e e e e good evening welcome to the June 20th 2024 four Clark council meeting uh I welcome everyone here today's the longest day of the year welcome to Summer one of my favorite days this time I'd like to ask the clerk for the roll call please councilman hund here councilman masella is absent councilman Manti here councilman oconor here councilman Smith here councilman tol here council president albanes here at this time I'd like to ask everyone to please stand for the the Pledge of Allegiance in a moment of silence pledge allegiance to the flag flag of the United States of America for it stands one nation under God indivisible Li and justice for all this meeting is in compliance with the open public meetings act as adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by Sen written advance notice of at least 48 hours to The Star Ledger Union County Hawk Union County local source and taben to Clark by posting such meeting agenda on the bulletin board and Town Hall reserved for such announcements as well as the official website of the township and the proper filing of said notice formal action may be taken at this meeting Council I'd like to ask for a motion to suspend the regular order of business so moved second thank you councilman tol and that was councilman Smith thank you uh at this time we're going to um suspend the regular business for a special Proclamation for Eagle Scout Anderson schifferstein for his project and first I'd like to ask the clerk to please read the proclamation and then we'll have Anderson come up and meet with the mayor than you can come up now Anderson come on up whereas the community of Clark Township takes great pride in recognizing and honoring outstanding individ uals who demonstrate exceptional dedication and service to our [Music] community and whereas the attainment of the rank of Eagle Scout is a significant achievement that reflects the highest ideals of leadership service and commitment to community and whereas Anderson schifferstein a distinguished member of our community has exemplified these qualities through his exemplary service project and whereas Anderson's Eagle Scout project at the clerk Township Library demonstrates his ability to plan budget time and provide leadership to others extended throughout the Project's ex execution as evidenced by his initiative in soliciting Lego donation kits his Hands-On contribution in building a Lego display case and his assistance in organizing the Lego sets into boxes for patrons of all ages to check out and whereas the Lego lending library project not only enhances the educational and recreational offerings of our Public Library to the Clark Community but also Fosters a sense of community engagement and inclusivity by providing accessible resources for all ages now therefore I Salvatore bonacorso mayor of Clark New Jersey do hereby commend and honor Anderson schifferstein for his outstanding leadership dedication and service to our community his initiative Ingenuity and commitment to making a positive difference are truly commendable and serve as an inspiration to all residents we extend our heartfelt appreciation to Anderson schifferstein his family friends fellow Scouts and all who supported him in the successful completion of this impactful project May Anderson schiffer's contributions continue to enrich the lives of our community members for generations to come and it's signed mayor Sal before I present the proclamation to Anderson I'd just like to say um I don't think his last name is any stranger to Clark right if you end up down Madison Hill Road longstanding Community family here and uh Anderson is a young man of many talents it's not only with the Boy Scouts and achiev his Eagle Scout today he's a honor student he's a athlete he's a good citizen he was in our Memorial Day Parade he de deor at the float that the schifferstein family uh always brings to the parade every year he's always helping out on his dad's uh business on Madison Hill Road and I know him for quite some time now the only thing I can't do anymore with him is I can't beat him in one-on-one he's Much Too Tall and com to basketball but you know this again Eagle Scout Boy Scout scouting Girl Scouts however you want to put it all together is a is a great great part of growing up and um doing things for the community and you know just it's USA all the way I mean what else how else can I say it so Anderson I'd like to give you this Proclamation on behalf of myself and the township Council and uh we're very proud of you and your efforts and we wish you all the best in the upcoming years and we'll take picture right here okay all right folks come on up and his family is coming up I think they're very familiar to our community we can see that Anderson's eating a lot of food off the farm right come on in come on in all right thank you man thank you thank you so much congratulations thank you so much com thank you so much all righty and while what's that thank you and while I'm up here I will uh give a plug to Sherer Stein Farm on Madison Hill Road fruits vegetables flowers tomato plants Shrubbery mulch you got it they're there good people and the one thing I will say about Sherin family they always support our community no matter what the adventure is they're there and been there for a long a lot of years so as we always say help the ones in Clark that help our community all the time and we appreciate their friendship to the town and your achievement that I Anderson is is remarkable and terrific so God bless you and keep up the good work thank [Applause] you so Anderson on behalf of the council we congratulate you and um if you have some time or interest in Legos please participate in the benefits of the project that Anderson put together um 30 uh Lego um packs were donated to the library through his efforts there's a complete video on YouTube on the uh Township YouTube channel on his project so I hope you'll take a look at that and one of the things to keep in mind it's it's not just you know this is for family activities uh families to get involved with and Legos for are for all ages now so they have all different types of Legos available so thank you again and uh this time if if you like to stay you're welcome to stay or you can go on and uh enjoy this lovely long day thank you at this time I'd like to ask uh the council for a motion to resume the regular order of business thank you councilman tol I'll second thank you councilman Manti at this time we're going to move on to Communications from the mayor and reports of the township officers thank you madam president members of council and Ladies and Gentlemen of the community that are here tonight uh I'd just like to run down a couple of items here uh Rock The Block that um gwac our Chamber of Commerce is having our first annual Street Fair here it's going to be out in front of the um Brewer municipal building and the high school and eventually someday when the lower part of Westfield Avenue is built that's where it would tend to be to promote the businesses that are going to be going in there eventually so uh it's from 10: to 5: uh it seems like it's going to be a great time it's going to be a little warm so come out enjoy yourself there's food there's drinks there's lots of stands vendors I I think it's going to be a great great day and our first ever in the community so I'm very happy and proud to see that happen um I see some friends here from the reservoir tonight uh Reservoir committee group and I would like to remind you that the meeting you need to be at is July 2nd right here in the council chambers Union County will be hosting that meeting and that is when you could get up and give your compliments complaints or opinions um I do want to remind you that this is a free country and you're uh at a public meeting and you're well welcome to come up and speak about it but I'm going to tell you right up front there's nothing we're going to tell you because it's not our project it's not our meeting that is July 2nd if you want to voice your opinion you can be there I know there was about 15 people down at the county last night good for you uh people need to hear your opinion whether it's Pro con as mayor I've been hearing a lot of both out there I have people telling me they're Pro the project they're con the project and there's other people telling me somewhere in the middle as I said to them I appreciate their um interest and their concerns or their compliments but this is a Union County Commissioners project uh the ba and myself are in contact with the Union County Commissioner quite often I was on the phone with him this morning talking about certain concerns certain things and they've been very very good to deal with the only thing I can tell you folks is my 28 years in dealing with Union County um they've always done the right thing for our community starting with Esposito's Park and so on and so forth with many projects it's nice to see um different parties in government like in Clark and the county get along so well and work together so well because the way I've always done my business with them is you're not going to see me screaming and yelling at them I believe in communication through conver face-to-face conversation across the table on a telephone that's the way I've been very successful I do want to remind the reservoir folks folks if you don't mind me calling you that tonight I grew up on the reservoir Victoria Drive dur I know that body of water like no one because I did everything there was to do on that body of water and uh about four or five years ago I started the project to dredge the reservoir and that is still my main concern is getting that res Reservoir dredged um I did communicate with them when they said they were going to look about some open space Recreation some ideas I had that I don't think our community would like and to be careful of doing those things they know where I stand on those issues and in the meantime it's their project folks if you like to say something be my guest but it's you know the right church if I can say that on July second but this is the wrong Parish to