e e e hello and welcome to tonight's meeting our council meeting at 3:15 Westfield Dev Clark New Jersey 0766 April 15 2024 at 7:30 p.m. roll call please councilman hund here councilman masella here councilman Manti here councilman OK Conor is absent councilman Smith here councilman tol here and council president albanes is absent would you please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible liberty 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 mailing the annual schedule of meetings to The Star Ledger Union County Hawk Union County local source and tabin to Clark by posting such annual meeting schedule on the bulletin board and Town Hall reserved for such announcements the official website of the township and the proper filing of said notice formal action may be taken at this meeting thank you I need a motion to suspend the regular order of V business second I'll second it thank you councilman to and thank you councilman mazarella all in favor I any opposed like to turn this portion of the meeting over to the mayor for some recognition of our seventh grade girls basketball team travel basketball team thank you Mr President good evening members of council ladies and gentlemen tonight we are going to celebrate a uh great achievement as far as I'm concerned council's concerned uh be given a mayor certificate of achievement presented to the girls 7eventh grade travel basketball team and on it it will say with great pleasure that I the mayor of the township of Clark recognize you for your outstanding achievement on the 2024 Clark 7th grade girls basketball team they won the eighth grade championship in the Clark tournament and that is a real big deal we have probably the best tournament in the state with 190 teams coming in and it was started many years ago and it is really the talk of the state when it comes to travel basketball tournaments and in seventh grade they were second place in the Clark tournament and they also won the uh Champion paramis Christmas tournament so without further Ado I will ask the head coach to join me Mr Pablo fan Pao come on up and he will be uh joined by his assistant coach erth noin assistant coach come on up Pablo congratulations thank you very much and I'm going to let you intro say the girls and I'll give certificate congratulations like to say a few words before we get started just want to congratulate you girls on a great season way to finish strong very proud of you and looking forward to another great season next year with you all start off with lla Ortega [Applause] Grace [Applause] Cassidy JY [Applause] mcon Ellie [Applause] maosi Ella nin and Sophia ncol [Applause] three girls cannot be here with tonight cuz they're actually cross street playing a softball game so we have and soccer I'm sorry Ava belvic Colleen Sullivan and kamila Verona we got a picture a picture yeah you know girls why don't we come on couple on this side this side we'll spread it out [Music] okay thank you girls thank coaches he [Applause] bu I'd just like to conclude by saying that girls you're going to be entering the high school program next year so we hope to see you back with a county Championship some year it'd be great we have a great program and to those who are all watching at home whether it's uh Athletics the Arts academics if you're proud of something you've achieved and you like to come we'd love to have have you it's a tradition we've done for many many years now recognizing your hard work uh and whether like again academics Athletics the Arts we're always welcome to have people here to celebrate such great achievements and I hope you enjoyed your year I know it's a big deal the eighth grade year with the eighth grade breakfast and the tournament it's a lot of fun you know at your age now you won't believe it but these are memories that someday when you're in your 20s and 30s and maybe you start having your your own children you're going to think back to when you were young and you were playing and now you're there watching your children Play Someday so it's quite exciting and it builds great friendships and camaraderie and teamwork so God bless you and thank you all very much for your time this [Applause] evening thank you Mr Mayor and before I ask for a motion I'd like to if you'd like to uh not stay for the remainder of the meeting we'll take a few moments for you to take your time and exit the the room so girls if you don't want to stay for an exciting night of uh political talk or if you have homework please feel free at this moment to to do that and then we'll and thank you very much and congratulations have a great to the girls the coaches and to the parents thank you very much tell we're out here okay can I have a motion to resume thank you councilman tol thank you councilman Manti all in favor I any opposed we'll move on to Communications from the mayor and reports of the township officers Mr Mayor thank you Mr President um April will end the spring lawn and leaf clean up by by now hopefully or by this week everybody has their debris into the street and will be picking it up along with their branches starting in May of course the grass cleanup will start on a weekly basis but the branches will still be allowed into the street do not mix the grass in with the branches and that'll uh happen the fourth week of every month the cleanup will happen we ask for you to please put them out on the third week not continuously throughout the month it's a safe Hazard and we like to have our streets looking clean and neat the DPW comes right out and uh takes care of them for you so please try tohere to this whenever possible um on Sunday June 23rd from 10 to5 the Chamber of Commerce will be uh having our first rock the Block it's a street fair with vendors car show and food last year we had it set for early April it was a C rainy wet day it was cancelled so we kind of moved the back hoping that it'll be a nice uh Sunny warm June Sunday and I think it's going to be another tradition here in Clark for many years to come the chamber is a very successful chamber and they're working hard for the businesses in town so please mark it on your calendar June 23rd Sunday from 10:00 to 5:00 Rock The Block Street Fair vendors car show and food I'd like to also say we were in uh receipt today of the county infrastructure grant for Paving of Westfield Avenue from the train tracks to terminal we were awarded $50,000 in grant money to do that that is terrific and also uh this sat last Saturday we had uh the little league and girls softball parade and their opening day ceremonies it was attended by us it was excellent and it's always great to see the youth at Clark being involved in great safe activities such as little league softball and as you saw earlier tonight basketball and soccer and Lacrosse and football and we have them all here so it's always great to see the Enthusiast enthusiasm of the children and the parents getting out there to do it the Easter egg hunt was uh was also attended that was another great event for the township and I'd like to thank again Ralph Bernardo and his staff and all the volunteers from the Key Club who came out and made that an excellent event also very well attended as always the Clark police has given me uh for the month March the motor vehicle stops there were 114 nine traffic enforcement details 26 different radar details status