##VIDEO ID:0UOkX0ebps8## [Music] mayor good hi good evening everybody um may I have a roll call please Council misseri present councilwoman Peterson here councilman zazali here Deputy Mayor Miga here mayor scavage here um let's rise for the flag salute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the unit unit States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all adequate notice of this meeting was duly provided to the Verona Cedar Grove times and the Star Ledger by email and published in an annual schedule of meetings on December 12th 2024 filed with the Township Clerk and posted on the uh public bulletin board in the municipal building Lobby in accordance with the open public meetings Act act um item 2A approval of minutes um to consider approval of minutes for the regular public meeting dated December 16th 2024 may I have a motion please so Mo second thank you roll call please councilman misseri stain counc Peterson yes counil M Ali yes Deputy Mayor Miga yes mayor SC yes item three the meeting is now open to residents of the township wishing to be heard on any item on the agenda I'm seeing none that portion of the meeting is closed um item four reports of Township officials let's start with Mr zelli this evening good evening good evening mayor happy New Year happy New Year uh just one item tonight in addition to some items through the uh new business section of the agenda uh the budget hearing is going to be scheduled for Monday January 27th at 5 5:00 p.m. in this Chambers here uh we're just waiting on some numbers from our insurance carrier for our multi-line defense and workers comp numbers I hope to have all that buttoned up for that that Monday uh as was the case uh last year unless the council wants otherwise we're going to do digital budgets instead of the binders um there will be some binders made for the public but the council will get it disseminated uh via Excel um this year is going to be a little different than last year with what we did um in terms of budget prep the new uh budget software through Edmonds has significantly less lines in it we consolidate a lot of accounts and with that I'm going to have last year's budget to my side and as we go through the new budget template in Edmonds I'll explain it to the council what the accounts used to be what they migrated to um but that's why we're going to do it in one meeting instead of two because there's so many less accounts to have to uh go through um this will be on the TV screen up here hopefully we get this presented at the end of January shooting for introduction in March April adoption April I given that great awesome I'm very excited to see the new format and uh also that is now one day instead of two so thank you for all your hard work in in getting that all buttoned up um great anything else that's said just some new business items mayor okay perfect thank you um Madam clerk good evening good evening mayor members of council the municipal election will be held on May 13th 2025 for three expiring councilman at large seats candidate packets may be picked up from my office on January 9th until such filing time notice of availability will be posted on the Township's website and published in the Star Ledger at Verona City Grove times on January 9th as well the following submission deadline for nominating petitions in my office is February 27th 2025 at 4M Shar also I have on December 31st Governor Murphy signed into law legisla moving the primary election date from June 3rd 2025 to June 10th 2025 in observance of the Jewish holiday sh great all right thank you um good evening Township attorney how are you good evening mayor council members the only item that I had was that Governor Murphy also signed into law the making permanent the outdoor dining so it's something that you want to consider there's still some local Reg ation that can be implemented the state came out with some requirements with regard to the administration portion of it and how to ultimately expand those temporary uh licenses to more permanent licenses um so something just food for thought to think about if there's anything that the council would like to see as part of an amendment to our Outdoor Cafe licenses that's all I have great thank you um and I'm going to mix it up tonight we're going to start with the councilman zazali good evening good evening mayor good evening everyone happy New Year uh I don't have a report this evening mayor okay great thank you uh councilman Missouri good evening mayor good evening everyone happy New Year um I only have one item and and that's for executive Personnel thank you Deputy Mayor Miga good evening good evening good evening everyone here at home I always have a report so I'm not here to disappoint in 2025 I'm just going to bring up two items because I was asked about them over the holidays one was about live Christmas trees when they would be picked up I don't know if we blast that I have it but maybe we could it's out until we're picking up till the end of January but obviously if they're out longer we'll pick them up um January 22nd i p it on Facebook today believe or not a lot of people still have them up I don't think people windy I think that's why people are wondering how long it goes for yeah we'll pick them up as as long as as we need to okay and then the one one thing I was asked a couple times I guess because of the holidays was about the overnight parking requests so just so people know you go to the township website crove nj.org you scroll down on the right side you see the overnight parking and you fill it out and you submit it so it's very simple yeah believe there's a two believe there's a two night uh Auto three night Auto approval thank you acting Chief Pumphrey there's a three night Auto approval um and after three nights you you could email my office for an extension up to 10 days but during the winter months I do want to uh Hazard the residents we are uh cautious to Grant the overnight parking for extended time during the winter because of snow removal salting and and whatnot so it really only hasn't as needed bases that's all I have thank you great thank you councilwoman Peterson good evening mayor evening uh new Happy New Year's um I just have one thing so concerning the library board I am unable to make the budget hearing um I will be in Utah at my daughter's college graduation that night