talk to because we don't have answers to your questions and we're not going to be able to have them it's going to be a county meeting I will be here and I'm sure many members of council will be here and we will not be sitting up there we'll be sitting down here and they will handle the meeting it's going to be uh they put it from 7:00 to 9:00 right here on July 2nd so I'm sure we'll see you all out then thank you very much for that uh Clark and the Kerry group on Terminal Avenue are having a um photo contest it's of about people places nature wildlife and you can find that all more information on our Clark social media or I'm sure our website this is for 18 and over and this is for people who live work or school in the Clark community so I think that should be pretty exciting and interesting and let's see what some nice photos you may come up with of our great community and people who are here I'd like to grad uh congratulate all the graduates from prek right on up to college uh I was at the high school graduation last night as I normally attend every year and it was a very nice young group of uh Young lady and young men they were well behaved there were some great accolades and there was some really great um um statements about achievement the first thing I do every year when I go to the high school graduation I get this is fantastic I go right to the page of where our young ladies and men our young men are going to which college in universities and I'm going to tell you something people say Clark educ is not up to par well I completely disagree with that because when you look at the universities that our young men and women are attending they're tops in the nation and uh you know we also have our boys and girls going into trade school and beauty school and Military and I wish them all the best because I was very proud to see what went on there last night not going to take councilman best Thunder but the summer camp will be starting July right in July the pool is open get in touch with Ralph if you haven't joined and I'd like to thank everyone who attended and uh participated in the Memorial Day Parade in ceremony it was a great job by Ralph Bernardo and his staff and I thought it was a great parade and I was happy to see the great turnout remembering our fallen heroes it's very important to remember that I have a police report from May 1 to June 19th there were motor vehicle stops 338 motor vehicle stops in down there were 59 radar details out and there was 14 traffic enforcements that's when they send the car out to watch people blowing stop signs or things of that nature there're certain making illegal turns they do that and that's a good thing too um I'm going to tell you folks that it's summer people are out walking people are on bicycles please drive safely I know the town empties out the county empties out this is the only time during the year you can go out on a Saturday night and not worry about getting shut out at a table because everybody's down the shore especially with weather like this be careful out there but the thing is is that you know speeding has been a concern of a lot of neighborhoods please drive with care please just drive with care um you know you never know who's going to jump out behind a car a human being an animal you you don't want to see that happen so thank you for my report uh for listening to my report tonight and have a wonderful evening thank you mayor that might be the first round of applause I got in a long time on a on a opening report guys come back next month I like that thank you okay at this time we're going to move on to uh Council uh member committee reports councilman hund thank you very very much council president I have the Clark Police Department monthly report to piggy back on what the mayor just stated on May for month of may we saw a total of 2,23 calls for service including but not limited to 102 ambulance requests three arrive requests three fire department requests 11 motor vehicle and Resident lockouts 79 alarm calls 89 motor vehicle accidents 31 shoplifting and theft eight fraud and identity theft and 234 were 911 calls and 1 1,383 were miscellaneous calls there was a total of 24 adult arrests including but not limited to 13 for shoplifting two for DUI one for aggravated assault and five warrants the youth B the youth Bureau handled a total of 21 cases included including but not limited to one for aggravated assault one criminal mischief one for harassment one for disorderly conduct six for offenses against the family and 20 cases were in-house disposition and one was formly charged that completes my report thank you very much thank you councilman hunt councilman medidi uh thank you council president in the month of May the Clark fire department responded to 21 calls this total is 185 for the year the calls include but are not limited to numerous odor and alarm calls there was one call for Mutual aid from another town one call for a motor vehicle incident on Garden State Parkway and one call for medical assistance and collaboration with the Clark EMS um as always I want to thank the members of the Clark fire department for their hard work dedication keeping our town safe thank you that concludes my report thank you councilman Manti councilman OK Conor thank you from the finance committee the township continues to be able to meet its current obligations and unfortunately I do not have a report from the emergency Squad thank you thank you councilman Smith hey thank you from the pool and wreck department uh if you're interested in still registering your child for the Clark summer wreck program please do so ASAP or you can contact Ralph Bernardo em emly Lambert at 732 428 8400 the recck camp is open to Clark residents only in prek through 9th grade it runs July 1st through August 8th and it goes Monday through Thursdays from 8:00 a.m. to 12 regarding the Clark community pool uh with the hot weather we've been experienced it's a perfect time uh to please uh go on down register and get a membership the pools open every day now through Labor Day September 2nd uh you can register online at www.car.com or you can always stop down by the pool and register in person this is the 50th anniversary of the pool this year so there's a lot of events planned uh throughout the summer season so come on out have some fun and that's all I have this evening thank you thank you councilman Smith councilman toll thank you M president um I'm just going to from last month and I'm going to keep it quick and short last month I said to the residents of this community I went on record to be have your voice heard very simple with regards to the reservoir I'm talking about the rese the county is giving you an opportunity to be heard your opinions your thoughts please attend the meeting if they have a type of sign up or enrollment do what they ask be heard I spoke my piece I said I want open space preservation passive nonstructured and dredge dredge dredge I repeated my comments I'm going to leave it at that I hope to see you at the meeting and be heard that's what this is all about this is America this is Clark New Jersey this is Union County New Jersey they have this saying thank you madam president may I ask question yes councilman were you down at the Freeholder meeting last night I was not S I was working okay yeah well obviously work comes first did you go last month after the um me our meeting I think the next night was that were you adding that one no no service I know there was some people down there and I haven't seen you to find out you weren't are you going to be here July 2nd I plan on it sir okay great than you okay thank you just fig trying to figure out if you were there because I know they told me they were and I wasn't sure who was there thank [Music] you okay I'd like to give a report on the library uh last month I mentioned to you that um we had a suspension of our catalog for the library uh as you may recall less than a year ago we join the lmxac so this is a Consortium of libraries as a result of joining that Consortium we now have 1.2 million resources available to us when you log on to the library website any time of the day night any time of the year um you can therefore uh see if there's something available at a local library I know if I couldn't find something in Clark I'd look on the raway site I'd look on the Cranford site Etc now you can just see it all in one site if you want to go pick it up you can pick it up or you can order it and it'll be delivered to the library um for your convenience so again you have access to all of that in addition there are other features that are available one is called hoopla which has various um online movies music Etc so I suggest that you take a look at that so it's very nice to be uh a part of the largest collection in the state of New Jersey um we are saving a lot of money in all the purchases that the library makes as a result of joining this Consortium so when we buy equipment when we buy subscriptions we're getting extra discounts because now we are bigger and have more resources available to us so the reason for the um suspension uh over two weeks was because we are they have changed their name and upgraded the software that's available and it's called Stella which uh I probably in Latin means it star but uh uh that acronym also means star in Italian so um I hope you will take a look at that now you see the lot the parking lot's pretty full tonight um tonight is the kickoff for the children's summer reading program there are going to be a lot of reading programs Monday night I think they have a uh adult Bingo to kick off that program um and there'll be many many programs available this summer in addition to all the summer reading programs I suggest that you um check out the library's website and then take advantage of all those programs this summer and also if you can take a look at Anderson's project there are Legos uh there are sets of Legos there's one of the um Titanic it's huge so there are some some of the um kits or can only be used at the library but some can be taken out also uh Anderson created a display so