good evening I call to order this regular meeting of Theon toship Council to order today is Monday November 13th and at 7 o'clock p.m. Madam clerk would you please read the open public meetings act compliance statement the notice requirements of the open public meetings act have been satisfied with respect to this meeting of the township Council the meeting time and date were included in the public meeting notice along with the public internet link and telephone called in information said notice and meting agenda was posted in the municipal building and sent to the official newspapers of the township of run times in the Star Ledger at Le 48 Hours proceeding the start time of this meeting the agenda and handouts can be viewed online at Veron nj.org Council meetings at public comment period will be held in the ORD listed on the meeting agenda and instructions on how to comment will be provided at the appropriate time thank you madam clerk would you please call the role councilwoman Holland here councilwoman McGrath here councilman Roman here here Deputy Mayor maoy here mayor Toro here mayor um present tonight is Township manager Joe de Aro Township attorney Patricia Patricia Mia Patricia Melia sitting for attorney briya um Deputy manager Kevin myself mpal clerk thank you madam clerk whatever please stand pledge of Alle I alleg to the flag of the United States of America the stand na indivisible thank you I have a couple items on mayor dep look to our guests first off I'd like to first thank the Verona voters for overwhelmingly approving the open space trust fund ballot question on November election that will help to do great things for brona and secure our future in preserving open space uh I'd like to congratulate Mike Boon on his election to the Verona Board of Education uh Mike has been an involved resident for many years uh and is a great guy and I very pleased to see him on the board so good luck to Mr Boon uh congratulations to Senator Kristen Cado and has been ch Philips on their reelection uh to the legislative district 40 seats um they while we don't officially going through the district until January they have effectively been representing us uh already um taking our calls providing us information uh being in constant touch and they've been at many events um and I'm sure that will continue I would like to also congratulate to some an elect Al baras um on his election as well Al's been a the public servant for many years uh will do a wonderful job uh in this role like to congratulate our county level Representatives on their reelection as well and provide a special thank you to our municipal clerk Jennifer Kieran for running the election with the help of all our wonderful poll workers um if the election as far as I know went off without a hitch thanks to a lot of hard work um like to thank everybody who came out to celebrate our veterans at our annual servance on Saturday uh we had great attendance from veterans it was wonderful to see and from the public a special thank you to Christine G uh Mr Dio's assistant and Lisa northr for their work in organizing the ceremony with help from our atten Administration our public works department buildings grounds department and police department uh a special thank you as well to Abby schust for her beautiful rendition of the national anthem uh and the Rend Dr Ronda Meers from the First Presbyterian Church for giving the invitation and cubs got packed by for doing the PGE of Allegiance and providing the refreshments after which was a wonderful uh touch as well the Brun environmental commission met last week uh had a a pretty long meeting it focused on getting our Junior commissioner program up and running which is very exciting uh with the approval of the Town Administration so we're very pleased to see that going that will be providing um opportunities for two high school students current freshman soft and juniors uh to come to meetings participate environmental commission again events help advocate for the environment in Verona um and get mentorship from some of our experienced Commissioners the uh chairwoman Pearson sent out to some science teachers of the high school um application materials and recruitment so we hope to have a really good pool um and the commission will be choosing the junior Commissioners at its next meeting in December um there will be a composting webinar AR uh presented by the environmental Commission on Thursday January 18th at 7 o' p.m. I hope that everybody can attend this is something not only that is good for the environment but also good for the town because the more we compost uh the less we are paying for garbage Tage so and being that that's on the agenda today it's a perfect time to bring up uh that so I hope that everybody will will come and participate in that as well and finally congratulations to the Verona High School girls volleyball team for their group Championship they won the sectional championship and then the group Championship um our volleyball program is one of the most successful VHS teams in state tournaments and they're one of the most winningest teams uh that we have had ever I believe so uh congratulations to the the ladies of the volleyball team and that is all I have I would like to Now call up Mr C or S his County liaison or news County evening mayor council hope good health here it needs very cold out in my already um this coming Thursday we are doing a Thanksgiving food distribution at Cody Arena starts at 9:00 a.m. I would suggest you get there a little bit earlier we do have a th turkeys do out with um boxes of food there is however a uh flyer that needs to be filled out get it online at the county executive office and I think uh this particular time of the year everybody can use a little extra food and if you put it on I'll give it to the um the Clark and you can put it on on website that being said uh November 16th um that is the day of the food distribution at COD Arena I don't know if I said that the next thing on the agenda is November 17th to the 19th November 24th to the 26th December 1st to the 3 those are all the weekend dates for Holiday Lights at the to Back Zoo and the complex and starting December 88th to the end of the year it'll be open on a daily basis and they will be closed the 24th 25th and 26th um moving on we then have the H historic holing tour you can go to the county executive website there is a list of homes that you can visit and again I will give it to the clerk this way she can post it on her website and finally your own backyard we have Kips Castle opening from Thursday to Sundays from 12: to 4:00 p.m. close uh closing the 24th 25th and 31st and the hours are from 12: to 4:00 p.m. if you need additional information you can give this number out 973 433 7469 and this will be starting I believe um I don't have a DAT does not have a d on it which I'll have to inform the public information officer of it but I believe it starts the first week in December that probably is about it the other thing uh Town manager myself had a great meeting with the the county executive and the Improvement Authority and I know he'll speak on that any questions comments thank you for helping to facilitate that meeting and if anybody has not ever been to hiips Castle go it's really a stunning stunning structure with a a need history uh one thing I just forgot to mention on my agenda um the Sunday at 7 o'clock p.m. is the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service uh hosted by the Episcopal Church sorry hosted by the Verona clergy Council it'll be held this year at the first presan church of Verona bar Avenue um and I delighted to have been invited to speak uh it is always a wonderful service where we can bring everybody together so now I would like to um invite our Lions Club Representatives up um as a mayor's initiative I am looking to to really showcase the wonderful nonprofit and volunteer groups that we have in Verona um and hope to learn more about the groups and provide the groups with an opportunity to tell us how folks can join um and what the amazing things are doing the Lions Club recently as the deputy mayor pointed out and last meeting uh a pretty awesome project so hoping you'll fit us on on that here I'm Bob M current president from the Lions Club our members are back here I'm sorry I have the mic on for you okay the Lions Club International was started as a service organization by Melvin Jones in 1917 in Chicago from the first Club in 1917 we've grown to more than 48,000 clubs worldwide in 150 countries total membership is over 1.4 4 million which makes the Lions International the largest service organization in the world the Verona Club little newer than that only 70 years ago was chartered May 29th 1951 we've been an active Club in the community as well as the district and we try to follow our Founders example continuing to serve those in need in fact our motto is we serve in 1925 the lions were asked to become Knights of the blind in a crusade against blindness you may notice the use eyeglass collection box outside the community center in fact we also service The Collection Box in front of the West cwell post office and we had service the one in Caldwell until that got uh removed in fact um last year we resent sent for recycling into the state over 7,000 pairs of ey glasses by law these ey glasses cannot be reissued in the United States they go overseas uh generally only the third world countries we support our International state of New Jersey and Local District organizations with other contributions uh as needed however our club has made a determination that in addition to uh helping the International Association we're