##VIDEO ID:5wY3agLaLVI## welcome to the mayor and council meeting um September 19 2024 7:30 pm Linda will you please call the meeting to order and read the open public meetings act announcement in compliance with the open public meetings act the notice requirements have been satisfied the meeting dates for the year are confirmed at the annual meeting are posted on the public bulletin board in the municipal building and on the burrow website publish in the record within the first 10 days of the new year and copies are sent to the Ridgewood news and Star Ledger notice of this meeting by the September 11th 2024 Sunshine notice was sent to the record the rwood news and Star Ledger and has been posted on the public bolon board in the municipal building and burough website Council M Delio here councilwoman homman councilwoman Lis solo councilman oconnell councilman OU here councilman Yaro here mayor wilinski here everybody please stand to salute the flag I pledge aliance to the flag United States of America the repblic for it stands one nation under God and indivisible liy and justice for all right we have approval of minutes next September 5th work and regular meeting do I have a motion so moveed second second councilman deloo yeah yes councilman OU yes councilman yino yes all right next we have a proclamation recognizing the month of September as hunger action month this is something we started last year right did we start last year two years um and it actually was a great success so we are going to do it again um for people actually bring their food to burall so I will whereas hunger and food insecurity are real for far too many of our neighbors and whereas those who are food insecure are without reliable access to adequate amount of affordable nutritious food food insecurity can affect anyone whether they're recently unemployed underemployed or supporting a large family and whereas food insecurity is a symptom of broader challenges such as unemployment disability retirement or unforeseen Financial hardships and whereas those who do not have their basic needs met are further hampered in their path towards self-sufficiency and whereas ongoing economic instability has increased food insecurity amongst individuals and families throughout Bergen County and across the county and whereas food pantries in Bergen County have experienced an approximately 22% increase of Need for food assistance and whereas there are residents in every municipality in Bergen County who receive SNP snap benefits illustrating that this is an issue impacting residents all over Bergen County and whereas economic coat tales of the pandemic are long and despite the end of federal and state emergency declarations tremendous needs still exist within our community and whereas the Bergen County food security task force was established to support food pantries in Bergen County by increasing the supply of healthy food options connecting those in need to vital services and investing in long-term infrastructure structure to build a more resilient Pantry Network to ensure no one in Bergen County goes hungry and whereas Bergen County food security task force has been incorporated into the Department of Human Services as the new office of food security to reaffirm that the County's commitment to fighting hunger continues past the pandemic and whereas the energy philanthropy and Hands-On effort of a multitude of volunteers throughout the county make tremendous impact in combating hunger in our community and are vital in meeting the struggles of our neighbors with compassion and now therefore be it resolved that the mayor and Council hereby recognize the month of September 2024 as hunger action month in the burough of Allendale and encourages all Bergen County residents to support their local food pantries be it further resolved that the buau of Allandale is committed to ending hunger in Bergen County and will spread awareness and increase engagement in our community to solve this problem by hosting a food drive through the month of October at Burl hall for the center uh for for the center of action it's actually it's missing yeah for the center of food action okay um so this was actually yes a great success last year I remember there was the the burall offices were just packed with food so um it's true if the basic needs aren't met you really can't do the old um you know MTH security um so um I'm very happy that we're doing this and we can do our part and be of service our residents always turn out to help when observers put out something there it's always full that's great yeah and sometimes it's just NE you need that um convenience right to to do it like if so it's nice and local so we will mayor we will have um a box in the lobby area of burl Hall okay um for collection through October thank you very much all right I'm going to review the agenda very quickly we have two ordinances one ordinance is to amend uh chapter 53 which is our salary wages and compensation um so what we're doing here is combining um uh some of our services for uh Kevin Todd so he's our Fire official and he's also going to um be a part of um other uh code official services and then our second ordinance 24-1 1616 is establish in business insurance registry in The Bu of Allendale would you like to speak to this at all and or it's just the requirement um that you know it's for businesses and for um landlords just tidying up our records yeah so we're going to put a letter out to um to all the businesses and in town and um they'll have to get that to us you know all the