##VIDEO ID:c53Oi04AY1s## e e e e Angel we're on good evening and welcome to the August 19th 2024 council meeting of Clark New Jersey Madame clerk would you call the rooll please councilman hund here councilman masella here councilman Manti here councilman OK Conor here councilman Smith here councilman tol here council president albanes here would everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence I pledge Al United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice okay this meeting is in compliance with the 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 this time we're going to move on to Communications from the mayor and reports of the township office officers we'll start with the mayor thank you madam president ladies and gentlemen members of council good evening um I'd just like to start off with uh congratulating the Clark fire department under 100th anniversary and uh dedication to the lad truck Saturday past it was a great event it was attended by many people and I just want to remind the folks of this great town that the fire department is a backbone in our community these people are volunteers they put in a tremendous amount of hours in training a tremendous amount of hours in going out there and fighting fires going to alarm calls all hours of the day and night and if you think about it sometimes that here you are sleeping at 1:00 in the morning and the fire alarm goes and you'll run out in the middle of the night and let's say it's a false alarm or a minor alarm and you're back an hour hour and a half later how do you really get to sleep and go to work the next day and with that being said yesterday we were pretty lucky on Sunday we had a little heavy rain uh go through Clark but it was nowhere near as bad as some of the other municipalities in the state our neighbors distant neighbors uh up in New Providence and um Berkeley Heights got over 5 inches of rain in 45 minutes and our fire department was dispatched to go up to Berkeley Heights with our boats to help rescue some people who were stuck in flood waters and uh Chief saso um reminded me today that Clark and Cranford are two towns that are trained in aquatic rescue and long as there's not a flooding situation in our town they will then deploy to another community and help them out so I want to thank the fire department for going up to New Providence the mayor up there uh mayor Morgan's a good long dear old friend of mine and uh I'm glad we were able to help and thank God no one was uh seriously injured uh for either our fire department no injuries at all or any of the residents up there I want to congratulate Ralph Bernardo and his staff on this year's uh summer camp once again uh another great turnout another great turnout so uh I hope the children of our community enjoyed the uh Camp as much as I know Ralph and the staff enjoyed having it and we as the mayor and Council enjoyed funding and providing everything those children need and to give to Ralph to make sure they have a great great great summer uh Branch cleanup folks here's important Branch cleanup I know it's a good topic in Clark there's two cleanups left August and September August and September two cleanups left we stopped cleaning branches we start it on around St Patrick's Day we end at the end of September we have to get the branches ground down into mulch that we give to you for free to get ready to begin Leaf clean up we so we got to clear out the yard if there is a major storm some kind of storm we will of course make Provisions to come out and get that but if you decide that you're going to trim your tree the second week of October I hope you have a fireplace because if not you're going to keep those branches on your property until March we can't keep making exceptions for this please help us help you we don't have 50 uh men in R DPW and every uh employee is precious out there to try to get some tasks done each and every day so two Branch cleanups left August and September school is opening behalf of myself and the township Council and I'm sure the Clark Police Department slow down please kids are going to be gone the street parents are going to be going to school Mom and Dad I've always noticed in the history of my life dropping kids off the to school it always seems like that first week is a little more hectic than the rest of the year I don't know if it's summer remorse and it takes a little longer for the kids to get out of the car I don't know you know the answer to that but it always gets busy and if there's rain it seems like it slows down the school traffic getting into the building so please be conscious of the backups onto our Township roads um if you're going to have a backpack for your child most do today try not to put in the back of your SUV keep it on the seat in the front or back so this way um your child can grab that and go and try to open up some another spot for somebody else uh next week Jim and I are supposed to be having a uh informal uh meeting with edman the county manager and we are obviously going to be speaking about the reservoir if there's anything that's uh noteworthy to let you know I will be glad to do that but uh we were supposed to do it a week or 10 days ago but Ed got called into jury duty so long as everything stays copasetic with my schedule Jim's schedule and of course his schedule we're scheduled for sometime next week and we'll let you know um what the temperature is in the reservoir at that point that's it thank you very oh nope I got two more things here uh motor vehicle stops