when the children or anyone creates um one of the um models it's put on display for a while so check out what the kids are doing and the adults are doing and also check it out for yourself and that concludes my report on the library um okay so we're going to move on to ordinances Appropriations and claims in the public hearing on proposed ordinances so I'm going to turn it over to the clerk at this time thank you madam president for the record no objection have been received in connection with the proposed ordinance ordinance 24-11 and ordinance to amend and supplement section 2 entitled fees of chapter 122 entitled construction codes uniform of the code of the township of Clark time I'd like to open up this public hearing for this ordinance I'll move that thank you uh do I have a second I'll second no that's okay uh we just uh let um we'll do that yeah I'm going to open it we'll close it later um is there anyone who would like to speak on this ordinance seeing no one I'll accept councilman Hun's motion to close the meeting on the uh discussion and uh do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman ' Conor um all in favor I okay um Mr olich do you have any further comments on the ordinance before we yeah this is a a a quick one it's only to um add a fee for back Val backwash valves um being installed in commercial buildings to keep stagnant water from mixing with fresh water thank you okay council do I have a motion to adopt the ordinance I'll move that thank you councilman medidi do you have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith Madame clerk can you call the roll when you're ready councilman hund yes councilman Mani yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes ordinance adopted this time we'll move on to the payment of claims uh councilman OK Conor will we give you a report please thank you I have reviewed the bills toing $254,600 this is an opportunity for anyone here to come up and talk about items or questions they have about items on the agenda for tonight's resolutions seeing no one I'd like a motion to close this portion of the meeting move thank you councilman oconor do have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith all in favor I thank you at this time we're going to move on to the resolution so I'm going to hand it back over to the clerk first resolution is the council as the ABC Board authorizing the annual renewal of alcoholic beverage licenses for the 2024 2025 term council do I have a motion I'd like to move that thank you councilman Smith do you have a second I'll second that thank you councilman maniti we'll take a roll call when you're ready Madam clerk councilman hundt yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes okay next resolution is Council as the pool utility authorizing the pool rates and fees for the 2024 pool season okay uh Mr ol would you like to make a comment um yeah so the pull fees are the same the only thing that we added was a resident militarian veteran and a non-resident military or veteran uh price so they both get discounts um you know for the in honor of this service thank you um I'll move that thank you Council Smith do you have a second I'd like to second that please thank you councilman oconor roll call when you're ready councilman hund yes councilman manid yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number four is approving the submission of a Grant application and execution of a grant contract with the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the Valley Road Improvement project section two I'll move that please please thank you thank you councilman hunt do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith um Mr or did you want to make a comment as everybody um recalls we got the first half of the grant for in 2024 for part of Valley Road this is the second half um we're going to do a a full Paving of Valley Road as opposed to mobilizing and then breaking down and then remobilizing uh we do have two years to spend the 2024 grant money so that won't be an issue and this way we pave all of Valley Road um at one time that's great so we've maximized our do grants by using it for one long road in two projects that'll be put together that's fantastic thank you um Madame clerk um let's see wait a second we got to do the Motions first uh you have you have roll call please councilman hunt yes Council Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number five is appointing Theodore pavano and Alexander medrick as members of the Clark volunteer fire department I'll move that thank you councilman Manti do you have a second thank you pleas Conor okay um roll call please councilman Hy yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes uh as and as we discussed at our Workshop meeting we wish both gentleman Theodore pavano and Alexander medric best of luck and we appreciate their service so thank you okay number six is seeking approval of the director of the division of local government services for insertion of a special item of Revenue in the amount of 39,00 83321 for the clean communities Grant do you have a motion I'll move that please thank you councilman o Conor thank you councilman Smith um roll call please councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number seven is seeking approval of the director of the division of local government services for insertion of a special item of Revenue the amount of $64,000 for the local Recreation Improvement Grant uh Mr Al do you want to elaborate further on this special Grant yeah I'll just Chim up on this one Madam president uh thank you we're going for a grant to expand the restrooms at the uh Brewer gymnasium area uh I guess when you run such a popular Recreation program as Ralph does the building is always full it's always crowded our summer camp is 8 900 kids a day there and we need some extra bathroom space so we're not really going crazy we're going to um add a couple of facilities in there it's not so much a big construction project we are bumping out a little bit of the men's room to fit another commode in there but it's something going to be done uh hopefully sometime in August when uh everything slows down at the rec center so for your comfort and enjoyment thank you thank you do I have a motion Council yes I'll move that thank you do I have a second I'll second that please thank you councilman Smith and councilman OK Conor a roll call Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president alanes yes okay number eight is Award of contract to waste management of New Jersey for solid services for bulky waste type 13 and 13c at a rate of $114.2 per ton move that please thank you councilman hun do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith roll call when you're ready councilman hunt yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number nine is authorizing the tax collector to prepare and mail estimated tax bills in accordance with public laws of 1994 chapter 72 okay so this uh resolution is giving permission to prepare estimated tax bills since the state did not get back to us on our final tax rate all the paperwork has been submitted quite a while while back um since they're running behind we'll be uh issuing estimated tax bills to August 1st do you have a motion I'll move that thank you councilman medidi do you have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith roll call when you're ready Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman Mani yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes this time we'll move on to the consented agenda resolutions first resolution is refunding construction permit number 23688 for 37 Lupine way in the amount of $400 number 11 is authorizing the tax collector to refund over payment of sewer fees in the amount of $150 12 is authorizing the tax collector to refund overpayment of taxes in the amount of $ 17,635 71 and 13 is authorizing the tax collector to apply sewer account Bal balance adjustments as credit in the amount of $458 37 do you have a motion to adopt Council I move that thank you Council Manti thank you councilman Hy roll call when you're ready Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president Alban yes at this time we'll um I'll ask the clerk do we have any new business on the calendar there is no new business okay this time we'll move on to public comments I'm going to open up the meeting uh for anyone who would like to come forward if you come forward please state your name and address for the clerk and all remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and shall not exceed 5 minutes in duration there anyone who wishes to come forward hello Nancy tws 43 Colonial Drive I prepared something tonight which really is to address the people here and not to address the county I'll do something different for them in particular so I'm going to read what I prepared because I've practiced it a couple times at the Town council meeting on June 3rd I became aware of a project Union County is embarking on to turn several areas of natural preserves in Clark into asphalt and playgrounds I sent an email to the business administrator and the members of the council I also spoke at the last two County Commissioner meetings after I was born I came home from the hospital to Clark New Jersey when it was lots of farms and woods as a kid I played with the other neighborhood kids in the woods behind our houses until the developers got a hold of the Kaufman property and changed the idyllic area to homes and asphalt but at least back then developers left trees on the properties now there are no single family houses being built no Woods no Farms except for the shiffer I'm not sure if they're still here for now and instead we have huge apartment complexes storage facilities and asphalts I know we can't turn back the clock but we have a chance to save a bit of the past by asking the County Commissioners to rethink the size and scope of the Clark Reservoir project the Dr dredging narration of the reservoir are great plans and maybe one boat launch and a fishing pier a couple natural walking paths but the rest of the plans are just