and welcome to the Clark Township council meeting it is Tuesday February 21st 7:30 p.m. roll call please councilwoman albanes here councilman hun here councilman masella here councilman Manti here councilman oconor here councilman tol yes council president Smith here can we please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence to the flag flag United States America to the for it stands one nation God indivisible and justice 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 tap into 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 madam clerk I'd like to begin with Communications from the mayor and reports on Township officers mayor Bon Corso yes thank you Mr President good evening everyone uh members of council and all the citizens here in the public tonight uh very very short report tonight the Clark police has indicated to me that for the month of January and the last month they did 68 radar details and 21 traffic enforcement details traffic enforcement are now looking at areas where there's no left turns things of this nature that some of the people have just been ignoring and going through there so I thank the PD for their efforts to keep our streets as safe as possible and uh as far as everything else been a very quiet month thank the good Lord and uh we're moving along any questions I'll be glad to take them later thank you thank you mayor bonacorso councilwoman albanes thank you Mr President like to give the director's Library report for the month of February and regarding upcoming events uh the library had a total of 8,4 for website visits and social media and 7,127 visitors to the library in January um I'll mention some of the programs and services available uh librarian by appointment is available the first and third Thursday of every month from 3: to 4: you can make an appointment for 30 minutes and get one-on-one in-depth help on how to operate anything at the library or any other computer type information you may require um also um they're having another uh escape room on March 2nd 3: 4 and March 3rd 1:2 and the theme is the missing book on March 2nd they'll be the library will be SE celebrating read Across America day for kids they're going to have a trivia program on Thursday March 2nd they'll be playing the game cahoot which you can play on Zoom or in person if you've never played it it's a it's a fun game and there will be prizes um computer and Technology help will be available uh every Thursday from 1: to 3: um and the services will be provided by Clark Library volunteers and you'll be taught oneon-one or in a group depending upon what what your interest is um barks and books will be available um Tuesday March 7th and 21st from 4: to 5:00 Thursday March 9th 6:30 to 7:30 and Saturday March 18th um from 10 to 11: so this is an opportunity for your child to read a book for spend 15 minutes with either bubble Magnolia or Sophie who are dogs that'll be visiting the library um there'll be an adult craft do it- yourself St Patrick's Day theme tea towels will be made on March Wednesday March 8th at 11:00 a.m. and um the library has formed a dungeon and Dragons green Cas Society Adventure Guild there'll be meeting on March 11th from 1 to 4:30 and this is for everyone of all ages no experience required and no materials required to join in on Dungeons and Dragons um the Union County Aging Services kios is available will be available Monday March 13th from 10 to 12 so if you have any questions questions at all regarding Union County Services for Seniors or their caregivers come visit the Union County Aging Services kiosk and that's on March 13th from 10: to noon there will be an adult and teen craft for St Patrick's Day uh they'll also be making tea towels um on March 13th and that will be in the evening on Monday um March um March 13th at 7 p.m. and U more celebrations for St Patrick's Day uh Tuesday March 14th um this is for teens grades 6 through 12 they'll be making chocolate uh candies and treats melted candy chocolate candy molds and special decorations there'll be a trivia night Parks and Recreation the TV show will be the theme for the trivia night on March 16th 7 to 8 and um there will be prizes first second and third uh Place winners will receive a prize and bragging rights um and the last but not least New Jersey makers day Lego Mania will be held Thursday evening through Saturday morning uh there'll be three different age groups who will be building um Lego uh projects and then on Saturday you're invited to come and vote for your favorite uh um projects that were completed and that concludes my report thank you Mr President thank you councilman albanes councilman hund thank you Mr President I have Clark Police Department monthly report for January 2023 we saw a total of 2742 calls for service of which 128 were ambulance requests three were fire department requests 10 were motor vehicle lockouts 108 were alarm calls 49 were motor vehicle accidents and 2,415 were miscellaneous calls there were total of 20 adult arrests including with not limited to one for DUI eight for theft one for CDs possession three for hindering one for alluding one for harassment one for assault by Auto and three warrants there were a total of 12 juvenile arrests including but not limited to one simple assault one weapons offense one for CDs and one incorrigible all 12 are in-house dispositions that concludes my report Mr President thank you very much thank you councilman hun councilman mazarella yes thank you council president this is my DPW report this evening electronic drop off is February 26th from 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. uh they just wanted me to um relate to you they do not accept comp compact fluorescent light buls so make note of that please uh spring cleanup will begin late March weather permit please keep all your branches and debris on your property until then bulky and metal pickup will begin March 6th where the permitting appointment is required so Ward one will uh will commence on March 6 for your bulky um uh free hardwood W root mulch is available to schedule a delivery email DPW hour clark.com mulches delivered only on Fridays and they have two size loads a small load or a large load just um let them know what you want and they'll be happy to deliver it to you please remove all Nets from the roadway to avoid damage