that old excuse so um it's a pretty good excuse to miss that fun meeting but anyway I just want to so I want to relay that the library board had an initial meeting regarding the budget Katherine did go back and revise it we met again um I'm pretty confident in the budget that we settled upon um that it's good for the township uh Mr zelli and Rebecca will go over it as well and then it'll be presented before you but being that I won't be there I just wanted to give my two cents that um I I am part of the finance committee so I did sit down and go line by line through it and made the revisions that I felt were appropriate and then the library board voted on it to pass it so I just wanted to update you on that thank you that's that's great news thank you um I don't have a formal report just an observation as I drive past the North End Firehouse it's beautiful it's it's really coming together um well I know it has not been without its challenges Mr zelli but um it it's really it's going to be a tremendous asset to our community when it's done and it looks like it's coming along I think we're all looking forward to a wrapping up there it's going to be nice completion very cool do clear do you have an estimated time on that or do do we not even want to speculate at this point I'll get back to you in a month on that dat fair enough okay well it's it's very encouraging seeing all the progress thank you mayor um thank you for that so um that's it from me so I'll move on to item five consent agenda I'm going to take these three together um to consider uh 5A to consider resolution concerning approval of raffle application Cedar Ro Elks 5B to consider resolution concerning approval of RA raffle application Wayne Council of pto's 5 C to consider resolution concerning Amendment to the holiday schedule um may I have a mo please some moved second thank you roll call please Council misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes counc zali yes Deputy Mayor M yes may SC yes um item six new business 6A to consider resolution concerning 2025 petty cash funds um Mr Z have no comment mayor this was recently uh revised a few months ago to establish Petty Cas in various departments in the municipality okay perfect thank you um may have a motion please so move second roll call please councilman misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes councilman zaz yes Deputy Mayor Mig yes mayor scavage yes um 6B to consider resolution authorizing the establishment of a policy for the claimant certification requirement is this something yes mayor if I may this is a policy that the finance CFO is putting forth to require claimant signatures and certification for uh various items relating to Professional Service employee expense reimbursements um in other words if a professional service vendor submits a bill they have to certify that the bill is true and accurate before we go to process it great thank you um may have a roll call please no I'm sorry may I have a motion please so Mo mayor second roll call please councilman misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes councilman zali yes Deputy Mayor M yes mayor SC yes item 6 C to consider resolution concerning 2025 cash management plan mayor if I may this is the cash management plan for the township uh Cedar Grove's goals and objectives in 2025 are to preserve Capital ensure adequate safekeeping of assets maintain liquidity to meet operating needs and diversify the Township's portfolio to minimize risks associated with individual Investments that are invested in accordance with state federal law and regulation U as I shared with the council a few weeks ago uh this resolution also sets forth what depositories the township may use uh the council will see it looks different from your years prior that's because Rebecca worked very diligently to close 37 bank accounts over nine different banks to now consolidate all into One Bank um with proper clearing accounts for all of the utilities water sore uh pool and solid waste account which means water bills are being deposited in the water account and paid out of the water account so on and so forth for the other utilities okay great thank you um may I have a motion please so move second roll call please Council Mississippi yes councilwoman Peterson yes Council M yes Deputy Mayor M yes mayor SC yes item 60 to consider resolution authorizing change orders number one two I'm sorry change orders number two three and four four and from descal LLC for the Demolition and reconstruction of the North End Firehouse reflecting an overall decrease of $1 15,682 46 mayor if I may I'll go through reach change order uh this is a resolution authorizing three change orders from the North End Firehouse uh change order number one was previously approved on August 5th 20124 um but this resolution contemplates change order number two in the amount of $1,044 uh I'm not even going to read the percentage it's 2611 100s of a percent of the total contract price for the provision of type h fixtures change order number two uh increases the contract in the amount of $2,621 4 cents uh similar percentage uh for the installation of dense glass on the manzer canopy and change order number four decreases the contract amount by $41,900 or 1% of the total contract price because uh this is the township substituting the generator that the contractor is going to purchase the township will be purchasing it by itself uh as a result of all these change orders the total contract price is now not to exceed 3,921 312 54 which is an overall decrease in the contract price of $1,687 46 great thank you um may I have a motion please so moved second roll call please Council misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes councilman zali yes Deputy Mayor M yes mayor scavage yes item 6E to consider resolution establishing the interest rate on delinquent taxes mayor if I may this is uh just as last year we match the interest rate on delinquent taxes to be 8% perom on the first $1,500 of the delinquency then 18% thereafter uh in excess of the $1,500 great thank you may I have a motion please so second roll call please councilman misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes councilman maali yes Deputy Mayor bega yes mayor scavage yes item 6f to consider the purchase of heads and grates for Road surfacing from Campbell Foundry Company through