going to um devote most of our efforts to this to Verona and the surrounding area our ongoing projects include our hospital equipment loan closet where we provide free of charge hospital beds wheelchairs Walkers K crutches canes and the like we're one of the few clubs in the state that provide such a service you and I'm sure you're probably aware of the fact councilman U mavo was present that we made contributions over our excess of some excess equipment to the America to the Ukrainian Aid American Relief Committee that is currently and rout to the Ukraine and will be used we helped start and obtain funding for the Verona Medical Transport vehicle that is used by the town to provide lowcost transportations doctor's appointments for our senior citizens in Verona and Cedar Grove we're currently building up a fund to help of the acquisition of an additional vehicle for when the current vehicle is no longer usable we funded large print books for the Verona library and in fact we were a sponsor for the recent uh Verona Library Foundation gallon every year we've been giving shop R gift cards generally over $3,000 to the town which in turn disperses it to families uh who are struggling we also provide cash and manpower to various uh local food pantries including the one one ghou Street in the spring at the high school Awards night we give our annual Service Awards remember our motto we serve we're giving a service award not a scholarship this is to deserving seniors um who who can prove to us that they've been active in the community these usually is around this is usually total about $6,000 every year on a regular basis we provide contribution to such organizations as the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention the rescue squad Arch ofic County etc etc it's not just these listed formal organizations that receive our support but also members of the community and without naming specific names recently within the last several years we've contributed funds to obtain a service loan for a young lady in town that needed it um we have get we purchased a special scooter for middle school student who needed to get around we're able to provide these Services generally through two main fundraisers as well as general contributions that were receive during the course of the year in the spring we send out our annual white can letter this goes to every household in Verona where we solicit contributions our other main fundraiser is taking place right now it's our annual super 5050 raffle the drawing is December 5th so if you haven't purchased your winning ticket yet there's still time we print 1,700 tickets every year and hopefully we'll be able to give out the two maximum prizes first prize would be 6,800 which is 40% of the take and 1,700 which is 10% of the of the uh of the tickets that are sold for other information or if you want to make contributions or purchase tickets you can also visit our website which is Lions Club Verona nj.org um thank you for your time and this opportunity do any of you have any questions I'll just make a comment that the medical equipment closet is uh just a very unique way of serving and I've heard so many you know opportunity people taken advantage of this opportunity within the community when they need this equipment so I think that that's just an outstanding initiative amongst everything else that you do so I really apprciate one of the issues we found with our loan closet is we receive receive a lot of contributions in of equipment that people no longer need however um it's usually word of mouth and we're trying to get the information out to people that hey you know we have this service which is available to people and it's the equipment is not cheap for instance I think I mentioned earlier and if I didn't forgive me the the stuff that Jack helped load onto the truck was valued at over $20,000 so that's that's all going to good use yeah I see people talking about it on local Facebook groups things like that if you know exists but very happy to hear about it in fact I got an email earlier tonight I'm picking up a wheelchair tomorrow on an Street any other questions or comments Mr yes I just want to say I want to thank you for everything that you do for all of these years and I know many of your members and you're really an asset to the community and really serving a niche and as someone who has been uh personally involved with addressing food insecurity not just in our community but regionally I just want to thank you for continuing your focus there and for those gift cards and for donating them through our Children's Fund it's really necessary and I know those from the families really appreciate them and we do too because we get thank you notes we get thank you yes yes thank you and we're always looking for new members people who are interested that was gon be my next question I was just gonna say that I we should ask people to uh to get it out now hopefully people will watch this we do I had several inquiries uh as as you know we're selling Saturdays and Sundays in some the front of some of local businesses and we've had some people express some interest and of course we're always out there saying are you interested do you want to help us and I know you meet on a monthly basis you want to yeah know where you at the present time we have one dinner meeting a month and one board meeting a month uh we eat we meet in a local restaurant and our board meeting is in the community center which is a wonderful service that the town provides us so once again again thank you for all you guys not just you but the whole organization for what you do for the Town of Verona and for others and thanks for helping several Saturdays and uh and let me Echo that as well I it's fitting that you all for the the first group are recognizing because of your long-standing commitment to the town uh I also just want to note that Mr di our Township manager is a member as well he is um and we're happy to have him on there when he as part of his uh becoming the T manager he joined wish to join organization and we as the council recommended the allance club uh because of the work that you do and uh more recently I've been a recipient of equipment from the medical loan closet uh procured by our Deputy Mayor and transported to my house and I didn't particularly want it uh no but uh it it didn't work you know just things happen right um but uh between the deputy mayor and Andy berer you know the stff was there right away and I can't thank you enough for that um so you know we you never know when you might need to be a recipient of that absolutely and we hope that some folks will will join as a result of you being here and officially your presentation we do have a proclamation for U that I will read and then we'll invite everybody up if you want to sit for the proclamation and then we'll invite everybody up um the the proclamation reads uh whereas the alliance Club International strives to be the global leader in community humanitarian service and whereas the Lions Club pron Alliance Club was established in 1951 with a total of 20 members list on the original charter and whereas rone Alliance Club promotes friendship good fellowship and mutual understanding among the membership and whereas the Bron Alliance Club collectively take an interest in the Civic cultural social and moral welfare of our community and whereas today there are over 35 members of the Bron Alliance Club who are dedicated creating and fostering the spirit of understanding toward those in need now therefore be a proclaimed that I Dr Christopher tamboro mayor of the township of Verona hereby recognizes the Verona Lions Club commends her dedication to the township of Verona and its resident in witness whereof I hear on to set my hand and cause the official seal of C Corona New Jersey to be a fix on this 13th day of November in the year 2023 if you'd like to come up we'll invite the council up sure you got to stand in on this one yes you do this is the one picture we will have com you're the Emerson graduate right uh I'm not you're not okay sorry one of us might be okay ni to see you all right so we have two different versions of this one with your District number on the top so you got double can we tighten up yeah do what the clerk say stach doesn't show [Laughter] it all right thank you one more because the camera counts down yeah high school it's my cat my phone I how to use it wow what a fancy thanks for coming well that and thank you for joining you know no profile and so looks beautiful thank you good to have you back 29 years out been out as much get not today that we are on the day is discussing Mr diaro as a a man in many places all right on to our agenda this evening as our Gallery starts to become less populated um at this point I'll ask Mr diarco to provide the manager report thank you mayor um item number one in my staff meeting was morning they are looking at all their their codes relative to their departments start recommendations for ordinances and improvements come January and the clerk will start preparing that spreadsheet again uh officially Friends of the per Parks receive their 50123 authorizations and Mr Steve will be before the council in December the clerk is scheduling that meeting for you and I understand to go and receive one Animal Control Agreements are being discussed by a number of municipality managers now I'm revitalizing that meeting again it kind of fell by the wayside um and that was uh those meetings are happening again Kevin has a number of assignments as soon as we get to the deputy manager's report and he'll report on those assignments same with the in agreement for