necessary information and we have the module on pilot that record excellent thanks for handling that okay and then we have our consent agenda these are uh routine and they're usually enacted in one motion I like to review some of them um but there's not really any interesting ones here cancellation of taxes um authorizing cancellation of outstanding check we are actually appointing a couple new crossing guards and we had an overpayment of taxes not my not my house um and then again the authorization to hire Uh Kevin Todd as the as the C CEO inspector as I just mentioned in our ordinance and also we have a a new intern um in the police department um so that's how always good all right so now I would like to open the meeting for public comment on anything please good evening mayor and Council Mark savastano 22 veland place um mayor and Council just wanted to give an update to the activities of the green team from the summer super yeah it's we've been very busy and um I came up with an idea that I've investigated to collect pumpkins and gourds cornstalks and mums and um I've approached rosers and Bor to be locations for the collections and they were very enthusiastic about the idea so uh I think that's going to be quite a bit of weight that will be kept out of the trash stream and also that's all compostable material so it'll just be returned to the Earth where it does its job instead of riding in a landfill um we have um made contact or I should say contact was made to us from two students from uh the uh Northern Highlands and uh they were interested in joining the Green Team um and I invited them to come and speak before the council at the next meeting um hopefully that will be a meeting where everybody is present um Ry vom and Will scric are you're gonna bring to this meeting yes oh great yes I said it would be a great way to introduce themselves and uh introduce their interest in in sustainability um will is actually a scout who helped us out over the summer with one of our EPS styrofoam Collections and came with us to Richville Park and helped us densify the material okay um and that helped fulfill part of his uh Eagle Scout project um and I had originally suggested to him about the pumpkin collection but it seems they they won't get approval in time to have it happen it won't happen before Halloween the approval so he's going to be part of it he has promised to have Scouts there as uh volunteers and that prompted younger Scouts to start contacting the Green Team and uh we are just becoming more popular and more well known and and that really and hip you're hip all the high school kids want to Jo yes so we have lots of volunteers going forward um also uh I want to commend Andy and his new staff members I've been to the recycling center a number of times and they've helped me recover a great deal of the EPS from the dumpster they're people are bringing it there hoping to recycle it and of course they're told we don't accept it so uh Jim one of the new employees gave me a pitchfork to grab it out of the dumpster so that was I I filled up several bags of the with the material and we brought it for recycling um he has since offered that we can put some type of container there and uh we can collect it outside of the dumpster which of course would be preferable to me as well that probably better but um um yeah so the a little bit more on that collection we're going to have two one immediately after Halloween and one immediately following Thanksgiving The Saturdays following the uh the holidays so uh we be busy planning putting up posters and uh hopefully get uh some traction through sure you got us something for a newsletter yes for the newsletter for the website uh for 07401 and uh well hope to see you there for a photo opportunity as well but uh thanks for hearing me out and uh the Green Team continues to be very active in town excellent thanks for workk you anybody else from the audience wishing to speak not seeing anyone I'll bring the meeting back so now we will introduce ordinance 24-15 Linda will you please read the title ordinance 25-15 and ordinance to amend chapter 53 of the code of the burrow of Allendale officers and employees to fix the salaries wages and compensation of the officers and employees of the burough of Allendale for the year 2024 do I have a motion so moved second please second um sorry councilman deliso yes councilman otou yes councilman yarina yes ordinance 24-15 has now been introduced upon first reading and will be published in the Wednesday September 25th edition of the record and will take will be taken up for further consideration and final passage at the regular meeting of the mayor and Council on October 3rd 2024 at 7:30 p.m. or soon thereafter thank you um next I'd like to introduce ordinance 24-16 please Linda read the title ordinance 24-16 in ordinance establishing business insurance registry in the burrow of Allandale do I have a motion so moved second please second councilman delao yes councilman OU yes councilman yarina yes or 24 16 has now been introduced upon first reading and will be published in the Wednesday September 25th edition of the record and will be taken up for further consideration and final passage at a regular meeting of the mayor and Council on October 3rd 2024 at 7:30 p.m or soon thereafter excellent thank you very much um next we have the consent agenda do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda so move second please second Council M Delo yes councilman OU yes councilman yarina yes all right Council reports councilman yarina thank