of March 24 and that concludes my report for the night thank you Mr President members of council ladies and gentlemen thank you Mr Mayor councilman maella yes thank you council president um my DPW report for this evening is electric uh drop off will be April 27th um from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the yard behind this building um ID is required spring cleanup will continue through April 29th no rocks landscape wood or plastic bags flower pots fertilizer bags rakes mulch bags are not considered spring cleanup they can be disposed of in your regular trash okay um grass pickup will begin on Tuesday May 7th they must be in um biodegradable plastic uh paper bags grass clippings only no branches rocks or plastic bags or loose um on the ground will be permitted and they will not be picked up just please make a note of that a branch pickup starts May uh please leave your branches out on the third week for DPW to pick it up pick all your branches up on the fourth week of the month bulky an appliance pickup appointments are required the week before your scheduled pickup um metal and bulky pickups are completely different trucks remember that please uh please schedule the correct items to be picked up for proper removal of those items okay roou m root mulch is available deliveries are on Friday um schedule your delivery by Tuesday uh or Thursday I'm sorry okay and uh DPW has been making available at uh at the gate free um logs please do not make a mess if the bin is empty uh they will replenish it as item become available and no log splitters or chains source and to view all of our programs um provided to you and our schedules of pickups please email DPW hour.com for more information thank you that's extent of my report thank you councilman councilman Manti thank you council president um I have two reports the first one is the fire department report for the month of March the Clark fire Department responded to 37 calls the calls included but are not limited to numerous odors and alarm calls one call was for Mutual AIDS and three were for motor vehicles uh one call was of Public Service Electric um fire on a telephone poll um and uh that gives them 111 calls for the year um as always I'd like to thank the members of the Clark fire department for their hard work and dedication and keeping our town safe uh that concludes my fire department report um the Clark fire uh volunteer emergency Squad report for April 2024 um in a month of March the squad has been busy bringing bringing on one new uh Member One Cadet and two additional daytime Personnel Squad members have been diligent in completing their annual peoa trainings their call volume were as follows there were 119 calls in January with three Mutual Aid calls this is not include any calls that were dispatched to and cancelled on total hours responding to calls is approximately 828 man hours this does not include any hours that members are on duty when not on calls year- to-day call volume is 343 calls for those who would like to assist a squad but may have not may have limited time to do the EMT training we are accepting applications for people interested in becoming drivers for the ambulance must be 18 years old with a clean driving record we will have drivers training course in early June please stop by the squad for further information or anyone interested can email the uh Squad at membership Clark ms.org also they will be offering a baby safety class in April on April 29th from 7: to 8:00 P.M it is open to all who would like to see and practice choking CPR demos and safety tips for parents and grandparents please email to attend at Clark emsr clark.com and the squad will be hosting uh I'm sorry the squad hosted two blood drives in March and is looking to expand a number each month as in Need For Blood increases finally the 50th anniversary of EMS week 2024 is May 19th through May 25th please keep an eye open for events celebrating our volunteers this was respectfully submitted by Lori Sheldon trustee and that concludes my reports thank you councilman councilman Smith thank you councilman hun I have the library report for councilwoman Angel albanes there are five upcoming events the library had 8,111 visitors in the month of April and recorded 19,6 162 website visits the five events are the first one is Angelina Ballerina which is Wednesday May 1st at 10:00 a.m. join us for a book and mini ballet class for preschoolers with Center for Dance education and you need to register in advance advance excuse me number two is a paint a flower date is Thursday May 2nd and Thursday May 9th at 6:30 on May 2nd and 3:30 p.m. on May 9th ages 4 to 12 are invited to join us to paint a pot and plant the flower hour and registration is required and priority is given to Clark residents the third event is the Roaring 20s with Alyssa dup that is on Thursday May 9th at 700 p.m. again ages 4 through 12 are invited and registration is required and priority given to Clark residents the fourth event is a seminar by Allan tenant who is a financial planner with Edward Jones in town on Westfield AV it is Wednesday May 15th at 11:00 a.m. and it's full Alzheimer's and preparing for the unexpected and the last event is the Lego ma Lego Master Builders that is on Thursday May 16th at 6:30 p.m. you Lego structures to be displayed in the children's area of the library this is for children entering grades K through five and late snacks will be served for the recreation and pool report for from our Recreation Department uh and our director Ralph Bernardo it's a reminder to register now for the Clark community pool this year will be our 50th anniversary and there is a huge birthday party scheduled for Saturday July 13th plus they'll celebrate All Summer Long with 50 days of fun you can stop by the recreation office or go to the township website under the pool utility tab for membership information in regards to the summer rec camp camp registration is now open and to avoid delayed fee after June 7th please register ASAP and it's open to all Clark residents in kindergarten through 8th grade April 20th there'll be a pickle bow tournament sponsored by Relay for Life forms are in the wreck hallway to sign up for this great cause May 2nd is the annual senior citizen trip to Atlantic City there's still a few seats left on the second bus please contact direct Department to sign up on Monday May 27th will be the Memorial Day Parade which kicks off at 9:00 a.m. on Westfield Avenue by the American Legion please come out and line the street to honor our fallen heroes June 7th will be family Patriots night this is at the Somerset Patriots baseball field and you can register online for this uh Clark family night and at the end of the night fireworks are included and the last event is June 27th which is annual day of Beauty for our senior citizens L'Oreal will visit and apply nail polish to our senior's nails and give out free makeup if you have any questions you can stop in the recreation office and see Ralph Bernardo or his assistant Emily Lambert or you can call the office at 732 428 8400 and that concludes my report this evening thank you councilman councilman toll thank you Mr President from the the Clark Environmental commission they shall conduct a meeting this Wednesday April the 17th 2024 at 7:30 in room 30 the history room there will be a discussion on the upcoming