almost ready good evening and welcome to the council's reorganization meeting January 6 2020 I'll call the rooll councilwoman albanes here councilman bar here councilman hun here councilman masella here councilman oconor here councilman Smith here councilman tol here please stand as the Cub Scout Pack 145 presents the colors and remain stand standing for the invocation I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible lice for all I'd like to call to the podium uh Father Bill from St Agnes Church to do the invocation good evening of our community just like to thank the town and its Administration for the many things that it does for our community and the many ways benefit from being a part of this community so thanks so much for your hard work and all your dedication good and gracious God we give you thanks for the many blessings which you bestow upon us both as individual as a community give the Faith and family and friends we thank you too for the many uh rights and privileges that are ours as Citizens and we ask for the grace to be able to exercise those rights and privileges responsibly we ask your blessing upon all who work here in the administration of the town of CLK that you might continue to guide and Inspire them to always be active in taking care of the common good we ask all these things in your holy name amen bless through this new year amen amen thank you Father Phill you may be seated 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 local source and tap into to Clark by posting such annual meeting schedule on the Bolton board in town hall reserve for such announcements and the proper filing of said notice formal action may be taken at this meeting first order of business is the election of a council president I'll open the nominations for president Madame clerk members of the Council of the Year 2020 it's is a little bit hard to saying it we're still getting used to it I'd like to put it in the nomination of our dear friend colleague and a clarkeite true and true I'd like to nominate and push forward the name of Patrick oconor for council president for the year 2020 in the township of Clark thank you so we have a nomination for Patrick oconor for president do I have a second can I second that please yes thank you are there any other nominations hearing none I call for a motion to close nominations so move is there a second second thank you all in favor I any opposed will the council confirm the nomination of Patrick oconor for president by roll call councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman toll absolutely yes congratulations Mr President mayor if you would join our new president at the podium and swear him into office [Music] welcome councilman and his beloved wife Nancy hold the Bible please right hand I Patrick J O Conor Patrick J O Conor do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I'll will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the state of New Jersey and of the state of New Jersey and I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same that I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully and partially and partially and justly perform and justly perform all the the duties all the duties of the office of council president of the office of council president according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability for the township of Clark for the township of Clark so help me God help me God congratulations Mr President thank you much thank you thank [Applause] [Music] you thank you very much the next order of business will be to elect the council vice president at this time I'd like to put a nomination forward for Steven hun for vice president can I get a second I'll second that thank you very much are there any other nominations hearing none I call for a motion to close nominations so moved I get a second second thank you all in favor I any opposed will the council confirm the nomination of Steven hun for Council vice president Madame clerk roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president oconor yes the nomination is confirmed Mr Vice President please be sworn in by the [Applause] mayor okay now councilman hunt his wonderful eldest son Cameron welcome councilman raise your right hand repeat after me I Steven hunt I Steven hunt do Solly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and I will faithfully and I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly performed all the duties of office of council vice president all the duties of the office of council vice president according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability for the township of Clark for for the township of Clark so help me God so help me God congratulations Mr Vice President thank you [Music] [Music] sir thank you thank you we are now going to move forward to the mayor's appointments confirmation of council by resolution required okay Mr Mayor would you like me to read your appointments mam Clark as always you have that nice sounding voice okay the mayor has uh first and foremost uh appointed Mark Dugan as our director of law to fill the unexpired term of Joseph triari ending December 31st 2020 we need a motion to confirm I'll move that Mr President I'll second it councilwoman albanes yes councilman B yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes it's going to take me a little bit to readjust okay the next is the library Board of Trustees Lisa Dunn regular member from today until 12:31 2024 Angel albanes as the mayor's alternate term ending December 31st 20 and Carla celso superintendent alternate with a one-year term ending 12 3120 need a motion to confirm so move I'll second that I'm sorry Mr President I'm doing your job too all right I'll stop councilman albanes yes councilman B yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes mayor's appointments without confirmation here's what I need one second okay planning board George oier for a four-year term uh mayor bonac Corso for a one-year term John laa for a one-year term environmental commission Ed de Broski for three-year term Martha kamov for a three-year term next is local emergency planning committee Michael nordis Pedro Matos salbon a Corso John laa Frank sarasa Lorie Sheldon Pat o Conor John D Simone Nancy Raymond Scott McCabe Richard oconor Mark Dugan Dr Keno Jeff Reagan Carol lucak Ralph Bernardo Ed Grande Robert sari Dr orange and Megan coolik next is the traffic advisory board for one all for one-year term uh police chief Pedro Matos mayor salvon a Corso business administrator John laa engineer Richard oconor traffic Bureau detective Sergeant Chris lot superintendent of schools Ed Grandy next is the Union County Community Development Revenue sharing committee councilwoman Angel albanes regular member for a one-year term and councilman Frank masella alternate for a one-year term Union County transportation Advisory Board councilman Steve hund for a one-year term Union County Utilities Authority Solid Waste Advisory Board councilman Brian tol regular member for a one-year term councilman Frank masella alternate for a one-year term thank you we're now going to move to Citizens hearing on the agenda each person addressing the council shall first give his or her name and address the clerk or remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and shall not exceed 10 minutes in duration I'd like to open the meeting publicly regarding agenda items only the public may speak on agenda items that do not have its own public hearing I'll move open it I'm sorry move to close see no one come forward thank you I'll second Mr President thank you very much we're going to move to council appointments okay these are all by resolution so they will all require a vote first is the municipal Alliance committee this is a one-year term Ralph Bernardo coordinator detective Brian Seuss chairperson uh members officer Mark detor officer Dan Joy salbon Corso Chief Pedro Matos Victor dearo Joe Bel troma principal of Valley Road School Rick Del Monico principal of C School Jen FY principal of the high school Jamie ronsky Steve kbane Jackie ke kepet Nicole Campbell Patrick Grady Lena aosta Heidi facini Lisa Cahill Henry variano and John reer thank you can I get a motion please so moved I'll second that thank you can I get a roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes next is is Insurance Fund Commissioners for the joint Insurance Fund John lasa commissioner for one-year term councilman Alvin bar alternate for a one-year term thank you can I get a motion please I'll move it can I get a second I'll second Angel you'll angel and a roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor [Music] yes okay next is Union County Community Development Revenue sharing committee councilman Alvin bar regular member for a one-year term councilman Brian tol alternate for a one-year term can I get a motion please I'll move it second thank you roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president oconor yes number six is planning board appointments uh councilman Frank masella class three member for a one-year term and Michael bonacorso alternate one member for a two-year term can I get a motion please can I a second I'll second that thank you can I get a roll call councilman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president oconor yes okay number seven is Board of adjustment Mark Hayden alternate 2 member for a two-year term can I get a motion please I'll move that Mr President I'll second it thank you roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes number eight is the Environmental commission