you mayor I'll keep it brief this evening we had our Crestwood end of season meeting with myself Andy had also provided uh some inut before the meeting and the mayor myself um we had a lot of different topics to cover including operations key topics included membership Trends year over year Revenue um expenditures Water Quality Staffing and events and on that topic we'd like to extend gratitude to tyy poogi who will be resigning as our Crestwood events coordinator she's been a longtime employee of Crestwood Lake and started with Crestwood as a lifeguard and you know since moved up to working with the events through the lake uh so we wish her very well so next year we'll be looking to either have somebody within Burl Hall take over vents or maybe we'll just uh do that within committee um regarding the concession St we anticipate the opening of submitted bids next week we're very excited for that I'd like to thank Andy and the DPW for working to make improvements on our Fields based off a feedback from the Allendale Sports Alliance um one of the fields or two Fields rather that we're working on are the football field and the soccer field that we're working on making improvements um and one of the resolutions out of the last Allendale Sports Alliance meeting was to close the West Maple field so that we can continue to make more extensive improvements long term uh special thanks to Allison for continuing our efforts improving our facilities here in Burl Hall uh we collaborate with hickey electric to move some of our Communications infrastructure and equipment from the clerk's office to a more secure location ensuring compliance with GIF cyber standards and finally the New Jersey Motor Vehicle reel ID event at the firehouse last week two days went off with no issues thank you Andy for facilitating that and then our next motor vehicle event will be another inspection event on October 4th at crestw ranking those outk you it's a great program in our residency honestly thank you so much for you know appreciating that it really is a great program and residents love it because everybody knows what a nightmare it is to go down to the DMV so super fast I was in and out in 15 minutes and on can you get me in play with we're going to so like I said October 4th is the next inspection we're probably do another real ID in December yeah that's and I hear through the rumor mail that the state is going to be postponing the implementation yet again yet again so anyway that's all all right thank you mayor uh pretty brief report this evening as I mentioned in our last meeting due to the very busy nature of September our meeting was push the month so we met this past Monday um our two new officers has finished their field training so they are out on the streets doing policey things keeping the burough safe um we discussed the new crossing guards the new spots everything is working out very well couple of minor adjustments to be made um we discussed our perennial issue of Downtown parking uh with the new officers that should help to alleviate some of the issues that we're seeing down there um as you mentioned in the consent agenda we have a new police intern he's working with the OEM and finally next Thursday Walter is the blood drive at the firehouse from 1: to 7: p.m. um the ab& is partnered with us on this one and they're offering a pint for a pint so pint of blood for a pint of beer or a glass of wine or a soft drink and we're very got right to your head right wouldn't you think well I don't think you that's why they give you a voucher and they don't just keep you do what you want to do with your voucher but I'm very happy to say that once again the scouts will be helping out uh at the blood drive so on out and roll up your sleeves all right thank you mayor council Del witho thank you mayor uh since our last meeting the DPW committee did not meet uh just quick conversations with our superintendent Andy glio uh the DPW is continuing their regular duties we appreciate all their efforts I know they're prepping Crestwood for you know the draining of the lake and you know preparing the final closing of everything uh they continue to maintain Fields as Council manarino mentioned and uh our new mechanic is working out very well he's acclimating well for the burrow and we're very happy to have him on board so that's pretty much my report for tonight thank you thank you very much staff reports Linda our clerk thank you mayor um on September 12th I attended the New Jersey film ready Workshop in Trenton um there the program is a multi-step training and certification process um which helps areas in the municipality I to prepare and Market themselves as film destinations the film ready program is part of the New Jersey Motion Pictures and television commission which is under the New Jersey economic develop Authority the program is helping the state's film industry grow by giving municipalities and counties the tools needed to welcome top tier Productions to their communities uh the benefits of of this program is um that Allendale will be tagged as located in a film ready community real Scout um online Li Library um will we'll have unlimited access to real Scout to upload location photos um on a rolling basis it creates opportunities for local small minority in women-owned businesses um also the the Allandale will also um attain film ready Community status recognition um also be able to put the um film Ready New Jersey logo on the website the bar website um so what I've been doing is um I took a sample ordinance that they provided