the fire convention is scheduled in 2024 have a new meeting with the city girl man to discuss that agreement the recreation field usage report that was prepared and submitted to the Recreation Commission they are discussing that report uh and I have met with the superintendent of schools on a different interlocal and someone else at the Board of Ed was handling the requests for the Board of Ed pieces for that report and she will be getting those to us so we can conclude at least that piece for the Recreation Commission um Jacobs the p on L Drive rece of the bid was on December 8th and Fairview should be following somewhat in 2024 skipping down to Everett field I know there was a lot of discussion on ever field and that presently the staff is breaking down the components of every field that have gr potential there are a number of elements of every field that can be funded through a number of our grants of grant writers and the staff is working on Breaking the elements down of everfield that is fundable including uh under a 501c3 I'll be making recommendations to that uh group uh on what they can do fundraising on that field also with the community so the the sticker price may have been shocking it will not be shock shocking the plan is is to augment almost every one of these projects we're doing with grants um and then we'll report on that as we move along your projects will be designed completely so that we're in position to apply for Grants because they're always asking for designs specifications before they even consider funding grants the traffic line and you already know is in motion and that'll come off my agenda hopefully that's a private project uh handled by a private uh company item number 16 the Board of Education I did have another meeting with the superintendent schools the the business administrator heav and I we did get a list from them of the services that have been provided previously plus a previous agreement that was done in 2015 I believe that's gone to the town attorney's office in Brian is looking over that agreement for modifications and I do have from Chuck all of the uh Services we provide to the bo you'll probably see that in your agenda come January or February I'm shooting for January to get that done to you um three ordinance fee modifications the CFO and and the deputy manager will be providing you with information we began that uh in this year 2023 and uh reviewing the impact of that ordinance on your on your budget what is it costing us to bring in the experts to evaluate trees we will be completing that report study for you for December so you can look at the cost and make some decisions about budgeting it or charging a fee for the expert uh cdbg reprogram we already received 200,000 for the playground which heav will give us the exact date on yeah bids are coming in um then we've appli for additional funding on your agenda tonight one of the items that are reping me with Kevin on the cdbg committee um so it'll be Kevin and sha CB committee and I'll be in the background U looking in I guess I can go as a guest um Public Safety complex so you're going to see a presentation from December it's for December meeting the architect is working on a virtual walk through uh so that you and the public can see that in Clos session I'll discuss um the meeting with the ecia because that impacts on the funding that we really don't want to announce to the to the potential bidding public what the numbers are okay that project also is being broken down into potential Grant funding elements and there is a number of pieces within that project that will serve as an interlocal basis and I'll discuss those in close session also um your Board of Health meeting is scheduled for 12:4 um we do have a meeting twice a year on mayor count service he officer will be here to do a CO annual review as part of that report um 24 25 just on my agenda but specifically the capital budget planning will be coming up and see if I was scheduling it and goal setting was on the mayor's list that's my desk and with that I'll answer any questions on anything on my list and then turn it over to C yes thank you um so in the spirit of making sure that we have plans so that we can get grants we really kind of drop the ball on pickle ball um not to put a punt in there but um we had a grant that we were going to use towards engineering I think there was some question about where to put the courts there were some private conversations I think we realize as a community we have to kind of keep them where they are so can we get that resurrected as well so that in that Spirit of getting Brands we understand number one what is that project going to actually cost if we kept the courts where they are where are some of the issues with engineering and then to like put that on a grand cycle so that we don't lose sight of the fact that we do not you know have our own tennis pickle ball courts they're playing on asphalt we really you know we're long overdue on renovating that as well thank you I will put that back on my list so the second thing I wanted to bring up with the Board of Ed is with the shared service agreement uh yes obviously our public works department does a lot with uh for the school but there's also a robust sharing agreement on the recreation front so and even things like the Children's Fund so we just need to make sure that we have that Community Services piece also encapsulated in any sort of discussion um because again there's just a robustness there that we you know do certain things uh we use certain spaces and how does that all interact um I'm really looking forward to that conversation on the tree ordinance certainly when we got that memo on the 30th like there was some alarming numbers in there on the cost of doing all these tree reviews you know to really certify basically that a lot of trees are dead on people's private properties and they want to remove them and so I'm really looking forward to that further conversation ation about the economics of doing all of these reviews um I think those were all my questions so thank you pickle we'll be back on the on the schedule thank you very much and similar to the tree ordinance we're looking at the cost of most of your services right um I know there were some discussions in the past on cost for services and we were doing most of the analysis getting a full 12 months on broadt so that we can accurately review um the cost or services and whether it's going to be you're going to choose to have fees or not and that that'll be a decision of the mayor and councel may I'll turn it over to May sorry the deputy mayor has I just have a couple questions about uh Everett field uh you we're going out for grants for this and I know I sent you a couple emails about this and you said it should be a council discussion so I don't know if we were going to open it up to the council for discussion on this uh but there were certain aspects of that design that I know several council members were didn't weren it didn't like or didn't W in in agreement with so are we going offer grants for these things when we don't even know if they're going to be in the plan but some of the basics uh that can that can be addressed in the grants are the ADA accommodations um the playground is an ADA uh playground I have from the Recreation Commission is reviewing that now and sending up a recommendation on what their review is which will come to the mayor and Council and those elements that are essential uh the entrances that are Ada we can apply under for Ada sidewalks that are Ada within there we can apply for the playground is complete Ada and we'll be looking at gr for Ada the decisions on turf or no Turf that's a mayor and Council decision it doesn't matter one way or the other with us in management it's a recommendation that will come up from Recreation and then reviewed by the mayor and Council and it's finally your decision or whether you're going to have turf for not t uh that's not a decision we would make at the management um I know there was some discussion on the walls and the drainage and the I did meet with a resident that had serious concerns over the drainage I met with him Kevin the engineer on this project um he he is a top flight individual and all of those questions that were raised by the resident of being reviewed by the engineer whether they're valid or not um that's a little above my my area of expertise I'm not an engineer but that meeting I did have and your resident expressed those concerns and that'll be they also will be reviewed but my position on that is if there is serious concerns over the topography and the drainage you cannot build a facility for the or Foundation meaning the underground drainage it's needs to be addressed it has to be addressed you don't want to build anything on a questionable drainage system so all of that is up for discussion the applications for Grants we need to get inot or else you missed the boat there'll be another year or two okay and speaking about that Resident who is very knowledgeable on all that his claim when he came up was that the drainage is already there that when our engineer did their survey they didn't do a survey on the drainage and they presented us with something that really wasn't complete I just want to make sure that we're not spending more money on an engineer before we make decisions from the council side as to what we're going to do with that field and how far we really want to go said I'm not I'm not excited about spending money and we don't have to but I don't want to not evaluate that properly and the engineer listened to everything that Resident had to say um I'm not going to