from the Clark Police Department this month were 252 two there was 34 assigned radar details and there was 17 uh assigned traffic enforcement uh details thank you very much mayor you have an appointment to make there's an appointment do you see it on your uh mayor I'm sorry um do you want to announce your appointment this evening oh I'm sorry um give me a sec here for some reason I'm getting blurry here okay we're talking about uh Communications yes I'm be appointing Carmen brocado as a regular member of the planning board uh filling in the unexpired term of Nate C till the uh December 31 2027 Carmen was a past member of the uh zoning board and uh that's my appointment for this evening thank you D up thank you at this time we'll move on to the report of council committees starting with councilman Steve hunt thank you madam president and the follow up on the mayor's report I have the police department report for the month of July we saw a total of 1,876 calls for services included but not limited to 124 ambulance requests three of three arrive requests nine fire department requests 10 motor vehicle and residential lockouts 79 alarm calls 63 vehicle motor vehicle accidents 35 shoplifting and theft six forly theft and 237 were 911 calls and we had a 1,117 were miscellaneous calls uh there were a total of 33 arrests including but not limited to 22 for shoplifting eight for warrants one for criminal mischief and two for aggravated assault and the juvenile data will appear on our September report thank you very much thank you councilman hun Council mazarella yes thank you council president this is my uh DPW report this evening uh ladies and gentlemen there'll be no electronic drop off this month due to the um holiday weekend coming up it will be in September so please make note of it uh grass pickup will uh be every Tuesday remember that ladies and gentlemen and please place them in biodegradable bags only uh and only grass clippings any other items such as rocks landscape wood plastic bags uh fertilizer bags rakes mulch bags are not considered grass clippings they will not be picked up so please make note of it that goes in your regular garbage um to discard uh as the mayor said Branch pickup is winding down we have one this month and one next month so for this month please place your branches at out this week and it will be picked up next week um bulky and appliance pickup appointments are required uh before your scheduled pickup week um metal and bulky pickups are completely different and they require completely different trucks so please schedule the correct pickup to remove your items mulch pickup U mulch uh deliveries are still available deliveries will be on Fridays schedule your deliveries on Thursdays please um let's see DPW has been making available at gate 16 free wood um there 16in long pieces please do not make a mess when the bin is empty we will replenish it and no log splinters or chain store uh sores will be permitted um we are we have a number of saplings tree saplings um for planning this this year we don't know the species so if you care to um get one please contact DPW rcl.com to be added to the list um and these trees will be placed in the front of your property for uh DPW would schedule that okay and for any other information please contact uh or email DPW hour.com for more information thank you that's extented my report thank you councilman masella councilman Manti thank you Madame President uh in the month of July the Clark fire department responded to 52 calls totaling 277 for the year the calls included but are not limited to numerous odor calls and alarm calls two calls were for Mutual AIDS eight calls for motor vehicle in incidents and two calls for Home Fires uh where luckily no one was uh hurt um as the mayor said this past Saturday the Clark fire department celebrated 100 years serving our community um and on behalf of Chief SAS and all the members of the Clark fire department i' would like to thank everyone who attended their celebrations um as always I'd like to thank the members of the Clark fire department for their hard work and dedication keeping our town safe this concludes my report thank you thank you Council councilman oconor thank you from the finance uh committee the town continues to be able to meet its current obligations and from the emergency Squad the squad hosted more than 75 members from the second district of the EMS Council of New Jersey for a ceu class on the legal aspects of documentation congratulations to Robert Macaluso who just successfully completed his EMT class the call volume was 137 calls in the month of June with four mutual Aid calls this does not include any calls that they were dispatched and canceled total hours responding to calls is approximately 890 man hours and again this does not include any hours the members were on duty but not on calls your today call volume is 778 calls with regard to membership the squad is hosting an emergency vehicle operator course uh actually it did it yesterday on August 18th from 8:00 to 3 they are still looking for drivers and will schedule another one in the fall anyone with a clean driving record who is interested in becoming a driver for the squad is invited please contact the Squad via the township website at www.car.com anyone interested in becoming a member can email them at www.car.com and servicing the community the squad provided coverage for the Township's 4th of July fireworks Street Fair uh they will host two blood drives in July and More in August please check our lawn