another destruction of nature for gadgets that need maintenance increases traffic on roads with speeding issues already and attracts visitors who leave garbage and make noise so the quiet space that used to be there is now a neighborhood annoyance I do have a comment about the money and just on for on the record the project received $40 million of which 30 million came from the American Rescue plan which is the co relief stimulus package and I'll leave it for the county to ask about understand and understanding how a park justifies this spending out of a pandemic funds how many of the Clark elected officials walked Wendel Place lefors Lane Lakewood Boulevard Yorktown Drive Featherbed Lane Melvin Court we're talking about at least five neighborhoods in Wards two and four has anyone visited owners of the houses on Wendell lefors Francis Lakeside Melvin and Moore to see what their lives are like now and envision their lives with parking lots Boat Trailers people that don't know walking the walking paths that cut along their yards Kitty trains whistleblowing while they're relaxing with the barbecue I've done that door knocking and walking and it's heartbreaking even though I'm not directly affected by the reservoir project I'm here to support my fellow towns people because that is the type of town Clark is Neighbors helping neighbors neighbors that is what forms the fabric of Clark I'm a member of a Grassroots group calling ourselves Clark Reservoir committee we started a petition and have over 850 signatures with 600 from Clark 50 from Cranford 49 from raway 37 from Union 26 from Lyndon 20 from Westfield and 14 from Scotch Plains I left a copy of the peti petitions with the clerk at the County Commissioners meeting last night I hope you will work with the citizens of Clark is speaking out an objection to the size and scope of the Clark Reservoir proposed recreational area as elected officials in a democracy which is a word that is way overused nowadays but it's a system of government by the whole population through elected representatives you are our voice our elected representatives give people hope so they stop saying government will do what it wants to do and as for the meeting refer to was a meet and greet at the commissioner's meeting last night let's make sure that the July 2nd meeting which is a curious day a lot of people might not be able to attend that it's broadcasted taped maybe zoomed be totally transparent and not have it look like a performative check the box move please help save Clark maybe write a resolution stand with the people thank you thank you [Applause] come forward how you doing uh Ron ordner 89 Francis Drive I want toe I want to First say thank you for getting the county in here S I appreciate that um as well getting them in here but like she mentioned July 2nd's kind of a questionable date reason being probably the biggest vacation week of the year we're asking you if you guys could also set another date up I understand that there's meetings at the county level Ron excuse me for interrup no you can interrupt I know you're pretty well so I can interrupt the friend if I will but anyhow um Jim and I were working on trying to get something sooner and the county needs to get their Commissioners their Engineers you know so it's a lot of it is a lot of moving Parts they weren't trying to delay it or play any games we were trying to get it like this week there was a lot of uh High School graduation going on uh so people had commitments with that uh next week I think a couple that are Engineers couldn't make it if I recall properly so you know we were hustling them to go along and they were working hard with us on it they weren't stonewalling us but it's like okay this is the date can we do that and figure hey it's better than waiting till later in July so that's why it was no I appreciate everything you've done I no I just want to explain to you I know if we can have another meeting I I got Ron I don't in my long time in this business and I got to say dealing with the county have always they've always been very fair with me I didn't see any stonewalling they were trying to accommodate it as quickly as possible but there's a lot of moving Parts with people so I just wanted you to know that you know I'm okay with the dredging obviously has a lot to do with in my opinion the flooding in the town um I just think when you give the county $40 million they don't need to spend all 40 they can probably use that money somewhere else in the county and I'll talk to the county on that but that's all I want to say thank you thank you forward thank you Bonnie bustler I live on 95 mow Road and I don't know if if this is the place to ask questions or not but I took a ride down Wendell today and the thought of opening that up to parking areas and children safety I just question the safety of that measure to put all of that activity in the reservoir area and I wondered if our Police Department is a size to take care of what will happen with the influx of people coming in I also wondered why I think in 2016 there was a discussion about putting a um ice rink concession stand in oakd park and that did not take place and now they're talking about putting it in the reservoir area and I agree with what people are saying in regard to the noise and the privacy and the safety for children and animals and I I don't know I won't be here on uh July 2nd but I don't know if do I send a letter to somebody how do I approach this you would have you would have to approach it by sending a letter to the county manager or an email to the county manager and express and your um thoughts and opinion on it and if you don't have that capability and you want to bring it by Town Hall Jim and one of our staff members will email it for you we can scan it and email it for you and not to debate because we let you have your five minutes but there's no ice rink going in there there's a plastic skating area but it's not the ice rink that they were talking about at oakd Park the one at oakd Park was being talked about was what's in Warren AO park right now I know there are some misconceptions and I don't want to interrupt you as a speaker but there is no ice rink going in there as you might think okay and what about a concession stand true so far it's on the plan and just let me make one other thing clear folks um the couny also said to me that they had to have a plan to submit to D to get permit processing going and that takes a long time for what's most important to me the dredging and it this is not a concrete plan it's not etched in concrete please understand that it's a concept and Concepts should bring debate and ideas and I'm all for that you know not anger not you know we're not going to show up here with torches and swords and go after the C no express your in a professional manner your thoughts and and ideas like you are tonight to the folks that were up so far and then they'll I think take a favorable look to what the majority is looking for but I'm sorry go ahead man' well who do I ask the question of can our Police Department handle that you can ask that question to me yes they can number one the site itself will be govern uh patrolled by the County Police okay they would be controlled by the County Police you know folks I know you don't like the entertainment aspect of the park I get that I read social media I've talked to a lot of people and I've talked to people that are very happy about it also so you know there's pro and con on both sides of the aisle but at the end of the day they're not putting bowcraft in here I mean it's not bowcraft amusement park with you know they're going to have a concession stand they want to have kayaking on the water which if you're talking about nature I'm all for it because I think putting a child a young man who grew up in this town in the reservoir we didn't have kayaks what we used to do is take cement mixer they were called Tin Tins and we used to go out in them okay I mean after we played baseball for eight hours that day and we float around in our backyard and we thought what we were doing but you know in my opinion even even if it was pass just the way it is it's going to be more Community I mean do you really think people are coming from Union or Berkeley Heights or New Providence for a little Choo Cho training ride and a little Carousel I don't think so in my own opinion I don't think so and I'm not saying they're going to be there it's my opinion you have yours so you know I'm not buying in Wendel place I lived on Wendel place at my wife when we first got married I know the value of wend place one lady brought that up so I get all that so those are the things I'm concerned about but yes we can handle it but to you thank you okay appreciate that thank you so much okay I wasn't intending on speaking tonight I'm my name is Annabella ordner and I live on 89 Francis drive but from my understanding it would be the third county park within a couple of Miles um I just feel like I live right behind the woods I enjoy the wildlife even at night when I hear the fox crunching on whatever it is they're crunching on I love the deer coming up to my fence um I just feel like why do we need another County Park in this small town why not maintain the parks we already have um I love the reservoir I love the view I'm not against Outsiders I am an outsider I grew up in Elizabeth um I teach in Warren Township now so I'm not against Outsiders coming in I don't necessarily feel the park will draw I mean the train is questionable um I do feel some people will come I went to pund Roa park for the spray park when my kids were small that's fun so that's fun the spray park exactly so there will be people drawn and again I I don't even care put that little choo choo train in echol Lake or Esposito find like one of the other County parks in this area to do that for preserve that Wildlife it's beautiful back there I always told people I swore I would never live in Union County again moved out of Union County for a little while I lived in Middle sex County and I swear I would never me move back to Union County there Texas