voice my opinion one way or the other that my my take on the meeting but that all be coming to you and if it reduces the costs great uh you'll decide whether you like the plan or not however the the applications for those elements that would be in there anyway need to be filed in 2024 the other important piece that the council should be aware of all the grants that you submit you submit on your behalf the grants that you submit when you get that letter that you've been awarded a grant you can reject it you don't have to accept it so any of the grants you're applying for our job is to get applications into the grants if you decide you don't want to proceed with a project or a grant that's entirely a decision Council but you need to be in motion you can't it can't be an afterthought okay we finish all of this let's start applying for Grants but we missed the window and you don't want to miss the window for Grants so once we have the rec commission report and the environmental commission report and we will schedule another time to yeah discuss those recommendations in our time hopefully not the same night as the public safety complex no no in 2024 for that assume almost all the reports and every information you'll need to have additional questions to be in the first quarter of the Year okay you want to be in in in position to go out to bid by the second half of the year so you're you're in construction then if you when you move with this you've got a lot of field judgment to do based on the season that's why the elements of Recreation Commission the the users of the field where we're going to be playing all have to be timed almost perfectly and there's nothing perfect in this life okay but that you'll see with every project going forward it's not an after thought it should be all plan design question beat up uh finally getting to what you really know and then we can go to do so this is all the preliminary stages that should happen with every single project anything else from Mr Mr Ro thank you the first item I have on is [Music] rates Mike or just grab the clerk's mic the first to report on is sewer rate study we help seven that anticipated holding one moreal policies de and spending limits and and items of that nature probably the next four weeks our treatment plan well as Contin assessment of the wastewater treatment plant they were on that call with New Gen strategies as well and uh they are working in parallel with with their recommendations and Report should be final East Water Treatment PL there is a resolution agenda for authorizing contract this to MJG fill that rle with our EX in employees to maintain structure in the facility the the operating procedures with and as continue to assess all of the potentials that that may be Waste Water treatment plan the the retirement Jeff yeah your plan operator U prompted us to get the company coverage because you have a requirement in 14 days to do that from the state so we put that together within the 14-day window so you're in safe thanks moving on and our new Zone will be starting and Dr checklist on the ordinances to make sure that it's a cleaner transparent process that come before the constru to follow I'm gon to jump in again on Kev just so you're aware we have transition the entire office up to the instruction office so your residents will not have to go to two locations anymore they all be location people will miss going to the sewer plant uh I've gotten some complaints already that they don't get to visit there anymore but thanks uh the ly drive andly but pre bid it was on November 8th it was well attended we had contractors quality contractors as Welling bids that will be in place to making a word contract for the Wind Drive well in January uh and with the number of bids in their quality are very competitive 30 to 60 day wi advertise well as soon as we have that we will put that project out the bit we had some projects and the production of the well my figures with Jacobs and Design Elements both Productions Fair assumption as soon as we do T bids to move forward with the just on tonight's with award resolution prior Bond ordinances to Au designed amount million solution tonight would author on the storm water we have a red line going back and forth anded to there is a a requirement to get certain elements of that storm water control here so we love ms4 permit salt prepared byp by OS well and there there are very few elements that could be changed Chang by the township there's a number of different items that are components of and conditions of per bosw reach out to Blue within ver through the HUD of 461000 uh they make themselves available to expand that broaden it office of climate set up a meeting with the's office of climate Kevin I don't mean to interrupt but I know this is be an odd request but can you talk toward that please we'll hear you but the folks on in the audience cannot hear you as well because you're facing this way you can just kind of talk that way but us not a problem yeah mayor okay uh Kevin when that you're you talked to the D they said no one applied well do they ever L has anybody requested it there was one request uh that okay they were not okay by the okay because I know I'm one also that's why he's probably the same person but we I could reach out let them know it was pre-selected where they they were applicants previously and then then T be reviewed them again so we had no one that was pre-selected by okay thanks at the last meeting was able to pull uh some data from our our Port we some revenues through the court that have been generated ancies on and the revenues through the tickets the Reven through the rates and I'll I'll follow up with a recommendation but I am still Gathering that court and from Finance uh is related accounts currently waiting from to see if there TRS that are wor for electric supply for municipal accounts Jersey sustainable njm is analyz as utility accounts to see uh a good canidate into the njsm and they're purchasing power additionally there's regarding Energy Efficiency programs Municipal solar Community different sources that they've t with so I am continuing to to dive into the c number of items that were raised at the last meeting on waste collection serves there you're just timed out um was a recommendation we received uh bids for the award of uh uh for the collection services for solid waste uh there the contracts relative better than what was probably anticipated the industry has um brought to to many municipalities the average annual increase over the course of a 5-year contract was approximately a two-year increase um the the additionally one week foll opening for and uh a recommend uh yeah for both recycling then can you for the public edification share how many bids we got on each one there was it was with section for 20 it's been 20 we were preparing for of a nightmare scenario for sure so even though this is a an increase of substance it's definitely not as bad as we were considering for sure correct but one bit yes the it was not as Paving bids that we well were were not as uh on case loads uh she's 2024 and circulated when I Happ them finalized there was an for Street s well they are going process and a little bit of a section on on Grant write ups but I know the the town manager um was mentioned U just just one item on the street sweeper um Mr daro in your next meeting Cedar Grove if you could address the street sweeper too um okay I think that might be fruitful as well for care services yes uh councilman Roman just one quick question on the esro fees um there are any charges to Residents currently being reviewed by a Township issue official before they are sent out to the resident and uh if not is that part of the workflow process that's intended it is part of of what's being reviewed now it will also be part of the process moving forward to make sure that the escrow are at es that are and as part of the codification and the other the the process here are we going to be clearly defining what sort of expenses are chargeable to the resident and uh and what is not or yes what is that the intent of the it is the intent it's it's you're having an and and it's it's they direct the traffic as an application comes in it um it will go before initially they'll have to check have been submitted and have reviewed the the projects councilwoman uh thank you um going back to the parking study um I had had additional thought after the meeting about you did a great analysis comparing to other towns on the rates for parking but also the hour that parking meter rates apply I think would be a good thing to add to that analysis comparing to other communities it's just another lever that can be pulled and I would love to see how Verona Stacks up in terms of when parking meter rates actually apply and then uh since we're talking about um Solid Waste um I guess one question I have is so this is the the contracts are for actually picking up the material but how much we actually throw away that's more variable correct and does this include the tonnage that we actually throw away or no this is just the the right the Tipping the collection and the trucking the the rates for the Tipping okay um the rates are that isting process how he Aggregates to get okay that's great thank you um Mr Neil before you um was really trying to get a pilot set up on composting in fact before he left he said that he had encumbered money to get that pilot going of course now the year is almost over so I just don't want us to lose sight that there is a lot of energy and excitement amongst you know understanding if we could do some sort of composting program some other municipalities have done