sign for all upcoming blood drives respectfully submitted Lor Sheldon trusty that concludes my report thank you thank you councilman oconor councilman Smith thank you madam president president from the pool and Recreation Department the Clark community pool will close on Monday Labor Day it was a great summer almost a thousand memberships this year which is way up over previous years uh it's due to the hot weather as well as the summerlong 50th pool anniversary celebration I just want to give kudos to our managers lifeguards and entire staff for making a pool a safe and fun place the pool will officially close on Tuesday September 3rd with a doggy dip from 12: to 3:00 p.m. so if you're interested bring your dog uh to the pool between those hours uh and the pool uh the dog can jump in the pool the rules and regulations for this event will be posted uh later this week online or details are available in Ralph bernardo's office the summer rec Camp as the mayor mentioned was another huge success it average 678 kids per day all Clark residents so again great uh thanks to Ralph Bernardo his counselors for an amazing summer and keeping the children safe the fall Recreation brochures will be available later this week they'll be online or available on hard copy you could always stop by the recreation office uh for all the details it will be for the fall and winter activities and for the first time ever the Clark Recreation Department is going to host a Clark family night at the Red Bulls arena in Harrison in September the exact date will be finalized by the end of this week and details will also be posted online and information to reserve your seats and get tickets will be available in Ralph's office and if you ever have any questions you can call Ralph in the office or Emily Lambert his assistant at 732 428 8400 or email R Bernardo rar.com and that's my report for this evening thank you thank you councilman Smith councilman toll thank you madam president I'm going to ask the council to indulge with me I have a little a bit of a lengthy report but I'm going to keep I talk fast so I'll get through it uh last week I Got a notification for a demo as Municipal historian I get anytime a building is going to be removed from the landscape of Clark I get a notification to go over and have my photographer take a picture of it so we have a record of what was what I got stopped my tracks last week when I got the address 211 Westfield avenue11 Westfield Avenue is known today as kcki gourney funeral home but to Clark people Clark historian is known as the Emma King house or the king estate the king mansion is destined to be taken down this house has a long history and it's been a landmark house for the township and it starts with this Benjamin King born in England in 1856 he immigrated to America in the 1870s and settled in Elizabeth New Jersey meeting a Clark resident named dor Schumacher who with the Schumacher estate was on Bartel later on would become ma girz ma Camerons the house was a luxury estate that the family owned had lots of money from Germany they owned a China company that made porcelain China Fine China that went into New York but they lived out in the sub the gardens we called they were called out the Gardens at the time so they Benjamin King married dor Schumacher and came to Clark and the family helped build Benjamin and Dora's house which was on Westfield Avenue as a child we always looked up to that house as the haunted house because it was kind of overgrown it by that time the Kings settled in their new home on quickly and began invol they moved into a form town of Clark through the 1890s and slowly developed the first Gilded Age Victorian house of Clark in central New Jersey it was one of the most prim and proper and beautiful Estates the local farmers would take their families over after eating up evening meal or Sunday and walk in a visit to the King house just to see the lights go on when electricity was added so adding this was in 1889 in 1890 they added a front porch and then the turret was added in 1898 the turret which is still there today and the property remained in the king family it was Emma and her brother Benjamin Benjamin S King who married into the shibi family who lived across from the high school they owned all the strawberry fields from across from alj all the way back to what is Target today that was all their form forers moved marry into fers which was typical of the time a carriage house was added in 1905 which we have a photograph there and this was the final H photograph thank you thanks Bill I appreciate your assistance in this in 1880 the Kings became parents of parents of daughter Emma Taylor King and 1890 Benjamin S King were born and it's from this home which they became known as 211 Westfield Avenue the king mansion Benjamin King would go on become the 16th and 22nd mayor of Clark New Jersey he was only superseded in length of office by our current mayor salbon Corso our mayor mayor King left the township left the mayor to go on to become a Freeholder which he ended up bringing loads of money and resources back to Clark to help the developing farmed Community to become a Suburban home it was from his efforts that's okay it's from his efforts that the town of ship of Clark and the foundation of what we have today was from his efforts the Kings became popular family and Clark becoming involved in all walks of daily life they would change this would change when dor King died in 1928 and Benjamin King suffered a heart attack and died in 1929 Emma the