um but I did and when I moved into Union County I was going through a lot with my little one and I fell in love I can't even remember what my house looked like when I bought that house in 2010 but I remember the reservoir I remember the woods I remember nature and I said and I keep saying to people I don't even feel like I'm in Union County when I'm home I hope that you would support and fight for us maintain the parks you already have I don't mind a pair out there I think it's great we've let kids through our yard into the woods to go fishing I don't mind those kinds of things but a choo choo train preserve that let them walk through the woods put a nice walking path out to the reservoir put a little dock there kayak I love the idea but preserve it I think I want to feel like I always felt I don't even feel like I'm in Union County when I'm out there I grew up in Elizabeth and I hope that you would consider these things I hope this is not going to become a political issue but just to preserve the Integrity the wildlife that little piece of heaven that we have in Clark let's keep it the way it is [Applause] March bson from Winter Court um I'm not here to argue about this plan for the reservoir but I'm here to try to understand why our councel and our mayor um are not going to take a stand against Union County to prevent this from happening it seems to me that our town government should be protecting the Tranquility privacy and property value of its citizens here and the homeowners near that Park that they're talking about constructing are going to be horribly affected by the presence of of something like that it doesn't belong there Union Cy's got Oakridge they could do whatever they want they took it away from all the golfers in the county I don't agree with the mayor that Union County makes wonderful decisions I could go through a whole list but but that's not your problem I'm just here because I really feel that Clark's government should be helping its citizens protect the environment by their homes thank you well I i' like to as you sit down had your time I'd like to take that comment and resent you have no clue what I'm talking to the county about and why and I'm not make it into a political issue I can make this into a republican Democrat issue like that but when you have 28 years in government and you learn how to work with people to get the most out of the county for your citizens I can tell you right now there hasn't been a mayor in the history of this town and maybe others they got more out of Union County than I have working across the party aisle so if you want us to show up with chains and torches and screaming yell and carry on you got the wrong mayor I do my business across tables at conference rooms and on telephones so I resent that you said we're not sticking up I got a little news for you Mr person and you're my neighbor across the street from me excuse I heard exactly what you said I heard exactly what you said that we're not taking a stand there excuse me excuse me there's nothing to understand I told you earlier in the evening what I was doing on your behalf but there are also people out here who like the idea who like the idea so where do what do I do with them I just say oh I got to go with them because they have green shirts on and they're talking louder I have to strike a balance between the people who don't want it and the people who do want it to try to as Ronald Reagan once said try to get 75% of what you want and work on the other 25% later so I don't want this if this is going to be a political issue for the other side of the aisle they can be my guest and make it a political issue we're not making it a political issue we'll deal in a proper manner and professional manner with the county like we have been doing I was on the phone at 9:30 this morning with the county manager did you know that Jim has spent how many phone calls with the county manager I've been back and forth with him he's a wonderful guy he does a great job for Clark for me he helps me there's people throughout Union County that may love them and may not for me he's always dealt with me above board so if we want to make this into a political issue as I said earlier in the night you got the wrong people we're going to do it on a professional level if the other side wants to use this and make it into a campaign issue be my guest I really don't care we're going to try to get what's best for Clark I hope we win thank you is there anyone else who would like to come forward hello everyone I'm John Victor Jacobson I'm a disabled veteran a ground zero Survivor and I live at One Melbourne court at the end of the reservoir there and it's a beautiful view we have there the reservoir and uh we've been there for 24 years and really enjoy it um I guess what I want to say is when is the dredging proposed to begin that's one thing I wanted to ask John as far as our conversations with the County Manager they're hoping for the end of the year but realistically probably early next year okay all right that's good to know thank you and uh the other thing I guess I wanted to know was um um well I just I just I gu want to ask you s if you could you know have them scale it back a little bit or talk to them about scaling back the park a little bit because it's you're surrounding Agnes Church there and to have like a carnival ride train to run around a a a church on a Sunday really kind of a kind of it's not a it's it's not a good fit so I think if we could scale back on that whole plan John all I can promise you is I've been speaking with the County Manager on all aspects of the plan excellent so you know I'm not saying all negative there's positive in there too but we're speaking about everything because we're getting getting we volunteered to have you send the emails to my administrator so we kind of knew what you were thinking and send them ahead to the county and we've been doing that plus as you know I'm in this town day and night and talking to people all over so I'm hearing all kinds of things and as things pop in I'm relaying them to them so we are talking them about all aspects of the project in a professional not at an open public meeting but like I said one thing that concerned me just just popped up is with all the edging that's going to happen it's going to really muck up the roads I think pretty badly and some of those roads are going to be have to be repaved and maybe the county could kick in for that too okay yeah so the County's going to follow all the D requirements and a lot of most of the um sediment that they take out is going to be dried on site so there's not going to be mud going across the streets um they only have the proposing two locations that they're going to be taking it out of and it's you know you're right there's going to be and it's going to be dried out on site that's again that's that's their plan we we need to wait see what the D approves you're welcome is there anyone else who would like to come forward yeah dilia Collins 72 Georgia Street Clark I attended both meetings uh at the uh Freeholder Commissioners last night we were there and I had some concerns regarding safety water safety potential vandalism preventative me measures on the docks and boat ramps um because even in our little area of Clark in the we had a fire in our little Park several years ago started by citizens children I'm sorry from Cranford so you know not everyone that comes into Clark is here to have a good time um the one thing that disturbs me that the mayor keeps saying that he can't get involved but okay you said you don't want to hear about it let's um let her make her statement and then you can reut what I would like you to do is since this map that the county supplies or the CM CME supplied which I made copies of it's very hard to read if you try to enlarge it to make is there a digital copy of this plan that we can try and enlarge it that was produced by the county so I think you should perhaps discuss that with them okay well I can ask I'm sure it's available I'm sure it's available I can't see why they wouldn't be able to provide that usually it's on site you might have to go on site okay and I pulled some articles from the tap into Clark uh back in 2015 uh Mr bonacorso said the dredging will improve the storm water runoff and it will have a positive effect impact on wildlife in the reservoir uh in 2020 there has been ideas for a passive Recreation that were sketched out in the past we refer them to them I'm sorry we can refer to them when the time comes but be assured we are not looking to put things in residents backyards well the people who live on Francis Drive the people that live on window place the people that live in the area it is going into their backyards take a walk down Miller Avenue see when you can look out onto the Serene area of the reservoir from Miller Avenue it is beautiful there are deer there was even a man out there fishing the day that I went by and I walked over along um sorry excuse me I walked along Lakeside Drive I went down Bartell I went down Richard Yorktown Charles Catherine Street and all these lead to the edge of the reservoir and all these homes that are there through the years they've kept the property up and I've heard that they uh the area extends all the way to the back of the Falls uh but people in Clark don't realize the whole list of what is happening in this area just not only the amusement park but during by the Hungarian club which is old rid Road there's going to be another boat ramp and 32 parking spaces along with a maintenance garage the disc golf is going to be behind the grand centurions there's no parking there other than parking in the amusement park the people on Wendel place are receiving 18 parking space is along with the boat ramp and on the on the um down slope of Madison Hill Road by St Mary's there's going to be a pedestrian activated traffic light along with one on riton road by sorry Featherbed Lane which there's already a traffic light at Madison Hill Road and ritton road I travel in Cranford every day they have these pedestrian activated traffic signals