it I know our volunteers with sustainable Verona are very engaged on this type of pilot so that's something to you know add into the mix I hope uh in the future in 2024 I'll look into that there are ACC composing site can be before it triggers DP permits I think it with a private vendor and so there's there's some background we can fill in offline um with uh different vendors and there's different a couple municipalities in Essex County that are working with a vendor um to do something it just involves space at our um our um recycling center but we can fill that in offline but uh it's just an interesting you know to continue to explore composting which is really the Holy Grail I think of Waste Management in the next few years thanks anybody else just one item for our management team here um can you give an update on where we are with the joint blood control advisory Council know we uh appointed councilwoman Holland as the council Le is on um but I you know we we did take some time to get this going are we planning on having a meeting soon could be add that to the cedar grow discussion or whatever to try and get that in progress we'll need a we'll need a resident to put out there so maybe we could start with putting a social media post out or something that you have you have a resident's apply no I have one resident that just I just apply okay there's a start um but if we wanted to posst something but just said we're looking for applications for the position and we could have a choice of who we're looking for for that and get a meeting going um hopefully we can appoint them before the end of the year and have a meeting early next year I I want to add any more to your very very full plate but uh that's something that we've been working on for a little while okay we're going to move on to council member reports the deputy mayor you are first sir thank you Mr Mayor uh being that we were just talking about composting we had a sustainable ver on a meeting this uh past week and I'll go to the composting part of it they uh they were actually working I know the environmental commission was working on this for quite a while with Steve they as the mayor uh said before will be having a composting seminar on Thursday January 18th uh and they can they have couple two experts I believe that are going to be talking to it so I definitely agree I think it was something uh I brought up in our planning meeting that uh composing is important because we talk about tipping fees and you know talking about $85 $90 a ton for garbage whatever we can pull out of that we could save the town a lot of money if we uh find a way to to really work at composting and get it going in Verona because not many towns around have it uh so uh talking about their meeting they are uh applying for silver status next year uh through New Jersey sustainable and they are working very hard they're working with other groups uh Township employees uh the sh tree commission the environmental commission uh they're all have different areas where they're uh taking different parts of how they can get points to get silver status so hopefully um they will achieve it next year that we got bronze status uh three years ago and I think every three years you have to reup to uh to go to the next step or keep it the same so they're right on track for uh and one other thing they were talking about it came up there during the meeting where uh two of the members did a heat island assessment on places in Verona and one of them came up at was actually Pilgrim shopping center uh and the other one that came up was the uh football field the new turf fields at Verona High School uh and then it segwayed into a talk about uh us putting artificial turf on other fields so I think that's going to be an Engaged conversation when that comes up uh with everfield that they already started discussing that uh and that's all I really have for sustainable uh I want to thank the clerk for a successful election day uh and all of her hard work on that day that's a a very very long day so thank you for that and congratulations also to Mike Boone for uh stepping up and uh Mr f for putting his his name in the uh on the ballot and working for that that but congratulations to Mike Boon for joining the Board of Education uh I was going to bring up the 501c3 I'm happy to see the friends of Verona Parks receive that that's a a good step uh I would also uh I attended the dwali celebration last week uh it was a wonderful C cere ceremony uh the mayak committee and one resident started it a couple years ago to Hotel so thank you to her for for keeping it going and it's just a great celebration very well attended in the library but there could always be more people and it was a beautiful day out uh the I did attend the Essex County uh Veterans Day ceremony down at the park in Newark uh if anyone hasn't been down to that Park I definitely recommend going to see it it it's a 2 and a half acre uh Park in the middle of their Essex County Court area down there uh they took a old parking garage demolished it and built this wonderful Park and they have great memorials in there but they G gave Awards to six veterans uh very spirited uh speeches from all of these people and it was a very nice celebration uh and also uh our celebration here the other day on Saturday uh Mr Mayor wonderful job with it and I'd like to thank uh every body involved Chris schol uh our Public Works our buildings and grounds our Police Department fire department uh everybody in Verona does a great job when we do these events and it's it's a really truly a team effort and I thank everybody for for coming out especially uh we had a very very well was very very well attended by veterans uh they responded and showed up which was just really great to see uh and lastly my only qu my last question is uh we appointed a town planner I'm just wondering where our progress is going forward as far as scheduling and redoing our zoning coordinates is there anything on the schedule for that didn't have on my schedule yet so has anybody reached out to our planner yes um if I may there um there are two developers already were referred to the planner rather than directly through here one's been here before and a third one has uh cropped up on on blo Hill Avenue and that individual is also directed to the planner um as far as your downtown study they were just appointed I haven't followed up with them yet uh to get a timeline and the schedule on them producing documents for you and how we move forward thank you mayor councilman thank you uh my items are some repeats of what my colleagues have said but I will run through these first off uh also thank you to everyone for putting together the Veterans Day ceremony I will concur with the deputy mayor um the turnout of veterans was uh fantastic uh we all commented that we saw a lot of veterans that had not that we' had not seen in previous ceremonies so it's really nice to see U the participation in this ceremony as well as uh everyone in the public that came out but thank you to everyone in the township for putting that together and congratulations to the mayor an excellent job of setting the tone and speak that day uh congratulations to our state representatives Senator Cado some women to Phillips some wom paros I felt that through the campaign they were uh very uh engaged uh present here in the community and they worked really hard to understand Verona so I look forward to their representation as the mayor said they've essentially already been working with us all this time so thank you to all of them congratulations to Mike Boon and thank you to Lisa fresy for her service and to Dominic Ferry for running I'll note that Mr f conceded very graciously and asked the community to support the board uh so thank you to him for his willingness to serve as well as to our County representatives and Madam clerk has always an excellent job running the election so thank you for that congratulations again to the VHS volleyball team on their win I was also able to attend the dwali ceremony and I will agree that that was just a very well put together informative and very engaging uh celebration we learned a lot about the traditions of Dali and indan culture so thank you to everyone put that together and another my final one special congratulations to two employees of the township uh we had two people place in the snow pile Rodeo Rich Mali who won first place as a non-cdl driver and for Guido won second place as a CDL driver um this is a obstacle course and training course intended to emphasize a safe snowfall operation uh and uh this is always something that we are very very proud of here in Verona uh you know if you want to know where the town line is just look for you where you see Blacktop during a snow event so congratulations to them and thank you councilwoman mcgr thank you um I do want to thank the Ron public library and the Multicultural inclusion and accessibility advisory committee for collaborating on this year's uh Dali event and a special thanks to resident TL Patel who really did start this event um as just a volunteer even before our mayak committee was formed um she also graciously uh reference our former employee Steve Neil for his advocacy on this event but this ceremony was just lovely we had some great food um from BR Brick Lane and Monclair and a wonderful presentation that the library um um hired an expert on and crafts overall was just really a wonderful event and it really reminds me you know just what makes our community great um and so um Happy duy to everyone who celebrates we're in the middle of that celebratory season um I too want to congratulate Mike Boon on