raway River cleanup to be held this Saturday April the 20th at blood Goods Dam and Mill at Winfield Park New Jersey so this Saturday is save is Earth Day rway River cleanup Saturday April the 20th 20124 all volunteers are invited to join not just Clark but the entire Union County free older Commissioners they're called now within uni County for the uni County Parks and Recreation the Roby River cleanup will start on Saturday April 20th with a rain date of April Sunday April 21st please join Union County Board of Commissioners raway River waste shed Associates Boy Scouts Cub Scouts local environmental Commissioners firemen fishermen stakeholders and annual for the annual event the cleanup will focus on areas upstream and downstream of the Windfield Park Dam in Clark Cranford and R8 please come by park near the the rway river Bloodgood dim at Winfield park at 8:45 register bags gloves and bottled water and snacks will be handed out to participants teams would be encouraged anyone over under 18 must sign up and have parental supervision Earth Day is of course one thing celebrating Mother Earth and helping out our environment we must give back and just a little bit if you have time because your family have kids and the kids want to uh go to sports and stuff like that but if you can give a short period of time on Saturday Saturday morning this coming Saturday we' greatly appreciate thank you Mr President that's all I've got from the environmental commission and Earth they must be celebrated thank you councilman in my police report for the month um of March we had a total of 1,736 calls for service services including but not limited to 120 ambulance requests one for arrive mental health requests 10 fire department requests 11 motor vehicle and residential lockouts 79 alarm calls 81 motor vehicle accidents 36 shoplifting and theft 17 fraud ident identity theft 177 were 911 calls and 1,40 were miscellaneous calls there was a total of 26 adult arrests including but not limited to 14 for shop left shoplifting two for DUI seven for warrants the youth Bureau handled a total of 15 cases including but not limited to one for shoplifting three for harassment six for offenses against the family uh of these 15 were in-house disposition so that concludes my report for the police department so we'll move on now uh Madame clerk if you're ready we'll do the report of the ordinances Appropriations and claims public hearing on the proposed ordinances thank you and for the record no objections have been received in connection with the proposed ordinances the first is ordinance 24-6 Bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements and the acquisition of new additional furnishings and a new automo automobile vehicle including original apparatus and equipment in by and for the township of Clark in the county of union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $1,730 th000 to pay the cost thereof to appropriate a state Grant to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds just open so moved I'll hello my name is John grees I live at 30 Parkway Drive I just had a couple questions about this is the bond thing right um I just saw that the the uh PL the dump truck with the plowing and spreader that seems to be appropriated for $275,000 that seems like a lot for one truck I I don't I'm not a truck expert but just I I guess I was just curious like what do do you guys have like a make and model or some more more details about that truck it seems like a high price for a truck Jim we would have that in yeah I don't have the make it model so if you send me an email I could send it to you however it is all these purchases are through State contract that have already been negotiated by the state to get the best price for all the municipalities and counties throughout the state so I mean I could send you the specific making model um so just send me an email and um I'll send you the estimate tomorrow yeah I was just you know just curious it seems like a lot but I well you got to remember a fire truck cost $2 million and an ambulance will cost you about $350,000 so this is a different that's yeah but this like a this is a four this is um you know a hydraulic truck um it's one of the big trucks that we have in the backyard so I mean I totally am not trying to say that it's wrong I was just curious it just seemed like a lot just curious and then I guess the other question was kind of the same question with the library um $100,000 I was just curious like what kind of furniture yeah the furn the again that's also from BFI um that's a state under a state contract it's actually a woman owned business out of um Elizabeth and one of the things that we did there was we allocated $100,000 none of that furniture none of those chairs you know other than the kids area all the way in the beginning of by the ramp has been changed in 20 years so the tables are falling apart a lot of the um chairs are falling apart and it's not only for the safety but the Aesthetics of the um of the library one of the things we discussed with Megan the library director is that we were going to spend $100,000 and if they need wanted more that they were going to take it out of their own Capital funding which they are doing so the actual cost is going to be close to about $130,000 of which we're funding $100,000 okay and it says the the period of usefulness is 5 years is that just the amortization like that's the amortization okay and it's all standed Again by the state okay all right thank you I just wanted a clarification appreciate it problem thank you very much anyone else before I attempt to close and not cut you off again okay seeing no one else can I have a motion to close thank you councilman Mar rler a second second that thank you councilman Smith all in favor I any opposed okay I'd like to have a motion to adopt the ordinance I'll move that thank you councilman Manti I'll second that thank you councilman Smith any discussion I think we just went over that so no unless you have any other questions not that I think it was covered by the gentleman roll call please Madam clerk councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president pres hun yes ordinance adopted now moving next uh next is ordinance 24-7 and ordinance amending ordinance 24-1 entitled an ordinance to fix the minimum and maximum salaries i' would like to open this up to the public hearing seeing no one I'd like to have a motion to close the public hearing so move thank you councilman Smith a second I'll second up thank you councilman Manti at all in favor I any opposed I'd like to have a motion to adopt the ordinance please I'll move that thank you councilman Manti the second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith any discussions at all I think it's pretty this is really just to clean up some paperwork the position was in two different places one in the salary Ordinance one in the white collar um ordinance uh when we were in the contract I noticed it so we're just pulling it out in one place and putting it with the white calla contract thank you Jim um roll call roll call please thank you counc masella yes Council Manti yes councilman tol vice president hunt yes ordinance adopted next next is ordinance 24-8 an ordinance entitled an ordinance to fix the salaries of police Personnel for the year's 2024 through 2027 I'd like to open