[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good evening everyone Welcome to our uh Tuesday April 9th uh Town council meeting uh we're going to get started right away Madame clerk this is to inform the general public that this meeting is being held in compliance with Section Five of the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 the annual notice was emailed to The Star Ledger and filed in the township clerk's office on November 21st 2023 and published in the West Orange Chronicle on November 30th 2023 councilwoman celino present councilwoman gber Michael Com she's not coming at all oh okay thank you councilwoman Scarpa present councilwoman Williams pres council president Rutherford here mayor McCartney thank thank you we are going to begin tonight with our promotion ceremony for uh Sergeant John Hamilton Madame mayor I'm you want um post video taping since you all are facing this way I'll videotape for you so that we can see you the Bible is under the absolutely Chief the Bible is under there okay oh good okay or if you want to come just come yeah yeah you're welcome this you're welcome you're welcome you're welcome okay good evening and thank you everybody for being here we're about to see our police officer John Hamilton promoted to the rank of Sergeant John was appointed on January 5th 2018 he's a graduate of West Orange High School his beautiful fiance Lexi Kilpatrick is here today to hold the Bible for him John is the recipient of One Medal of Merit two life saving Awards and one command citation and he is a trustee of the West Orange PBA Local 25 and they're also represented in the back of the room here today B you our PBA president is here so with no further Ado I'm going to ask mayor McCartney to administer of the Heth of office ITI of the United States uned St andit of the state of University of the state and I will be true Faith now true faith and allegiance to the Saints allegiance to the Saints and to governments established in the United States government established in the United States and in this state in this state under the authority of the people under the author of I do further Solly swear further swear that I will Faithfully faithfully impartially and justly perform and justly all the duties of the office of Sergeant all the duties of the office of Sergeant according to the best of my according to the best of my s hold on this this way they thank you yeah on that want out on the photo okay oh ter soon as they closes all right we uh next uh on the agenda for tonight is a presentation uh by Stephen Nagel Oh no just a minute we have one more a proud West orang graduate that we would like to recognize and honor just like our Sergeant please I know Sandy Guerrero is here didn't think she was okay thank you here we go okay so so here are West Orange native Sandy Guerrero graduate of West Orange High School and daughter of Johnny and Claudia Guerrero Guerrero is a wrestler the only wrestler male or female to have one the New Jersey wrestling championship from West Orange during her senior year of high school in 2020 she is also the first woman of New Jersey to commit to New Jersey University wrestling program Sandy now holds a three-time All-American wrestler status after claiming the national title at 191 pounds at the National Collegiate wrestlers championship in Cedar Rapids Iowa she is the senior captain of the ninth ranked new Jersey City University women's wrestling program run by coach Barry Hart this Victory marks the first individual national champion on the women's wrestling program at New Jersey City University and the first for New Jersey and sy's journey to this Championship was nothing short of spectacular she began her weekend with three consecutive victories by Fall excuse me propelling her into the semi finals with unmatched momentum in the decisive match against Alexis Alexa Garcia the third ranked King University Guerrero emerged Victorious with a 38-1 decision Sandy faced off in the finals against number three ranked Joyce Bower at the University of Iowa in the championship match in front of a stadium full of Iowa fans Herrero showcased her resilience and skill executing a Flawless takedown she then completed her Victory with a pin at two 22 to minutes 22 securing her place on the national champion Sandy was awarded the outstanding wrestler award which is voted by all participating University Wrestling coaches at the national level this is very impressive award to attain out of 210 wrestlers who competed just in time whereas Sandy concluded the season with a program record of 29 victories including nine wins by fall and a program record nine wins for technical fall she also stands as New Jersey City University's alltime leader in career victories 63 solidifying her Legacy within the program so now therefore be it resolved that I Susan McCartney and West Orange Town Council wish to extend our congratulations to Sandy Guerrero on her historic achievement and exemplary representation of New Jersey RIT her dedication perseverance and Leadership on and off the mat Have Been instrum instrumental in her success and the elevation of women's wrestling on a national stage and she's here to prove it wait till you see what she's bringing with her Sandy [Music] you s you want to say a few words I have an idea make you sit up there throw me on the top of women's basetball women are doing amazing things in sports absolutely I just want to thank everybody here in the town of West Orange I've been here since I was five years old started at Redwood and went through our public school system so I'm so thankful and I always had a great support system I started our West War direct program when I was eight years old I was one of two girls and and it was tough I was one of the only girls the boys didn't really want to be my partner I got beat up for two hours every day the coach made me run and I still hate running but I always had a lot of support from the whole entire town so I really appreciate it and I didn't win this by myself I took my whole support system the town all the state of New Jersey my family coaches my godfather so I'm super super thankful for everything thank you so much I have her sit there in your seat and you sit next door up there very cool let's one should probably stand around big come around the back sitting or standing this is amazing oh my God it's so heavy it is right all right look this way Mar thank you so much thank you like I'm standing next to welcome she's got it the real coaches amazing thought it was far school right oh yeah tell what and S accidentally bump into I just want to make okay thank you wait wait we had but we were on zo then con great s lots of luck Sandy you're welcome you're welcome yeah very nice congratulations again my God you're welcome you're welcome this was amazing achievement I know right oh my God must be so proud of her all right and uh now we will have Stephen Nagel uh with the Home Sharing presentation absolutely good evening everybody so you said it was a little skew can you hear me okay okay now can you yes okay better perfect great good evening everybody evening I'm Laura van djk uh director of Senior Services thank you for this brief moment we have uh Stephen Nagel here the executive director of Home Sharing Inc which is a wonderful um option for people seeking affordable housing as well as who have the desire to age in place so we're thrilled to have them here also stay tuned because on May 8th at the library we're having a housing Forum that's going to go into greater detail about a variety of housing options that we're thrilled to uh bring to you and make more clear special thanks to Olive Ross our new senior livability coordinator who's doing a great job and and working on a lot of these initiatives so I'll let Steve take it away thank you I am going to break the cardinal rule of Never follow the national champion and metam mayor Mr council president council members I uh brought an hourong presentation for you tonight however I was told probably none of you will stick around for that so I will trim this down to about 5 to 10 minutes with your permission sure ABS so home sharings organization was established 39 years ago started in Somerset County in the founders living room and then since expanded all over Northern New Jersey with a big expansion happening back in 2001 our mission is to create create affordable housing solutions by matching those seeking housing with those who need additional incomer services to maintain their homes while fostering Independence and dignity uh and currently we have a big push going on right now in Essex County primarily in South Orange and in Ocean and Mammoth counties to expand our our client base there in 2024 Home Sharing is a permanent housing solution for those people that have a home and need additional income companionship or help to help them remain in their home and those looking for affordable housing or amiable to living in someone else's home and our services are provided at no fee to our clients our basic program parameters is a person sharing uh a home with someone we call them Seekers and providers providers are those that have homes uh Seekers those people looking for housing uh they'll receive a private room private or shared bathroom and share other area Comm common areas of the home it's not just renting a room it's a very different concept than land L tenant or homeowner border uh the basic criteria is the Seeker has to have a consistent income our average homeowner ask for about $700 a month the range tends to be between 650 and $850 making it a very affordable housing option that usually includes utilities and homeowners must have an income also they cannot depend on the Seeker to provide all the money for them to sustain their housing in turn Seekers can provide to Providers Service uh Arrangements in exchange for reduction in their home sharing costs examples include yard cleaning uh shoveling snow walking the dog going shopping uh it's a great program for seniors we have someone that can make a phone call in case of an emergency prepare setup meals go grocery shopping for the provider uh give them rides to doctor's appointments provide companionship we found that 80% of our providers and 78% of our Seekers have had an increase in their compan their level of companionship and reduction the stresses of loneliness because of our program the only thing we don't do is Hands-On service we don't do dressing toileting showering things like that we're not set up to be a program like that and just to give you an example of a service arrangement we had a h mother a husband and wife mother father the the wife passed away all the kids lived at a state and the the children were very concerned about their father's well-being they did home sharing with us and and in exchange for reduction in the home sharing expense the Seeker was told every morning to say good morning to the provider and the provider the father was in turn told that every time he said good morning to you you need to say good morning back and they did a $50 reduction in the home sharing expense and every day they got a wellness check for their senior parent our application process uh we have a phone in take process right now it's been done this way 39 years uh we explain Home Sharing to them make sure it fits we make sure they know we're not an emerging program we have a process we have to go through um how it's going to work how our program works this has been a great system we've been using for 39 years so of course I'm going to mess it all up and we're going to online applications in 2024 why why keep something for only 40 years um we'll send them an application we require three personal reference and we also do professional background checks the references cannot be family members they have to be people from outside their me their family uh it can be current landlord employers friends people they've worked with in the past they just cannot be family members uh if they're under any sort of medical care we have to talk to their medical caregiver uh and that is just to determine whether or not someone could live independently in a shared home environment and they also have to provide proof of income whether that be two reason pay stubs or a social security letter an award letter for uh a pension if they're um not being paid in a payroll system a letter from the employer establishing they are in fact employed and they have a a weekly or bi-weekly salary uh we do the reference checks we then uh have we have master of social work on staff and that individual interviews both the provider and the Seeker to learn more about them to find their likes and dislikes you know how they feel about pets in the house how they feel about Firearms people that smoke people that drink because if you have someone that owns a home that smokes as a habitual smoker and someone who's allergic to smoke that is not a match with people we want to put together it's just not going to work uh if we find people that we believe would be compatible and this process takes about two to three weeks we then bring them together for the first time and sit them down the the we provide the the prospect next name to the provider it is their home after all they're the final decision maker and all this uh we sit them down together they get to meet each other and see whether or not they want to in fact live together they say yeah this would really work for both of us then we call it a match and a match is made we complete a shared living agreement which is a contract for the living situation is not a lease it's an agreement for example that they will have the use of a private bedroom they'll have the you know three cabinets in in the kitchen two shelves in the refrigerator one in the freezer they can use the dining room they can use the living room they can't go into my bedroom they can park in the garage they can't park in