daughter would go on and do the following she became a truin officer for the Clark Public School System for over 50 years retiring in 1969 Emma and her brother Benjamin Benny ended up creating the first aid Squad and they Benny married Su shebi King and she lived across they lived across the street is what today is the Exxon station on the corner of Westfield and brand Avenue their home is long gone but across the street they donated the land for the first aid Squad and they donated the materials to have the first aid Squad built then of course they moved over in the late 60s to the current location on rton road Emma would remain unmarried through her life she her life her family was the township of Clark and the children of the town she gave whatever extra money she had to to the kids of Clark to make sure they got the proper education proper food during the good years of the depression and during the World War II eras Benjamin S King her brother died of a heart attack in 1946 The King children were instrumental in the creation of Clark volunteer emergency Squad Emma King remained living at 211 Westfield Avenue until 1976 when at the age 90 she was suffered from dementia and was put into Ashbrook nursing home over in Scotch Plains when Amma King died when Emma King died her house and her estate and her contents were all donated to the township of Clark everything was donated to the Clark but the township had just taken on the responsibility of the Dr William Robinson Plantation in 1974 so the wishes of having two historical sites was not accept it just was not Financial feasible and the town took the money and allocated it for helping the Dr Robinson out and helping other aspects of the community which which is wishes finish up now the king mansion was sold to the Quicky gy funeral family of Elizabeth who under the direction of manager Carl kcki restored the King house and added a viewing room and cleared the backyard for property for a parking lot in 1981 is from this adaptive reuse a stone the stone wall was removed and additional upgrades were done to the property which we know for the last last 43 years as a vibrant piece of the Westfield Avenue Corridor and I call it the anchor anchor store for our downtown in August of 2024 an agreement has been made between Jonathan quickie the owner of Quicky goury funeral home and another entity which has not been identified yet to sell the property for a different purpose but the purpose that they're intending to do will not allow a funeral home to be transferred of use so they're talking demolition when I get more information I will provide it but that is startling and this house has been nothing but a part of our lives and a part of the fabric of what Clark is all about we cannot lose another historical site I'm just trying to bring we've got enough battles right now with the reservoir and what the County's trying to do but I just cannot see it's heartbreaking to me to see that house go if you understand what I'm talking about and you're a Clark kid or a Clark resident or an old old Clark resident or older Clark kid you understand how I feel so that's it I thank you madam president for your time and the council's time we hope they come up with a proper solution thank you councilman tol this time I'll give the director's report from the library um we have some fun programs coming up in August uh finger painting Friday August 23rd at 10:30 a.m. National Aviation week Film Festival will be held on Saturday August 24th all day long from 10 10 to 4:30 there'll be various um airplane uh different activities and they'll have a film festival and serving a lot of savory popcorn um Friday family flicks on Saturday April uh August 13th from 2: to 4m uh beat the heat and come and watch some of the adventure movies that are consistent with the theme uh the reading theme for this summer and then please um keep this date in mind Thursday September 26th from 6:30 to 8:30 they're going to have a an opening house night at the library celebrating the new library card sign up month um from 6:30 to 8:30 there'll be um a magician there who'll be um performing throughout the library and various other highlights a Harry Potter Escape room scavenger hunt food and crafts that evening and um I want to report that um we've heard about a lot of different great statistical improvements and many years that um some of the organizations have operated here the library this past month in July had over 10,000 visitors at the local library which is fantastic we're usually around 8 8,500 I don't know if it's the programs they're having the heat out there um but I'm very happy to report that to you and also the library is very fortunate we have a a really wellestablished friends of the library organization and they donate a lot and support the programs that you see at the library and also provide the different Librarians with uh purchases that they can make tonight I want to feature two different families that have made a contribution to the library the first one is the frow family they uh generously donated a new bike rack at the library and uh Linda fry was an avid Library user loved biking all around CL Park so hopefully you can take your bike and ride over to the library and enjoy that Library uh the um bike rack and next we have a $10,000 donation in memory of Barbara W Suma and Peter S rahuba from the rahuba family so both Barbara and Peter were enthusiastic supporters of the library and you can see the tradition continues so Barbara enjoyed coloring uh Club