up uh this to the public for hearing seeing no one I'd like a motion to close Mo motion thank you councilman mazarella second I'll second it thank you councilman Smith all in favor I I any opposed I'd like a motion to adopt the ordinance please yes I'd like to make that motion and I will second that motion um any discussion on that Jim yeah this is just to bring all of the salaries and in accord with our contract so we just signed the new contract and this is just to make it consistent thank you very much roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hunt yes ordinance adopted next is ordinance 24-9 an ordinance to fix the salaries of the white collar employees for the period 2024 through 2027 I'd like to open this for a public hearing I'm seeing no one coming forward may have a motion to close so moved thank you councilman Smith a second I'll second up thank you councilman Manti all in favor I any opposed I'd like to have a motion to adopt the ordinance please I Mo that thank you councilman Manti I'll second that thank you councilman Smith any discussion Jim no thank same thing except for the white collar bringing the rates in line with the agreed contract thank you roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hunt yes ordinance adopted now we'll move to introduction of proposed ordinances we have one ordinance for introduction ordinance 24-10 and ordinance to fix the salaries of Department of Public Works employees Blue Collar employees for the years 2024 through 2027 do I have a motion please yes I'll move it thank you councilman and I'll second that one any discussion on that gym or just a repeat again the only reason um we're doing the introduction is that they didn't have a quarum in time to do to vote on their contract uh and they were just a little bit behind the white collar and the uh PBA thank you uh roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hunt yes now we public hearing on this ordinance will be May 20th now for payment of claims um I review the uh current and capital expenditures uh received through April 10th 2024 and the amount of $551,500 see no one coming forward moved thank you councilman tol second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith all in favor I any opposed moving along to resolutions first resolution is the budget compliance resolution allowing the budget to be read by title do I have a motion for that please I'll move that thank you councilman mani and I will second that motion Jim any discussion this is just a formality so we don't have to read the whole budget um document thank you very much roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hund yes next is the public hearing on the municipal budget for calendar year year 2024 I'd like to open up this to the public hearing seeing no one coming forward a motion to close the public hearing I'll move that thank you Council thank you councilman toll all in favor I'm sorry not excuse me for one second not councilman toll councilman mazarella thank you you're welcome all in favor I I any opposed okay okay number eight is the budget amendment and I will read that into the record Township of Clark amendment to 2024 Municipal budget whereas the local Municipal budget for the year 2024 was approved on the 4th day of March 2024 and whereas the public hearing on said budget will be held April 15th as advertised and whereas it is desirous to amend said budget now therefore be it resolved by the mayor and Council of the township of Clark County of Union that the following amendments be approved to the approved budget for 2024 be made for the current fund Surplus anticipated from $3 [Music] m2500 to 2,838 4655 for a difference of $6,595 45 total Surplus anticipated from from 3,25 to 2,838 4655 for difference of $186,500 45 state aid without offsetting Appropriations Municipal relief Aid energy receipts tax Aid 1,800,000 854 for a difference of $896 uh total of section B state aid without offsetting Appropriations $1,800,000 745 for a difference of 95,5 18845 summary of revenues Surplus anticipated 3,25 th000 to 2,838 4655 for a difference of $18659 345 total section B state aid without offsetting Appropriations [Music] 1,800,000 45 difference of 95,5 $584 total miscellane miscellaneous revenues 5,295,000 49,5 1545 a difference of 95,5 18845 subtotal General revenues items 1 2 3 and 4 from 8,720 32 to 8,7 28,954 difference of 8,925 amount to be raised by taxes to support Municipal budget local tax for municipal purposes including reserve for uncollected taxes 20, 522,000 I'm sorry 20, 52224 6.39 to 20, 513 , 32139 for a difference of 8 million uh 8,000 I'm sorry $925 total amount to be raised by taxes for support of Municipal budget 2,727 14739 to $2,532 4184 a difference of $892 total General revenues 3,447 7939 to 3,447 11793 for a difference of zero be it further resolved that two certified copies of this resolution be filed forth with in the office of the director of division of local government services for their certification of the 2024 local mun Municipal budget so amended okay and that is the full Amendment to the budget thank you madam clerk very well done with all those numbers in there um with that would I have a motion please move that thank you Council MIM and I will second that motion any discussion Jim yeah I'll um I'll summarize it as quick as I can so the state conducted a review of our budget and originally we had the 18656 3 um as part of the municipal Relief Fund in Mna which is also known as miscellaneous Revenue not accounted for when they did the review they asked us to move it to section b as anti anticipated Revenue so there was no change in the budget it was just moving line item to line item um the other item was an increase on energy receipts in the amount of $896 and you know again that was additional Revenue that we um you know we we estimate and you know given that they came up with a final number before we actually had our budget we added it in and then the final was um if you added up all those numbers there's a $40 difference which was actually part of the anticipated Reven you and usually we would not be asked to make that change but since we were making an amendment we made the amendment for an material amount of $40 how was that sounds good thank you very much um roll call please Madam clerk councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes count uh vice president hund yes thank you uh next is the adoption of the 2024 Municipal budget as amended I would like to move that in a second I'll second thank you councilman Manti uh Jim any discussion I think you just covered everything very well so we're good there so couple things okay just to go over High microphone just want to go over high level for the you know the general public to understand where you know some of the changes happened um for the most most part you know we've increased our legal expenses by about $140,000 um insurance and bonding uh $235,000 health insurance 456,000 and this was actually I received an email from someone um asking for some information and you know people don't realize that we have right now 85 current employees on the um policy and we got 87 retired employees so a lot of that money actually does go to retired employees um the library $187,000 increase and again that's run that is by state law um pensions 139,000 ban interest as everybody