to them and our equipment so our street sweepers Leaf equipment and snow removal um will access the complete road if we have snow uh from Curb line to curb line and as a reminder tomorrow is Zone 2 recycling pickup next week March 1st is Zone one that's the extent of my report thank you thank you councilman Manti thank you council president uh in the month of January the Clark fire department responded to 36 calls these calls are limited um I'm sorry these calls included but are not limited to numerous odor and alarm calls four calls were related to motor vehicles and two for Mutual AIDS from count uh surrounding towns as always I'd like to thank members of the Clark fire department for their hard work their dedication and keeping their towns safe this concludes my report thank you thank you councilman OK Conor please thank you from the finance committee the administration continues to work on the budget the state has not indicated if there will be any relief and we are progressing with the budget as if there will be no assistance from the state we are expecting to finalize budget by the end of February and present it in March and now from the Clark volunteer emergency Squad recent Squad activities councilman Pat o' Conor was gracious enough to do the swearing in of all new Squad officers in January at their monthly meeting the squad has been working with the Clark Police Department in recertifying all officers and CPR our monthly blood drive continues to be a great support to the community please consider stopping in to donate each pint of blood can save three lives the call volume there were 130 calls in January with 15 Mutual Aid calls to surrounding towns and does not include any calls that were dispatched and canceled total hours responding to calls is approximately 975 man hours this does not include any hours members are on duty when there are no calls membership we are interviewing for daytime EMT positions as we have some members whose availability has changed they continue to look for new members to join a regular member is age 18 plus drivers 18 plus Cadets age 16 and plus if you have any interest you can email the squad at membership Clark .org the squad continues to seek people with public relations fundraising web design and social media Savvy please reach out to Lori Sheldon if you interested at cve L Aur aol.com current happenings the squad is uh closely following a bill uh currently being considered that would require All State EMTs to complete a criminal B background report every two years their current certifications are three years and must be done by the FBI or state contracted agencies this would cost each individual volunteer approximately $70 every two years we are beginning our preparation for activities for the township to participate in the National EMS week which is May 21st through the 27th and this is respectfully submitted by Lori Sheldon trustee that concludes the report thank you thank you councilman tol thank you Mr President from the the environmental commission and the desk of Mark Hayden the Clark Environmental commission held its annual meeting on Wednesday February the 15 2023 in room3 the following was discussed the annual rowy River cleanup will be held this coming April the 22nd 2023 at between 9 and 12 under the direction of Clark's own Joe Zebo the rway River from Winfield Park Dam will be cleaned by the the participants all the way up to the Jackson Pond Falls or Valley Road different names from the past but still we're needing a participants to come out and help pick up recyclables that get washed out of the recycling bins and flown into our waterways we want to help Mother Nature and she needs more than anything we can to take the time and participate in keeping our wonderful planet earth clean and green that's all I have for tonight Mr President thank you for your time thank you councilman tol from the recre uh Department have a quick report uh winter programs are coming to the end the indoor soccer and rest Rec basketball were another huge success as always uh the rec department will be releasing the spring and summer programs uh last week of February and registrations will begin on March 1st uh registration for the Clark uh community pool also begins on March 1st all information is on our website at our clark.com any uh high school or college student who is looking for employment this summer please stop by the recreation offer and fill out an applic to become a camp counselor or to work at the front desk at the pool or to become a lifeguard and looking ahead the Easter egg hunt is scheduled for Saturday April 1st at the recreation center from 12: to 2: p.m. and lastly for our senior citizens there is an Atlantic City uh bus trip on May 4th and there's a 911 Memorial Museum trip on May 11th uh seats for all these trips are on a first come first serve basis if you have any questions you could always contact Ralph Bernardo in our recreation office and his phone number is 732 428 8400 all reports uh given this evening are available at the clerk's office and available on the website at this time Madam clerk when you're ready we can move to ordinances and Appropriations and claims thank you Mr President uh we have the following ordinances for public hearing and for the record no objections have been received in connection with the proposed ordinances the first is ordinance 23-7 and ordinance regarding the regulation management and enforcement of the proper administration of vacant and abandoned real property within the township of Clark at this time I'd like to open the public hearing uh direct like to direct a motion to close the public meeting thank you councilman alones thank you Council hund all in favor I I any opposed I'd like to get a motion to adopt the ordinance I'll move that please thank you councilman hun can I get a second please I'll second that thank you councilman Manti um any discussion go ahead Jim yeah so this is um an abandoned property ordinance it's pretty much been set up as uh from the state and they set up the majority of the requirements uh some of the requirements of registration but also it stipulates maintenance requirements on the property between um Landscaping locked doors Etc uh it's pretty much been put in place to manage the blighted a lot of blighted communities and making sure that the the