people don't stop and the Downs slope on Madison Hill Road by St Mary's people do not go the traffic speed limit on um okay we have L Side Drive Bartel Place walking walking trail 18 parking spaces environmental and a History Center on Madison Hill Road 18 parking spaces a total of over almost 200 parking basis from this project and that means a lot of cars are going to be coming through Clark um a lot of people are going to be coming into Clark and I think time's up okay okay um I think we get the point and I think you know those who are watching this program are getting that information as well as Nancy visited the residents so this is good good material thank you is there anyone else who would like to come forward [Applause] good evening uh Mary czo semler uh 56 Cong here in Clark um so I do understand from everybody here I had uh several things I wanted to say but I don't want to repeat what other people have said um so I'm here actually to make a suggestion uh we know that uh July 2nd is the meeting uh that the county will be here making a presentation uh we also know as has been stated here that is that is probably uh one of the highest weeks of vacation of the year so my suggestion is given that this project is such is of such great size and significance uh to the people of Clark that we work with the county to see if we can add a meeting at sometime in the future to allow ample notice for people to attend and if we think there's going to be a lot of people perhaps have a space that's appr apprpriate for the number of people that would be attending so that would be my suggestion so that given that everybody for and against and everywhere in between has something to say and it is likely to be one of the biggest things that affect affects our community for many years to come that we ensure that we have full participation from the community so I would say you know rather than say everybody's going to be away um and people can't participate and we're sending emails which is certainly fine because we should be encouraging communication that we try to work with the county perhaps on a date in August or later sometime before the project is due to start so that everybody has the opportunity to be heard okay thank you thank [Applause] you good evening Council and Mayor John Greaves 30 Parkway Drive uh is this right I just uh just wanted to speak a little bit about something else but I guess you know seeing tonight um I was at the meeting the county meeting last night and uh I saw these people and some others speaking about the uh Reservoir and you know it's great to see the community coming together to have their voice heard and um I I kind of saw tonight kind of what I think I saw last night as well is that I they don't seem like it seems to me that they don't feel like they're being heard and they're coming to you guys asking for help and I don't think that the way that the mayor acted tonight demonstrates that a willingness to help them and that's that's just not the way what happened tonight was not necessary the mayor can take exception to things I don't think that every single thing that is you know asked by the community every single detail needs to be absolutely enacted by the Council of the mayor but it should be heard and it should be responded to respectfully I don't think that that lady deserve what happened tonight and I'm I'm just not very happy with that um so I I'm not going to repeat what's been said these people have a better understanding of of what's going on there so um I would just say please try and be better Advocates better representatives for these people they're just concerned about things that are going on right in their backyard um they maybe they get upset maybe they upset you guys but they don't deserve that type of response um on another note the thing that I was actually um a little uh I I wanted to bring before the reservoir stuff was um the 27 Westfield Avenue development that was approved by the planning board um is that going to be a pilot or do we have any information on that there's no information about it yet okay so it could be it could not we don't know yet is there any idea of when we might know some of that information when they bring it to us okay if they want to okay um would is the council thinking about doing a pilot there because it doesn't seem like a good that's not how it works well why would the council think about it when it's the uh owner of the property's option to come to us we don't think about it if he comes to us and asks for a plan then we talk to them about it we don't sit there and say oh gee there's a vacant lot there that might be built on should it be a pilot or shouldn't it be a pilot right so what happens is the planning board makes a decision if it's an area of need of Redevelopment if it qualifies if it qualifies upon the request so the request has to be made first then an evaluation is done and then that's presented to the council after the planning board does its work that's how the process works okay okay um so let me just at least put it out there and just say that I would not like to see that particular property um get uh a pilot um program because we have to follow the laws okay laws you guys have discre evaluation would be done upon the request if it's legally permissible then it would be presented to the council and I'm asking you guys make those laws okay but yes they can ask of course it's legally permissible to ask and it's legally permissible to petition for something what I'm saying is is please don't because the pilot programs hurt our schools and it's there is no no impact on the schools for pilots and in particular the township of Clark has given the money that the school would have received to the schools would have to of their budget but would have received prior to the development that's what I believe the ordinance was so prior to development there was not 39 units there after the development there are 39 units there so there's a very good chance that there's going to be additional um students maybe it's not 39 students but it's going to be more than was there before probably and that adds students to the school burden on the school and if they're getting the same as before they're try they have to do more with the same amount as before and I don't like seeing that and also you know 30 seconds okay so real quick um it just seems like you guys are or or not you guys but the developer is removing uh there's two small businesses there there's a sushi place and um I think that's a salon next to it and then um it's going to be replaced with one smaller much smaller square footage um small business and for a downtown area that's going to be kind of a business district that seems counterintuitive and I don't like that um I have I have more to say about it but my time is up I appreciate your time thank you very [Applause] much anyone else who would like to come forward okay seeing no one I'd like to close this portion of the meeting so moved thank you councilman Smith thank you councilman hunt we are going to move on to mayor council and professional comments at this time mayor yes thank you uh Madame President um just to clear up a couple of issues uh Mr Greaves got offended offended the way I defended myself when I was told by a citizen who doesn't know the work ethic I have for this project that I don't care honestly completely untrue Jim and I have spent a lot of time on this project probably more than we should because it's not our project number one um Mrs Caruso I mean Mrs Collins got up tonight and made some uh comments about uh that we don't want to get involved um she quoted an article from the tap into Clark which was true we asked for a dredging for the environment for flooding for the Aesthetics of the reservoir we did ask for that um we also said that we had a plan that probably some of you don't know about but some of you have been in town a long time do um the prior mayor when there was the save the reservoir movement back in the 9s wanted to put walking paths and fishing peers along the reservoir uh there was a reservoir committee when I became mayor and we took a long hard look at the finances of the town at that point because we were left basically empty uh we made a decision to scrap the project because those walking paths and fishing peers had to be maintained by our DPW which was too small it had to be patrolled by our Police Department which was not big enough at the time to do that so it's when I had the great idea not good idea great idea to turn it over to the county because could you imagine if we were sitting here today telling you we were going to have to spend $30 to $40 million on dredge in the reservoir what people would be saying they would be lose losing it uh first off there was a comment uh about this golf that's out it's already been told to me this golf disc golf is out it's on the project behind the grant Cent torans area it's out uh I'll give you another little tidbit I know the parking spots on Lakeside they're out so when we say we don't care and we're not communicating and trying to turn maybe this into a political issue I don't know I could tell you one thing three candidates for the Democratic party are sitting right there and in Elizabeth that's their party that's their party so I mean they could turn around and and take the bll by the horns I know they had a representative there last night representing the group speaking out our our our officials are silent for from Silent I'm not going to sit out here every day and Bang a Drum and tell you what I do each and every moment of every day we're working on a project Mr ordner here know him a long time we're talked about first phone call I got on a project was Ron about the train in back of his house that phone call was made and conveyed to the county immediately because it made a hell of a lot of sense what he was saying so I mean it's a plan it's not etched in stone and for the amateurs in a room that don't understand what's going on here the bottom line here is do you folks realize you're talking about having extra meetings and doing this