knows interest rates have been going up that's 590,000 and also note interest um oh sorry um note interest is 95,000 um and principal is 590,000 so we're paying down our debt this year um so for the most part those are the high level uh items I don't know if anybody else has any other questions on anything anyone's have okay thank you Jim for that um Madam clerk a roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hundt yes budget adopted uh number 10 is seeking approval of the director of division of local government services for insertion of a special item of Revenue in the amount of $ 24,1 15640 for the recycling tonnage Grant do I have a motion for that please yes I'll move it thank you Council mazarella a second I'll second it thank you councilman Manti any discussion on that Jim I mean this is just the acceptance of the grant it's yep standard operating procedure roll call please councilman masella yes councilman nidy yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hunt yes 11 is authorizing submission of an application to the New Jersey historic trust for a capital Grant to support the cost related to the restoration of the roof at the Robinson Plantation I'll move that Mr President thank you councilman tol second please I'll second that thank you councilman Smith any discussions on that Jim I know we discussed it you know I'm looking for your support to um you know go out for this grant uh the Robinson plantation house the roof has been leaking for a while um you know unfortunately unfortunately we have the property here but you know in order to replace the roof we have to do it to historical standards and that means an historical engineer historic IAL architect historical contractors so um the total cost when we get through everything is probably going to be somewhere near $350,000 um there is a state Grant out there um that's not to say that we would have it's for 50% that's not to say that we would have to pay the whole remaining 182,000 we're also going to be looking for other grants throughout the state however this is key if we don't get this you know 50% Grant we're going to have to look for another process to be able to um repair the roof thank you roll call please councilman masella yes councilman maniti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hun yes number 12 is appointing Frank Miller as Class 2 special law enforcement officer effective April 15 until December 31 2024 I would like to move that I have a second second thank you councilman to Jim no discussion on that one that's straightforward thank you roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hunt yes next is Award of contract to pumping Services Incorporated for the maintenance of Township pump stations in the amount of $1,652 120 sense motion for that please yes I'll move it thank you councilman mazarella a second I'll second that Mr President thank you councilman tol Jim this is just to maintain the um sewer pump stations so we have a maintenance contract that come in twice a year make sure everything's working nothing's leaking Etc so we have the two prices um in the resolution thank you very much uh roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes yes councilman tol yes vice president hund yes next is Award of contract to fully Power Systems for the maintenance of O Township generators in the amount of $823,000 thank you very much roll call please Madam clerk councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hund yes number 15 is Award of contract for grass disposal services to Frank G braith and sun in the amount of $18.50 per cubic yard plus a fuel search charge of $50 per visit a motion for that yes I'll move it thank you Council mazarella the second I'll second that Mr President thank you councilman tol any discussion on that Jim um this is the one bit of good news the price is going to go up year on year um but it's it's the same price as uh last year that's great uh roll call please councilman mazarella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hund yes okay number 16 is Award of contract for landscape and lawn maintenance at the Clark community pool to Hayden Landscaping Incorporated in the amount of $700 per month I'd like to move that please and then a second I'll second that thank you councilman straightforward straightforward we got the three um proposals uh all in the resolution thank you roll call please Madam clerk councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hunt yes 17 is authorizing an extension of the contract with top quality services LLC for brush and Branch grinding for two years in the amount of $45,000 for 2024 and $50,000 for 2025 I have a motion for that yes I'll move it thank Council maella a second please I'll second that thank you councilman Smith Jim any discussions on that this is um for the you know bringing in someone to run the tub to do all of our um our Branch grinding uh it's up this is less good news it's up $5,000 this year and it'll be up $5,000 next year year on year okay thank you very much roll call please Madam clerk councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman to yes vice president hund yes 18 is Award of contract to Schaefer fireworks through a non-fair and open process for the July 4th display and Patriots night in the total amount of $222,100 I'll move that Mr President cman toll can I have a second please I'll second that thank you councilman Smith any discussion Jim it's you it says it all yep thank you very much Madam clerk roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hund yes okay 19 is au authorizing the business administrator to execute a shared services agreement with the burrow of Mountainside for street sweeping you have a motion for that please yes I'll move it thank you Council mazarella and I'd also like to second that please and then any dis discussion with that Jim yeah this was a success in 2023 um you know we brought our sweet sweeper up there uh swept their streets and you know we we make some money on the on the deal we get a FEMA reimbursement rate for the use of the vehicle and then we have a Cost Plus arrangement for our uh Staffing so uh they wanted to you know enter a shared service agreement for 2024 you know doing the same thing we go up there twice a year um based on D requirements the streets need to be um swept at least twice a year thank you very much roll call please Madame clerk councilman mazarella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman toll yes vice president hund yes number 20 is authorizing the business administrator to execute a shared services agreement with the township of Windfield for use of Clark's emergency radio frequency I have a motion for that yes I'll move it thank you councilman mazarella a second I'll second that thank you coun Smith Jim yeah this was um brought to us well from the police department at the township of Winfield and Captain maell did not have um access to our um radio bands this is just a formal agreement they have to we have to approve it send it to the state police right and they they authorize it yeah so then we got to I didn't know where we had to send it but then we got to send it to the state police who authorize it okay thank you very much roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hunt yes 21 is Award of contract for municipal buildings photo voltaic system installation