properties are taken care of um when they're abandoned so we're just it's is we're just following the state law thank you for the explanation anyone else have any questions get a roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman manid yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes ordinance adopted next is ordinance 23-8 and ordinance to amend chapter 48 section 48-5 of the code of the township of Clark entitled employee policy policy and procedure manual at this time I'll open up the public hearing if anyone wants to come forward on this ordinance seeing no one I'd like a motion to close the public hearing I'll move it thank you Council mazarella and thank you councilman albanes for second all in favor I any opposed this time I like a motion to adopt the ordinance I'd like to move that please thank you councilman OK Conor get a second please I'll second that thank you councilman comme any discussion Jim do you have anything to add yeah as as we discussed at the last meeting this is to update the bement policy for In-laws Aunts Uncles and it's going to be a three-day bereavement polic um bement days off um in the event of the passing of their relatives great thank you get a roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes ordinance adopted next is ordinance 23-9 Bond ordinance to authorize the Improvement of Stonehenge Terrace in by and for the township of Clark in the county of union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $870,000 to pay the cost thereof to appropriate a state Grant 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 at this time I'd like to open this to the public if anyone like to come forward just please state your name and address please Mr schan good evening Michael scholman 382 Carolina Street um I was just able today to read through the ordinance and I think it's just important um maybe if the council members and our ba can explain for the folks here and watching at home we're going to watch us later uh the town is going to be in in essence taking out a debt for a little over half a million dollars to fix as I read it a single Street not a huge street but a fairly decent sized Street here in Clark um at a time when our mayor only 6 weeks ago in his Township address indicated that we are already going to have significant budget issues councilman OK Conor alluded to the issues we're going to have with increased costs due to some of the changes for our employees and their health benefits um so I was just wanted to see before a a quick fol it's taken there could be an explanation as to not only what work is going to be done the necessity of it being done but um whether or not there's a real justification to spend Township money in a high interest rate environment to fix this street and what discussions actually taking place amongst the members here so I just would propose that as a series of questions uh before the ordinance is voted on thank you all right thank you Mr shman see coming like a motion to close the public hearing thank you councilman Abes I get a second thank you councilman hund all in favor I any oppos opposed this time I like a motion to adopt the ordinance yes I'll move it thank you Council mazarella I get a second second thank you councilwoman albanes any discussion Jim can you uh fill in some of the details we discussed at the workshop meeting yeah well um as we again as we discussed you know the bond is a total of 870,000 we're going to receive 336,000 from do uh this is one of the roads that are on our Road list that we are going to be Paving part of the cost is also stripping down the oil pavement um so Milling it uh repairing all of the curbing because without adequate curbing the streets will not last as long uh and also sidewalks that have been uplifted or damaged you know throughout the year so it's more in depth and just um just Paving number two is you know one of the reasons why we're doing this and this is the only Road as as you know we spend anywhere between you know $1.5 $2 million a year on road paving so back to Mr Schulman's comment you know due to the high interest rate environment we did not um push to go for the the normal spend on roads one of the things though that we are doing is taking advantage of the Department of Transportation helping us fund the repair of this road so you know in the best interest of the Town it wouldn't make sense to throw away 300 $3 36,000 on a street that you know in future years at a lower interest rate we would still be Paving um and we'll have to pave so that's again the the reason behind this Bond and like I said this is the only Street that's being paved in 2023 other thing I like to add Mr President is that interest rate is not the only reason for the lack of capital Improvement this year in a normal budget year the interest rate wouldn't scare me because is in my 27 years here as a member of council we were dealing with interest rates in the high 3es 3% constantly un bonded debt the idea not to number one to turn away 336 uh th000 is ridiculous number two the people on that street it is a bad street and they've been asking councilman mazarella for quite some time now to get it paved the budget problem this year is a problem that is basically uh Thrive from health benefits through the state of New Jersey the other thing is is that we will continue to work and keep the infrastructure of this community up because if we take that attitude we're going to wait for interest rates to go back down to 1% one and a half% we're going to need more than $2 million year in road paving so if you understand the Dynamics of how the town is managed from a day in and day out standpoint it's an obligation to keep up with infrastructure issues throughout the year because of the growth in the number in the health benefits uh bill this year that's why we said we better just take it back a little bit if we get back to normal next year and you know no big real big surprises like that will we go back to our Paving program because you must keep the interest rate up the other thing is The Debt Service in the budget which is our bond of debt is not the problem in this community and proudly to say through diligent work of our past administrator John and myself we've been the only Administration in anyone's recent memory that has not only paid interest but we've