crafts arts programs while Peter loved reading all the newspap papers and spending time at the library so in their memory the library is purchasing a collection of coloring books an art kit a new display case and a 3D printer as well as a newspaper shelf and a new banner and vinyl printer so hopefully you'll take advantage of um those new features at the library um the 3D printer has been amazing so now they have two of them so um if you go over and you purchase the materials that are used you can use the um 3D printer um to make whatever you enjoy um there are limitations though nothing violent uh that concludes my report on the library at this time we'll move on to ordinances Appropriations and claims thank you Madame President uh for the record there have been no objections received in connection with the proposed ordinance ordinance 24-12 is an ordinance to amend section 33 of chapter chap chapter 347 of the code of the township of Clark entitled vehicles and traffic this time I'd like to open up the um open this ordinance up to a public hearing is there anyone who would like to come forward and speak about this ordinance seeing no one I'd like a motion to close this portion of the meeting Mo thank you councilman to do have a second second thank you councilman OK coner all in favor this time I'd like a motion to adopt the ordinance you have a motion move that please thank you councilman hun do have a second I'll second that Madam president thank you councilman tol okay no discussion at this point um we'll move on to the roll call when you're ready Madam clerk yes councilman councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman midi yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes ordance adopted okay at this time we'd like to go on to the introduction of a proposed ordinance we have one ordinance for introduction 24-13 and ordinance to amend section 36 of Chapter 3 of the code of the township of Clark okay council do you have a motion I'll move that do I have a second thank you councilman Smith do you have a second I'll second that thank you councilman oconor um the public hearing on this ordinance will be on September 16th Madam clerk would you call the rooll please councilman hunt yes councilman mazarella yes councilman maniti yes councilman Oker yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes this time we'll go on to the payment of claims councilman oconor thank you very very much I have reviewed the bills for the month totaling thank you councilman hund all in favor I I okay at this time we'll move on to the resolutions okay the first resolution is appointing Joseph arancho to the planning board as alternate one member to fill the unexpired term of Carmen ricado effective august 19 2024 until December 31 2025 council do I have a motion I'll move that thank you councilman Smith do you have a second I'll second it thank you councilman mazarella roll call when you're ready councilman Hy yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number four is authorizing the police chief to execute the memorandum of understanding to renew participation in the arrive together program to enhance and support uh uh to support response to certain Behavioral Health crisis calls uh do have a thank you councilman hun do have a second second thank you councilman tol did you want to make some comments Mr Al yes um I appreciate the council as does the police department uh supporting this uh we've been doing this now for a year one we had 10 calls over the last year three of them were actually in clock at the time that we had officers on Duty there were seven calls outside of Clark um total hours was 13 hours and 30 minutes and you know there was only one instance where we increased overtime so we've been doing it on on primarily regular time so this is a you know a great program throughout the county supported by the police department support supported by the um Township residents and you know after what happened in you know Fort Lee it's a it's a good addition to the um response absolutely any further discussion Madame clerk would you call the rooll when you're ready councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes okay number five is authorizing a one-year extension of the contract for the collection and disposal of leaves to Frank elrath and Sun excavation and demolition in the amount of 5 $1,300 do I have a motion Council yes I'll move it thank you council mazarella do you have a second I'll second that thank you Council Manti roll call when you're ready councilman hunt yes councilman maella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes okay number six is authorizing the sale sale of block 38.0 3 lot 36.018456 we had a citizen come forward and say they were interested in buying it a neighboring citizen uh a joined to the lot so um we're happy to be um disposing of it it sounds like a win-win for both the individual and the township Madam clerk when you ready councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes okay number seven is seeking approval of the director of the division of local government services for insertion of a special item of Revenue in the amount of $1 15,17 65 for the national opioid settlement do I have a mo oh this is going to be entire Council yes yes yes this um opioid settlement Revenue uh needs to be added to the budget because we don't know exactly what amounts we're getting at the time the budgets created so we are permitted to add that to our budget this um these Awards will go on for about 30 years and can