the garage they can go park on the street they can't park it's all worked out in that shared living agreement the movein date is set but that's not where our services end we believe that it's important to keep our clients in a successful match environment for as long as we can so we follow up with them one month three months six months nine months one year and every year after that because we usually find that our our problems come within the first 30 to 60 days I move into someone's home we call the provider to see how it goes and they oh you know Steve said he was really neat and he thought you know he kept his bedroom made all the time and he did his dishes he never does his dishes and he's a slob and I can't take it so our MSW will call May would call me and say you know you said you're going to do your dishes do your darn dishes make your bed follow your side of the agreement and that will make a Better Living arrangement for both of you and those are usually the problems we have that we work out doesn't it it works 95% of the time for the 5% that it doesn't there's a 30-day out either side can give 30 days written notice of uh their intention to move out and what we will do is we will work to find another Seeker to put into that provider's home as quickly as possible our accomplishments we had over 1,800 of these matches since since we started our current running longest running match is 24 years our longest turning longest tendered provider is 28 years and invariably the question comes up well how many people does that person have she's currently on her seventh match and the question that always comes after that is well what happened to the other six the other six that on their own permanent housing and they said the reason they could do that is because they were able to save them enough money through the Home Sharing pay program to put it down pay on their home the seventh family that is with her right now her name is Ella the family with Ella right now their oldest son is in college their youngest daughter is a senior in high school and I've met the family and the mother said to me the only reason I can put my kid through college is because we're doing home sharing and their plan is once the kids are out of college they will then use the tuition money for a down payment on her own home which means for us we're going to have to find another Seeker to go with Ella uh we average between one and five matches a month and any point we're managing between 5050 and 60 matches so Mr council president that is my uh hourlong presentation done in about nine minutes um I have brochures and cards that will gladly distribute to everyone to complete I'm more than happy to answer questions if it's appropriate from uh the council and and from your constituents if that's what you'd like me to do I'll do pretty much now whatever you'd like me to do sure first let me say thank you uh this is something that's new to me I I was not aware of Home Sharing in certainly do want to get your card uh before we go colleagues do you have any questions for him uh I I I just want to thank you I think this was really informative and you actually as you were talking even though you condensed it you pretty much answer most of my questions my biggest concern was if it didn't work out how would that work if you ever ever had someone that you just couldn't remove or vice versa I I mean you you seem to check in enough so God forbid if there's any kind of abuse to someone you're able to pick up on that so let me ask that have you ever come across that in 40 years we have had one oh wow and because it's not a lease it's a contract it went to civil court the court cited with us on the side of the contract that yes this person did doe their due diligence and giving 30 days and the person was removed from the home okay but what about like as far as the elders themselves did you ever have an issue with a caretaker uh abusing them or anything did you ever have to step in no again we we do such an intensive screening process before they even get to meet each other that we will um for lack of a better term weed those people out before they get to that point we rmsw is phenomenal that she''s been doing it 11 years so she can kind of tell when people are looking to take advantage primarily the elderly we're very sensitive to the needs of our our senior uh clients and so we especially watch out for any of the warning signs that may come up and what's the turnaround time someone applies to they find placement the average about three weeks again we're not an emergent yeah organ you know organization so if someone calls up and says I'm going to be homeless on Friday I need to go somewhere we will Network them with other organizations we work with including the 211 system to get them into uh temporary housing until we can house them if we have someone in that 30-day situation that we can't rehouse I actually have an agreement with a Hospitality manager who manages 50 hotels and motels throughout the state and they've agreed to take the rate that the Seeker is paying in the home as a cost for a hotel or motel room until we can get them replaced and are they entitled to I I guess they would be because they'd be considered a resident of the community any kind of Transportation Services or anything that the municipality has to offer they would be entitled to they have have that address that's where they're living okay thank you my pleasure so uh councilwoman thank you I'm just wondering because uh fair share housing credits will be released and our Municipal obligations does this program allow any credits towards fair fair share housing that is an excellent question and I have to answer that with no comma not yet okay I I I'm working on trying to get us co- certified it is not an easy process of learning is way more difficult and with all the changes going on at the state level it's become much harder we are trying because in my my personal opinion I think it's unfair that we take someone that fits the requirements you should get a credit for that right and we're working towards that as diligently as we can we're working with the uh fair fair housing Alliance and and I know Matt Hurst there so I'm to we're trying to get that done as quickly as we can that would be excellent yeah we're trying sometimes it's like push and roll oh we but if you need any assistance let us know oh oh thank you I will you're welcome uh my question was with regard to Seekers um I think I understand the vetting process for the I'm sorry not Seekers providers I think I understand the vetting process for Seekers what is the vetting process for providers same one okay and so they apply to home share to become a provider correct and then they and then we do the background checks and the reference checks to make sure that that would be a safe place for someone to live and then it's an annual inspection of the home or we don't inspect we do a walkth through um because we're not that kind of housing agency um but all our staff does a walk through the home um we don't have the the stringent requirement like we have to you know it's a homeowner's responsibility to have a smoke alarm in every room those kinds of things we check that they have smoke alarms we check that the plumbing is working the electricity is up to code for the building but we don't do a full housing inspection and that was actually a a conversation Laura and Olive and I were having and I've been remissed Mr council president not thanking them for all their their patience and working with me and trying to get us to this date today to The Forum coming up in May no thank you we know lur is a superstar are in West Orange so second back I can second I can third back uh that was it for me any other questions before we thank you very much Mr very much uh if you'd like I'll leave these here please do and please at your leisure feel free to call you know better thank you council president we will have that presentation available on the website tomorrow thank you very much Mr Fagan pleasure and thank you all for your service absolutely is now 7:05 um do you want to include your Council liaison announcements in your responses to public comment great um Madame clerk okay this is to inform the general public that this meeting is being held in compliance with Section Five of the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 the annual notice was emailed to The Star Ledger and filed in the township clerk's office on November 21st 2023 and published in the West Orange Chron chle on November 30th 2023 councilwoman celino present councilwoman Scarpa present councilwoman Williams council president Rutherford here mayor McCartney will everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance United States God and indivisible liberty and justice for all the is now on their public meeting thank you Madame clerk uh we are going to open up public comment going to ask Mr Fagan uh to begin followed by Mr Pugi uh and then anyone else in person only that would like to have public comment you are welcome to join us at the microphone please state your name and address uh and you will have five minutes to address the council uh thank you council president my slides may be a little out of order and I'll move quickly here um I wanted to uh mention that we had Restaurant Week a restaurant week will be upcoming April 13th to the 21st you can check out all the participating restaurants at west darn restaurant week.com uh there was two weeks ago uh councilwoman you want to talk about this councilwoman celino um you say I'll uh there was a uh ribbon cutting two weeks ago Castle Rock uh downtown that is the um the old oak barel uh mayor McCartney was of course there there was this past week uh Orange Sky Coffee Roasters another new business downtown and of course the uh the boxing club uh on I believe they're on Main Street had a ribbon open ribboning open ribbon cutting I'm sorry grand opening um there is a uh arts and mental health uh conversations um coming up at uh West Orange Arts Council building uh on Thursday April 25th um and it's it's for uh Health Wellness uh and the Arts and uh just uh for for mental well-being uh overall um there's a spaghetti dinner the annual fundraiser for the Lions Club coming up this Thursday at the West Orange High School tof cafeteria the Lions Club is a great Community partner uh they support many initiatives in West Orange this is a big fundraiser for them so uh if you have the time 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. West Orange High School tarnov cafeteria uh please uh please stop by uh also this is kind of an alert uh there's nothing there's no action that needs to be taken but the uh housing Choice voucher which was commonly known as Section 8 it will be accepting applications May 1st 2024 8:30 a. um now there will be uh at the next council meeting hopefully a presentation nothing is online as of yet uh but we I wanted to alert the public uh only one application for household will be accepted and uh the important thing to note is that applications will only be accepted online not in person please do not come into town hall and they will only be accepting the first 300 completed applications this will this is not available yet but it will be available in a couple of weeks at West ar.org if I'm understanding it correctly you'll be able to go on the website fill out the application but you has to completed application it cannot be submitted prior to May 1st at 8:30 a.m. and uh before concluding this Slide the only thing worth noting is that a completed application if it's incomplete it will not be uh accepted so uh there will be more information on this coming up I hope I stated that correctly Mr smdo um of course April is Autism Awareness Month I think the tagline accept understand love says it all uh it's about accepting understanding and most importantly loving and uh for the many um autism parents uh in West Orange you'll see that uh message of Love uh exercised every day um a very popular event coming up is the Junior Public Safety Academy uh June 24th to June 28th uh the application packet is due May 17th and you can contact Sergeant Diaz Diaz w.org or you can certainly send me an email email and I'd be glad to put you in touch with him the application packet is available on our website West orange.org uh I mentioned this last council meeting uh but it this only happens a few times a year uh West Star shredding day is this Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. please check the restrictions on the website there are many things are accepted but there's also an equal amount of things that are not accepted uh mayor McCartney has open Office hours this Thursday uh no appointment is is ever necessary um another thing I wanted to mention volunteers are needed for a spring cleanup yard cleanup for older adults it will be taking place Saturday April 20th 20 24 from 9:00 a.m. to 2m and uh this is part of the uh uh seniors program and they need volunteers and this is a good opportunity for anyone who wants to volunteer to come out this is a one-time service that is provided for older adults in need of landscaping they don't have any contacts in place um it's only outside work there's no inside cleaning or Windows or anything of that nature uh everybody will get a delicious box lunch box lunch that provided by Mo's Southwest Grill that is incentive enough uh many times people are looking for volunteer opportunities this is an excellent opportunity it's only getting involve yard raking cleaning away leaves branches and clutter hauling debris to the curb mowing the grass and in cleaning garden flower beds great exercise as I mentioned exterior cleanup Bing please contact Laura van DJ or Noelia Perez the number is 325 4106 this information is available on our website uh this is going to be a busy weekend Sunday April 14th there's a hike lenpy trail hike uh some