his election to the Board of Ed I want to thank our municipal clerk Jennifer Kieran though she just stepped outside um and all of the poll workers for running a very smooth election and I want to thank all of our residents who took the time to vote whether they voted by mail or they went to early voting Community Center or they voted on Election Day uh it's really wonderful to see um this part level of participation in Verona uh the votes are still being counted um and so the results are not final but um I want to thank everyone who participated tonight I attended a shade tree commission meeting um we did talk a bit about an and Cypress trees um as there's the project close out you know we work that into the conversation um they did express some concern and they've expressed it before on the survival rate of those trees from from that project again they were planted really at the worst time um at the heat of the summer they're also very concerned that you know they have the appropriate deer guards so that they survive the uh bucking you know season with the deer um and so um we just want to make sure with that that you know we have the appropriate Protections in place if those trees don't survive that we can get them replanted next year um and uh they talked more about some ceu requirements and they actually are going to be leading into their five-year planning process and so Mr oan I actually encourage them to reach out to you so they could begin planning getting the GRS to do The Five-Year Plan and starting that cycle uh tomorrow is a neighborhood traffic and safety committee meeting um where they're going to be talking about a lot of things including not just traffic but also some elements on safety and school safety in particular with bullying um I reget that I was away for our Veterans Day ceremony I did hear lovely things about it I was in one of the best places to celebrate Veterans Day which is Washington DC and I observed many female Vietnam veterans who were there for the 30th anniversary of the unveiling of the women's Vietnam Veterans Memorial um 265,000 women served in the military and as civilian members during Vietnam and to see them you know congregating and some of their family were there and talking about what they experienced um it was really um kind of overwhelming to uh see them this many years later still upholding their service so I want to thank um all of our veterans but in particular uh the women who served our military um and that's my report thank you thank you councilwoman Holland thank you um so I too want to congratulate the clerk on on running a very successful election I know it an incredibly long day but we thank you tremendously for all of the effort that you put into running these elections for the community um I had the advantage of early voting at the Verona Community Center and I think that's a tremendous asset that we have here in town um and which I'm very grateful for I want to congratulate those newly elected um and you know look forward to working with you in various capacities um I do want to acknowledge that November is safe homes month and so you know I do think it's important for residents to engage in this program so please by all means if you need information about it you can get it from the Vmax social channels as well as some of the township social media um and you can register your home as a safe home on the website um I too had the pleasure of attending the dwell event which I think is a great um addition um and one of the wonderful C cultural programs that have been put together by a combination of residents and Township um and actually the local library now um I was also um honored to be able to attend the Veterans Day celebration this weekend which is a particularly moving ceremony every year um and I'm grateful for the service of all of the veterans um and it usually makes me think of my father and his service I did think it was particularly sweet to see the scouts leading the Pledge of Allegiance and I hope in future events whether it be Veterans Day or Memorial Day there's equal representation of scouting organizations at these meetings um moving forward I also just want to alert residents as I often do to the winter termination program which will be taking effect on November 15th during this time of year if you are in need need please reach out um you should not be uh suffering any kind of utility shut offs during the winter ter termination period so if you have any need for assistance there are lots of avenues um and the Department of Community Affairs as well as municipality can direct you um as well as PS or really anyone that you reach out to can provide the information necessary to ensure that you have the assistance necessary to have these essential Services during the winter termination period so again there are no shut offs during the winter termination period and there is assistance available to those who need it so again that takes effect on November 15th and that continues into the spring and let's hope it's not a particularly cold winter but you never know so please be prepared thank you that concludes my report thank you at this time has become our custom I'm going to open for public comment on any item Madam Clark would please fre the public participation sa anyone from the public wishing to speak attending via Zoom please raise your hand by pressing the raise hand button on your monitor you're ding in by phone you may press star n and if you're attending in person please approach the left turn once recognize clearly state your name and coun residence for the street address however if you do please note that these meetings will be posted on the Township's YouTube channel and addresses will not be redacted for any purpose you have four is to address the council after everyone wishing to speak has been heard Council May address your comments and their questions and it's open thank you anybody in the room like to participate anybody at home that's total of four people uh I think we can close public comment at this point nobody has come in all right and we will move on to our hearing uh adoption or amendment of ordinances so this evening we have two ordinances up for our second reading the next item on the agenda is ordinance number 20 23-44 on second reading Madam clerk would you please read the title of this ordinance into the record amending the code of the township of Verona chapter 390 Property Maintenance by the creation of an article two entitled Le base paint Hazard inspection requirements for rental dwellings thank you madam clerk do I hear a motion so Move Motion by the deputy mayor is second second by councilwoman McGrath now is the time for the public hearing on ordinance number 20 23-44 the same public participation statement will be apply however in this circumstance we can only accept public comment on the ordinance only and public comment is open for anybody who would like to comment on our Leed ordinates very heavy ordinance but you are still welcome seeing no public participation I'm going to close public comment at this time uh is there any Council discussion hearing none Madam Clark would you please call the role councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman M yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor maoy yes mayor Tim Boro yes mayor 20 2344 passes 5 to Z and will be published according to thank you madam clerk the next item on our agenda is ordinance number 20234 which is also on second reading Madame clerk would you please read the title of ordinance number 2023 45 into the record amending the code of the township of Verona chapter 5 administration of government article 9 Department of Community Services to allow for the flexibility in the appointment of the director of Health and Welfare and director of recreation thank you madam clerk do I hear a motion so motion is by councilman Roman is there a second second second by Council wman Holland now is the time for the public hearing on ordinance number 2023 45 same public comment statement appli okay see no public participation I'm going to close public comment on this ordinance is there any Council discussion I I just have one item I just want to thank the manager for reorganizing this department in a meaningful and efficient manner I think it's uh we'll do better to serve our residents and I appreciate your looking at that as we have a leadership transition in the department thank you thank you uh see no further discussion Madam clerk would you please call the rooll councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman McGrath yes councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor makoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor ordinance passes 5 Z and it will be published according okay we are now moving on to post ordinances on first reading the next item labeled H1 is an ordinance on first reading Madam CLK would you please read the title of this ordinance into the record amending chapter a565 D1 of the township code to amend the basic water consumption rates temporary thank you madam clerk do I haveb a motion no mo motions by the deputy Mayors or a second second second by councilman Roman uh we do not have public participation on the first reading is there any Council discussion we did have an extensive discussion at the last meeting there's any updates related to that I have one mayor sure um we just heard from our Deputy uh manager that the rate study will be done possibly in four weeks the last time we passed these rates we did pass them retroactively so do we just wait as councilwoman Holland has previously indicated we're so close to finishing the study