to easy energy in accordance with njsa 19 col 44 a-205 and authorizing the mayor to execute and deliver the contract do I have a a motion please I'll move that thank you councilman Smith a second I'll second it thank you councilman masella Jim any discussion yeah this was went out for competitive bid um they were the low bidder and or they were the accepted bidder as you can see here but they were also the low bidder um we went through you know the process of determining what the needs are this is awarding it to easy energy and then we're just waiting for the finance um arrangement to be finalized thank you very much roll call please councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hund yes number 22 is designating the month of May as let's move for a healthier New Jersey month in the township of Clark with the aim of raising awareness about the importance of physical fitness and promoting active Lifestyles have a motion for this please I'll move that Mr President thank you Council to a second I'll second that thank you Council man any discussion Jim yeah again this is um as we discussed at our Workshop meeting you know this is just a resolution out there to you know bring people to you know work out we're going to have some events we're going to you know look to have you know different people you know exercise postco you know diabetes overweight I mean it's all in here but um you know we're having more and more issues and you know from the state of New Jersey we're trying to push a healthier lifestyle and this is a resolution uh for the council to support it thank you very much uh roll call please Madam clerk councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hunt yes now we'll move to the consent agenda resolutions when you ready Madam clerk thank you we have three resolutions the first is authorizing the provision of a grant pursuant to the township of Clark affordable assistance program for the tenant of an affordable housing unit located at 25 Walnut Avenue unit 324 next is authorizing the tax collector to refund over payment of sewer fees in the amount of $595 and last is authorizing the tax collector to apply sewer account balance adjustments as credit in the amount of $15,326.86 Mr Vice President thank you councilman to a second please I'll second thank you Council manid roll call please Madam clerk councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes vice president hunt yes um any new business on the agenda Madam clerk there is no new business okay now we'll go to public comments I'd like to open the public meeting to to the public each person addressing counselor shall give his give their name and address to the clerk all remarks shall be addressed to the counsil as a body and shall not exceed 5 minutes in duration M good evening Michael scholman 382 Carolina Street now last month we were here the mayor kicked off his campaign for a seventh term by repeating the same arguments he's been making for the last couple years about me I'm not part of the fabric of this community and I'm told I can't see anything nice about Clark not the first time he's made such baseless allegations but why this criticism specifically I've said other things before why this criticism c s wants to make the election About Us Versus Them using stale tropes and fear-mongering to try to convince people that are scary Outsiders while distracting from what's gone on in this town for the last several years cuz we don't want new people coming to town changing the character of Clark the problem is no town can survive let alone of people in charge only want to represent those who agree with them and look at everyone else's Outsiders and troublemakers now it's easy to say nice things about people or places if you don't have someone to do that you should get some but the purpose and work of government officials is to do the hard work not give each other pats on the back but be critical and not fall into complacency and stagnation so when we talk about town fabric what are we talking about it's taking different people from different backgrounds different classes different groups who want to come together for a common goal social fabric is the ability for them to be brought together while they set aside their special interests it's putting together the putting the we before the May being part of a community has nothing to do with how long someone has lived in a town but poses the question as the person working to make their Town better for everyone I don't know the mayor's necessarily problem is with I think incredibly based criticism pay my taxes and help my neighbors my daughter star in kindergarten in the fall been lifelong members of the synagogue here on Valley Road and support the little league and soccer and participate in local government in fact the mayor reminded me I was public backup public defender once when they needed me here I've worked and went to summer camp at Featherbed Lane bowled at the old Clark lanes and eaten probably more than my fair share of cheeseburgers the white diamond my ties to this community go back to my childhood just in case my address didn't actually exist here my childhood did and I moved to Clark with my family to put down our roots not because I agree with its political leaders because like most young couples who wanted to live near our jobs and our families but after settling in it was self-evident the leadership in this town doesn't want discussions but works on models of disparagement and my observations of the mayor and Council have only been confirmed by the AG's investigation and the pending charges against the mayor so I ask what does that do for the fabric of this community it leaves a stain that needs to be washed out and tears that need to be mended now you know I'm running for mayor of Clark so I want to serve my community in this time of need and bring innovative solutions to the table and lead us forward as we rise above Petty partisan politics I want to see every person in this town Thrive because we cannot rely on the same old programs when I know we can do so much more with different leadership the fabric of our community is only as strong as the people in charge and the actions of the last several years the mayor and this body have cost millions of dollars to our taxpayers stripping our children our families and our seniors of opportunities and services the next s months I'm going to be reaching out to everyone in Clark regardless of political affiliation or how long you've lived here because local issues are not partisan and they don't only affect us after you've lived here for 10 or more years it is time to reestablish the bonds of our town Fabric and create a stronger Clark for for everyone thank you thank you Mrs schan anyone else want to come forward if not like a motion to close I'll move that I'll second that thank you m councilman Manti and thank you councilman tol Smith sorry I'm my councilman you're on my mind tonight for some reason um all in favor I I any opposed all right we'll move on to the mayor counsel and professional comments Mr Mayor yeah that was good that was one hell of a speech by Mr Shulman then he walked right out the door that's class talks about fabric talks about this listen I'm I'm not going to sit here and get into campaigning from a government position I'll do that face to face talks about bringing