Kenneth Brennan alternate one member for a two-year term can I get a motion please I'll move that Mr President I'll second that thank you roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president oconor yes number nine is reappointing councilman Frank masella as the Township's representative to the roow valley sewage Authority term ending February 1st 2025 can I get a motion please ID like to move that can I get a second second roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes okay we're now going to move over to the consent agenda resolutions Madame clerk let her get a drink she's doing a lot of talking tonight number 10 is entering into a cash management plan for the township for 2020 11 is adopting the temporary Municipal budget 12 is adopting the temporary sewer utility budget 13 adopting the temporary swim pool utility budget 14 authorizing petty cash funds for business administrator police chief and pool director 15 establishing the rate of interest to be charged on delinquent taxes 16 authorizing funds of the township and Che checks drawn upon the payroll and agency accounts be subject to withdrawal by any two of the following mayor business administrator Chief Financial Officer 17 is designating the Union County local source and Star Ledger as the official newspapers for the township and tap into Clark as the electronic news source in accordance with the open public meetings act 18 is appointing John laa as acting Clerk and Donna mizuko as alternate acting clerk in the absence of the Township Clerk 19 is designating business administrator John laa as the public agency compliance officer 20 is affirming the township civil rights policy with respect to all officials appointees employees prospective employees volunteers independent contractors and members of the public that come into contact with Municipal Employees officials and volunteers 21 is governing body certification of compliance with the United States equal employment opportunity commission in accordance with federal civil rights law 22 is establishing and approving professional fees or charges assessed for municipal land use in connection with Township board's review of applications for development preparation of documents and inspection of developments and improvements under construction 23 is authorizing the township engineer to review and approve all sewer applications to be submitted to rvsa Andor njde without further action of the governing body 24 is authorizing the administ ation Andor the Township Clerk to advertise for upcoming bids for all necessary government operations including capital projects and swim pool requirements for the year 2020 25 authorizing the township to purchase materials supplies and equipments under State contract 26 authorizing the administration to submit Grant applications for upcoming grant opportunities 27 authorizing the township to purchase materials supplies and equipment through various local and National Cooperative pricing systems and 28 is approving the revised council meeting calendar to cancel the January 6 2020 Workshop meeting this evening thank you I'd like to move that can I get a second please I'll second it Mr President thank you can I get a roll call please councilwoman albines yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman toll yes council president oconor yes thank you we're now going to move to the introduction of proposed ordinances the public hearing on each of the proposed ordinances will be held on January 21st 2020 Madam clerk okay the first ordinance 20-01 is an ordinance entitled an ordinance to fix minimum and maximum salaries can I get a move I'm sorry that was councilman Bor yes can I get a second second thank you any discussion on this um council president members of council as you've heard for the first uh 28 items on the agenda is uh so eloquently put together by our municipal clerk this is the U start of the Year this gives us the township basically the basic Foundation world everything that's involved in running this government for 2020 um we are now going to introduce a segment number of ordinances this is the salary ordinance that will uh give the minimum and maximums for each of the positions it's been adjusted in certain areas to accommodate the union contracts you'll see two Union contracts that are being ratified tonight uh for the 20 20 to 2023 years um so this is basically what you're going to listen to in the next uh few minutes is what is the foundation of 2020 for the township of clar I uh recommend the uh adoption of this introduction of this ordinance thank you Mr lasa Madam Kirk can we get a roll call councilwoman albanes yes councilman B yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes thank you next is ordinance 20-2 and ordinance to fix the salaries of the white collar employees for the period 2020 through 2023 this ordinance indicates a h salary increase of 2.25% for 2021 22 and 2.5% for 2023 me all our white colar workers thank you can I get a motion please I'll move that I'll second that um any other discussion on this just want to thank the the uh ba the administration for all their efforts in settling the contract prior to the commencement of the Year thank you thank you the uh do you also the contract also puts a minimum and maximum for each of the positions for the white colar employees thank you any other discussions roll call Madam Clark councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes next is ordinance 20-3 an ordinance entitled an ordinance to fix the salaries of police Personnel for the year's 2020 through 2023 I'll move that I'll second it thank you once again council president members of council this is a u a like contract percentages of the same for the police Personnel in regard to the percentage of increase for each year as our equal for our white color equal pay for equal work any other discussions from the council Madam Clark roll call please councilwoman alanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president oconor yes okay next is ordinance 20-4 and ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank can I get a motion please so moved I will second that any discussion this is a once a year uh we've haven't used it over the 20 years that we've been here but case an emergency comes up and we need to uh exceed the cap giv this gives us monies that we have not utilized over the past 20 years to try to make it work thank you just a safety vow thank you any other discussions Madame clerk roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masela yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president oconor yes next is ordinance 20-05 an ordinance to amend and supplement various sections of chapter 333 of the code of the township of Clark entitled Towing can I get a motion I'll move it can I get a second I'm sorry that was coun thank you not a problem council president this is a an update to our Towing ordinances so that those that are in need of this service can when the towing operator says this is how how much it costs they have to conform to our law any other discussion Madam Clark all call please councilwoman alanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes next is ordinance 20-06 an ordinance to supplement chapter 347 entitled vehicles and traffic of the code of the township of Clark can I get a motion so I'll second that I'm sorry who was first and then um Bill Smith Bill Smith thank you any discussion once again we've had some um close accidents on Valley Road at the curb going down to Union County Parkway so we've eliminated parking on one side of the street for some 40 feet because it's a blind it's a blind curve this is a little safety measure that the uh county has asked us to include in the uh operation of Valley Road thank you any other discussions Madame clerk roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes okay next is ordinance 2007 an ordinance to amend chapter 3 section 3-29 of the code of the township of Clark entitled Department of police can I get a motion I'll move that second second thank you any discussion this is an ordinance uh creating the position of traffic control officer and we will be training certain Personnel to do some traffic work around the schools so the uh state has now said that school guards really should not be controlling traffic so we'll be ding new officers to accommodate that service training them thank you any other discussion I just want to say that's a great idea especially with milit terce and the morning Community parents going in dropping off the kids that intersection is calling for a light but it doesn't need a light it needs an officer to be there at the time during the kids getting in and at of school yes Brandon won't technically be an officer it's going to be a crossing guard who is trained to uh direct traffic they put us into a box again in the state where if you take probably Valley Henley riton Road where you are up at um mild haris and Johnson technically if the crossing guard walked out into the street to stop traffic to allow children to come what they're saying now is their crossing guard supposed to walk back to its post and let the traffic figure itself out where now you see him saying come on they stop traffic let some out and kind of go about it that way so now we have to have trained they've been basically doing it anyway so that's what it's all about so we conform with the law and anything we can do to help it just makes it better thank you Mr Mayor Chief and Mr President thank you thank you any other discussions Madam clerk roll call please councilwoman alanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hun yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president oconor yes next is ordinance 20-8 and ordinance to amend various sections of chapter 302 of the code of the township of Clark can I get a motion I'll second it okay so it's alar and Brian tol thank you sir any discussion basically this is U an update of our recycling ordinance uh to accommodate what we're doing nowadays there's a section in here that indicates that if uh your your recycling uh can is uh uh damaged uh needs repair uh gets lost um the each Personnel of of that home would have to purchase another one for $60 the first one was free any Replacements uh $60 replacement basically take care of your recycling Canada will take care of you if not you got to pay 60 bucks for another one any discussions on that like that one Mr President gave ni smile I like that Madam clerk roll call please councilwoman albanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hun yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol 60 bucks huh yes council president o Conor yes okay next is ordinance 20-9 an ordinance to amend the code of the township of Clark uh chapter three thereof entitled administration of government to add article 10 entitled swim pool utility I'd like to move that thank you can I go a second second any discussions as we were going through our ordinances for some reason the creation of the swim pool utility which sometime in 1965 seemed to get lost so putting it back in so we have a a Valor swim Port utility any other discussions Madam clerk roll call please councilwoman alanes yes councilman bar yes councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president o Conor yes and again these ordinances will all have their public public hearing on January 21st thank you at this time I would like to announce the council committees for 2020 the finance committee Pat o Conor chairman Angel alanes Frank mazarella legislative committee Brian tol chairman Pat o Conor Bill Smith Parks and Recreation Bill Smith chairman Pat o Conor Angel alanes Public Works Frank mazarella chairman Bill Smith Steve hunt Public Safety al bar chairman Frank mazarella Steve hunt at this time I would also like to announce the council aison Police Department Steve hunt emergency Squad pad o Conor Board of Education Angel alanes senior citizens alar Fire Department albar Public Works Frank mazarella Public Library Angel alanes Recreation pool Bill Smith Emergency Management Pat o Conor environmental commission Brian tol so now we are going to move forward to public comments each person addressing the council shall first give their first and last name and address to the clerk all remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and shall not exceed 10 minutes in duration I like a motion to open the meeting to the public second second anyone L wish to come forward okay at this time I'd like a motion to close this portion can I get a second second all in favor hi any opposed at this time we are now going to move to the mayor's state of the township address Mr Mayor the floor is yours thank you Mr President members of council like to start of course by saying Happy New Year to everyone here and at home and I guess with a low turnout we have here tonight at our reorg meeting Everyone's Watching at home that will help our uh TV ratings because we fell off a little bit in the uh month of December I guess with all the holiday shopping so here we are happy New Year 2020 I'd like to take a moment on this day January 6 to wish my mother a very happy 81st birthday and I was with her earlier today and I hope she's watching she'll probably forgot but oh well as I uh begin my 20th year as mayor um I got to be honest folks I still walk in every day with the passion and love and energy and desire to continue to work to make this town the best community possible in this state of ours um I'm very blessed to work with a wonderful Council for the past 20 years um not only are these people have worked hard for you they've worked hard with me and my Administration uh and they' become very very good friends of ours together we are truly a family and a unit that helps run this community dayt day um a lot of them are very unassuming very quiet in their roles but they're tireless workers who get the job done each and every day I'd like to take a quick moment to uh thank again for the past year councilman fourth wor councilman Brian tol Brian you did an excellent job as mayor last as um council president last year working with me the mayor um you like that FR I love that one you love it okay we'll change roll someday you'll get more gray hair than I but anyhow working with you Brian is always a pleasure and growing up here as a true Clark gu in shows each and every day I'd like to congratulate councilman OK Conor and hun now as the uh Vice the President and Vice President of council I'm sure it's going to be just wonderful working with you two gentlemen as I've done in the past for many years um also every time you come here you see to my left our uh uh wizard of our budget in our community my business administrator John lay and John I thank you for a 20year run that I don't think any mayor could have been blessed to have such a good friend and a business administrator as you you work tirelessly every day some days I try to chase you out of the office to go home and get a little extra rest and you tell me bu my business and you go back to your desk so that's okay but uh God bless you and thank you for all you do I uh mentioned last month's meeting that our Township attorney for many years Joe triar has went into a uh retirement he's still at his practice but will not be joining us here in Chambers and I'd like to welcome our new uh Council of the uh year and of the day and of the minute and of the hour mark Dugan Mark welcome aboard to our community although you were here a lot in the past few years now it's more of a full-time uh job and we uh thank you and wish you luck and uh look for your excellence in uh leading us in our legal ease each and every day here in Clark uh as mayor you always hope that you have a strong unit with you and I think I've built that over 20 years here uh teren arneal Director of Finance I thank Terry Terry was in town hall on January 1 as some people were home uh repairing headaches maybe Terry was closing out our books and working in the New Year again this year he's a Phenom I'd like to thank all my department heads and and staff starting with Recreation Ralph Bernardo I think you read on the uh real news tap into Clark that Ralph has just uh also taken a part-time position in Garwood for few hours a week uh they will benefit from Ralph's tutelage I'd like to thank Department of Public Works or two guys out there Scott mcab we've been through many wars together Hurricane Sandy and snowstorms and Pat Huff Snider thank you guys for all you do I'll put our public works for against any town in this County by far guys really work hard our fire chief Frank sarasa our police chief Pedro Matos thank you gentlemen for all you do and our Public Safety every day Jerry fuches I'd like to thank also his Emergency Management our first aid Squad our health department Nancy Rayman building department Mike Kota and of course our Township Clerk who always reads my appointments in into the agenda Edie Markle thank you Edie for all and all the employees of this community I got to tell you something we're very blessed to have the employees we have today uh whether it be at the PD um talking about paid employees now at public works or in town hall I've sense a real um group of people who really work together and help one another to try to get the job done for our citizens each and every day and I do really appreciate that our citizens are most important 20 years ago when I've taken the office of Mayor my first meeting was make sure you take care of the citizens of this community they elect us to this position we hire you to these jobs and we expect that mission carried out each and every day the citizen is always right sometimes in theory not really but in our first step towards working with them that's the approach we have to take and if they are are not right we show them where and when and how and why and we try to make it right for them I truly do believe in that and that's the spirit I like to see carried here through our new decade of 2020 when you think about how quick a year goes you turn around and it's just blowing right by you um I really am excited for the year going forward we do have a lot of work to do in this town you know I've told everyone anyone Whoever has the passion to run for the office of Mayor you can literally run for that office and say when I get in I'm going to do X Y and Z and you go into the front door thinking that and then all of a sudden we either be through the state or some sort of emergency or something happens and X Y and Z goes out the window for a few days and you begin with a b and c it's just the nature of the job as I stand Here Today on January 6th I know my goals and objectives going forward for this year but I truly wonder what's going to be thrown in our lap that we've dealt with I remember going back over the years we had a Roy Valley sewage treatment plant that started out to be a $70 million job when I was mayor-elect the job ended up at about $350 million Far Cry from the 70 million that happened I remember us spending a lot of hours and days agonizing over how we're going to pay our share of AD hearing Clark along with the administrator and