do we actually defer and not take action and just wait to see the study says in weeks I I think it's a fair point my only concern is is that if it takes longer or doesn't then we're retroactively and then people are consuming water based on a rate that they're not that we established later I didn't love when we did it retroactively the last time to be honest that's just my opinion on that councilman um you I mentioned that the path of the Cure time for an ordinance would be the concern you know if we if we have to wait until after this is produced then we do an ordinance on discussion in new business an ordinance on first reading second reading and then wait for cure uh we very well could end up in Q2 so the only other comment I'll make is I sort of don't love just striking the dates off of this entirely um you know it's it's a temporary water search ARS that has no expiration at this point which you know if we're this close to the uh to getting a uh you know a rate study and I feel like having a set of dates in there would encourage us to quickly handle rate setting once we have appropriate information I uh I think that's a fair point um if we if we put dates in there that's a non-substantive change Adam countship attorney so the councilman right now the ordinance is listed as just having um the date that ends this December being stricken for the temp if we were to put in a new bracket we could do that now right we could technically do that from the before is that a dominous change that is a dominous change okay this is on introduction yeah cor I just wanted to make sure that recall correctly from the CFO this is time sensitive right ordinance is expiring which should put you back to the old rate M and you're it's going to affect your revenue generated the potential Surplus that you don't have you can you can introduce we can we can introduce an amended version yeah and or if the study gets done sooner my my concern was the time sensitive closing of the the original orance yeah I I agree with you on the the timely piece of doing it now councilman do you have a a motion or a recommendation as far as changing and putting a date bracket in there um I would uh move that we alter this ordinance uh for an expir to indicate an expiration date of the rate of 1231 2024 is there a second I'll second it just to discuss it um is there any objection to just putting a new date in instead that's I have no objection I know I mean once we get this rate study back we can get it on the agenda to to review after that but I mean we can't we can't let this expire it's basically what agree instru agree 100% go um I continue to object to this whole line item saying the temporary water sear charge I think it's cleaner and more efficient for us just to say that our current rate effective on January 1st 2020 for will be $6.98 I think again calling this temporary is as I made the point at the last meeting just really um is is not really actually um being honest with the public um so I I'm not comfortable with this whole system but I know I understand from the financial point of you the situation that we're in but the mechanics of how we're wording this I still have reservations it's there any discussion on the date versus the only item on discussion for this motion is do we have no date or a date that's the is there any discussion on that piece on this motion only I object okay all right noted um Madame clerk do you want to call the roll on the motion this is just a motion to change the um the strike through to having an expiration date of December 31st of 2020 effective January 1 correct okay well really it's it's effective whenever it started it's just we're changing the expiration date so all we're doing is changing December 31st 2023 to 2024 because it's it's remained in effect that is I will clarify that is my in okay yeah so down this motion only can councilwoman Holland no councilwoman McGrath no councilman Roman yes Deputy Mayor maoy yes mayor tamboro yes mayor the motion passes three to two Okay thank you and uh now we are moving on to the motion on the revised ordinance to approve it for first reading we've approved the motion to amend the amended ordinance um Madam clerk would you please on that councilwoman Holland no councilwoman mcgr no counil Roman yes Deputy Mayor maoy yes mayor Toro yes mayor um as amended with the previous motion h will be number 2023 46 will be published according to Law Public hearing will be held on December 4th thank you madam clerk um next up we have our consent agenda and there are several items on our consent agenda um many of these were addressed during the the managers and Deputy manager reports uh just a couple items we have budget transfers which is very common at this time of year um and that's simply moving money from one budget line to another um there is one thing uh Mr diarco I if we could have is a current budget versus actual for all budget lines please um because one of the things I tend to want to discourage is people spending a lot of money in the last month of the year well that was cut off by the CF CFO is tougher than I am is only uh those necessary repairing bills that we have to encumber for in any emergency has to be R from my office the excellent and if you could send that report that would be great um mayor if I me that'll also be part of your budget reports when we start doing budgets we'll see pror your expenditures and cover uh we are cancelling some unused uh fund balances on ordinances which is always positive as these things go from notes to uh to bonds um we are accepting an NJ DVP storm water assistance grant uh which is positive but that comes in line with uh doing some other njtp required items um we have a change order for Cypress and and Willow uh which is great because it's a change order in the negative which we never see um so we actually spent less on this project and a significant amount less um on that and thank you Mr Volo for keeping an eye on on that I always like when projects come under what we were doing we talked about the solid waste contract and note that these are for fiveyear contracts um we have a resolution to authorize uh purchase from 1075 emergency vehicles this is for emergency lighting for police vehicles um note that previously we haven't had one of these on because the leasing company folded this into the lease we're no longer using Enterprise Leasing so now it is a separate expense we have a uh contract to purchase a pre-owned Chevy Silverado pickup truck um for the public works department um we have a contract with GSD uh modern material uh Jacob's Engineering to increase that is mentioned before uh our contract for our licensed sewer operator and the change in the community development Branch recognizing National injury prevention day and we have a resolution for executive session I'll now take public comment on any agenda items yes would you like to I will move the consent agenda is there a second second okay now we have two licenses yes Madam clerk everything's in order there yes they are Wonder all right we the consent agenda is now on the table we'll take public comment on consent agenda items only at this time same public comment save and appli Chu anything you getting your pickup truck all goes well all right see you no public comment we will close public comment at this time is there any Council discussion on any of the consented items Council M grab thank you um Mr diarco the budget transfers um in particular um the 55,000 into the clerk's office is that for the May municipal election yes so how much at the end of the day for the Public's edification was the May municipal election what did that cost the township 45 yes 45,000 okay and then Madam Clark in previous years what was in 2021 do you just know off the top of your head what the election cost um 25 okay so it went up 20,000 $20,000 in a twoyear period of time okay I just wanted to make sure that we understood that um on the an Cyprus close out I just want to point out again that H and first of all I really want to thank this close out was really interesting to see all the line item details again the number of trees planted is less than and what we had started off with I know that some residents I know it's very hard to replant trees I know they have to go in very specific spots we don't want to repeat bad mistakes of the past by putting them too close to driveways and water lines and you know all sorts of things but I am just making a global statement that I am concerned with every project we're losing more and more of the tree canopy and if in a particular project the residents there there's not enough opportunity to replant can we take some of this inventory and plant somewhere else like could we had taken those 18 trees and since there's a heat island right near this neighborhood as represented by the high school fields we have planted some of those trees maybe you know on working with the Board of Ed and giving them the trees maybe that's not allowed under the scope of these contracts but contracts but we are you know we want to maintain this tree canopy as one of the selling points it's good for the environment this area had a lot of water issues trees are important for you know for retaining like improving our water and flooding situation so you know I we really need to work to replant you know on these projects um so I'm just going to put that out as a as a I know there was probably a lot of reasons why just we replanted less but we want to make sure that we are doing the at least maintaining in these neighborhoods noted and understood we will be seriously looking at that moving forward yes and the St sh commission