us and then our current ordinance and I'm just going through and I'm comparing and making changes and updating it excellent than and then I have to submit that to the commission first okay for them to go over it before we can introduce it okay and um Amanda already got um ahead on just listing some uh locations so what she did is um we got Crestwood Lake we got Crestwood Lake we got the pH house we're not really sure that's a good one we got West Allendale AV uh you know all the that whole area celery Farm we're not sure um and the grandstand and um what she did is she provided in a brief um description of each so this way when the photos are uploaded onto that website it just gives it so this way when the scouts go on and if they're looking for something in particular they can just go through everything say hey it's right here in Allendale so she one of her the things that she really liked is M possibly the grand span because she said that that would be like a good um movie it totally would yeah for like you know seeing so um so once you know we're just we're going to wrap that up and start that as soon as we can great no thank you this is something I've been um talking about for a while because we were at one meeting um uh I guess in AC where they were talking about how Netflix is moving to Mammoth so this is just a really good opportunity for the bureau as we know bureaus don't have a lot of opportunity to make revenue and to kind of get a jump ahead of it um I was at a mayor's meeting where the county was saying that they did um what's that movie um not not um with Adam Sandler Happy Gilmore they were doing it one of the County Parks and they had it was because they were film ready they actually extended their filming time so they made a lot of actually Revenue so we're going to be film ready and we're going to be uh we're going to be ready for all the movie stars to come to Allandale if it's not too disruptive sometimes it is very disruptive so we have to balance that with both safety course and I'll and I'll um run it through Ray's office as well before beforehand just to kind of make the final touches great well it was a lot of fun when they filmed Presumed Innocent here yeah do you remember that yes I do yeah excellent all right our superintendent of the DPW Andy goera and I have my blood thank you um and must EO with Ty said about how bur Hall looks looks fantastic Kudos Al um our new her mechanic CJ is working out phenomaly as is uh Joey and Drew um part one of two of our streetcape project has started today so um they mobilized um hope everybody liked the upgrades to the 911 uh Memorial think beautiful um did receive a lot of comments on it um DW's preparing field for full sporting events are underway um we have added a new half flag football field across from the uh park inside pral Lake um they finished that up yesterday where uh very across street from the park inside Presswood where the kid Park is no when when you're driving up you're going to the red hor you have the playground on the left and there's an open lot on the right put half football fi yes yeah oh I saw kids playing there last week why would you use junior football um because we we're shiting fields around it's gonna take West Maple out of service for rehab and did not know that this is what the uh the ASA folks that requested so that's going to take up parking then I guess right if we have a events that's where we sometimes Park but I guess it's in the fall so bad yeah okay um so the lower multi-purpose field was converted to a soccer field and we as of Monday we're taking out west maple field at a service fre uh like said um and lastly we started decommissioning press the lake and S like you were just filling it up I all right our attorney Ray West you haven't been busy at all yeah a couple things have gone on um continue to work on the uh the after the closing matters on the sale of the water utility including a meeting this evening with the with mayor and councilwoman homman uh mayor signed a couple of easement agreements this evening so uh uh we work with the's Council and trying to get that done uh We've also had meetings uh involving the mayor councilman homman Andy myself Mike reand uh working on diversion process and uh on tonight's agenda um resolution 232 was hiring an environmental consultant uh to do an assessment of the site on New Street that we're proposing to uh to dedicate to passive Recreation as part of the diversion process with Green Acres uh we met earlier this evening the same group uh to discuss uh some ongoing uh sewer related issues with our neighbors in Saddle River U and that uh I suppose will be a focus of some continuing discussions going forward uh some conversations with Chief Dylan on some departmental matters uh we've had some certain things involving the uh the bylaws and related items at the fire department uh affordable housing as the mayor's previously reported the buau has uh joined in the litigation uh in which monil is the lead agency um that complaint has been filed uh we're in communication with the attorney that is representing the group he provided a actually a status update this morning that I shared with the mayor um I think the litigation is actually in its very formative stage the state is not due to respond uh till about mid October um and then it'll take shape uh I was told by TJ and Tom today that the leases on the cell tower are are in circulation pending signature so hopefully that Revenue stream will be uh uh come on board shortly and lastly while I had reported