paid down principle that's why we were able to build this beautiful building here and not see our taxes Skyrocket like we promised the public last year I hope that answers any questions any one may have thank you just want to make a comment yesc albanes again it's we're not going to use or put through our full budget for roads improvements but you you really can't take an opportunity where you're getting 38 cents on the dollar or more than 38 cents on the dollar and pass that up with when you have a Road schedule that the engineer has put together that says these are the priority roads that need to be repaired and that's what we're following and taking advantage of the grant so I fully support this thank you anyone else okay uh roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor all the reasons discussed yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes ordinance adopted now we're going to move to introduction of proposed ordinances yes thank you ordinance 23-12 is an ordinance amending section has come to our attention that you know between the time that we passed this originally and now it is no longer permitted by state code as such we are going to be removing the requirement to um update the sewer laterals on substantially uh substantially change uh properties that's it right thank you for the explanation uh roll call please councilwoman albanes yes counc councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman OK Conor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith uh yes public hearing on this ordinance will be March 6th in the municipal building next is ordinance 23-13 and ordinance to authorize the execution and delivery of a lease agreement between and among the township of Clark and the girls softball auxiliary of Clark Township incorpor ated and girls softball league of Clark Township Incorporated I get a motion please I'll move that thank you Council man I get a second please second thank you councilwoman albanes any discussion on this other than it's just a onee $1 a 10year lease it's just $1 um like everything else they need an official lease with the township for some compensation um or consideration in order to get their insurance so we're just putting a lease together for them thank you any other questions roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes public hearing on this ordinance will also be March 6th in the municipal building when you're ready uh move to payment of claims thank you I have reviewed the bills for the month toing $2,485 157 thank you councilman Conor at this time we're going to move to Citizens hearing on the agenda at this time I'll open it up to the public each person please address the council as a whole give their name and address to the clerk and all remarks shall be addressed to the council and shall not exceed 5 minutes in duration seeing no one coming forward I like a motion to close this portion so moved thank you Council now can I get a second please I'll second thank you councilman hun all in favor I any opposed this time we'll move over to the resolutions okay first resolution is Council acting as the pool utility authorizing and directing the council president as the chairman of the pool utility to enter into pool employment contracts for the positions of manager and assistant manager I'd like to move this so can I get a second please I'll second that for you thank you councilman hun any discussion go ahead Jim this is to um contract again for the um for the pool as to pool utility and for the manager and assistant manager it was a 2.5% increase rounded up to the next uh $25 to make it easy and you know they've been doing a great job at the pool as everybody knows and we want to continue to have them on great thank you and that's done routinely each year correct roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes thank you next is Award of contract for aerial photography and Topo topographic mapping services to Robinson aerial surveys Incorporated in the amount of $7,950 I get a motion please yes I'll move it thank you Council Mella second please I'll second that Mr President with some comments thank you councilman tol any discussion yes I'm Council M thank you um I cannot even vote on this without being reminiscent listening to Carl Frank Mr Frank was a longtime resident of the township of Clark he was also a Aviation Enthusiast heed fly over the township of Clark from 1954 up until the 1980s and his last aerial flight was in the 1990s in his 80s and Mr Frank took photographs of the township of Clark through Farmland to early Suburbia and up to the Metropolitan we were in the early 1990s he was a dear friend and his his photographic work as you go into town hall you'll pass the mayor's office his pictures are on the wall from the township of Clark from the 1960s 7s every decade he went up and did an aerial Recon he didn't charge that kind of dollar amount but that's the way technology and these professionals who go up and do this and this is a different a little bit more detailed and Technical Maps but I just wanted to leas before voting on this I wanted to say thank you Carl I hope you're looking down we're still remembering you from your great work of the past thank you thank you councilman [Music] tol else Jim you have anything to add um how could I follow that except that we're going to be doing with satellites this time as opposed to um flyovers and you know we went out to bid we had four biders it was very aggressive pricing the pricing was actually about $25,000 less than we expected it to come in at um had a bunch of questions you know this is the most qualified bidder and the um the best price that we received and we're looking to do this as the first part of our mapping of our sewer system so not only only are we going to be mapping the town but we're going to be doing some mapping of our sewer system to understand where all the lines are if we have any issues where we have any issues and the both of this is going to be an overlay so we'll have a full picture of everything this is not only just straight pictures it also will give us um any type of um issues with um any properties that we may see so it's it's going to be very detailed that we can use it for a bunch of different from oh and this is all coming from arpa funds so as part of arpa we were able to use funds