people together fabric changing things well tonight we had a municipal budget there wasn't one word said by him it's a $38 a home increase which I think is a pretty damn good budget in today's Economic Times and just for the record out there just for the record this is an election year in my first 18 years with the great leadership of John lasa The Star Ledger did an article we were the lowest increases in all of Union County over an 18-year period and in New Jersey believe it or not we're going to brag about low increases okay we're in New Jersey anyone who thinks differently has no clue of government thereon we had three zero budgets in a row three I said back when I I was mayor I wasn't going to pull a uh when I ran for mayor I wasn't going to pull a Playbook that the my predecessor did where every election year it was a zero and every non-election year it was 8 9 10 11 12 points we wouldn't do that we'll ask you for what you need what we need to run our community and this year being an election year I could have asked Jim to bottom our budget out come in with a zero come in with a zero no increase for anybody but that wouldn't have been very fiscally responsible not very fiscally responsible next year whoever the mayor was or is would get whacked we do not play those kind of games Michael got up here shman and said about I kicked off my campaign well he kicked off his campaign but I didn't do it from the dis I didn't do it from the Das talks about representing and meeting everyone and doing the right things hey God bless them public office is there to run for for whoever would like to run for it should if you're going to come here and criticize you should run that's what I did 28 years ago we hear every month the same thing the mayor the mayor the mayor do we ever hear a problem with services do we ever with our DPW with our Public Safety with our police our fire do we ever have a problem with Recreation snow removal grass pickup fireworks all the other nice things that go on in the we don't hear that any month we don't hear what a change is going to be made all it is Mayor the mayor the mayor well you know what you're in the race welcome to it I'm not going to sit here and disparage you at meetings you want to get up here and campaign let me tell you how you should do it go out and raise money bring your message to the people plain and simple the best team will win on the first Tuesday in November plain and simple at least have the class to when you're done making your speech to sit down for rebuttal because to listen to that speech I didn't know if I should have cried or applauded or gave him an Emmy I don't know I really don't care he hasn't brought one thing to the table here that he can do better it's the same thing I remember last month his running mate Mr John from uh Parkway Drive was criticizing the uh pilot plan we had and this is where you know inexperience and lack of knowledge and longevity in community problems show uh criticizing us that on the Walnut Hill uh development that we were going to a pilot program and we were keeping the funding for the school even where the law says we could not have to give them anything all we're uh Bound by law to do is to give the county 5% okay we chose as a gesture of being smart and smart business to leave the schools alone doesn't pay to play there's no reason to and I brought up that one of my reasoning for doing this outside of the fact that we can by law and it's really a total sum game whether it's in our pocket or the school board's pocket for the taxpayer that rights to check it's a total zero game it's the same thing if you really think about it for a moment but I believed we deserve that extra money running into our revenue and the mayor wannabe to be said that well Clark only had $188,000 last year in uh tax appeals and he was correct so I asked Jim to do me a little leg work and I'm not even going back my 24 years because this number would be a lot higher I'm going to go back from 13 2013 to now in ta tax appeals have cost our municipality 2.6 million 2,689 667 in which we collected from the schools and the county we collected from the taxpayers gave their shares out to the schools and County and when there was a tax appeal the municipal budget had a foot all this had a foot all this that's the law of the state school didn't do anything wrong County didn't do anything wrong that is state law elected officials for 28 years I've been in uh office have always complained about this to the state and nothing has been done so again lack of experience lack of knowledge lack of knowing makes statements of it's only $188,000 what about the years and I'll only talk about the years I'm here if you go back further it's going to go the number is going to double maybe triple so that's why we do the things we do but those are the debates that I'm interested in having about you know what do you really know on how to run a government what do you really know about it it looks a lot easier from out there than it is up here and unfortunately to let you is in on a little secret that maybe someday you'll find out about or realize it's never really the town or the people at a town that caused this it's the state in which we live in whether it be the regul ations that cost more money the bills that come out of Trenton that cost more money you know the gentleman asked about you know tax money to the schools I mean you you're in the wrong Church you should be down in Trenton we've got a $200,000 increase in school aid this year I don't know if you know that that's peanuts that's peanuts when you see neighboring communities that have bigger towns and cities and bigger schools getting 13 1517 million okay I don't know maybe it's warranted maybe it's not but you would think if a neighboring Community can get 13 or 17 I don't remember the exact number it was Million we can maybe get a million of that maybe just one million or half a million or three4 of a million dollars so that those are the battles you have in local government it's what is thrown on your table the best intentions of any mayor or councilman uh could sit there each and every year and say next year I want to do this and next year we're going to do that and we're going to do the other thing and then all of a sudden you get a leaky bag of Duty sitting on your desk that you have to fix because somebody else dropped it there for you and I can give you hundreds of examples over 28 years for as a council and 24 as mayor that I've seen come up here irrespective of who's running the town you don't know what's going to happen from day to day year to year but getting on with with that I would really hope we can keep the discussions here to honest discussions you have a question we'll be glad to answer it I asked you uh last month if you'd like to come in and Jim was away you never came in to find out how a pilot worked that's fine but at the end of the day you're welcome to and not the campaign rhetoric because I've been hearing it for a year now and I don't think the people of Clark want to hear us campaigning back and forth here I'll be glad to debate the issues that we're putting on this agenda why what we're doing and how we're moving the community forward thank you and I want to just I would be remiss if I didn't thank my business administrator to my left here Jim rck and his staff for