be used to fight opioid addiction um and there's a specific list of items that the money can be spent on um roll call Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes okay number eight is seeking approval of the director of the division of local government services for insertion of a special item of Revenue in the amount of 152,00 $574 for the New Jersey Association of County and City Health officials do it okay this motion is uh being moved and seconded by entire Council to add uh These funds to our budget uh Madame clerk we're very happy to receive them um Madam clerk would you call the rooll when you're ready councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president alanes yes number nine is opposing legislation bypassing local Zoning for home-based businesses as it undermines local planning and zoning to ensure Mobility safety accessibility order and public good for the land in the community council I'll move that thank you councilman Smith do have a second I'll second that please thank you councilman hun so this piece of legislation was discussed at length at our Workshop meeting and what we're opposing is we don't want to have the state impose rules regarding zoning um regarding uh local uh businesses that run out of homes Etc um you know not every shoe fits all and we would like to follow a home rule based legislation so we're supporting this uh or at least I supporting this and that was the General consensus of the discussion at the meeting um because we feel that um each town has its own needs we're not all the same there's large towns small towns our town is our town and we want to follow home rules um roll call ready uh when you are ready Madame clerk councilman hund yes Council masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number 10 is authorizing submission of an application for the kids Recreation Grant in the amount of $2,859 uh this also will be moved and seconded by entire Council and uh we're very pleased to get this money to make some improvements to our facility and use it for kids Recreation um when you're ready Madam clerk would you call the role councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number 11 is authorizing submission of an application for The Greening Union County Grant in the amount of $3,000 thank you madam clerk so we are um going to motion and second this by entire entire Council hoping to get this money from the county um to make our environment more green um roll call Madam clerk councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes okay number 12 is authorizing the business administrator to execute a semiannual service contract with Universal Fitness Services LLC to maintain the equipment at the senior fitness center in the amount of $300 per call effective September 2024 to August 2025 you have a motion Council yes I'll move it I'll second okay thank you councilman mazarella thank you councilman Smith so obviously we um as you may know we have a senior fitness center uh for the benefit of those over 55 years or older and we need to maintain the equipment um Madam clerk would you call the rooll please councilman hund yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes number 13 is Award of contract for the Bartell Park parking improvements and various other Capital Improvements to ajm contractors in the amount of 247,000 do I have a motion I'll move that Madam president thank you councilman tol do you have a second I'll second that thank you Council Manti do you want to make any comments I will Madam president uh to the residents of the area of bort Park we've done everything possible we keep trying different things to help alleviate the overload of cars and now we're trying another thing to help take the cars out of the front of your house and put them somewhere where they're off of your driveways and off of your front of your home we've worked with permit parking we've worked with different reconfiguration of the parking We are continuing and we will continue to get this right it's not easy it is not an easy task because you have two different entities a soccer league and then you have the dance Studio adding more traffic to an area we're trying our best we will continue doing this until we get it right thank you did you want to add anything Mr allor um no that that's sufficient thank you thank you uh do I have um uh roll call when you're ready councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman minitti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president Alban yes number 14 is accepting the renewal service agreement with train us Incorporated for HVAC equipment services at the Clark Police Department in the amount of $3,738 and authorizing the business administrator to execute the agreement effective September 1st 2024 for a one-year period do I have a motion Council please thank you councilman hun do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Smith roll call Madam clerk councilman hundt yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes okay number 15 is approving the license agreement with the Clark soccer club and authorizing the business administrator to execute and deliver the agreement I'll move that thank you councilman Manti do you have a second I'll second that please thank you councilman hund um any comments um again this is a license agreement as we discussed at our Workshop meeting that you know details the terms and conditions and it's just a renewal uh you know we changed around some of the wording on liability insurance and stuff like that