people pronounce it lenapi lenpy I'm not sure what the correct pronunciation is but it's from May Apple Hill to the Eagle Rock reservation you need to RSP RSVP your invitation please contact uh Joe McCartney open space chairman his email is up there Joseph PMC 53@gmail.com this information is also available on the website uh there is um transportation options the shut bus will pick you up to Eagle Rock ration and drop you off at May Apple Hill or you can simply go to get to mayapple Hill on your own and be there by 8:45 um also you everyone's probably sick of me saying this but uh April is uh National distractive driving Awareness Month in my opinion every month should be not just April but the national highway traffic safety administration is specifically designating you drive you text you pay uh and this is certainly supported by the West Orange Police Department and all law enforcement agencies throughout New Jersey so uh just special uh special awareness uh to uh we're all guilty of it at time but please uh please pay attention to the road not your phone uh Restaurant Week was mentioned uh Arch and mental health was mentioned finally uh I think it may some maybe some people have noticed but we had a solar eclipse yesterday uh it was visible here in West Orange now um in case you didn't get your glasses in time I just wanted to point this out because we have another one scheduled for August 23rd 20 2044 a little over 20 years from now so you have ample enough time to get your glasses in uh council president I'm not going to go on any longer I'm going to spare you the rest of it uh and that concludes my report thank you so much I just want to mention anybody looking to get in touch with the uh Council they can email them in a single email to council west.org thank you very much thank you Mr Fagan Mr pesi uh good Anthony pesi representing County Executive Joe de fenzo my list of events isn't quite as long as Joe's um of course we're in April so that means it's cherry blossom season our Festival continues this weekend uh Saturday uh from uh 10: a. until uh 3 pm uh we have a children's Fun Run and a family day at the presedential concert Grove in Branchwood Park and then uh Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. is the bloomfest and and that's going to be in the um middle division of the park which is off of heler Parkway um May 4th is a Saturday that's our household hazard waste cleanup uh that's 8:30 to 4 uh that's at our Public Works facility on Bradford Avenue in West Orange and household haard waste is fluorescent light bulbs paint thinners um cleaners fertilizer things like that uh and then also May 18th from 9:00 a.m. to 3m. is a computer and recycling event uh at the same location 99 uh West Bradford Avenue in Cedar Grove uh self-explanatory computer recycling so it's computers TVs VCRs anything broken out of date you can bring it by um and I I did Skip One April 20th is Earth Day at our Environmental Center that's 11:00 am to 3 pm that's at 621 Eagle Rock Avenue in rosand um environmental our Environmental Center has become a epicenter for environmental and nature learning and this is a day where we join with all our partners like Ruckers Master Gardeners uh and other organizations like that to show off all the programs that are offered for people of all ages uh all this is on our website which is essexcounty nj.org thank you thank you Mr P grey uh the microphone is available for anyone in council chambers that would like to address the Council and public comment please just make your way up to the microphone you do not have to wait to be called state your name and uh address for the record please yes sir it's on it [Music] is you put it closer to your mouth we can hear it better Dr Robert holson H a TS o n 10 Gaston Street Apartment 8s John Rena building I noticed uh on the agenda that uh after Mr Nagel's presentation there was supposed to be a council liaison announcement and I'm wondering why it wasn't done or that's what that's what attracted my interest tonight we we're going to address you at the end but just for for those that may have that same question I've asked my colleagues to hold their Council liaison announcements until they give response to public comment so we are going to do them we're going to do them once public comment is done each one of us will have some thank you yep you're welcome good evening good evening hell um my name is Jonathan redwine I live at 10 com Terrace and I just came to comment briefly about one of the items that are is on your agenda tonight it's item 11 19-24 the resolution supporting the community energy plan Grant application um I'm uh the mayor asked me to head the sustainability committee within the environmental commission and that um item is related to our committee uh what it is is that application for a $110,000 grant um so that we can put together a community energy plan that will cover um several aspects of energy usage in West Orange including Transportation uh building energy consumption um food waste um things like that I think there are a couple more um and the idea is that you have a year to put together a plan to increase sustainability um reduce the use of fossil fuels um and and carbon emissions in the year in the town over a sort of fiveyear time frame um so we started working on this in the committee there's a template that sustainable Jersey puts out um and there are resources at sustainable Jersey that will that help us to uh put together the plan at the end of the year we'd come back to the council with the plan um and submit it to you all for approval and what that approval then does is it allows the town to go forward and sort of carry through with the objectives of the different activities that we want to do um there's I mean there are a lot of possible activities that we'll be looking at some examples I'm sure you're going to have questions about what they are um EV Chargers uh infrastructure for EV charging uh for the public um within throughout the town so we would be looking at um sort of how many EV Chargers are needed where they're needed in town you know is there a a a social Equity component of that where we don't want to have them all clustered in one place or another um things like that for lots of things including um Also let's see like efficiency of buildings so if a municipal building is very inefficient in how it uses en maybe um suggesting or proposing that we put put some money aside to increase the amount of insulation in the building replace windows things like that the sort of kicker and the bottom line real attractive aspect of this putting together this plan is it puts us in a position after a year to apply for implementation grants and the state Awards up to $250,000 to help Implement a project so it's real it's not just $2,000 for this or $5,000 for that it's if you put together a a plan and a program that is you know that sustainable Jersey can look at and say yeah we we would support you in that um then you can get uh real grant money to implement the proposals so that's what the the resolution on your on your agenda tonight is not for $250,000 Grant it's for a $10,000 Grant to help us put together the plan um at the end of the road are possibilities of implementation grants so I just wanted to sort of explain that it's maybe not clear as you read the um proposed resolution um so that's that's what that is about so thank you for considering thank you good evening everyone I'm Darnell Gibbs I live in 200 blocket tont Avenue on orange new jerse I'd like to express my gratitude and I would like to express my gratitude this evening for everyone that's here in presence today to include the individuals that's here on Zoom I'm the CEO paranatural Vibes LLC minority owned familyowned and Veteran owned company here in the state of New Jersey throughout my life I've always been dedicated to giving back to the community and any way possible this commitment has been demonstrated through my service with honor honor dign dign dignity Integrity with United States Army and currently serving in the United States Air Force for over a decade I've had the privilege of being deployed to various locations such as Afghanistan Iraq Syria Lebanon a Africa to name a few additionally I serve as a member of law enforcement here in exus County however one aspect of community service that holds a special place of my heart is my volunteer work as a deputy director Jersey cops or kids this organization is the largest nonprofit ran by active and retired members of law enforcement here in exus County the opener of my location for my dispensary is an extension of my ongoing efforts to serve the community I have witnessed firsthand how fentanyl lace products can have an adverse effect on the consumer which can some cases lead to death by open and patural Vibes we aim to provide adult consumers with state approved cannabis products and valuable cannabis education by provid and adult consumers with access to safe and tested products it will decrease the likelihood of them ingesting contaminated and Spike substances as a responsible and family oriented company we are ready and committed to having a positive presence in the township of West Orange we kindly seek your approval with resolution 17-24 thank you for your time thank [Music] you anyone else seeing none public comment is now closed stay in your chair don't fall out just act like it's normal normalize it normalize it very noral it I want to thank everyone uh all three of you four of you uh five of you uh that uh participated in public comment thank you all for coming out tonight uh colleagues would you like to respond we'll start reverse order this time we'll start with councilwoman scar okay great um I just I'll start with my um announcements for our older adults Advisory Board we had a meeting last night um we are so thrilled and happy with the support that we've gotten from Laura van djk on our senior Cafe our winter Cafe uh we've all of the seniors that have attended have really enjoyed it it's a new Innovative pilot program to bring more programming to seniors at the topy cat Center which is a beautiful um Recreational facility that we have that has been underutilized and the seniors are really loving it there and it's been so successful that Laura is continuing a spring Cafe and that should be especially nice since it's such a nice place to sit and be outdoors and have um lunch with a friend and I just want to say on behalf of all the seniors in town and myself I would like to thank Laura for all of the work and Noelia that they've put into the cafe they're invaluable resources in our Township so thank you to them the economic development um committee did not meet this month but we are looking forward to next month and hopefully we will meet with our new economic developers at some point soon um OAC is uh planning their summer programming which we'll be bringing to you in the next month or so there are a lot of uh fun items on there and uh we hope to get the seniors out to some of those as well like we did last year we got some transportation for them and hopefully we'll be able to do the same because last night at our meeting we had a couple of people from the Rena house seniors who wanted to go to programs at the library particularly a music program a piano program however since they don't drive they didn't have transportation and one of the things that we are doing is trying to work on solving two of the most serious uh problems for seniors which are Transportation enhancing the transportation and Communications we have so many great programs that Laura has been implementing however a lot of them don't really know about them because if seniors don't have email they often are not aware of all the programming we do so those are the two initiatives that we're working on um with that uh I think that answers uh Robert Hudson's Dr hodson's Pro uh question uh Jonathan redwine thank you for about the liaison that that is her announcement yeah that's my announcement on on the liaison about the senior services and the senior meetings that we had were you expecting something different I'm I'm the liaison to that committee um uh Jonathan red wine thank you so much for clarifying um what you're doing on the econom on the environmental committee as a Lea on to the environmental committee I didn't really know too much about what you're doing and I'd love to learn more um and to the Gibbs we are so looking forward to welcoming you into our community um I'm kind of new to this whole effort this in the past year but I have a sense of the struggles that you have had and um I am very thrilled with the responsibility and the responsible Manner and seriousness with which you take your business so thank you and welcome that's it thank you councilwoman Scarpa councilwoman Williams thank you council president I'd like to thank U Mr Fagan and Mr Bley for your timely announcements um thank all of our speakers and Mr Fagan if you will I always ask how many participants we have on Zoom 19 thank you thank you very much um Mr redwine thank you so much um for the opportunity to discuss with you earlier today uh this resolution and the grant opportunity uh we are always looking to see if we can um get more opportunities for Revenue into the town so that we can have these strategic plans uh presented for us and on our behalf so thank you for your advocacy on that um remember the book that you gave us that most of us probably still have not read yet um but again we thank you for all that you're doing for the community we appreciate your service as far as um the Aon announcements are concerned the historic preservation commiss commission meets tomorrow at 7M I'm still very much focused on um some opportunities around town for us to make sure we preserve our historically designated properties uh the municipal Alliance committee only meets quarterly so we will probably have another