and doing that do you know when the cenzo is when the big finale is going to be who knows with meetings anybody have an idea you have an idea I'll tell you when when they come before the township PL board with a capital Improvement project so you got an ultimate bite at the Apple by citizens of Clark you know oh gee let's have more meetings let's have more fun this is great let's go start a you know that's all great it's great sound bites but if you understood the process ultimately when this plan is etched in concrete they're going to be right here in front of the township planning board for approval any other questions thank you for your professional some people had some really great comments out here and I do appreciate you and we have concerns too the fishing pier that I'm totally in favor for and B Pier which I'm totally in favor for at the Hungarian Club is right across the street from my house totally for that how better to put a child on your lap as a young parent and grow out into that water and see fish swimming by and turtles popping their heads up and frogs jumping off the thing like I used to do in a cement mixer though okay we weren't pry enough to have a kayak or a Cano to see that thing back like I said in the 90s there was plans for that project through the local government do you know on the Featherbed Lane Bridge both sides of that when I was a young boy on a January February Sunday Saturday there was at least a 100 people on both sides of that bridge ice skating it was beautiful it was gorgeous to see people came from out of town people in town came so it it was gorgeous now it's an island out there it's a mess it needs to be clean it needs to be dredged so I'm not against any kind of water activity I can tell you straight out and like I said the Choo Cho train from what I understood even in my conversations it's not going to have tracks and none of that it's I think it's like the thing that Ralph rents on the recreation it's going to be on black top if it goes in nobody's saying it's going in so yeah I do agree there's some aspects I think are a little overdone I think the council agrees with that you know and there's some aspects that we like but the meeting happened when the county set the meeting Clark Township didn't set the meeting we gave him our available dates and there was many of them but I also understand being in meetings most every day of the week that you got to get their lawyer their engineer you got this person the county that person sometimes Jim and I will say he'll say to me hey could you be for a zoom meeting at 2 o'cl Jim I can't be here at two I'm going to be over there could we do it in the morning now they can't do it this guy can't do it let me switch it to this date sometimes you get three or four people on a zoom meeting takes days to figure out people have schedules you all know that so like like I said to you I've spent way too much time on this tonight I don't want to hear the sarcasm about the local government because you don't know what we're doing we want to hear what you got to say at that meeting come July 2nd and then you might not even see them come before the planning board to somewhere in 2025 who knows you know again they needed a plan to get permits out of the DP that's the D moves like a snail going uphill in the middle of January on ice so I I don't know uh John my friend there asked when could this maybe be started I said they said long shot end of the year probably into next year I'll bet anybody a coffee a quick check that probably maybe next summer next fall a year from this summer next fall who knows so don't get excited be heard bring your thoughts forward we encourage that well I'm going to be here that night listening to what you have to say I'll listen to what the county has to say and then I do what I normally do I go to work across the room in a conference table or on a telephone professional because like I said you don't like that there an election year I think so right an election year I could be out here banging a tambourine saying let's go get them they're Democrats the hell do I care but I do care because I work with these people all the time and they've been fair to me and that's all I can ask for anybody to be is fair we could disagree but be fair and I try to be because their elected officials and I understand sometimes we as elected officials get put into a vice and get squeezed and it's not a fun place to be so we try to be professional and work with everybody so I hope that answers some questions I had here tonight and I I thank you all and as far as the pilot program goes John you got so much to learn about the pro program and how a government works we've been through this with you a hundred times you think we're screwing the schools we are absolutely not how about you put this one in your pipe and smoke on this for a while you know I didn't even think about this we give the Clark School District the middle of our Brewer municipal building for their prechool for children of needs do you know how much we save the Clark School District every year by doing that over $3 million a year was told to me about a month or two ago and I said what there children in special needs to send them out a district could be 80 to 100,000 a kid 88,200 th000 a year do you know what the school board pays me for that spot zero zero why because those parents are already paid it in their tax bill why would I go take money from the school district um mayor Le getting sworn in two days before we have 20 Ines of snow we helped plow to schools they were totally incomp then the former mayor said to me S here's the hours we spent plowing those schools make sure you Bill them when you become mayor I walked into my BA at the time John La I said is this guy in drugs is this ridiculous why would I take money from my left pocket and put it in my right pocket the people at Clark pay that whether you pay it in in the school budget or you pay it in the town budget it's paid by the people of Clark so then we forged the relationship of working together helping one another in the school district I wasn't using that space in the middle of Brewer now if they want new rugs or paint or something they pay for that the heat the hot water the facilities free because the people at Clark pay for that building and we're helping the school district by having it so I don't want to hear this nonsense about what we do or don't do for the schools go look the history up at what went on here prior to us and what we do now thank you turn it over to you madam president thank you councilman hunt thank you madam president just a few things I want to congratulate Anderson shiin for his Eagle Scout project that's pretty cool I didn't realize it was a Lego project until tonight that's uh very cool for him to do and also as the mayor pointed out he's a very round rounded individual for a young man um does multiple things with himself so wish him good luck in the future congratulations to all the graduates um from the high school and middle school and all the way down uh there and thank you to our business administrator for his hard work for the grant for Paving Valley Road It's been a isore or however you want to call it for many years now since I became on Counsel and we've been I've been asking for portions of that to be fixed and now the whole entire Road will be fixed so thank you very much Jim appreciate that that's all I have for tonight thank [Music] you sorry thank you Madame President uh before I do uh give my remarks I just want to mention something about the Westfield Avenue project um there was talk about the two businesses uh that are no longer going to be there but let's talk about the businesses that are there the 20 businesses that can benefit from the Redevelopment of the Westfield Avenue project okay the paper chases the jewelry store the restaurants the pizzerias they could all benefit from all of this okay so we might lose two businesses but we're going to gain it in other businesses so I think it's a win-win and I was on a planning board meeting that night and I just thought it's a great start to the Redevelopment down in Westfield Avenue it had to start somewhere and I'm glad it's starting there um with with that over the past week uh you know we had a all our schools graduate we had a stepping up moving up ceremonies and I want to congratulate all our students I attended uh some of the scholarship events including um the athletic scholarships and the um the uh educational scholarship academic scholarships just want to congratulate everyone on that and I just want to congratulate the two new members to the fire department uh with that that concludes my report and thank you so much thank you councilman maniti councilman oconor thank you first off I want to thank the mayor for his comments this evening um I know you take my calls I know Jim takes my calls uh for the second ward as well as the township and I know how hard you guys work and it's hard when you do the work and you don't get the credit and we heard some of that tonight so um on behalf of myself thank you very much for all the hard work in trying to get what's best for the township of Clark um congratulations to uh Anderson schifferstein Eagle Scouts hard to get and that's something you have on your resume not only for college but for um your career you know employers look for things like that look for people who are dedicated who can start a project and take it to completion not many people do you know listen you know CB Scout Boy Scouts is great but not many have the dedication to go all the way and for the ones that do it's rewarded down the road with in with uh college applications and again in uh in in job offers uh congratul to the two new members of the fire department and I and I know I bring this up a lot you know my dad was a fireman and I know the sacrifices the family makes and I know the sacrifices that the firemen make so again it's it's a it's a long road and uh you know again unless you do it or unless you're part of it you you don't know what it takes and you don't know the sacrifices that people