the engineer and of course our Council we came up with something we really didn't like to do but it was a fair way to run that uh sewer problem was through having a Township SE utility now about 14 years later I'm thinking it's about what we told some of you then I think you now have seen that you would be able to control the destiny of how much you're s was going to cost you each and every year it was built on the price of the water that you've taken into your home how much water you used there was a minimum outset and anything over that was on water usage and I told you back then if you have a family of five and you have three children in the home once they go off to college and maybe get married and get their own place and pay their own bills you will see your sewage uses drop back down and we believed it was a fair and easiest and best way to do it versus putting it into your taxes and paying for it each year after year after year after year for senior citizens it was fair who use a little bit of water that they were able to control it through the minimum cost not paying for people who live on each side of them with their families of four five and six so we came to that conclusion now as we go through there was many other things we had to work on but we had to work on the affordable housing issue that our state legislature and our governor dropped dro the ball on they were sued by a couple of different groups to have more affordable housing in the state of New Jersey and when they went to court the uh judge gave them a certain amount of time to try to fix the problem in Trenton to which they were sent there to do they of course punted the ball because they couldn't come up with a working together relationship for the betterment of the state of New Jersey and it got dropped right back in our local municipalities Labs well of course myself and our team negotiated somewhere around two years to try to find the right mix for our community of where how and why we're going to put affordable housing and today you see Apartments going up all throughout Union County and throughout the state of New Jersey if you look at some of our neighboring communities such as Westfield and Garwood and Cranford just to name it a few you could see just as our neighbors that they are building and trying to comply with the state law the unfortunate part is through the lack of desire to work together in Trenton they've kind of left our municipalities open a Township like Clark and some of the others I just mentioned are probably about 98 excuse me 99% built so how are we going to fit these housing units in to our communities and it wasn't about what was available land at the time it was about what was available and what's going to become available hence which was a site across from Valley Road um and corner of wall not across from the holiday in there was a commercial area there that was being sold that was deemed an area our old &p down on Westfield Avenue was also deemed an area so to achieve this we had to not only look at what was available now but what was going to be available through 2025 and we have to stay protected if we do not stay protected on the affordable housing issue we are open to a builder's remedy and let me tell you and I've told you this before but for those of you who are just tuning into what's happening if the township was not pro protected by working with an affordable housing plan and we were open to Builder remedy the Hy Hills Golf Course which has been up for sale for many many years which is Zone Recreation could literally be purchased by a developer they could come in and decide to put big box stores on that piece of property and apartment buildings very big apartment buildings to help House lowincome people and they would go to court and get that they might not get it through a zoning board for a change of Zone but the Court's New Jersey would absolutely grant that we were approached many years ago John and myself had a meeting with some gentleman from New York and that was their approach and the meeting lasted about 10 minutes when I told them that'll never happened as long as I'm mayor of this town and they walked out and as they were walking out they said mayor how was your affordable housing plan I said glad you ass were up the stuff we are protected because that's what happens in the state of New Jersey so insteading us telling the courts to go fly kight in a nice way we had to sit down and negotiate and I know it wasn't the pleasure of myself self or this Council to do it but we had to do it to protect the Hyatt site and others for that matter this way we have control over what goes in and how it's built uh very soon the uh Valley Road property and corner of Walnut will be coming up before the planning board I'm expecting this year the old on Westfield Avenue to come up before the planning board now I am a little excited about the old site moving apartments and a couple of retail stores on the bottom this community has been asking for many many years to really have a downtown Clark I think this will be the beginning of a true downtown we have tried and worked at it for many years but Westfield Avenue is really what Westfield Avenue is we got word that the Jax Tavern property again is now going forward we've been on that battle for the last oh God 15 years but the last two years they had planning board approval and different issues that they had a resolve between the partnership and we were told today that they are doing that moving forward so we're hoping between the old Jax Tavern property and the old & property that downtown Clark will become alive and vibrant over the next several years moving forward uh when you have foot traffic in any downtown that's an encouragement for business to appear because those are the people who are going to walk to your stores and buy your goods and services and I think that's something that could really go on going forward here in Clark I'm excited about that there's going to be other apartment sites built in this town that we basically can't stop through that court agreement to fulfill Our obligation but we're able to work and manage them it is the new trend throughout New Jersey I keep asking other Mayors and people I talk to where are all these renters coming from where are they all going to come from because every town is doing what we're doing and really a lot more in other towns we were able to negotiate a very good number that we're going to have to live with comes to questions of yes traffic yes children for our schools that's a possibility we really don't know we do know that when you come to renting not many parents rent with two and three children you might find that as they're uh infants and up to maybe two or three years old but then they want to back yard with a little pool or a trampoline or a Sandbox and they look to buy a home we should certainly hope that happens we wouldn't want to see our school district be strained by this but I have been quot it and saying that I do believe the legislature and our governor is very shortsighted because I think in the next 15 years Union County is going to look like Queens New York and that is not the fault of any mayor sitting in this County I attended a uh mayor's Roundtable meeting back in June with our governor Murphy and you know it's so nice to see unusual to see but the mayors of the county were sitting there at the round table and most of the Suburban Mayors because the cities have this already and are really not affected as much as we in Suburbia Union County are and we as Republicans and Democrats alike told the mayor told the governor I should say that this is a problem and he has to try to get this back to a state level and not to a court mandating and try to go back to what we used to have with the Council on affordable housing Cola and you're sitting in a room as a governor and male and female mayors of both political parties are standing there telling you something is not right something is not working and the governor kind of shrugged the shoulders and said he believes in it and it is what it is Governor Murphy the other day has come out and said he wants more for for aable housing my question to our governor is where could you educate me to where could you educate me to what we're going to do with crowding a school traffic infrastructure problems and our roads and our sewers and it goes on and on from there and there and this is a problem that each mayor going forward in next 10 20 and 30 years is going to have to deal with and whether you're from the right or party or the left side of the party it doesn't matter it's a problem that that we all have to share and work with and it's disappointing when Trenton is elected like we are to do a job and they just don't answer the call it's something that really really astonished me to see happen in today's day and age the other thing that was passed in Trenton last year and this is on it if you want today but mayor s's going to make a bold prediction into the future if you're all all the five people that are here in the thousand who are listening at home that a Rain Tax was put in our state to charge the people for the rainwater that runs off their property into our streets into our sewer system today this is if the town wants to law but I'm sure after 2021 it's going to become state law and a mandate that you have do well I could tell you right now mayor Sal bonacorso will not act that into Clark and I will go to Mark Dugan and his firm and ask to begin a lawsuit this got to be unconstitutional I brought that up to Governor Murphy