to um enhance our sewer systems improve uh our telecommunications and C access to uh Wi-Fi and this is one of and also uh fix any type of water issues that we have but you know so this is what we're going to be using um Opa funds for to improve our sewer system so maybe takes a a little bit less stress off of the whole situation with the laterals great thank you for the explanation anybody else a roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman midi yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes next is authorizing the expansion of the Professional Services contract with the Township of Clark planning board attorney to include affordable housing Services get a motion please a motion thank you Council AB get a second please I'll second that thank you councilman hun any discussion yeah this is to um bring the planning board attorney in to assist us with the with the um affordable housing so one of the things that has there's a gap in our affordable housing that we need to clear up is what happens when there are are less than six units because it's um 15% so what ends up happening is if someone's putting in you know four units that's less than a half a unit how does that work that it goes for affordable housing so we're going to be working with our planning board attorney who's an expert in this area with the um M magistrate because we're going to need Court approval for this and to come up with the strategy on how to handle any um buildings that only have a few unit that are in an area that needs affordable housing thank you anybody else have a question discussion roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman OK Conor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes number nine is appointing Christopher laera and Alexander lukowitz I'm sorry if I mispronounced that as members of the I'm sorry Luca shevitz Luca shevitz as members of the Clark volunteer fire department thank you councilman M uh everyone in favor of H Council on that okay EC Madam clerk on that please okay I don't think there's anything to discuss other than we have two new members for the fire department so thank you for volunteering I get a roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman midi yes councilman oconor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes when you're ready Madam clerk we can move to consent agenda resolutions yes number 10 is authorizing the tax collector to refund overpayment of 2023 taxes in the amount of $ 6,852 55 11 is authorizing the tax collector to apply sore account balance adjustments as credit in the amount of $11,100 and 12 is authorizing the tax collector to settle a tax appeal for Block 57 lot 5.01 as authorized by the tax Court of New Jersey with a refund issued in the amount of $ 31,1 15 I get a motion to adopt the consent agenda I'll move that Mr President thank you councilman to I get a second please second thank you Council alanes roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman OK Conor yes councilman tol yes council president Smith yes is there any new business on the calendar there is no new business okay thank you at this time we're going to move to public comments I'll open the meeting to the public each person addressing the council shall give their name and address to the clerk all remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and shall not exceed 5 minutes in duration if anyone like to come forward please do good evening again Michael scholman 382 Carolina Street just a I guess a question if someone could answer it uh the agenda that was released at some point with the one that's online has an item that appears to be pulled from the the agenda I'm specifically talking about um a potential resolution I guess was pulled to award a contract to uh special counsel um I'm just curious why it was pulled if it's going to be um added to a different agenda was the matter resolved if there can be some clarity as to the discrepancy between um what the posted agenda was in the agenda actually on tonight other than that uh um letting everybody off the hooker easy today thank you guys take it thank you Mr shman Mark do you want to oh okay yeah um we could not award the non-fair and open contract to uh The franchesco's Firm because they didn't qualify so we have instead expanded their duties under the uh open and fair process that they entered into uh when they became planning board attorney so that it conclud it can include the uh affordable housing issues that we need address you're welcome Mr President may I also add that uh I did put the new one up online as soon as I got it okay he thank you Daniel fuches 333 Carolina Street um so today I want to discuss the uh public speaking time being reduced to five minutes I looked online the agenda is dating back to 2015 since at least then we've been allotted 10 minutes I don't know if it was what the time was before that but I I venture to guess prior to 2015 we were also so a lot at at least 10 minutes so I'm just curious why the change you know I know these typ the typical meeting takes about 45 minutes to an hour it's only once a month we're not here every night or not even weekly so when we were faced with a recent issue last year when we all came and spoke the meetings took I think up to two hours and giving the circumstances and giving that opportunity giving people the opportunity to speak I don't really think that was you know it wasn't an all nighter I don't think it was unreasonable um so I'm hoping that you know we can get back to the 10 minutes in case there's sometimes 5 minutes is not enough maybe you want to speak on a couple of things since we only have the opportunity once a month five minutes does seem kind of short um you know I know in each town it's different it varies from town to town I don't know what other towns do but I do know that each town is different different number of residents different number of council members different problems um I've also heard the mayor say many times that we are not like other towns we are not those other towns so I would just want to know why we would follow what they're doing instead of stick to what we are accustomed to and then the fact that it was so sudden dropping off from 10 minutes to 5 minutes you know I don't know if there's a plan to even reduce it further than that 3 minutes one