make for it um we just know that they come out when we call they get the job done they go go back to the station but that's not the end of it they got to clean the trucks cleaning Duty nights there's a whole bunch that goes along with it and it's a community same thing with the emergency Squad but again thank you for uh all the volunteerism in this town and again have a great summer and we'll see you in July thank you councilman OK Conor councilman Smith thank you council president albanes uh just two quick reminders uh this Sunday is the rock the block party out front u a brewer and the high school there'll be a stage there with bands there's going to be antique cores a lot of the U Town businesses will be there so please come on out and support them and a lot of the Town organizations and regarding the Clark wreck program again if you are interested in registering your child please come do so ASAP because it starts in one week and that's all I have this evening thank you thank you councilman tol thank you madam president uh again to the sheerin it's pronounced sheeper Stein uh long time clarkey since 1903 the entire family goes back to 03 came over from Germany I'm not going to give a history lesson but I'm going to say Anderson who's the eagle scout tonight his grandfather was a Battle of the Bulge prisoner he was caught Behind Enemy Lines defending our freedom and his grandfather was of German Jewish descent what happened was he the Germans did not like that and they took it out on him a lot more severe he almost died but he came back to his strength the family and home and he came back and that's how Anderson and Anderson's father his uncle Fred the Sheep pristines commit to the American dream every day by working a farm and running a business in this community God bless them and thank you Anderson for putting another step on the family tree of greatness to Chris belli former fire chief Chris served back in the 90s as a chief but Chris was always known as the term planning board was brought up tonight Chris was the fire lay fire department layers onto the planning board anytime a proposal came before the board Chris gave the fire department's in take on the ordinances on the um how the fire controls and stuff were to be taken care of Chris was a pillar of this community and he will be missed he was not well at the end and our family to our condolences to his family he was a great man and we will miss him very much again I've said everything else I will say hope to see you at July 2nd if work doesn't call and we will wish you well good night okay um counselor any comments no comment Madam clerk no comments thank you Mr or I got a couple of quick things um the pools 50th anniversary is on July 13th so I want to make sure everybody knows that and also our fire department is August 17th is going to be the 100th anniversary so just get those dates on everybody's calendars um another exciting item uh recycling I just want to bring it to everybody's attention uh we have on our Facebook page on our website on the recycling app what's recyclable and what's not I also got a video that uh Liz is going to be putting up on the website about the recycling a lot of people think it's a good thing to throw everything that's plastic everything that's metal everything that's aluminum into that pale that's not a good idea that causes a lot of issues few of the issues are you know mixing contaminated um items so when plastic bags um rope gets caught in the machine it breaks the machine it it gives them issues and it brings up our cost um the reduced Market rates so when we have contaminated uh recycling going in we get reduced rates on the recycled material so there's there's issues there then there's also some safety risks with batteries and pain right battery should never be put into the recycling pale um and I I know people think that they're doing good they're doing you know what they need to do for the environment but please understand that it does cause a lot of problems and we're getting a lot of complaints from Waste Management uh on what's going through and you know it benefits the en environment and it also benefits the town uh monetarily if we follow the rules that's it excuse me I'd like just speak up the county does have programs where they actually do have you know where you can bring your tires you can bring prot pain tanks you bring batteries oil all those even old gas I know it's on the County website so um I don't know Jim you you know as well as I do that that's there yeah we post all of that but you know in the blue recycling PS you know just if everybody could just be aware of of what it what there and um and if there's a question you could always call myself you could call um Jennifer who's our recycling coordinator uh and you know we'll we'll help you out thank you thank you I'd like to give my remarks now so this evening for people who are watching this um on YouTube or hopefully at home live um we had a lot of discussion about the Clark Reservoir dredging and proposed recreational area project project and if you go to the Township's website you can get a link to the documents that the county had so please be aware get informed a lot of information was given about the facts of what's included in this program um I do appreciate everyone coming tonight and giving us your feedback that's what we want to hear it's a little hard for us if you say I don't like this project I'm going to go sit down what is it you know you know it's a little frustrating for the mayor and the ba and for all of us all the time that's gone into this especially for those two and and and their predecessor uh over five years we want that water dredged we need that water dredged for the health of the animals the birds everything I live on the reservoir um if you want to be heard listen there's no good night for the meeting I know it's a bad week but if we do it in August it's it's a bad day in August it's always going to be a bad day if you want to be heard do both communicate to the county send them an email with your comments get your detailed comments in there and then come to the meeting but if you can't be heard at the meeting um at least you'll have your comments in and or if you can't be there try to be specific about what you object to as far as some of the questions that came up yes they can probably take the American Rescue plan money is built for is is provided for things like saving the reservoir that money is earmarked for projects like that I don't know what the dredging will cost but I assure you probably a large part of the money is going to the dredging I just want to remind everyone too when we had the Esposito lot available it was going to be a museum do you see a museum there no no we listened to everyone we discussed it we worked with the county yes it doesn't mean we're not listening to you when you come here we want to hear what people have to say some people want those things some people don't be specific when you tell us what you want and then come and be heard they're making it convenient you can come right here in Clark to speak to them come on July 2nd from 7 to 9: it's a Tuesday night to be heard especially if you live in those places and you object to the parking yes no one wants people walking in their back yard uh people who all of us who live on the reservoir don't want that fine come and speak about it um as I said you know the the um when they took Oakridge over and made made it into recreational they they were going to have a a rollerblade Park they were going to have this they were going to have that another example things change those are small items to change the little choo choo train and what have you but the dredging is our primary goal here and I don't want to lose sight of that we really need that to be done uh that is going to be the most beneficial thing if you want the wildlife to exist here and also to prevent flooding in this town the water has no place to go um Angel could I just cut it forward a second because you hear a good point uh drudging is the most important thing in my eyes but I did um say to the county when I was speaking to them I said you know we started out dredging this thing and he said yes but the Commissioners felt if we're going to dredge it and make it nice they want people to be able to use it and enjoy it meaning I would take that more as the kaying and stuff and she made another great point and Brian made the point last month when we got them to build the um Esposito Park they were going to put a muse CH Children's Museum Children's Museum and we had conversation it's never been there she's right this golf was supposed to be at Oak Park then they were going to put an ice rink there they didn't do it things changed so yes your concerns are great and you should Express them but you know um Pat oconor said that you know mayor got said he didn't get credit Pat I don't want credit that's my job what I don't want is people telling me what they think I'm doing or not doing because they don't know what goes on up here they don't know the hours Jim and I have put in you can ask that question and I would be respectfully happy to answer that question so I'm not looking for credit but I'm not looking to be told well you don't care we we didn't do that you have no clue zero you show up once a month we show up 30 days a month 30 days a month my phone doesn't stop on nights holidays weekends and everything else and you guys know I'm available on social media to you whenever I see something I can fix and help I'm out there or explaining to you so I mean that does light of fire and I don't care who didn't like how it was offended or not means nothing to me you speak with respect you'll get treated with respect thank you okay don't forget um this Sunday Rock the block street fair come out see your neighbors other Town folks the businesses in town and uh also I'll be there uh at the recreation table members of the library will be there so hope to see you there uh at this time I'd like to adjourn the meeting uh do I have a motion motion thank you all in favor meeting adjourned e