at the mayor's round table and he looked at me and said I disagree it's good sure more taxes for rainwater more cave to the environmentalists who want to control what goes on in Trenton and I'm about the environment I care about the environment I care about clean air and clean drinking water but ladies and gentlemen there's a cost to everything we do and a limit to everything we do and legislators in Trenton you really have to stop and you have to start thinking about what you're doing before you continually cave to the special interest groups and push it down on the shoulders of the Mayors and councils of this state to have to go and tax their people and tell them why could you imagine because many people do not follow what goes on in local government you're getting a bill at your house and it says a rain tax and it's $50 or $100 or whatever it may be how many people you think are going to be standing in the line outside my office asking what the hay this is and I said to the governor if you feel it's so good why don't you collect it put your name on that bill and of course he didn't answer that is something that I'm very very troubled by and very upset by next they couldn't again work together in Trenton and try to figure out what they all so badly want to do is legalize marijuana in New Jersey well you know years ago I used to say I'm not stupid I can count and if you have the votes it's going to happen no matter what the other side argues and says and the legislature again couldn't come together on trying to reasonably figure out a way to do this again I am not in favor of this I know other towns have jumped the the gun and have passed ordinances and uh resolutions saying that there will be no marijuana dispensaries in their Town due to Mr tri's legal counsel Clark has not done that because we can't ban something that isn't there yet but I will tell you the day that they legalize marijuana in this state and it's going on a referendum this November I will come to this Council and ask you to pass legislation preventing dispensaries in this community I don't think we're ready for it I don't support it and I want to see a lot more to go into this versus about people wanting to legalize this and allowing people to drive under the influence of marijuana and deal with marijuana every day I think about the burden it's going to put on our Police Department training men we have breathalyzers to figure out people who are intoxicated from alcohol but what are we going to do with the people who are driving under the influence of marijuana I will come to you Council probably in 20202 and ask you not to allow that in this community going forward our biggest battle always it every year for the lack of state aid a Township like Clark has we have great spending habits in Clark we do not squander your money we work very hard our budget and taxes are always first on the plate each and every year to try to work with in the future we have some good development going on I think we'll have some really good days ahead I know in the past we've always been noted as being one of the slowest increases of taxes in all of Union County and we provide probably more services than most towns in Union County when you take two services that are Public Works put out each year and our recreation department has I don't think you're going to find any town that gives is you for your tax dollar what we here in Clark give you with our public works department you know the drill it's not only the everyday stuff is picking up leaves and plowing snow and cutting Township grass it's about the metal cleanup the bulky cleanup the branch clean up the grass clean up this stuff goes on each and every week of about 10 months out of the year we pick up your Christmas trees for free you know we do everything we humanly possibly could do at the Public Works level to give you services for your tax dollar not to mention of course the major services in policing and fire department and our first aid Squad which is always necessary when we need them you look at our Recreation Department I don't think there's a recreation department in the state that provides what we do from children newborns right to our senior citizens in this community and I'm very proud of that I know folks taxes have gone up over the years and you know if we don't get you the county will or the school board might it's a NeverEnding battle here in New Jersey they need a constitutional convention in Trenton to try to figure out a way of taxing people the way that's happening out there today and has been is not correct it's not right and it's Contin it's going to continue to drive people out of the state of New Jersey uh when you think about the legislation for passing legalization of marijuana in New Jersey I really don't hear a lot of great conversation on why we should coming out of treat it's how much money more we're going to get to go out and spend and if that's why we're doing it that's kind of sad it really is in my opinion how much more money can we get to go spend and folks if I don't want to be this guy but I guess I will if you watch where the money's being spent right now in treton it's in their voting areas it's in the cities that bring Democratic voters out I don't not I do not want to be political on a state of the township speech but it's true it's not a political fantasy it's fact the money goes back into the cities the money gets spent you look at the debacle in Newark with the lead in their drinking water and Essex County bonded $200 million are going to going forward to fix their pipes well I know what I would have said if I was in traon as Governor how about we take the new New York water company and get rid of them and put New Jersey American water in who Could Supply clean drinking water without charging the taxpayers what was the New York water company doing for many years allowing their pipes to deteriorate I mean you want to talk about a place to begin an investigation thank God it didn't hit Union County but the people of Essex County are going to pay that tab for their lack of ability to manage a water system this is where the state has got to stop the people of the state are going to be driven out New York they're driving people out they're driving people out here in New Jersey and the burden falls on the local Mayors and the local councils to bring that bad news to you so hopefully going forward I know we will continue to do our share here in Clark to provide you the least amount of increases for the most amount of services speaking of a um new beautiful thing that we're about to do if you look in the back of where we're standing here tonight the uh new police station has begun men are back there starting to work on the subsurface to get it ready we're hoping that by April 2021 we'll have a beautiful police station uh Courthouse council chambers and Court offices for our people to work at the building we're standing today folks is just beyond repair I've gone through that with you it's something that I'm looking forward to seeing happen we've done it in the most frugal manner possible to try to give you the best facility when we sat down and we worked on these plans and we spent a long time doing it we really and seriously try to provide for our people who are going to be working in those buildings everything they need to get the job done but we've also decided to do it in the most frugal manner as possible but I think the end result is going to be something we could be proud of and I hopefully in a few years this Council will be meeting in new council chambers and our police will be working in better facilities and our court will be in a better facility and I think it's going to be something the township could really be proud of we're ready for the new decade here in Clark we're going to take it head on I've still got energy I'm still excited I still want to see our community grow and get better and grow together each and every year I know as mayor over the past 20 years we've had some tragedies in our community and I've always judged this community on how we came together when tragedy has struck other members in this community and I couldn't be more prouder of all the citizens in this town you are why we are here we come here with you in heart and mind each and every day I can know personally from myself and this Council we are so proud and honored and privileged to serve you and we do not forget in closing I I couldn't forget my wonderful wife Geraldine who in two days on January 8th we will be celebrating our 26th year together in marriage and that's a great thing and I'll tell you she's been nothing but a wonderful wife to me and a great mother to my kids and hun if you're watching at home I want to tell the community I'm reupping the lease for at least another four years so you have me and I like to also thank my beautiful children Christina and Kelly and Joe for uh putting up with Daddy and running around you kids have grown up with me being in politics and the mayor of this town and I know sometimes it might have been a nice thing and I know sometimes it wasn't so nice for you guys I do get that but without uh my wife and my children I'd be a shell here of who and what I am and I love them and I thank them very much for all their time uh Mr President members of council members here of our community and the thousands who are watching at home God bless you Happy New Year and may we all live within the Lord in our hearts each and every day God bless you and thank you thank you Mr Mayor at this time we're going to move forward to council and