the Morris County cooperative pricing Council in an amount not to exceed $ 58520 mayor if I may this is a resolution authorizing the purchase of as you noted heads and Gres for road work that the township will be performing um in 2025 the amount is not to exceed $558,500 whenever the township repaves a street um or has a manhole that's defective or casting that's defective we we replace it now um and this is buying a very large stock and quantity of them so as we continue to do all the streets we plan to do in 2025 we'll have them in stock at the DPW ready to go so if we get some good weather early in the spring we could start that sooner than later great thank you um may have a motion please second thank you roll call please councilman misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes councilman zali yes Deputy Mayor Miga yes mayor scavage yes item 6G to consider introduction of pending ordinance number 25- 943 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a cap Bank this is my one of my favorite things to do every year mayor uh municipalities and counties are prohibited from increasing their final budget Appropriations by more than 2 and a half% in subsequent fiscal years unless action is taken by the governing body to increase final Appropriations subject to the cap um by the statutorily permitted 2 and a half% this ordinance allows the township to exceed the appropriation cap by 1% and allow for an increase in appropriations of up to 3 and a half% fcal the year 2024's final Appropriations we do this every year and by adopting this ordinance the township will be able to raise an additional $6,295 78 in excess of the increase it would have otherwise been able to uh raise which would now result in a maximum allowable appropriation to be increased by 54774 45 uh the key is not to use that whole increase so we can Bank it for subsequent years as the council's aware last year we had a cap bank established of $294,700 the cat bank that we inherited in 2023 was $178 so we built a very nice healthy cat bank that's great news great thank you um may I have a motion please so move second sorry wait what sorry got to move for introduction I move for introduction of the of pending ordinance 25- 943 to be published in full in the Verona Cedar Grove times as a pending ordinance with a public hearing scheduled for for February 3rd 2025 thank you may I have a second please second roll call councilman misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor Miga yes mayor scavage yes item 6 h to consider resolution concerning the 2024 temporary budget mayor if I may this is for the uh temporary operating budget for this fiscal year um it's 26.5% Of The Part F Year's operating Appropriations for the public edification this year's temporary operating budget consists of one the current fund at 5,875 n2685 the Water Utility Fund at $72,600 I'm sorry at $848,000 60 the pool Utility Fund at $ 29,8 4.35 and solid waste collection District at $568 32 24 these numbers uh while they are a temporary operating budget do get rolled into the U adopted Municipal budget whenever that is uh ultimately introduced and subsequently adopted okay thank you um may have a motion please so moved mayor second thank you roll call councilman misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes councilman zali yes Deputy Mayor Miga yes mayor scab yes item seven contracts in agreement 7A to consider resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and public contract for professional Financial advisory services to Phoenix advisers in an amount not to exceed $155,000 May mayor we've been using Phoenix for a number of years now um and this District formalizes our engagement with them uh we use Phoenix for um Debt Service planning um they last year helped us with uh casting the new Bond anticipation notes that Market Outlook that I send to the council every month uh with the different Bond and interest rates comes from Phoenix um and they they do a pretty good job helping us and they also work with debt caddy which is what we use to um issue our debt service payments for both principal and interest payments on the various funds that we have debt in okay thank you um may I have a motion please so second thank you roll call please councilman misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes councilman zazali yes Deputy Mayor migas yes mayor scavage yes item eight meeting is now open to residents of the township wishing to be heard on any item on or off the agenda concerning Township business good evening happy New Year um I just have one program to bring everyone's attention to the 2025 Essex County deer management program begins this week um it will be on Thursday days this year at the hilltop reservation which is the location closest to Cedar Grove here um it there are no rain dates this year we are planning to use all eight dates for the deer management program um there are also Tuesdays happening in South Mountain reservation but I brought a whole stack of postcards to leave here at Town Hall um they were mailed out to Residents in this community though that's all I have today thank you thank you okay um great so seeing no one else I'm going to close that session we're going to move into executive session um whereas Section 8 of the open public meetings act permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting of the mayor and Council in certain circumstances and whereas the mayor and Council of the township of Cedar Grove are open I'm sorry are of the opinion that such circumstances exist now therefore be it resolved by the mayor and Council of the township of Cedar Grove County of Essex state of New Jersey that the public shall be excluded from discussion of any action on the executive session of the meeting of the mayor and Council of um January 6th 2025 the general nature of the subject matters to be discussed uh is Personnel it is anticipated at this time that the above stated subject matter will be made public as soon thereafter as it is deemed in the public interest to do so no further action will be taken and this resolution shall take effect immediately um may I have a motion please to go into executive right yep second thank you uh roll call please Council misseri yes councilwoman Peterson yes councilman zali yes Deputy Mayor Miga yes mayor scavage yes okay thank you thanks for coming