that the settlement conference on PK was supposed to have taken place earlier this month unfortunately the attorney for PK was hospitalized uh so the conference was put off to October 28th that's it mayor that's it all right and my report uh 210 West Crescent our community center is coming along nicely um I think everybody in the um Council has actually seen it now um we are um putting up we just put up our TVs our security is currently going in and actually our new entrance system um is going in we're working on systems and operations and procedures and regulations in in burough Hall um we're have to ass signage job we have to figure out a lot of stuff before it's actually open uh to the community including buying some furniture so we're still hoping it's going to maybe a a soft opening by the end of the year but definitely by the beginning of 2025 uh the 911 ceremony was beautiful um Tim L Turner was a great speaker it's always the most beautiful ceremony um so this year was no different and thank you for making it look so beautiful um the residents really appreciate it they come all day to reflect so it's um it's really important that that's looks so nice as did uh we have Allendale day this uh Saturday so the buau will have a booth um in the spirit of keeping um government transparent we are going to try to sign everybody and anybody up for our newsletter and for constant contact and for Facebook and Instagram we are just pushing information out there and if you don't have a computer we'll even mail the newsletter to you there's so much great information in our newsletter I write a mayor's report every month I'm constantly sending out uh memos and updates so um everybody should be informed about everything in the bureau um and um if you don't want to read it I guess you don't have to but it's out there I read it thank you uh we had our third um of our four Town Halls uh this week and this one was on deer management as I mentioned um it is one of the most um talked about topics in town it's the one of the biggest complaints that I get from residents uh but it's also very emotional and triggering topic for a lot of people so I brought in the DP the uh Department of Environmental Protection and Tao who is our um Animal Control um company who literally the boots on the ground to explain and give facts just objective facts um on on things that we could do to help control the deer population um at one point in the meeting I asked I think there was probably about 75 people here I asked who is um in favor of deer management um and I would say 90% of the people raised their hand or even more so um it is something that people it's just gotten out of control unfortunately and quite frankly it's something I wish we didn't have to do but um I think the numbers are out there and it's getting it's getting a little scary the the car accidents are getting scary it's it's actually not really very Humane for the deer either that are getting killed by cars that are maimed and um hobbling around with broken legs and stuff so um to be continued so we'll continue also to update everybody on that and our streetscape um our six or seventh phase of the street Escape started today so that's on Central uh drive that's going to go along the street by the train station and then after that it's going to be DCUO and then we have one other little section on De mrio then we're done so our downtown's looking really spiffy just in time for filming film ready film ready and that is my report for the day any questions all right um any unfinished business or new business I'd like to open up the meeting to the public on any comments any matter anybody from the public Walter come on up w Walter 38 Hamilton I got a couple of quick questions sure what's the success of the blood dve how successful is it it's very successful so in our little uh in our Drive last the last Drive I think we had 39 people uh each you know pint is capable of saving three lives so we did it right that day um overall he's doing exceptionally well he's running about 60 drives a year now our next question is curiosity these proclamations which you read why do I say where what is their function oh it's um the function of a proclamation well maybe you could help me with this it's it's like an honor um it's an honor for um a declaration to honor either an event or person I explain and this way when they're read at a public meeting they're in the public record so so for organizations we're having these read in multiple places it also gives them the ability to say we're recognized by the burough of alendale by the county of Bergen by the state of New Jersey whatever the case is so it's you know noteworthy causes or events uh and then the mayor reads them into the public record and it gives the organization something that validifi it a little bit as well and uh I sign it and we give this sometimes to the organ organizations thought people hang them up you know or is that a voluntary procedure or mandated or what oh no it's not mandated no it's just something it's actually one of the nicer things we do quite frankly you answered one of the questions that I had that's basically it thank you thank you I I had one for the board workers just to recognize all their hard work so it's really just to kind of like honor you know the board workers for their hard work and long hours and you know things like that so good I like that thank you anybody else from the public wish to speak not seeing anyone motion to adjourn so mooved second second all in favor good night everybody night