doing a phenomenal job this year with our budget and a phenomenal job they do each and every day um very lucky in my career to have two awesome Bas with Jim and John uh both people um bring very strong financial backgrounds and if you don't have that an administrator it's up to creek without a paddle because I've seen that here before and we were up to creek without a paddle but anyway good night ladies and gentlemen I hope you enjoy the rest of uh this week it's be some nice weather God bless and good night thank you Mr May and I'll wait till everyone's done talking before I leave councilman mazarella yes thank you council president yeah I uh first I personally would like to congratulate the uh girl girls um um basketball team on our on our agenda it said uh seventh grade isn't it aren't they the eighth graders it is seventh grade they played up they played up in the eighth grade tournament oh okay all right uh job well done outstanding job and please ladies and gentlemen um don't forget to lock your doors and your vehicle and your house uh at all times and if you see something or hear something as I've always said um don't hesitate to call our Police Department they're going to come down to ensure you're safely and wellbeing quickly um and until next month be well safe and God bless thank you thank you councilman mazarella councilman man I got to put my um speaker on uh I'd also like to thank uh Jim The Bu business administrator for his hard work work and his team just a great job on the budget this year um congratulations to coach Verona and his team um I know these uh girls for a long time and it's just great to see them you know uh win a tournament and you know really step up and have a great season um spring Sports have started over at alj and uh you know baseball's going lacrosse and all our teams are out on the beautiful uh Fields over at Johnson so come out support our Crusaders um I will be supporting the Crusaders as a president of booster club on June June 5th where we honor all our senior athletes at the grand centurians um also look forward to giving our many scholarships that we give out every single year to our um athletes over at Johnson um and that will conclude my comments for tonight thank you thank you councilman Mani councilman Smith thank you councilman hun uh just a reminder this saturday April 20th is the pickle bow tournament sponsored by Relay for Life uh it'll be held across the street on the ten escorts uh please come on out and help uh this great cause and that's all I have this evening thank you thank you councilman Smith councilman toll thank you Mr President uh I mentioned at the beginning of the meeting about Earth Day this Saturday if you are interested in becoming a participant or involving yourself with this activity please go to River cleanup comcast.net that's River cleanup at comcast.net that's helps to become a participant and you'll see more inform about what a noble and a fun cause this is how many times do you actually go near the waterways of Clark the r River the Clark Reservoir we do the res clean up in the fall in November but now Roy river is the first so if you live on the Northern portion of town or you live in the south and you want to participate please come north and help up what we call the St John's area for those who we've lost in the last month he served as Clark par Chief from 1988 to 1989 I had the honor to serve with Chief pukes on the old Clark 125th annivers committee he will always be remembered in Clark for his time and service in making our hometown safe Chief was the F founder and creator of our Clark Emergency Management board he was instrumental in the creation of Clark's C program and taught the classes from 1974 to 2014 he served in many capacities making this town prepared for anything fire weather you name it and I'll give you an example Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Irene when the town was cut in half and the town was inated with down power lines down trees you couldn't call anybody cell phones were just coming back into fold in 2012 and getting up to speed but Chief fuches implemented a program he established and worked with the state to make sure that things got back to normal that we got to if somebody needed life saving or a fire call whatever he put it all together and that's why his plan will be Beyond his lifetime for generation is still to come and I just want to say anytime there was an accident Chief pukes had the program that the firemen the fire officials the emergency responders went out and followed his bylaws his Outlaw his programs trained the fireman trained the police to go out and make sure things were taken care of in this town and that is a special man who gave of himself back to his community and we will never forget his his time sacrifice and dedication Chief fukes was not only a fireman he was a friend to all he will be missed to his wife Jean and their entire family I will never forget my time serving with that man he was a great guy he' always tell hey what can I what can we do to make Clark a better place what can we make it a better a safer Place Michael nordis who I grew up with Michael became his disciple and Michael and his son are now working and running Emergency Management it's called passing the towards the next and uh we will never forget Chief fukes that's all I have for tonight I hope everyone's safe and has reliable we'll see you next month thank you Mr President thank you C all Jim do you have any comments for the end of the night only thing I want to bring up is you know this was a another you know difficult budget and I'm glad I had the support of uh the finance committee jimin edti Angel albanes and Pat oana and the council um took a lot of time to understand you know the state documents that we uh submitt or about 100 Pages plus all of the detail behind it so um you know we we got to a good place uh and it made sense from a an overall budget perspective and you know the tax increase so I do want to thank everybody as we went through this process from the council and also my CFO Jennifer Kisa um she spent a lot of time you know putting together all my changes uh handwritten and handed them off to us so it was um it was a good outcome for everybody so I appreciate all the support thanks thank you counselor any comments no comments Madam clerk any comments please no comments thank you thank you very much uh my comments for tonight um thank you Jim and your staff for doing a wonderful job on the budget for the town that's awesome um congratulations to the girls of the seventh grade travel basketball team um I know I coached two different teams and only had one team win one one year so it's a very special event when you win the Clark tournament with all the teams that come into town for that um thank thank you to the police department for all their hard work during the month and their efforts to keep the town safe with our uh different stop uh radar stops and things of that sort thank you again be safe for you and and your officers and then uh to the public thank you for coming out tonight and uh going through the motions of the meeting with us so thank you again and that concludes my comments so would I have a motion to close thank you councilman tol and I'll second it thank you councilman Smith all in favor any opposed thank you and have a good night