meeting if I'm not mistaken uh May June uh the Arts Council you saw that we have an upcoming event on April 25th um over the past weekend we also um just put in our new um show which is a small work show and for those who are looking for something to do on a Saturday around town uh the Arts Gallery is open on Saturdays from 12: to 4: um this particular opportunity will be a networking and informative exchange to discuss um with the different speakers um meal preparation rest and self-care mindfulness spirituality and how all of those impact and intersect with the Arts um so please all are welcome to attend this is an open invitation if you're interested um and there'll be light Refreshments um there it'll be a very fun evening and welcoming uh those who have not had an opportunity to go to the art gallery an opportunity to do so also just for a brief reminder if you are interested in the juneth um Film Festival we are still accepting short films um up until April the 15th um I'm very excited we have received several short um film submissions from students in the area we will featuring some of their Works um we have students that um are not from West Orange who just are um theater Majors or in the film industry and they um also included their Works um this will this event will be on the 21st 22nd and 23rd of June uh different localities around town so we're very excited about planning that event um and just put those dates on your calendar um for juneth and council president that completes my announcements thank you councilwoman uh councilwoman celino thank you council president uh let me see here so let me start with the Gibbs uh congratulations on getting this far and thank you for your patience I know it's been a really really long uh process and uh but again we always in good intentions to make sure we get things right and I really appreciate all your transparency and and all your efforts and also Mr Gibbs thank you for your service too and all your community uh volunteerism as well I I know you'll be a great establishment here in the community and hopefully um you know very good example for the other businesses to to open so good luck with the rest of the process uh Jonathan redwine thank you so much for coming down and uh explaining to us uh when I read through the material uh no doubt that this was going to be a positive uh uh an easy uh yes tonight and you know it just it's so important because when you're doing grant applications and grant writing which I I've done a lot have a lot of experience with it's all these many tedious steps and I I know how burdensome and timec consuming it is so so thank you very much for putting the time in on a a grant that will lead to larger larger funding so that's always good to to see and let's see here what else we have tonight Mr pigi uh thank you also for those uh your announcements and as I love this time of year going by our County Parks they just look gorgeous with those cherry blossom so thank you for all the efforts from the county councilwoman I made a note here Mr hoodon was good to see you this evening haven't seen you around town in a while oh I'm sorry it was good to see you this evening I haven't seen you around town in a while oh c no no I know I haven't seen you in a while uh councilwoman maybe who's who's are leaz on to the Rena board uh M uh Council get the m so what I would do is so they get the announcements um see if you get Flyers that when she goes to her meetings maybe they could distribute um to some of the the U the members in their building and also they have the bulletin board that they could post I we talked about that bulletin board there's some problems getting things posted up we'll work on it I'm working on Communications uh brochure okay good because I know the dnet house that's what Miss elardi does she gets everything out on the on the bulletin board so the residents when they come down to get their mail they could see it always put it by the mailbox uh your your uh your Flyers okay great um with that so just thank you Mr uh Fagan for having those graphics for me oh beautiful so yeah so so finally it's here Restaurant Week starts Saturday night we're really excited downtown Alliance and the Public Relation Commissioners have been working really hard to sign our restaurants up just go to the website it's also uh you could get it through the uh the app on um if you have West Downtown West Orange app and yeah if you could come out and support our restaurant tours we have a restaurant seating also a lot of light bites and a lot of dessert and bakeries in town have participated so really excited about the turnout uh the um we're still getting specials in we've been hoping they would have came last week but we still have a few more that have to go up on the website so uh yeah please patronize please support them and we're asking folks try to get us pictures and send them to downtown uh West orange.com and uh we'll get them out it's just all the social media we're seeing great results in all of uh the efforts made by everyone uh it's amazing I learned a lot about hashtags and social media these past couple years and and the importance of that and so it's very strategic with a lot of the marketing that we're doing but we're seeing um folks from out of the the region um come to West Orange to visit our uh businesses and that's really exciting and with that um we were able to have these three ribbon cuttings we asked Castle Rock I think we we saw that La last time but that's okay the old oak barrel which you stated Mr uh Fagan and thank you and Mr K was there to cheer them on which was really really awesome and and just you know just to see this is investor that lives here but has other investors from out of town looking to invest in our downtown then next we have the orange Sky Coffee Roasters uh Ry and Trish are just awesome uh they are from actually Bon and just driving to a friend's house in West Orange um they just going down Main Street just uh really got excited and wanted to invest in our community and here they are and they're the um you know they're they're you know took them a little bit to to get things going but um if you look on the side of their building when you um if you go uh visit them there's a beautiful mural on the side of the building which they're going to do a patio on the leftand side and we always love some nice murals downtown because they're great picture opportunities that uh that people like to post and then we also have uh another great uh story from Montclair investor Ian he came he needed a larger space and he came to Downtown West Orange right across from Danger's funeral par across the street there and what's great about Ian's story is he has a lot of clients that from all over uh the area and we met a a lot of those folks on Saturday and just telling them about the restaurants right down the street the the uh Shake Shop right down the street and the jeice shop rather and um you know they come they bring the ones that drive their kids the ones that just come here they're gonna they're gonna come and patronize other businesses so it's a lot of strategic marketing we're doing also our design team I got to give a shout out to them um both with um with the West Orange Boxing Club and with orange sky Roasters they their input with their signage and the um just Communications with the business owners same thing with Castle Rock with their signage they're doing an awesome job with these designs and these signs and really just bringing uh just great excitement and um the kind of um Graphics and Design that just kind of brand our downtown so everyone's doing a great job and I appreciate all our commissioners uh for those outstanding efforts and so again I just hope you could come out and support next week thank you council president thank you councilman uh celino so uh Mr pesi and Mr Fagan as always thank you um I think Mr Hon's question was answered I do look forward to supporting um 119 U Mr red wine I want to thank you for your uh um your um time and effort on the environmental Commission and your leadership on this particular initiative I'm also looking forward to supporting 117 it's been a long journey for the Gibbs um but here we are uh so very much looking forward to taking that vote later on tonight uh planning board met um last week we are uh currently reviewing and are almost done with the review of the Essex uh County Country Club golf course um improvements we also are in the process of approving our first cultivator they are done uh with us for now and they are now working with our professionals so we should not be too long before we have another cannabis property uh opened up in town um and this is obviously much needed uh revenue for the town um The Joint meeting will meet next week uh and I think those are the only two that have announcements from my the on report so having said that I think we're done we're not done done okay so uh we're going to review the consent agenda approval of minutes of previous meeting public meeting and executive session of March 26 2024 consent report of Township officers none reading of petitions and Communications and bids none uh bills list um for this evening yeah I could not get through all of those bills uh I don't know how my colleagues feel about it took me a while but I did yeah all right if you're you're satisfied with it I'll just uh not voice my opinion because I don't have an opinion consent consent okay thank you uh resolutions are any resolutions being pulled this evening you have a question on something or you have a you I'm going to pull to vote no uh 124 uh 125 okay I've had some questions I I may have them the anwers reiterated for the benefit of of the public um but right now I think that's good enough okay colleagues anything else being pulled um I I did want to um pull 117 d24 not to um vote by any stretch of the imagination by no um to I am absolutely supporting this but I just wanted to pull it um simply because I think it's worthy of um all of our continued support um and if there's any additional comments this is just a tremendous opportunity for our community um for the Gibbs family pure natural Vibes and I I think it's just commendable and I want to thank you all for your diligence um for your patience um and your persistence because it's been a process for you all but it's also been a process for us and we appreciate you bringing your business and this opportunity to West Orange I trust that you will be an excellent Community partner um thus far you've been nothing but outstanding and again I just wanted to say thank you and then I had um a question or comment um regarding 11824 um I don't want to pull it to vote no by any stretch of the imagination but this is another vendor agreement um that's effective January 1 2024 through December 31 20124 and just wanted to encourage the administration if we can to get these vendor agreements before they are actually implemented so that we can approve things before they actually go back and back dat so that's just a comment nothing to really pull and then I had a question on 12624 um in this resolution it refers to the m municipality and then identifies a village president so just wanted to make sure that that wasn't um oversight I think it it should have been changed on the revised version that went around and my packet is still says but if you corrected it that's fine I just wanted to bring that to your attention so it can be corrected if it hasn't okay and that's all I have thank you I had a couple questions on 12929 24 the colonial sure you're pulling 129 okay thank you any others all right so before we are going further I just I neglected to do something early um councilwoman GB Michael is obviously not here tonight for the benefit of the public um she is um recovering at home uh and unable to um to sit through the meeting tonight she extends her regrets uh I should have done it before we started the meeting um and I just simply forgot so I apologize to her and I certainly do want all of you to know why she's not here uh she does expect to be back at our next meeting um second thing on 121 and 122 I uh requested the change order history for Greenman Peterson uh specifically for 121 because I felt like the bid was low and the response I got from the administration which was very quick um and thorough uh was that there is no change order history for them so I'm very pleased to hear that uh which is why I didn't pull it I just wanted to make that um on the record before we went any further anything else before we go any other questions or anything else being pulled all right so so Madam clerk just to review I think we're pulling uh councilwoman Williams pulled 117 yes I pulled 124 and 125 councilwoman Scarpa pulled 129 correct that's what I have okay move for the consent agenda okay is there a second thank you all uh all in favor I I any posted the consent agenda is implemented um resolution 11724 resolution granting application for a local license to operate a cannabis retail business pure natural Vibes councilwoman Williams you pulled that again I did I wanted to separate it out so that we could again and I've already issued my comments thank you very much um I think this is worthy of just um being identified separately independently and congratulations to you all is there a motion to approve so move second you can second second all right councilwoman castelino yes councilwoman scorpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes is carried congratulations congratulations congratulations how how long before you all open how long before you all get open do you want to bring them up thank you thank you yay okay the first one yeah be the first one resolution 12424 resolution of the western orange Council requesting that the law firms of Jova Burns and Jordan Meisner salmon spray and suser provide a specific detailed budget as to the cost to be incurred in concluding