minute again I don't know what other towns do but I do think it's it is an important part of these meetings to be a lot of the 10 minutes so I'm hoping that you uh reconsider thank you thank can't Dominic PR uh Liv in quf for unfortunately lived here for over 63 years and just wanted to say Mr Mayor B council president really Smith and everybody thank you very much for coming to my brother's weight about 3 weeks ago you don't know how it touched me very much to say everybody come and pay their respects to me personally it's been so wonderful how lucky I am to live in a uh Township in clar that really people care and I want to just to uh tell this in private but I want to tell it in public so I can uh really do it the right way so thank you very much and good night thank you Dominic anyone else coming forward before I close it um Mr fuches we we actually discussed a couple years ago about decreasing the time down to five minutes as technology advanced and availability of getting in contact with all the council members via whether it's cell phone email um ask them to stop stop by the house uh Etc um so we were going to do it a couple years ago and for whatever reason we didn't and uh at this time uh we decided uh and discussed it as a council and thought it was the right thing uh right thing to do um at this time as you indicated most of the surrounding towns um are three minutes or wor five minutes um you know so we just thought it'd be uh prudent to go to 5 minutes but again we're all readily available you have all our cell phones on the website you have all our emails and our addresses so uh we are readily available and uh you can stop down at uh the business administrator's office at any day of the week he uh they constantly have people coming in as well as the mayor's office um anyone else have anything else to add um I'll I'll I'll say it now instead of saying it later this was discussed at the time the ordinance was passed but um um it is customary in most towns in New Jersey I don't think anyone has 10 minutes except for us or those that haven't changed it over the years um I attended a meeting at the league of municipalities with the attorneys um who attend the council meetings and I think the clerk you were there as well for that meeting and um various items such as length of time Etc were discussed and they were kind of shocked that we had 10 minutes and they discussed various protocols and one of the things that they emphasized is that um the purpose of this meeting is to conduct the business of the township so in that regard they said please make it clear to the citizens and you should understand that uh contrary to what you said this is our only opportunity once a month to contact us you can submit written letters to the clerk that it can exceed 10 minutes you can send us letters you can call us you can reach out to the administration there are many ways ways for all of our citizens to reach out to us this is not necessarily that it's not necessary for you to come here and talk to us here you can reach out to us at any time about any issue it doesn't need to be on the agenda there is a section in this meeting where we have public comments just about anything on any topic but most of the meeting is about discussing your thoughts on ordinances or resolutions that we're passing so that's really the purpose of it it's it's to um the purpose of this meeting is to conduct the business of the council the township business not to just hear complaints that can be done at any time and it can be done at these meetings but um if you need extra time you can present documents and writing which will be put on the record thank you thank you at this time I like a motion to close this portion thank you councilman to I get a second please thank you councilman hun all in favor I any opposed this time I'd like to move to Mayor counsel and professional comments mayor bonac course you have anything thanks Mr President um just for the public record I have a uh print out here of Township uh all the townships in Union County and what they allot their citizens to speak at a minute and I'll just go down it real at a meeting I'll go down it real quick Berkeley Heights is three minutes Cranford Elizabeth Fanwood Garwood is 5 minutes kennworth lyen New Providence is 3 minutes row is 5 minutes RSO Park 5 minutes Springfield Union and Westfield uh three towns did not respond those are all five minutes so with keeping within councilwoman albanes what you just said I agree with you angel in the 27 years that I've been in the governing body as a councilman and a mayor um any Resident that has come up here to discuss an issue on the agenda has done it in less than way less than 10 minutes uh the politicals that want to come up and Badger and antagonize for both parties I've seen it both ways to be very fair uh it's been more than they're up here for 10 minutes on the agenda and then 10 minutes in the public portion I'll just take a very quick snapshot into last year very difficult time we hired an Oprah attorney to make sure what was being asked of our community was done 100% proper because if we don't do that we can be fined and litigated against which which of course cost way much more money and a lot of towns have had uh an Oprah attorney on their um payroll for a long time we haven't and we decided to do one and we got up in the the portion of the meeting that when it was on the agenda and the politicals talked about it for 10 minutes they sat down came back in the public portion of the meeting and talked about it for 10 minutes you know whether it's you or I you're sitting here at home you don't need to hear about something for 20 minutes on the same subject unless you just want to embarrass belittle or try to antagonize and we've even gone so far you say about in because every day in government it seems like every year we do have to change if you recall back to the citizens at home I know Council surely does when we had speakers up here in the past we would dialogue with them and then it would get into the fact of saying well you know the mayor talked for two minutes or the councilman talk for a minute and a half and I should get that time back so we adopt it an Unwritten rule I think between us to say let the citizens speak let he or she get their time allotted in and then we'll answer at