I believe is 33 so it's use has even gone down but I think at this point now that the technology we're understanding its benefits and limitations it would be an appropriate time to reconsider that um especially as we're looking toward building a new building as well conversation is that okay with you mrco maybe have that ation um any other council members have any thoughts on that I will uh just so confirm uh I I am one that grew up in Verona so I've been here my entire life I know growing up uh when there was a fire and back in the day when they had the fire boxes on the telephone poles if that box was pulled uh the horn would go off it if the number was 157 it would go off 157 times and it would do it three times I think the rescue squad used to be seven bless three times also so we've had this come up as the mayor said numerous times and we've revised the amount of times it's being used uh and I do think we're we're really at the minimum that we can set it off uh but obviously as the mayor said we leave it to the professionals and see what they say I do wonder if it came into play the other night at 3:30 in the morning when the fire department was called for the incident at Our Lady of Lake Church uh so again the middle of the night someone could be woken up by it uh and not by their phones so I really have to add to that thank you thank you mayor okay at this time we have already made a motion to go we have passed resolution to go into executive session we will do so at this time let me no official action taken we'll see you in may have good