litigation in Ray Township of West Orange docket number esxl 4687 d23 Council president Rutherford you pulled this I pulled it because I find this um one it doesn't cover what we discussed in our executive session two it's not uh accurately written and three it it seems uh to be embedded with politics rather than the actual business this this is um this is laughable to me already expressed that to the administration um when we met in executive session we discussed whether or not we would appeal uh the injunctive relief majority of the Town Council agreed to appeal that appeal is moving forward this does none of that what was requested in the executive session was a not to exceed Clause to be placed in the resolution that authorized us to continue paying uh the Jova Burns firm for representation in in the U appeal um this resolution doesn't address that at all says that the mayor's attorney spent approximately $110,000 uh it contrast that with the 65,000 that uh our attorney has charged I'm not sure if the 65 is accurate I I'm sure the 10,000 is not accurate um and I think I think what is done the attempt there is to try and impress upon the public so somehow the council is spending money irresponsible I just want to remind everybody that we are in this litigation because the mayor sued the Town Council we're still in this litigation because when the Council made a goodfaith offer to the mayor in in uh mediation to settle this it was rejected out of hand it was not negotiated there was not a single Counterpoint offered um so we're in this because the mayor decided to sue the Town Council uh I'm grateful that uh my two colleagues decided to pursue uh the appeal uh along with myself uh Council mcara and councilwoman gber Michael um because it is it is in the public should know this what we're dealing with now is year two ofay paying a firm that does not have a contract that is the only firm we are paying that does not have a contract there are some laws some rules around paying firms without a contract and emergency circumstances uh and under a certain dollar amount we have a qualified purchasing agent in West Orange so that dollar amount is somewhere around $444,000 but this particular firm the law firm of uh Mr TR uh has now buildt us over $500,000 without a contract that has to stop and the judic the judicial branch cannot instruct and direct the legislative branch to in an open-ended fashion continue to operate and contradiction and violation of or to both the fauler act and local public contracts law so it is regrettable that this resolution is written this way um I pulled it to vote no colleagues I'm sure someone would like to weigh in who would like to go first okay yeah we uh we we disagree on this on this topic so again my sentiments are uh last year year ago uh let's go back to the two and it's not almost two years year and a half ago um Council in January unanimously voted Mr trink to be our law director a few months later um the majority of the council voted not to uh reappoint his firm and that's where the uh the disagreement started within the council and the administration this led all the way up to last summer around that time I guess um where this Council was not approving anything with Mr Tran's name or his firm on it government was not moving and that's my recap of the events as you will and so therefore the mayor uh uh placed the yes she did start the suit based on that we just weren moving government we had the budget coming up we had a few other items that we didn't get to Long uh so then at that point in time we sat with the judge and the judge ordered status quo that um Mr tra's firm stays along with him so as far as in proprieties um we had a judge uh ordered status quo and then this recent um this re recent um judgment that came out um again the same 32 page document that if you get a chance to look online was thoughtfully written out by the judge so with that being said I know we have a disagreement I know um there's monies there supposed to be cap so what we did discuss is um that we'd cap it at 25,000 um I did not want to even go a nickel further I was hoping the council and the administration could come to um some kind of an agreement with one another and so therefore I'm not supporting any more money being ordered for this I'm hoping that my colleagues and the administration could could settle this amicably so that's that's my sentiments on this how I see it play out um and just so you know also so many times you know the judge made an order if you read through the document there's layman's terms it's pretty much PR past practice this Council for 25 years uh had approved uh the attorney with um with their firm and even the majority of this Council had made those approvals in years past uh up until uh last year so with that um judge took that into consideration from what I read in the document and um and again we unanimously voted to have Mr uh Tren be the law director so with that council president I know we disagree I just wanted to lay my side out so I appreciate that and uh that's it thank you anyone else um so I I too have expressed um some frustration and disappointment that we are in this litigation I'm not certain why we would uh doubt the amount of the bills that are identified in the resolution those are the bills that have been um received thus far uh I think it is a poor use of taxpayer dollars to continue litigating uh this lawsuit the uh judge has come back with an injunctive relief uh that was awarded to the mayor to continue business as usual um again we diverge on how we got here you know during that time from March up until almost the middle of June the majority of the council was refusing to vote on any resolutions and or ordinances that were prepared by our legal department um there have been a lot of statements that have been made about the assistant Township attorney what he may have done right wrong or and or indifferent there's been accusations that some of his um guidance and direction that was given inappropriately um was intentional again you know this is not the best use of taxpayer dollars um and and the resources that we have available whether it's 65,000 75,000 that's still a salary in West Orange um from some administrator who we so desperately need to help run some of these departments um therefore you know based on the decision of the judge it is injunct of relief she does have the opportunity to come back and render a final decision it's not necessary that we spend any amount of money to appeal a decision that the judge has come back and and said when she gets to it she'll get to it it's not a priority it's not a life and death situation it is governance and you know one one of the things that I'm most disappointed about is that we won't even go back to to the table and try to negotiate um that we are the governing body we determine and dictate how our resources are allocated and there is a refusal to go back and and see if we can come to any type of terms IR regardless of what has happened in the past doesn't mean that we can predict or should be trying toed predict the future we really should be trying to work this out to try and minimize the impact on the taxpayer dollar my taxpayer dollars I live here I own a home I don't want to waste money on this I want us to move forward as a body do good government for the residents of West Orange and when the judge decides that she will render a different decision then we we receive that and and whatever time friend she decides is appropriate that's my assessment and that's how I feel about this as far mat thought you were finished as far as the U resolution that we discussed um someone someone should have contacted the legal department so that resolution could have been prepared um I don't know if that was done and if it has not been done um then my question will become we did get a filing from our attorney representing the council who gave him authorization to file an appeal if we haven't even done a resolution it is my understanding that we still have to do things in public certainly we meet about things in private if it's litigation which this is um and we continue to discuss this litigation that's pending publicly um you know I question that because that again is not our practice we should not be discussing open pending litigation um we felt comfortable enough to do it and we've continued to do it um but again somebody should have contacted our legal representative and said for him to either move forward and then we should now have a resolution saying what we you know agreed upon in that meeting thank you councilman SC yeah thanks um I really feel that checks and balances are uh important in government and the council has that responsibility and it is um important and and very necessary that uh we we are respected when we make a judgment or determination and so for that reason and for the merits of the case I believe the appeal needs to go forward I am very concerned about the amount of money we're spending in fact I was the one who asked that we put the $25,000 cap on it so I would like to see all that in writing and so I would also vote more thank you councilwoman um for the benefit of the public um and I'm not going to litigate this stuff here uh I think I think um I don't know that anyone has questioned someone's intentions I think the advice that we've gotten both from our town attorney and our Assistant Attorney has been poor impr provably so um I do want to say for the benefit of the residents there is no refusal on my part at least uh to negotiate or to uh work things out with the mayor um but what I said in our what I've said to my colleagues is that I think our uh I think it's important for us to move forward with the um the appeal regardless of whether we try to negotiate or settle um and that's exactly what I'd like to do now I do think uh the councilwoman asked a good question um uh councilwoman Williams why don't we have a resolution memorializing it this resolution that is here does not uh this resolution was something that someone decided they wanted to put on with for what has to be political purposes um but it does not memorialize what we did in the executive session uh I contacted the attorney and let him know the result of the vote uh I did expect to have a resolution that would memorialize what we had I don't know why we don't and uh my question is when will we what attorney did you contact to let them know what happened in the executive session I didn't I have not contacted Mr trink or Mr Jenaro on any of these legal matters and I've and this is not the first time we would have had to have had a resolution so I didn't contact them for the first one I don't know who um is supposed to contact them uh to have them write a resolution memorializing what we agreed on you have to let somebody know so whether it be Chief Abbot or Mr SPO or Mr Tren but they were not aware so how could they put a resolution they just weren't aware okay so Mr ABT you didn't know the result of the vote from the executive session I heard informally of the three to2 vote to move forward with it but I wasn't asked by anybody to have a resolution drafted to move forward Mr Jenaro were you aware of the vote from the executive session I was not and okay as a as an added Point too in order to have something to be put on the agenda for legislation it's either got to be voted on 32 at the council meeting or um somebody has to contact Administration and the mayor has decide to tell leg put it on yeah so we um we may be able to bring it up tonight with councilwoman gber Michael absent we may not be able to bring it up in new business tonight but I've not made a single request and I want to say this for the benefit of the public I've not made a single request of anyone to make a resolution with regard to any of the legal matters that we've uh any of the uh the resolutions that have memorialized the legal issues that we have with the mayor right now not a single time so um but I'm happy to make that formal request I'm doing so right now uh I'd like to have the resolution uh memorializing um our intent to move forward with the appeal with a not to exceed Clause of $25,000 uh for our attorney uh Angelo goova of goova burns I'd like that put on for our next uh council meeting I believe that needs to be voted on correct needs to be voted on 32 or the mayor has to well I'm I'm asking the administration to do it because we won't get a 3-2 vote tonight I'm not going to introduce it knowing that it's not going to pass it's gon to end up in a two two top I will certainly discuss it with the mayor but the end it's going to be her decision just to be clear so then the so so then even if so even if I had requested that the resolution would be on then it still might not be on is what I'm hearing in order to get the resolution on the agenda you need a three2 vote at new business or the mayor needs to ask the Le old Department to put it on it's in the ordinance I understand the process Mr Abbott's response to me reading the context clues says that the mayor may decide not to put it on that's that's that's the mayor's perogative under our former government I I I get it I get it I just want that out there in the public so even if I had and given that the mayor put on the resolution to have us unilac to have us withdraw from the litigation as well as have her withdraw from the litigation um all right I think that's enough of that so I I i' I've beat beaten this horse enough um I am not uh going to move this forward maybe one of you would like to is there a motion to approve 12424 so move is there a second I'm just just let me read it again for a second sure so all it's say saying is they want a budget and a cap from the administration's point of view they want a a budget I think that's and C yeah I don't I we're doing that anyway so I don't think that's an issue all right I'm gonna I'm gonna second okay councilwoman