the end of the night this way there's no miscommunication interpretation of who had the most time to talk so I think it was a move that was uh well thought and I endorse it and will support it 100% uh as councilwoman Albany said ladies and gentlemen you have cell phones text messaging emails phone calls personal visits to town hall and I know members of council have made personal visits and set up personal meetings with members of our community throughout my years here resident had a complaint or a question on something I know I did it as a councilman I know some of you have done it where you've opened Town Hall met the person in room 30 discussed their issues I know many of us have made house calls in our day going to people's homes if they have a question that we'd be glad to uh dissect and communicate with them on so they had better understanding so like councilwoman albony said and I agree this is really anti-climatic I've encouraged people in my tenure here you know if you're going to come here and complain that you need a tree trim there are pothole fixed don't waste your time call us we'll get it done quicker for you because the phone call takes a minute and we can dispatch our people versus saying well this has been going on for three weeks I waited to come to the meeting why would you do that pick up the phone send us an email give us a call stop by we're able to handle what you want so I hope that answers the question that was proposed to you tonight and uh at this point that concludes my comments for this evening thank you thank you councilman albanes if anyone would like to reach me my number is 732 319 0234 be happy to meet with you at Town Hall talk to you over the phone or whatever message you feel as com you're comfortable with thank you councilman hun thank you Mr President reiterate everything's on the website for my contact information so that's all I'll say for that um for those of you who enjoy basketball uh Clark travel basketball is having their annual tournament this past week and the for the next two weeks so if you enjoy watching basketball or have family members because there's quite a number of teams from Clark that are there there'll be basketball for the next two weekends over at Brewer um I find myself spending much a little more time there than I should and my wife I tell my wife I'll be there for an hour and I'm there for 3 4 hours watching basketball CU I enjoy basketball but that's all I have for you today thank you Mr President councilman mazarella yes uh I'll be brief um just as I've said uh each month please ladies and gentlemen lock your doors and your vehicles at all times at your residents and your homes um you know it's an easy way for someone to come into your vehicle steal whatever they want to and easy access to get into your your home if you have a garage door opener so keep your garage doors locked and contrary to a lot of people's belief we're still in Winter um you know uh and we may have some icy conditions please uh be careful driving and um uh through our community and uh please watch the pedestrians walking around thank you that's the extent of my report be well stay safe and God bless thank you thank you um Council alanes you have something to add yes last month the mayor mentioned that we have our new um resident guide out don't forget to go to our clark.com resident guide and it's loaded with information probably will answer many of the questions that you need answers to uh we have our you know as was mentioned today our uh bulky pickup is starting in March and other information about uh senior citizens Recreation the Easter egg hunt coming up Etc thank you thank you councilman Manti uh thank you council president uh first congratulations to Christopher and Alexander um becoming new members of the fire department um I think it's great that we have young new members that are joining um as you may or may not know I am the President of the alj booster club um this is an organization that raises money for our student athletes here at alj and and uh we give scholarships um the organization actually pays for all the awards including the letters that they get on her jackets um and other things like the senior athletic dinner held at the grand centurians um on April 21st we will be holding our Crusader night out um it's titled Havana night out it will be a night of uh dinner dancing cigar rolling and DJ it's just a great night out while we support our um student athletes uh you can me email email us at the alj booster club or find it on booster club but it's just a great night great time great friends and uh you know I appreciate all the support that we get every year uh with that that concludes my report thank you so much where where's the event being held oh Grant centorian I'm sorry 7 to 12 7 to 12 thank you councilman OK Conor yeah um just a uh piggyback on councilwoman Alan's comments about the residence guide you can sign up for the residence guide at notify me which is on hour clark.com and again that also does include the contact information for the council members so um thank you for that comment uh councilwoman albanes I also want to thank the mayor for his comments uh continued comments regarding the radar stops in this town um since Co not just in Clark but it seems all over people feel speed limits are optional and stop signs are optional as well so I I really appreciate the uh the due diligence at the police um I know Captain akabo is here tonight uh thank you for your for your uh your time and your and your men out there trying to keep the stre street safe so that concludes my report thank you councilman to thank you Mr President um it was mentioned about phone calls and meetings and time every Sunday after doing going visiting St Agnes church and doing family stuff I then go out and what I do on Sunday is I go visit my constituents and I have about I had about 13 now I'm down to 8 residents on a regular Sunday morning no matter what holiday Summer Time of the Season I go and visit them because that's what I'm there for that's the role of the councilman to go out Knock on their doors and get their opinion good bad or indifferent and that's what we've been doing for since I've been on this Das even back into the 1980s it's just something that they the elderly people I visit like it they they like that I'm come