professional remarks we'll start with councilwoman angel aanes thank you Mr President and congratulations to you pad O Connor and Steve hund I look forward to working with you um happy New Year to everyone out there and the thousands in TV Land I know there are many of you that watch because I do hear about our meetings and and the comments that you have um Brian let me start with you thank you very much for a great year as president um it's really a pleasure and as the mayor said it's it's a blessing to be a part of this group a seasoned group who works so well together and it's really an honor to be a member of this team uh a member of this governing body and to to be on the bonacorso team I like what the mayor said uh our approach is the citizens are always right um if not we have to explain where when how and why I'm fortunate that I get very little complaints very few complaints when I do get questions from citizens it's always a pleasure to say please work with the administration work with the department heads to get what you need to get done and come and see me afterwards and um it it very rarely happens that there are problems that occur um being in finance it's always a pleasure to understand and know and be proud of the fact that our budgets and as the mayor said we have great spending habits John is always asking if you need something we will get it but he needs to know why it needs to be justified IED and that's why we have had the success we've had in having the lowest increases in the county for so many many years um I hope as the mayor explained in detail about the development that's going on in town I hope that the and hopefully development of Jack's tavern will be a Tipping Point for us and seeing a real change occur um in addition to our great summer camp that's offered we have fantastic senior citizen programs many many offerings in terms of um physical activities and also youth recreation it's always been an emphasis for us and I'm very proud of that and very proud to be involved in programs and I'm always over at the rec center during the week um I think in summation uh I just want to say that I'm extremely grateful to have the citizens that volunteer in this community to help all the boards um that we have I'm I'm very happy and I know the mayor didn't mention the library but happy uh they're sometimes uh you know off on the side but they are right next door uh very happy with our new director Megan kosc she's been here now for two years and also for the library staff and I always get good feedback on what's happening at the library and I encourage citizens um I know that some of you that watch this already know that I talk about what what's available there but it's unbelievable how many things are there for you for free it's your library and it's there for you um I'm proud honored and privileged as the mayor said I'm repeating that but I'm very grateful to be here and to serve thank you thank you councilwoman alanes councilman albar thank you Mr President uh first I would like to thank the administration for all they have done for this town and also I want to thank Edie for all she read this evening and did it on one bottle of water and I want to congratulate our president Pat o Conor and our vice president Steve hun and the only thing I find bad with having Steve hun next to me is whenever I have to speak to him I get a stiff neck from having to looked up and thank you that's it thank you councilman bar councilman Steve hun thank you council president and congratulations on being elected Mr Mayor took most of my bullet points so I'll I'll skip through I don't need to repeat them you did it so eloquently yourself we all want to get out of here you did about 30 minutes of standup before um so everything that the mayor said has been is true we all work well together um at the end of the day we're doing our best job to make sure the town of Clark is in the best hands and and the best hands are the two men sitting over there the mayor Saban aoro and business administrator John laa so thank you both for your tireless hours that you put in to make our town run so smoothly um to the third W residence it's been a pleasure to be your councilman for the past five years I can't believe that it's gone by so quickly um but it has been a a good time meeting new people helping people out with their situations whenever you have an issue please feel free to contact me by email telephone or Facebook um you pretty much know all those how to get in touch with all of us and when you need us you normally get us so please continue to do that to our department heads who have done a tremendous job throughout the course of the year I know I'm in contact with them whenever I receive an issue I speak with them and it's normally resolved if it's capable of being resolved and if it's not then it's not but we we put our best foot forward to try to do that for our residents throughout the town but for the Third Ward we've been able to in the past five years have New Roads paved our roads paved safety features put in the speed limit signs those blinking signs telling you how fast you're going the striping of the streets cuz that's been a concern since I started five years ago was RW street that people go too fast on that I get countless number of calls there so we've taken care of that and and made adjustments to that road um to the our DPW as the mayor said they do a tremendous job in all aspects of of their their work um to Chief MOS and his men they keep our town safe Chief had Chief has done a wonderful job he's been a friend of mine for many many years um and his men just do an outstanding job um let's see took care of Mr laser who we always have to make sure we take care of uh and Edie you're the one that you're the glue behind the scenes that keep us all keeps us all together make sure we're here on time by giving us the correct times and things of that sort so thank you very much for that uh thank you to my fellow council members for feeling confident and electing me into vice president thank you again uh finally I like to thank my wife carara and my three boys Cameron who's here Brandon who's away at college and Aiden who's at basketball practice still on a Monday night um thank you for allowing me the time to take the undertaking of being being a councilman it's been a pleasure so that's all I rambled on a little too much so thank you very much Mr President thank you councilman hun councilman Frank masella yes thank you council president I would first like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and um councilman hun uh as uh Council vice president and wish you both well this upcoming year um ladies and gentlemen 2019 has uh has has seen some progress in our community by creating a downtown and business district along the Westfield Avenue Corridor the start of additional recreational housing at the inter intersection of wnet Avenue and Valley Road on the evening reality property and the start of construction of the police facility court and council chambers 2020 I believe will be quite interesting as well and I'm looking forward in continuing our efforts our mission has been and will continue to be by bringing about a sense of safety affordability and well-being that you're the residents of our community can relate to and be proud of all this is very important to our mayor our Administration and colleagues and I be assured that we will do everything possible to ensure this trust you have given us continues as always I am accessible to you by either emailing me at fmaz Cella at hour.com or by calling me at [Music] 732-577-8700 Department we have so I couldn't be at a council meeting without mentioning a few programs that are coming up uh winter classes start next week so if you're interested please sign up immediately and stop by the recreation office for any information uh and see Ralph if you have any questions on Saturday January 18th is the Clark family skate night at Warren anko Park Ralph reserves the ice rink for two hours for Clark residents only uh so if you're interested please stop by his office for the details um here we are the year 2020 uh sounds like a TV show but it is reality uh as our Master historian uh Brian tol always reminds us Clark continues to change and evolve our history is important to see where we started uh how we have grown and where we are going um with the leadership of our mayor and our business administrator and the rested Administration and uh our town clerk uh the town is fiscally sound and will continue to be fiscally sound uh as the township of Clark Clark continues to evolve and grow we make decisions that are in the best interest of the citizens of Clark that will improve our Township's appeal uh the Town Council is our legislative branch uh and we don't take this lightly we vote on ordinances and resolutions uh that are in the best interest of our citizens in the town uh we're constantly looking for ways to improve and grow our Township um you know and it's important that you understand that the administration people come to them with developments with ideas and then they bring it to us as a council and we vote on it uh whether it's an ordinance or resolution um lastly in closing I'd just like to thank my wife Susan and my two daughters Dominique and Gabriella for putting up with me the past seven years as I've been on councel uh it does take a lot of time and effort uh I want to thank uh my fellow council members uh for doing a great job the past uh few years uh and looking forward to continuing it and I just want