celino to approve councilwoman Scarpa no councilwoman will Williams yes council president ruford no motion fails thank you madam clerk um 125 12524 resolution authorizing execution of professional Professional Services agreement with pkf oconor Davies for financial services pursuing to the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement council president rord thank you Madame clerk um and I think the exhibit was given to us tonight I'm not sure uh no 12 no that was 126 so I recognize that uh and I want to thank uh Mr rabbit for his responses to me on the questions I had with regard to why we needed to have them here um I recognize that uh the um resignation of uh one of our outstanding if newer employees uh Stephanie Santana I understand that that that holds that poses a problem my challenge with approving this is I don't know I think part of I don't know what our succession planning is there I don't know how I don't know how this work is going to be managed on a long-term basis and I don't I don't even know if that's that's been brought up now it's not my my job job to require Mr gross to do any of that um but I'm not willing to um vote in someone on a on a contract basis to do what should be done by a town hall employee uh without any understanding of what our long-term uh responsibility is going to be what our long-term plan is um so you know I pulled this to vote no I wasn't sure I would vote no earlier actually I thought after your explanation that I might vote Yes um but thinking about it more and acknowledging that we need to invest more in our um town hall employees as well as have a strategy around getting some of this work done not comfortable uh adding a contractor um I think that might allow us to do some things over a longer period of time than I think they should be so uh that's my reason I think we do need help uh and I do encourage the finance department particularly Mr gross uh to to be intentional about bringing someone in um and also perhaps looking at other folks in town hall whatever his you know best options are but uh a contractor I think is not the right way to go so I have a question sure Council so I'm confused I gota be honest with you because I get I didn't call in on this I thought this was for I'm reading the the agenda says one thing isn't this for the auditor for no auditing this is for accounting and other services so they have responded and appropriately so and have gone through the normal process to be able to do this work which is my understanding councilwoman okay got you so but this is not for the Sam Klein is the one for the auditor I don't I don't think he was pulled uh so that one's done right yeah one okay so so my question for so here's yeah I I'm I I'm going to have to agree with council president because my issue with this is are you how is how long is this for like are you have plans on hiring a replacement because I think there should be a person there we should just not rely on this on a firm I could see in a in a there will be there will be a search and intention to hire somebody to fill that position um you know Stephanie Santan was part of the seccession plan we didn't intend that she was going when they were in town and you know there was an opportunity that came up we wish wish her well um that being said we need to have somebody here that you know knows where the light switch is knows where the bathroom is you know we're talking about making payroll paying our employees paying our vendors we've got nobody here right now um Mr Rose took ill today I hopefully he'll be back soon I I don't know that and he's intended on retiring probably around August from what he says so you know we really need to have some level of continuity is has there been a proposal out for so when when um pkf Conor Davies applied for auditor it was all it's also for other Financial Services we in good faith we put Samuel Klein up because council did not want them to do be the auditor so we put a whole another auditor up while we're looking for pkf is to do our financial assistance the day-to-day operations until we can hire an employee but that that's not going to happen overnight there's there's nobody in house that we can move up to that position nobody's got a uh you know Stephanie was taking her exams for CFO there's nobody in that in that lane so we're gonna have to go outside the way we found her she worked in Jersey City and John found her and interviewed her but that's that's not going to happen overnight you know that's going to take some time so we're see I'm kind of struggling here because I know this position's hard to fill and I know they're not going to hire somebody overnight but has has anything been posted yet for the job Ian Stephanie just gave us two weeks notice and left Friday I mean this isn't like we had much time to plan this yeah I know but there should have been a posting like a week ago for the job that that's great but you know it's basically me and John you know it's not like we've got these big staffs to do all these things but to your to your point uh one second Mr Shalo and and I do want to hear from you as well but to your point I think that's part of the problem I think I think we are concentrating too much work in the hands of too few people and then when situations like this come up we're not prepared we don't have folks to fill in the gaps um you know we've got to build a stronger bench that's just a philosophy around how we run Town Hall um I I know we're coming into the budget and I'm happy to see at least the preliminary numbers on the budget but I I think that approach to doing the business concentrating multiple roles and fewer and fewer people not replacing people when they retire or move on and and doing more with less has led us to a point where we're operating literally at the bone there's no fat to cut and there's no more meat we're at the bone and and so then we we end up doing a Band-Aid uh which you know and I'm not this is no slight to pkf or Conor Davies they have an outstanding reputation in spite of the individual that showed up in our um our council meeting that you know caused all of this uh you know this part of it uh they are they have an outstanding reputation this is no slight to them at all it is really that I think the approach to solving the problem um I think it's the wrong approach I think we've got to we've got to do more to um um highlight those that are already in town hall give them create new opportunities there and and find ways to invite more folks into some of these leadership ship roles um so that so much isn't concentrated I mean Mr gross you know God bless him he's got I mean he's got his hands on almost everything in town um that is just too much for any one role um and and that then you end up with a situation like this so I I think we what I hope we do with at least with my no vote whether it passes or not is another story but at least with my no vote is send a message loud and clear that we have to do that kind of work differently attracting uh growing maintaining our Workforce in town hall providing opportunities for Upward mo mobility um and and opening up some of the um leadership positions that have been concentrated in the hands of a few um council did you have anything else you wanted to say before I moved on to I mean I'm willing to do this with a shorter term on the uh contract I mean this goes through December 31st I would hope you'd be able to hire somebody within a um a month or two well they're only going to be paid for whatever work they perform there's there's a scale of hourly wages for what level of person interacts with us and what they do that wasn't in the new resolution though that was in the original one but it wasn't in this one when I compared the two and the other change from the original resolution that was presented to us in January it's right there partner 275 an hour manager senior manager 185 it's on page two at the Bott yeah on the back on the bottom so can we go through well you can't really shorten it I guess you got to talk to them I again if you hire somebody then you just don't use this so yeah I get it really wouldn't matter if it went till December or not well I just want to encourage you to to you know try to get if I can U Mr Smo sorry I forgot so one of the responsibility roles I've been doing is is is actively engaging in hiring personnel and it takes on average four to six weeks to hire a clerk and no this is entry level we're looking for people the right people to do job this position here we're trying to fill two positions now is is a higher skill that we need to really UM Vet and and I know how to vet people people from coming into the job but we need to we need somebody like John somebody like whether be El Conor Davies or somebody like that else to help us bet the the right person to come to the job and these people are intimate with our finances and they would be able to to do that succession plan with the new employees that the new CFO and the new uh Deputy Administrator of finances this is we don't have we have very skillful people we have very dedicated people we just don't have people have that particular skill set to take take over the CFO or the licenses so what we're asking for is if you consider this as as Mr Abbott said to do on a timely basis we train our new employees our new staff we we we advertise we vet and we present and then at this point whether it be December November October whatever the case may be we need help and we're asking you to assist us in in helping stabilize finances that's that's really what it comes down Crux this I I think um at the end of the day what you're asking for and and certainly I understand that what we're asking for is critical and how we function and how we move the community forward and our Administration um but at the end of the day I don't think it' be fair or reasonable for us to handicap the administration by voting no they're clearly identifying and telling us that they need help and support um so I'm very comfortable in making sure we as the governing body give them what they need to get the job done um you know we're grateful that the preliminary budget has been um you know disseminated to us but we also know that that cannot continue and or be sustained if we don't have the support staff to do that and just like earlier today when I happened to come by for other business I saw him Mr gross he he was not well and you know at the end of the day um I I I think this is a tough job in government and administration and we've had two long-term serving members um of our Administration who are no longer with us we cannot suggest ignore that it may have been stress it just may have been stress that added to whatever mental and physical ailments that they have had so um for that reason alone you're telling me this is what we need to get the job done I support that I believe that you know better you're there you do this in and out every day and I I I don't hesitate to give you what you need to get our town moving forward thank you Council Miss SCA yeah I've been concerned for a while you know Mr gross has kind of a unique approach to budgeting you know that um is not easy for the average person to wrap their arms around and I really think we need to get somebody in there as soon as possible um we should have started a while ago you know getting the right staff in there to work the budget and the finance department um I was planning on voting no but I do understand that there really may be a need to support him a bit more and I would be open to voting yes if we could make it for like 60 days 30 or 60 days so that there is more of I'm not very optimistic we will have an assistant CFO higher in 30 to 60 days that's that's right but at least we have a goal that we're working towards yeah that's not realistic councilwoman he just gave you an ident a timeline of just hiring a basic entry level employee if again if Mr samalo is actively trying Council Roman please wait to be acknowledged thank you is that what you that's what I would agree to but otherwise I'll vote no got it councilwoman Williams um thank you Mrs moraldo has given us a timeline for a basic entry level employee he already identified that it's no less than four to six weeks this is a highly specialized and skilled position and again I think we're doing our community a disservice if the administration is telling us what they need and we're going to say no I I don't understand the logic are is that it uh councilman so I I hear you with a a time limit on it but here's the issue it's it's going to take them they go out they post it they get somebody in they're up and running if we get somebody in within two months you're also going to have that learning curve with the new person here and that's going to take a month or two so I I mean I'm a little hesitant with the end of the year but as long as the job is being posted and we're seeing like I don't want to put them a situation just to hire somebody just for the sake of hiring them also because that's another whole another problem because you're giving them that kind of short time frame so they may come along and just hire somebody that's not qualified enough for the position either just because they're going to be without services so I I think we got to be reasonable I'm I'm okay because this does expire December 31st we don't have to go further than that um but I think I'd like to know when the job is getting posted and and what not and did Mr gross put his papers in yet for his retirement he's not not that I'm wor not that he has not I don't not that I'm aware of that he posted he has indicated to all that he's looking at the summer he has not given us a definitive date okay one of the things I do want to add while microphone just to to help you out councilwoman is that one of the skills that we require of of our chief financial officers they have to have the certified Municipal