in there and I'm at their front door and that's the way I can hear if there's an issue and then I bring it back on Monday to the clerk to get it to the mayor to the administration to try to resolve their concerns and issues oneon-one is the oldfashioned way and I'm oldfashioned guys and I will always suggest working one-on-one if you want to come to the D and voice your objections you have every right to this is America we haven't gotten above it I'm just going to finish out with this for those we've lost in the last month Sylvia verro longtime resident beloved wife of Dr Thomas verro a landmark person in the town mother of Sue Bob and Guy ver was class of 79 a year older than me guy knew very well and a longtime Community activist at the leopard's Lane area Charlotte an urbanovich Mets beloved wife of Luke Mets dear sister of Clark longtime Public Works employee Joe Urban his sister Thomas Manning a lifetime clarkeite Thomas was familyowned the Swiss Chalet a mass Hill Road two up from Dr Robinson Hartman courts on top of it now but that was if you went by it was a very Queen old house that dated back to the 1930s that they took out because the land was more valuable than the house but Thomason lived there he retired down the shore after his family sold the land and he just recently passed away we shouldn't make note of him Bonito serbo Clark resident for over 50 years a World War II US Army veteran father of Steven Joe and a large family Louise Jane Cil Clark resident and of over 60 years a longtime member of the Clark ladies fire auxiliary fire Clark volunteer fire department her husband Bob served as a Clark fire chief her family Linda Bob Cindy and the loving family we will be in our thoughts and prayers Julia Simco a longtime resident of the Drexel Hills area my neighborhood mother of Ron Patricia her husband Joe passed away a couple years this is a guy who walked around for exercise because his doctor told him to walk he walked around wearing Notre Dame outfit with a hat and the jacket because his son went to Notre Dame he was very proud of his son and he would always like hey how are you he goes Fighting Irish every time but it was his wife who stayed on and kept the faithful Irish call alive Elizabeth NE a longtime Clark resident she was an active member of the deer Club of Clark mother of Robert NE and many other family and friends and Francis PR dear brother of Clark's own Dominic PR like Dom Frank had a life full of love joy and friendship to all and dear father of Matthew and Michael to Dominic and to Virginia solid who is his love of his life everyone has a love of his life Dom you're the love of this Township and we appreciate and we're sorry for your and condolences to your for the loss of your brother family member is very important with that said ladies and gentlemen I will always on call to you if you need something we're here to help I don't speak for my other colleagues they more than it can be even asked for the fourth word is our home the township of Clark is our home so let us work together to make a better Clark thank you councilman OK Conor you have something to need yes I do um also um in the house tonight we have a former councilman uh alar and albar is actually blocking my view of Captain lot so I just want to recognize Captain lot as well for being here thank you very much for um for being here and for the men as well um while I have the microphone again I just want to um talk about something Brian brought up uh Lois Cecil my aunt Lois now she's not really my true aunt but I was a firehouse kid my dad was a fireman and and all the kids used to get together and all the parents were aunt and uncles that's how that's how close volunteering in this town was back in the day and I can only assume it still is now um you know you not only help the community but you also build another family so I'm sorry to sorry to hear about Aunt Lois but um you know but uh I just remember the good times thank you thank you just want to add a couple of things the Clark travel basketball we started the tournament uh actually 19 years ago uh this is the 18th Annual we did miss one year because of covid we started with 72 teams and most of those teams were from Westfield Cranford Scotch Plains and Clark now the tournament the largest we ever had was 202 teams I'm sorry 210 teams this year we have 191 teams from all over the State as far south as Point Pleasant Barrow and as far north and west as Panic Verona wof out by Flemington Howell uh Etc so we do get a large influx of residents and teams from all over the state and not only is it good for our children who play basketball and the money goes back into the travel basketball which allows them to play anywhere between 20 and 50 games depending on the team and the age at a very reasonable price uh Clark travel basketball takes most of the money that they raise and donates it back to various uh organizations in the town as well as donations to the Clark Recreation Department uh to fund a lot of the projects that Ralph puts together as and programs it also is a huge uh Boon for the businesses in town Manny's Diner Tarantella Applebees Chili's O'Brien Etc as well as many other establishments so uh we do let the business owners know that the tournament is coming into town and they're grateful every year because they do see a nice increase in their business over the three-week tournament so that's all I want to add on that at this time I like a motion to actually Madam clerk you have anything uh thank you I just wanted to say you also have another opportunity to address the council as a body at the workshop meetings and when we schedule special meetings they are held on the first Monday of each month in town hall thank you thank you uh Mr work um just want to let everybody know that we finished the HVAC project at the library it's up and running so you know everybody you hopefully will go back to the library and you know be comfortable it's been a complaint over the years and that was a long process but we have uh new insulated Ducks new old new units so it's it's working as intended that's all I have great thank you Mr Dugan no no comment great thank you at this time time I like a motion to adjourn who was that was that councilman tol can I get a second councilman Albany all in favor any opposed okay see you next month