to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year that's all I have this evening thank you thank you councilman Smith councilman Brian toall thank you very much council president Pat o Conor uh to my fellow colleagues on the Das of 2020 I just want to say thank you for allowing me to sit in the center seat for 2019 to the mayor for putting him up putting up with me for a year and Mr laa again nothing but love and respect to both you and to our clerk who is again not just the glue she is this Township and does so much for the town Mr Mayor you were making your comments about some people wanting your position Mr Mayor nobody can do what you do you've given so much to this town your life you sacrificed from your family from your own business the hours you put into that up that office is incredible sir yes I want to be a mayor one day but nobody can ever do what you've done Sarah we are so internally and lifetime grateful for what you've done and we will thank you for until our days are over with s you have an incredible mayor and we thank you and we hope you continue doing what you do when I went to doors in 2018 hey you're doing a great job that mayor it was all s it was us it was a team you always said I want team and Sirah we work hard I like to be where I was at the center seat I'm on the end of the DI it's kind of quiet here I'm very close to our beloved Edy but thank you Sarah for allowing us to be a part of this team working with these wonderful people and even uh angel said it best and working with Pat now for the 2020 we got a lot of ideas and we'll bring it to the council as a proper form how do you even start off a new year happy New Year to you the residen of Clark who allowed me to sit here thank you thank you for letting me be a part of this community to work and make decisions for its future I can't do anything without going through father Sheran who's up in the front rows and G me here's the story of Christmas 2019 gifts the one gift that we are here on this planet is the gift of life and the gift of this community coming together and saving a life our police fire and emergency Squad were called out on Christmas Eve at 10:00 at St Agnes church called out for a medical emergency one of our own Community residents her his wife is a part of our environmental commission his name is Kurt kop he's a lecturer at St Agnes church and he was lecturing Christmas Eve at 10 o'clock in the church at St Agnus on masso road Kurt was stricken with a massive heart attack and he died if it wasn't for the people in the parish the EMTs and the police and the fire who arrived at St Agnes and brought him from the grips of death back to life he was up in Morris toown for the last couple weeks he's just been transferred just ran to his son was talking to his son Michael kop who works at C and told me his father's now back in Clark rehab and he's lucky to be alive I call that a Christmas gift everybody and get presents and stuff but when you have a resident of our town who we all know who is taken suddenly but returned to us this whole experience everything we're doing here is nothing but a gift and father I'm glad you're here because you actually were right on the DI helping with that situation and everything you gave back and helping to keep everybody calm because it was not an easy situation what I've heard and thank you Father for being a part of our community father Sharon you you're back but to have that happen on Christmas Eve was not easy but again police fire emergency Mr Mayor what a great town we live in when you hear that Christmas story that's a real Christmas story not not this TV stuff when they brought one of our own residents back from death and he was brought back in that church on that floor and then brought over to the hospital and then transported what a gift ladies and gentlemen my quick speech and I'm going to end it yes history 100 years ago in 1920 Benjamin King he has a street name after him in town Jacob Leman who is one of the founders of the Clark fire department and Henry Shey who lived across from the high school these three men pledged their life and their dreams to create a Clark of 1920 100 years later we do the same we work together to develop ideas to take your Visions your dreams your thoughts to make a safer cleaner and Greener and historical Clark New Jersey and that's what I do to you tonight I pledge to you another year of my life to say to you my fourth word residents thank you for allowing me to sit here to my colleagues I will work with you bring ideas to us so we have a safe clean green and historical Clark New Jersey Mr Mayor I pledge to you and to my council president Pat o Conor and to all the other council members of this Das and to the police fire emergency Scott mccab historical we must keep Clark clean green and historical we must work for a better tomorrow it's for our kids it's for preserving the past and the memories of the past and I thank you Happy New Year to everyone and God bless at Clark New Jersey thank you Father for everything you do and father mayor Pat your thank you councilman tole now for my comments hello and welcome to 2020 I hope each of you had a great New Year and are ready to take on the new year and the new decade looking back at 2019 it was yet another year of change for the second ward the Redevelopment of the property on the corner of Central Avenue and Terminal Avenue has been completed the result was five stores and a drive-through Dunkin Donuts ongoing now is a Redevelopment of the property on the corner Westfield Avenue and Ron road which will become a medical building and looking forward into the future into 2020 we are looking to see L'Oreal work on its research and development facility on Terminal Avenue from the financial side I'm happy to report that the township continued to have sufficient funds throughout the year to meet all of our financial obligations for 2020 I expect the township to continue on its positive path forward not only meeting our financial needs but the needs of the residents of the second ward and the township at this time I'd like to thank the council members for putting their trust in me to lead the council in 2020 as council president I would also like to congratulate councilman hun for being selected Council vice president I would also like to thank Brian tol for all his work he did in 2019 as council president thank you the council is here to help please reach out to any of us as we are all committed to to the success and prosperity of the township as technology continues to become a bigger and bigger part of our Lives I encourage the residents of the second ward as well as the township to friend me on Facebook under councilman oconor to keep up to date with happenings in and around the town as well as have other avenues to get in touch with me in addition to my phone number of 732 382 9719 and my email p o Conor at hour clark.com I'd also like to thank my wife Nancy and my son Kyle my daughter Courtney for all their support and my time giving to the township but it's more important to remember how much the township gives back to me and to my family thank you at this time I'd like to move forward to John laser RBA and before I go to him you've heard from the mayor from myself from all of the council members that this town is f financially sound and the reason the town is financially sound is because of Mr laa his team his hard work his sharp pencil but also his caring for this town he's done a lot in the 20 years as the mayor talked about and um this Township would not be in the state it is in without Mr laa as great as mayor s is a good part of his success has been the financial stability of this town and that my friends is Mr lasa Pat is my biggest cheerleader thank you Pat Uh always answers your call I yeah I get a little upset when I hear um councilman toll talking about history I was here with shidy in 1920 I know when I I was born um the life expectancy of a little boy at that time was about 60 years so I never thought 2000 would be in my uh in My DNA to see the year 2000 uh now we're starting the third decade so the good Lord has been well good to me and uh the mayor said I have to give him the strength to give him another four years I don't know how that's going to work but we'll work at it as hard as we can uh Town's in good shape um there are a lot of things going to be happening in 2020 uh I'll bring them to you uh in in Little Bites so you don't get upset but uh the town has gone a long way since 1920 was one big farm uh councilman told tol gets angry with me because most of those Farms are gone um but he has pictures of them so we know what it looked like before I think it looks better now uh but uh listen everyone should should have a happy New Year a healthy New Year and uh a lot more will be coming from us throughout the year thank you good day thank you Mr laser we're going to move to uh our chief of police uh Chief Matos good evening members of the council Mr Mayor Mr business administrator um congratulations councilman OK Conor and councilman hun on your new positions um I thought I'd take this opportunity to kind of recap some of the statistics that we saw in 2019 in Clark regarding the police department and also to bring you up to the health of the uh the police department well I'll start off with the Manpower uh the police department has been fully staffed since June of 2019 when we saw the graduation of uh new officers McKenna and jacobe we currently sit at 40 sworn officers 16 class one and class two specials eight dispatchers and four civilian administrative staff and all our