fin finance officer licensed currently there's 564 communities in the state of New Jersey I think that's the number there's only about 200 CFOs in the entire State we're required by law to have one so for us to just go out and find somebody this is a very highly technical skilled so I would ask for your consideration longer than 60 days because if Mr gross just say say for argument sake he is leaving August 1st we we find somebody for August 1st that person still needs to learn even with that 60 days that would take us to October 1st so we're asking for is your consideration that if we keep and according to what Mr Abbott said here this is a for fee service so if our new CFO is comfortable Say by October 1st 15th whatever we can end a contract with that particular vendor this believe I believe says December till the end of the year December 31st if we're talking October 15th we're really only talking six more weeks of the remainder of the year so that's why we're asking for your consideration Mr smdo so uh or Mr rabbit so this is not to fill the Gap created by uh the um leaving of uh Stephanie Santana this is this is to help with the transition of the CFO as well this is a little bit of everything yeah it's a little bit of everything this is for our whole this is for our whole Finance team so get back to the original problem um Mr gross has not put in his his paperwork to retire I don't know that not that we're aware of not that I'm aware of either we're not aware of it but he he has intended he said just the other day that intends on leaving probably by August 1 right in the original when he first started saying it was June right and now it's August and so um I I'm I I am still not moved I I want to point out one thing though I do appreciate Mr schalo your uh willingness and you as well Council uh councilwoman celino your willingness to acknowledge councilwoman Scarpa said if if I if you want me to vote for this this is what I need um I I so I will tell you I will support you in your 60-day request if you offer that amendment I will I will second it I don't know that it'll pass um but before you do I I think the process of getting these things done um especially in a night where we're down a council person so you guys are going to need three votes to get a yes or or three votes to get to get a no there're GNA have to be three on one side of the other other otherwi actually no it could end up a 2 two and still fail right um there has to be some willingness to to move um I if if 60 days I would have appreciated it if 60 days wasn't uh enough say 75 days or 90 days or offer a counter um you did say four to six weeks for entry level and I understand the difficulty with hiring senior Prof Financial Professionals in municipalities and it's not a new issue it's something that we've been dealing with in the state of New Jersey for some time um but but we do find them they are out there accommodations sometimes are made with uh you know intermediate contracts until final licensing is received if long as you have John is still here I mean there are things that can be done um but I to just it's either exactly what we have on this resolution or nothing that kind of approach for me is is going to just be a no I'm I'm going to be a no now if if you want to try and persuade us that maybe some additional time is warranted and helpful that might be able to get at least one counsel person to a yes which is what you need so if 60 days is not enough is 75 days enough is 90 days enough listen I'll take whatever I can get it's 90 days we're asking for your help whatever it takes for you to pass to help us out we're just we're just we're laying out the facts to you how we see it and how whatever you tell us we will abide by it I mean we that's that's how we're supposed to worth this and you know we're just I'm just laying out from my experience what I I know I'm going to be have to do and with the chief's experience here through the past we're just we're just advising you as to what we think is is most needed here that's all and and I understand and I do appreciate that and and you know in the back I think of all of our minds are you know the folks in the office that are going to have to figure out what they're going to do in the meantime if this doesn't pass so so we do understand the gravity um just just want to make sure that we're more intentional about a long-term approach to this thing councilwoman scarper were you done or did you want to say anything else on on have an amendment councilwoman Williams like to amend the time frame to a 90 days is there anyone who would agree with me there I'll agree with that thank you that a second second thank you okay um so if we can on the amendment to 90 days we have to take the vote on the amendment first I want to say something after we vote on it councilwoman castelino yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes thank you on the amendment and then if necessary um after 90 days can you all come back and let us know if we're still having some challenges but can we do that before we get to the 90day timeline so that it hits the agenda in a timely basis so that we're not backdating it if possible thank you councilman Celina that that was my concern I don't want to just be sitting here and having this exercise in 90 days from now so we could have uh again I no fault of yours because you were hit with this two weeks ago but if we could have an update as how you're progressing way before then thank you on the resolution with the amendment we have to vote Yes is there a motion to approve with the amendment is there a second second yes councilwoman celino yes councilwoman spara yes councilwoman Williams yes council president runford yes the motion carries Okay 12924 resolution authorizing Professional Service Professional Services agreement with GPI for expert engineering consultation pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement uh councilwoman Scarpa you pulled this yeah I had um couple questions on this I know this goes back quite a while and I know that the trees were decimated up here and I wanted to know is there a tree replacement plan and have they complied has the have they complied with the tree replacement plan and you know I wanted to know a little bit more about this yeah this is Colonial Woods they have not complied with the tree replacement plant they still in process Mr correct it's yeah there was an order to show cause filed by RNC developers to against the township for the return of their performance guarantee um without going into any detail because it's ongoing litigation uh this resolution relates to uh hiring expert Services related to that litigation understood can can I ask a question regarding that I'm sorry Council okay so with regard to that performance bond how much is the performance bond and in what form is it so again I it's ongoing litigation so I'm hesitant to speak to it um if you want what what I propose is that we put up a resolution the next next council meeting to go into the executive session happy to discuss there but I'd like to discuss it more I'd like to do that so do you want to table this is that your recommendation is there a time constraint on this if we were to table for the next meeting and just learn more about it um also so I second the table discuss if we go into executive session they have four votes would you are you ready are you prepared to discuss it yeah I I sure that's an option Council if you wanted to make a motion to add a resolution to go into executive session for this purpose for this purpose um to discuss this resolution 12924 yeah I'll second that thank you okay so we can get it over with okay so councilwoman celino yes councilwoman Scarpa yes wom Williams yes council president Rutherford yes okay motion carries all right uh do we want to do the executive session now you want to get through the the meeting and yeah in case any people from the public want to p on the okay all right Madam clerk thank you sir 2845 d24 an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 7 traffic subsection 7-13 parking prohibited at all times on certain streets and subsection 7- 32.2 restricted parking zones of the revised General ordinances of West Orange 15 High Street 14 Washington Street 16 Wellen Avenue and 77 Kirk Street is there a motion to introduce on second and final reading second okay councilwoman celino yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes okay it's the time for public hearing is anyone in the public want to address us on ordinance 2845 uh which amends uh restricted parking zones on uh High Street Washington Street lellan Avenue and Kirk Street seeing none public comment is closed okay is there any discussion amongst the council I'm Mo for adoption on second or final reading okay second okay councilwoman celino yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president ruford yes okay uh 2847 d24 in or 2847 yeah I gave you an amended agenda 2846 um has to it's a chapter 25 ordinance must be reviewed by the planning board prior to approval by the council and that will occur on uh April 17th got you so that was moved to the next agenda I have can I ask a question about that do whatever you so the last meeting the ordinance that we had in our packet is that what the planning board is reviewing or did they the one that you approved on first reading that we said that needed amendments that is in the planning board is going to meet I can't remember when sometime in the next two weeks 17th yeah because I actually I checked it but put it on for April 17th it's it is April 17th yeah oh it is April 17th okay and then I had it right okay thank you and then the second part my question was was there any kind of time of the assessing matter uh with grants we had asked that to reach out to the grant writer was there any kind of issue can waiting for a response from the grant writer um just reach back out again today and then with regard to the attorney over at the league municipalities I a message last week and yesterday with whatever the attorney was on the website there um so I'm just going to keep following up until I get a hold of so I don't mind calling every day it's not gonna bother me so okay I'll get a hold okay great thank you okay moving on 2847 d24 an ordinance supplementing chapter 14 and establishing a section for lead based paint Hazard inspection requirements for rental dwellings to the revised General ordinances of the C of West Orange lead based paint Hazard inspection requirements for rental dwellings is there a motion to introduce on second and final okay councilwoman celino yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president wford yes okay we will now open for public comment if there's anyone present that would like to uh comment on 2847 lead based paint Hazard inspection requirements for rental dwellings now is your chance seeing none public comment is now closed Council discussion move for the adoption of 2847 on second and final reading thank you councilwoman celino yes councilwoman Scara councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes okay ordinances on first reading 2848 d24 and ordinance amending chapter 5 Section 34.2 34.4 34.5 and chapter 25 section 24.2 of the revised General ordinances of the township of West Orange licensed cannabis entities is there a motion to introduce on first reading so moved is there a second second councilwoman castelino um to introduce so I'm not going to support this but I do want to have conversation on it so I guess I'm going to I don't know what to do because it's first reading right correct yeah because we have to address a couple things on this so yes yes councilwoman Scarpa no councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes okay the motion carries okay so oh council president have the floor so here here's my issue I know I know this is is going to move forward and the reason why I'm not supporting it because I I don't think we should have the added cultivators that were um in this ordinance but I want to ask the council and I had a talk with Mr moon today where I asked him to look into a couple things at the planning board meeting the other night I watched it and and I and I know the investor is very sincere with the equ that they're getting for the smell however I I'd feel better if that we had something in this ordinance that makes there be some kind of mechanism in place to to make it more accountable for these entities for the smell and I know the planning board attorney she you know she was on the cuff so I think if we research it enough I know this is all new and um I you know know it's it's we could look into see what other towns are doing but the feedback that that I get is is you know they may not smell every day but you will get an odor and I just want to make sure that we protect the neighborhood because at the end of the day whether we like it or not um because we're not a large industrial site that's you know out few miles out of town we're right here and you have an apartment building and a park right across the street I I really want to make sure that uh we have Protections in this ordinance um to make sure that any investor has a certain amount of days to to um remedy the issue and whatnot you know my my family just again I'm not being difficult with this you know my family had a home across street from the recycling center for many years so you know that the you know you may say only smells here and there but when you're living there and it it smells even once a week it's it's annoying and some days you don't go out and have that barbecue for dinner because you're smelling there's an odor so I think we really have to make sure we do all we can to protect the neighborhoods especially when we're putting something uh in a neighborhood I I share your concern councilwoman um well first anyone else want to council Williams and then councilwoman scarper thank you