are a great group of volunteers and they are you know making trips to uh greeneries and they they have a whole list of tree recommendations they're very engaged so they're a great resource I think those were my only questions um on this um these counil uh just on the resolution to purchase the pickup truck there appears to be just a minor in consistency in there uh regarding the amounts uh the second where as Clause it gives a total expenditure value not exceeds 44,000 that's that's okay okay and the other two so the 16899 is act yeah the if it's if it's not 44,000 we don't have to set up to B I'd like to recognize the Department of Public Works fality in uh purchasing a used pickup truck because we can keep anything running uh basically until there's nothing left of it appreciate our mechanics diligence maintaining the fleet thankk you any other comments on the presentent I'm sorry mayor I forgot one comment I just want to thank um this Council for including National injury prevention day as a resolution uh this has been something in the past we even did a proclamation on and I hope that our social media challenges uh CH Channel excuse me can amplify it it is on the um I believe it's on the 18th um you know this is uh really Hot Topic amongst parents and certainly um you know as many people know with um a focus on gun violence prevention this is really an important uh piece of the puzzle to just keep um reminding parents to uh be villag in on these issues uh so thank you for including that in this packet any further comments okay here none Madam clerk please call the W councilwoman Holland yes councilwoman maoy yes um Council Roman yes Deputy Mayor maille yes mayor Toro yes their resolutions K1 through K15 will be numbered 182 through 196 okay and we do not have an addendum this evening thank for administration for that uh we have one item of new or unfinished business on the agenda and that is the state mandated ordinance about privately owned salt storage which um is one of the most recent of the state mandated ordinances uh which is one of those very interesting things that um that I see when the state is telling you what laws you need to pass and not um I'm going to keep my opinion to myself so I don't have the you division of the treasury knocking on my door um but any comments on this Mr yo it's pretty much following the recommended ordinance yes State mandated if you have a pyramid of salt outside you need to have a cover on it it can't be 50 you know within 50 feet of a um of a Waterway or a drain I don't think we really have a lot of private Sal orage in Verona that was G me my question are there any uh and there was one item about them being inspected who is going to be our inspecting Authority here is it going to be the zoning officer the building showsman superintendent Public Works is it the mayor that has to to go and inspect the Sal s a horse all right does this apply to our salt storage already under requirements we already under so this is additional on private now privately owns don't we don't store it right next no I thought that was on our land I I thought it was reversed we our s with that okay yeah and that's their property that's their property that's their Dome and that Dome has the correct thing the drink lights okay um I think we're okay to put this on the next meeting I'm sure it'll be a hot topic of discussion um but save that for next meeting any other new business okay uh this time I'm going to open for public comments on any item that anybody would like to speak about same public comment statement applies we haven't had any movement in the room so come on I'm good he's already come up you could go to the one with the flank I can get that close to the council you can apprciate bags of grass first appreciate your concern about Sal um anyway oh I've got to say I'm Howard conkling I'm not supposed to give my address resident you seen you before I I'm sure that you all remember resolution 2022 163 involving the mark property sest property it is and Still Remains the largest undeveloped piece of land on on in the town uh the ordinance or the resolution calls for the property to be vacated by the first of the year which is coming up obviously in six weeks so um and my first I have three four questions the first question is who if anyone from the town is monitoring this uh to follow through on this because there's been a 40 or 50e saga here there's been multiple Court involvement by residents and the town There's also been I would say less than uh compliance on the other side uh before on many other issues so I'm trying to make sure that someone's taking looking at this make sure there is compliance so we don't get to January 1 and having to go through what we went through over the years uh the second thing is there's at least one full abatement for EPA issues going on on the property now uh there's a potential for a second one I'd like to know if anyone make sure that someone from the town is involved with that or monitoring it and looking it over and lastly my last question is I'd like to know if anyone from the town uh appoint employee or uh elected has been contacted by any party in regards to the future use of the property um I obviously don't care about the personal conversations that would be done in private and council at that I have no right to but as a resident I certainly have a right to know that town has been contacted and who those people are um and lastly uh just through the other this rest of this meeting uh one one of those residents who was aidu ly put their leaf bags out and their branches out over the years on Wednesday I always thought they went to a different place or collected by a different company that was the purpose there um I'm just curious we just it's going to the same place being picked up by the trash and if so why are we doing why are we collecting them the third time when they when they will pick up and take the bags in the other garbage day because I I see the other residents do that so those are all of my questions and also since this is the first time I've appeared here since the elections for the council I congratulate the members of and I'd like to also thank all of you because I certainly wouldn't do this and I was involved with this years ago so those are my questions and I thank you thank you Mr con thank you is there any other public comments before we respond Mr conin uh seeing n I'm going to close public comment Mr uh molero would you like to address the leaf thing while you're here I saw your your head moving in the background I can address it that you are far more qualified before Mr Mal talks Mr conin you just jined yourself our leavs are picked up by Our Garbage Company they're picked up every Wednesday they go [Music] to Nature CH in West Orange it's a comp composting facility this time of year I run a garbage truck Monday Wednesday and Friday okay thank you so we pick up three days a week because of the volume some time when it's just oh so they do go to different places it goes to different it might it's the same company but goes to a different places but we do pick up more often this time of year due to the amount of bags that residents put out thank you thank you Mr that's a plus um on why don't we go to the to Administration or who is so with regard to what we're calling the mar property it's my understanding excuse me it's my understanding that many of the attendants have already vacated but we will follow up with the building and Zoning departments for an update and it's also my understanding that the mayor and Council will discuss an executive session at its next meeting um and the township planner will also speak regarding uh the proposed future use of the property as EPA oh that that I don't have an answer for the EPA we don't but we'll get back we'll get back to you on that we'll ask we'll reach out to you if you give Mr Deco your contact information before you go or email him you can respond to so there are proposals we can't we can't have a cross dialogue just on the at this point just for the rules of meeting but coun and just in the name making it a full answer this is uh going back ways but uh when I was still the mayor um we did did have one meeting uh with them myself and uh former deputy mayor McGrath um we declined to discuss any potential future uses of the parel uh we held the limits of the meeting only to the zoning violations that were existent at the time the any future use of the parcel as far as what the zoning will be would be included in our zoning ordinance reite which is coming up we've hired a planner for that purpose and that's coming up the next year so they'll have the opportunity like any property owner would to Advocate during that process but we did hold off on that until the property was clear and that's cor and did they I don't know did they appear before the planning board in public comment I seem to remember someone from that may have showed up or was that a different paral no okay different before okay so well that and that will all be public very soon Mr conin as far as how that's going to go um and they're they do have some specific things they would like to to see but we're still part of settlement Bo and all that at this point okay just to complete the record there's nothing submitted to the township manager's office either um at this time we have already made our motion to have executive session um as one of the consent agenda so we will be moving into executive session we thank everybody for tuning in will any official action be taken negative then we will see everybody at our next meeting on Monday December 4th at 7 o'clock thank you very much