supervisory positions are currently filled um call volume in 2019 we saw a reduction in our total call volume calls for service at the police department in 2019 we saw 3,252 calls for service which was slightly down from 2018 of 32929 the PD um when I I'm going to talk about statistics but I'm not going to get into all the complete details I'm going to stick to the I believe the statistics that concern the citizens of Clark mostly which is going to be of course traffic and traffic and traffic um burglaries motor vehicle burglaries car thefts and U some of the major incid that occurred in town the PD took nearly 5,000 enforcement actions traffic enforcement actions throughout the year and performed nearly 182 traffic directed details around our schools as we know traffic around our schools is very important to all of us and we do have traffic issues around our schools we issued nearly 4,000 summonses and we made 24 DWI arrest in calendar year 2019 we responded to nearly 1,300 medical emergencies throughout the town we also responded to 9115 motor vehicle accidents that number of motor vehicle accidents is slightly down from 2018 which was 973 speaking of traffic uh we did unfortunately have two fatal pedestrians struck and killed this is the first time in nine years in Clark that we have had a traffic related fatality our motor vehicle burglaries I'm sure over the years you've you've all heard me rant about lock people locking their car doors in 2016 we saw 82 that number is slowly been coming down last year we saw 42 motor vehicle burglaries throughout the township this year in 2019 I'm proud to say we only saw 20 which is a huge reduction from just a couple years ago we responded this number has pretty much stayed steady compared to other years we responded to seven confirmed residential burglaries and three commercial burglaries in 2019 one number that has come down is our motor vehicle thefts we only saw six in the township throughout the entire calendar year of 2019 I think if you if you do some research and you compare that number to many of the surrounding communities not just around us but throughout the state you'll find that that number is extremely low one number that had has not come down which I wish had was our uh suspected overdoses and overdose deaths in uh 2019 we responded to 19 suspected Andor confirmed overdoses which resulted in five deaths that number is identical to the 2018 numbers some of the um notable incidences that I believe U major inst that occurred in town uh the one carjacking and stabbing that occurred in the township which occurred in April that was of the carjacking and stabbing of the lift driver as it traveled through Clark that resulted in the immediate rest of the of the suspect as he fled the scene and of course we have Woodbridge Police Department to thank that helped us in making that arrest that individual is currently awaiting trial on numerous felony arrests including attempted murder our one arm robbery for the year occurred in July which of course uh if you remember was at the Exxon at rtin Central where multiple suspects entered the the Exxon all armed with handguns that incident ended with the immediate arrest of the suspects as they fled the scene as they fled the station and were spotted by our Patrol officers Officer Hernandez who resulted in the arrest of all the three suspects recovery of the proceeds from the robbery and two handguns loaded handguns were taken off the street that night the Township in 2019 saw two strong armed robberies also in June uh we if you remember we had the couple that was returning from dinner who were followed and uh were assaulted as they were exit exiting their car after a couple month investigation all three suspects involved in that incident were taken into custody and charged the one other Strongarm robbery which was reported to us in December unfortunately wasn't reported to us till sometime after the event occurred we are still investigating that incident in uh 2019 the police department made 69 arrests revolving or U relating to possession of controlled dangerous substances Andor controlled dangerous distribution of control controlled dangerous substances in total the police department made and process 390 adult arrest in 2019 community events uh the police department and many of our officers several of our officers Vol have volunteered throughout the year as you see in conjunction with the recreation department at several of the community events most of the time when do you see these these officers they are there on their own time they are volunteering to be there because we understand how important it is to stay connected to the people we serve just to name a few of the events tree lighting National Night Out Spooktacular volleyball fundraiser the Halloween handing out Halloween candy from the police cars during Halloween Veterans Day Memorial Day and little leak parades and of course our movie night we believe all these incidents these um these events were successes for the township and it also provided a an opportunity for uh the citizens of Clark to interact with our police officers our juvenile Bureau headed by detective uh Detective Brian Seuss has stayed active in our schools in through the deer program for our elementary school program and of course now over the last several years we've been doing the na the uh not even once program at the high school level with that note tomorrow night at alj at 6 PM detective Seuss will be will be presenting the uh not even once program as part of their parent University so if I uh I ask that you come out to the parents out there in TV Land please come out and join us at 6 pm at alj lastly I I I just want to give a big nod to Captain canina I think we we could all be proud of uh of the Department's use of social media which he loves doing it he's done a great job uh I think uh our social media use has allowed us or or given the opportunity of the citizens of Clark to see who we are not as police officers I really don't think that that that's what the image I I I I want to put out there of of these police officers is just I want to put out the image that we are just normal everyday citizens and we have lives we have families wives kids just like everyone else we are a reflection of the community I think we've done uh cine has done an amazing job with that it has uh resulted in uh lots of gifts being delivered food gifts being delivered to the police department and uh numerous officers gym memberships also because of that food so in closing I'd like to thank each and every one of you for supporting the police department again uh by allowing me to hire and promote when I need to and to keep the the positions of the police department filled so that we can better serve the community and of course in the equipment that I purchase every year and like I uh as everything else in this town we I only purchase what we need and what I'm going to use I am very frugal about the taxpayers money in closing i' just like to wish all of you and the citizens of Clark a very healthy and prosperous 2020 thank you thank you Chief and N behalf of the council uh Happy New Year to you and your men and stay safe out there thank you very much um I'd like to call forward Scott mccab DPW good evening mayor and Council Happy New Year to everybody congratulations on every all your uh appointments uh just a real quick take up of DPW for 2019 um 2019 we actually put out over 90 tons of hot asphalt uh filling potholes cracks and stuff like that on some of the city streets um we're just finishing up our 19th time around town uh for our Leaf program this year um almost 10 25,000 yards of Leaves we took in from the township all the streets are being swept uh we're actually finishing up the third and fourth where I believe this tomorrow for leaf pickup so we should be done our Christmas tree pickup has started for 2020 um and our grass program for 2019 went excellent and we did a great job putting together the recycle program for 2019 with the new cans and stuff like that that really went off well uh that was the ba and uh Jennifer that did a great job on that that's all I have I look forward to another great year for 2020 I appreciate everybody's backing for our new equipment that we're getting and got received for 2019 um and we appreciate working with you guys thank you and have a Happy New Year thank you very much okay I'm going to come over to our counselor Mr Dugan I have no comment other than that I'm uh honored to have been selected as your new Township attorney and I um will do my very very best to uh protect the town protect the council protect the mayor and um and and make you all proud of the town thank you thank you very much and lastly we're going to go to Edie we've given her enough time to rest her voice thank you so uh Madam clerk thank you Happy New Year to all uh as I like to do at the beginning of each year is thank my team Teresa masella and Don Delio and the three of us enjoy working with this Council um and for you and uh we look forward to a great year uh welcome Mark Dugan and Pat we know we work well together already so we're looking forward to a great year thank you thank you very much at this time uh we'd like to move forward with the benediction with uh Reverend William Sheridan Pastor St Agnus Roman Catholic Church [Music] Father before I call for adjournment I just want to thank all the volunteers of the town and wish everyone on behalf of the council happy New Year can I get a motion to adjourn so moved can I get a second councilman hun all in favor any oppose thank you