um I agree too um I've mentioned it in the past that I believe that we need to have some additional uh mitigation odor mitigation um procedures in I made reference to any type of complaint um any of the cultivating entities have a 30-day time period to remedy that um and you know have to deal with some type of penalty whether it be closure or or something I am also in agreement um that if the cultivators or whether it be a cultivator any entity um if odor becomes a challenge or a problem um then they have to be responsible neighbors Community Partners and mitigate that um nuisance and it is indeed a nuisance we know that um everybody does not want to walk around and smell the odor of cannabis and I certainly would not if I had small children um want them to have to be subjected to that odor as well so I'm in agreement with you and I think that is something that we do need to include um I was comfortable with the planning board issuing that type of restriction Andor regulation um but if you believe that it's something that we as a Council need to um insert into the um ordinance I'm comfortable doing that as well but I do agree I do think it's the problem and I do think is something that um the businesses should be required to mitigate if it becomes a nuisance I think yeah I think I've made my um position clear many times this is I don't believe this belongs in a residential neighborhood and I believe we're exploiting the children and the families in that neighborhood and I'm going to vote no uh thank you colleagues I think uh part of the challenge we have with odor in particular um it's difficult to mandate a particular uh level of equipment um one because things change all the time um and you know it's kind of hard to say you got to buy this particular piece of equipment so that was one of the challenges we ran into uh the chair of the planning board I I think he sent it to everybody but I know he sent it to me um uh some suggestions on odor already and and the planning board is certainly going to take this up um but the challenges with the odor we don't have a mechanism to measure we have no way to objectively say this is the level of odor and then once you reach a certain level then you have to remedy it so so like a from our standpoint the challenge is how do we how do we legislate that with it's similar to The Sound Ordinance we have a sound a noise yeah that's real hard there's a machine yeah we don't have the machine in this and now we can get that machine there is a machine to get in this case there as far as I'm aware and what's been shared with me so far and you know maybe you guys know something different than I do which is fine uh but from what I understand there is no Mech no machine that we can get that will measure smell so so excuse can I can I jump in thank you council president so so I've neglected to to mention or forgot for a brief minute uh so Mr moon was gonna reach out to Mr defo because there are odors and you know to see how they're handling the recycling center to see if he can in you know how we can incorporate in here so I was going to recommend also that we I mean until we get a little resolve you know to REM the challenge with with that part though councilman um and I met with Mr def at the recycling center to go through that exact issue um they use an outdoor sprayer which is like for lack of a better term for breeze on steroids it eats up the smell and it also has a a a pleasant smell right it has a perfume as well so it has it it chews up whatever the smell is in the air but it also then leaves a a fragrance behind right so it attacks the smell two ways that is not something you can use indoors um and I don't think cultivators would be able to no not Indo wonder if there's something outside yeah so I mean I understand and I think we do want to so this is a genuine concern and I I think we are all concerned about protecting the community in which this is loc at least the one that is in the process so far is located um there have been some conditions with regard to uh the um air Handling Systems um that were um discussed at the last planning board meeting um that the uh owner agreed to um and still has to work through the process with our professionals to comply uh I I I expect that because these These are such you know valuable businesses that whatever the issue is they're going to want to rectify right away no one wants to to lose a month or two months or three months worth of sales because they didn't address an older issue but that's not in this we can still and again I think we're going to uh Continue to update uh the ordinance over the course of time the the things that we did agree to are in this ordinance um and those are the changes that we've agreed to thus far if you want to add additional ones down the road I'm happy to um I think our colleagues would support that as well um but what we've updated in here was agreed upon by this body and I think that part should go forward um even if we make some additional changes down the road I have a comment yes councilman thank you um so just to add some additional color uh to the comments that have been made there are some mitigating um strategies that can be implemented and utilized um as I had an opportunity to visit the facility down in Lambertville ask those specific questions um that is a full scale facility and they had at no less than eight HB systems to mitigate odor um I think that there can be requirements implemented by this body um to suggest that whatever type of um filtration system you have that it do be closed loop um that it not filtrate the odor back out into the at atmosphere exterior atmosphere um that is one of the mitigating uh remedies to keep that odor down in addition to that um you know if we identify that there is odor I don't necessarily believe it's NE it's important um to measure the level of odor I think it's important to understand that if there is an odor it doesn't matter how strong or weak it is we should not smell cannabis as we're walking down the street and I think if that presents itself as a challenge for any of the entities an easy solution would be to require them within a specific time period to mitigate it and if it means they have to buy additional HVAC equipment or whatever is necessary they have to comply and I think that's something that we can mandate Mr Jenaro do you have any recommendations well let me also ask Mr Jenaro is it a requirement of the CRC for cultivators to have um Clos loop as councilwoman Williams called it I don't they didn't say it was a requirement I'm just giving you an example of what is at that facility she characterized it as a closed loop is there a requirement from the CRC for those hbac units to not circulate the air outside of the building um it's my understanding that the one we have before us now has multiple levels of air filtration there are there's air filtration in each room where they grow and that Air does not exit the room they have a system over the door that forces air down whenever the doors open to prevent odor from escaping from the door out into the corridor and then they have an HVAC system for outside of the Grow rooms that has a charcoal filter and all the other things on it that scrubs the air as well is now I know that that's what they're doing my question is is that a requirement if it's not a requirement then we can talk about what the councilwoman suggested so I don't know time I I'm happy to take a look at it and I can talk to Mr Moon about it to get you an answer for that no problem so please circulate to us what the requirements are for the air handling um and then we can decide if we want to be more stringent yes ma'am so one other factor that I discussed with Mr moon was that um you know we these are on a yearly basis so my concern was you know if they have an issue with an odor then you don't renew them in the year and I ex ex ex um share with him and I'll share with all of you I mean we handle ABC matters all the time and it's very hard to once you get that license to you do have a a small issue or a larger issue that you want to move forward with so I I don't I don't want to put us in a situation that we have to rely on that I I do like the 30 days uh uh to mitigate um that they have and and I have to say I was very impressed with the owner uh the other night on the call because I I know they will do whatever they need to do and and I I do um appreciate that be the and you know but but again we're that's one owner there's going to be a few of these and I think we need to put something stronger in place because yeah it's hard if something does come up they may have to figure out what that is and they may do that on their own anyway which I think he would so I don't I don't think this is such a ter a terrible issue yeah I agree I I think there's a solution to it I think there's a we can find a happy medium I I do want to be consistent with whatever I mean we can't just say if if I smell or if someone smells you know like different people smell differently there are people that have their entire livelihoods based on their sense of smell and some people can't smell anything so um I do think there has to be an objective standard um but I'm sure we can find a happy medium to to figure that out but the point is what we have before us if we were to one we're not prepared to add that kind of commentary or that kind of language in here now what we have before us is are changes that we've already agreed upon and I think for the sake of you know managing the Affairs of Council I think we still should push this forward um and then revisit once we have the data how we want to address smell and update the ordinance at that time and as I say I for the Public's record you know I did I did approve it this evening to have that discussion and I know my colleagues we've had thoughtful discussions which I appreciate that and I appreciate the investors um and again my big concern is I want to see one of these open before we add numbers to it and um that's been my concern all along so that's why I won't be supporting it on second reading so um not to say that if all goes well and there aren't any issues that I I won't change my mind down the road but I I want to wait and be cautious about it not that anybody isn't but that's just my sentiment thank you thank you councilwoman uh so that's it we did 2848 right we moved it on first reading yeah yeah to have the discussion yes okay so 2849 an ordinance TW uh 28 49-24 an ordinance amending chapter 16 section three of the revised General ordinances of West Orange swimming pools plot plan required review fee is there a motion to introduce on first reading so move second councilwoman castelino yes councilwoman Scarpa yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Rutherford yes just for clarity uh Mr Abbot you know we spoke about this earlier this is for um commercial operators uh well they we're run the plot plan one yet right were you oh that's right I'm sorry the plot plan is for everybody that' be for everybody 2850 is for commercial operator okay question council president yes ma'am and and uh Chief this is going to be my um question for both 2849 and 2850 is does it matter if it's indoor outdoor pools I believe all pools have to be licensed whether they're indoor outdoor when they're commercial use multif family use that type of thing is not for a single family home okay I just didn't know if it needed to be you you needed to add indoor or outdoor or it's just assumed or I think it's assumed Mike uh our director Mike fono is on the line if anybody wants to give him any Mr Fagan can you bring Mr fono up I I thought I actually thought the plot plan was for outdoor pools but yeah you could have a screened in that would be yeah but I believe the The Lure aspect needs to be it pertains to all all commercial commercial not residential not not res except for multif family residential and apartment house that has a pool that kind of thing director fanino can you hear us yes good evening evening director councilwoman celino has a question for you did yes director um thank you for 48 uh for 48 and I'm sorry number 49 and 50 2820 uh 2849 2850 do the pools does it matter if they're indoor outdoor we're assuming that it could that there'll be any pool whether it's in or outside yeah the fee the fee is the same whether it's indoor or an outdoor pool does have to be specified in the ordinance okay no and there's different fees for for you know say hotels or um swim clubs um there's different categories but it it's the same fee whether the pool is indoor or outdoor doesn't doesn't change it okay I just wanted clarity thank you is it per pool so if a hotel for example had an indoor and an outdoor pool would they have to per pool okay any other questions colleagues no thank you director you're very welcome oh this is on first reading okay yes first 28 50-24 an ordinance amending chapter 16 section four of the revised General ordinances of the township of West Orange swimming pools license fees is there a motion to introduce on first reading second councilwoman celino yes councilwoman carara councilwoman Williams yes council president raford yes okay the motion is carried uh pending matters new matters Council discussion we have an item listed for the selection of the ccrb representative you gotta get you need somebody yeah need someone okay I didn't get a chance to think about work we work on it thank you for the reminder we're appreciate it okay it'll go on the next agenda yes it will okay thank you any other uh new matters pending matters com I move go session I move to adjourn to close session second okay uh councilwoman celino yes councilwoman Scara yes councilwoman Williams yes council president retherford yes okay the motion carries we are adjourned and we will be entering into executive session good night West congratulations wish you guys well thank you all for sticking it out