but other than that it's a renewal from the old contract or old um existing license agreement not contract thank you um Madame clerk when you're ready you can call the rooll councilman hunt yes councilman masella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes at this time we're going to move on to the consent agenda resolutions first resolution is authorizing the tax collector to refund over payment of sewer fees in the amount of $78.19 next is authorizing the tax collector to refund over payment of taxes in the amount of $1,393 number 18 is authorizing the tax collector to apply sewer account balance adjustments as credit in the amount of $1,175 next is authorizing the tax collector to settle a tax appeal for Block 60 lot 65.0 5 as authorized by the tax Court of New Jersey with credit issued in the amount of $451 1656 and finally authorizing the tax collector to settle a tax appeal for Block 21 Lot 37 as authorized by the tax Court of New Jersey with credit issued in the amount of 32829 for 2022 and $338 6 for 2023 thank you council do I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda so moov thank you councilman toll do I have a second I'll second that thank you councilman Manti Madame clerk is there any new business calendar just no I'll just call the RO and oh sorry there's there's no new business for the record yes councilman hunt yes councilman mazarella yes councilman Manti yes councilman oconor yes councilman Smith yes councilman tol yes council president albanes yes okay so we have no new business at this time I'd like to open up the meeting for public comments if there any is anyone uh who wishes to come forward please address your comments to the council as a body and you have five minutes in duration and if you could please give your name and address to the clerk thank you good evening hi can you hear me Diana Gonzalez stummer drive so when our committee came here today we just were for hoping that there was an update and the mayor already gave the update I have a frog in my throat excuse me so there's not much more to say but as I sat here and I listened I wanted to comment on a few things that I heard I agree s Ralph does a great job with Recreation my kids enjoyed it you know going there to the camp and now they work there and it's a terrific program uh the library I use it it's terrific as well Clark is a great place to live and I think that's why our Reservoir committee is so committed to keeping it a great place to live what I did want to share was you know we have a social social media page and the support from residents is really overwhelming it it fuels us um surely you've seen the lawn signs around town so not only are people willing to take a sign they're willing to pay for the signs they're willing to pay donate to put out more lawn signs we can't even keep up so residents are really hopeful that there'll be some kind of compromise uh we are too um what I wanted to share though is of course you know whenever you try to do something good even if you have like a hundred people that love it there's always somebody who's like questioning what's going on so there was someone on social media that questioned the Integrity of our plan they said you know who put this plan together this proposal was it a bunch of amateurs is it realistic and we responded and I thought you know I want others to know this our committee is is comprised of a core team and an extended team and I started thinking about the question and we've got folks with experience in corporate strategy construction management project management um Engineers lawyers business owners so really smart people and we door knocked and we listen listen to Residents and we've been iterating a lot right so when we put this plan together it was with a lot of thought and expertise and we didn't just put it together by ourselves we consulted the Sierra Club and we got the support of the Sierra Club not just locally but at the state level and the Row River Watershed Association as well participated in putting that plan together so I just wanted to make sure you understood the level of effort and the expertise um and then the last thing Mr tol in undergrad I was a history and political science major so I love history as someone who's a first generation American I've gone back to Europe to my family's you know Origins and I went to my grandpa's house where he was raised multiple generations and I met with his last living brother and he said come with me and we walked down the road the Cobblestone Road and he took me to someone's house and he took out this skeleton key this big and then we walked to the 1600s Church and he opened the door and then he showed me around the church and he showed me all these historically significant artifacts in my ancestry and then I saw where my family was buried as well so it matters right and so I don't know that there's anything that can be done I'm just hearing about this um but I appreciate your effort and bringing it to the Forefront and if there's anything that can be done by the residents I'd love to take part but it sounds like it might be a done deal okay that's it thank you Nancy tasus 43 Colonial Drive and I'm here to speak about my interest in the downtown Clark area that is the vision of yourselves and the mayor getting pretty excited about it as I drive up and down Westfield Avenue and the one thing I wanted to express was hopefully there'll be a limit on the height of the buildings that are going to be on Westfield Avenue I know there's one new building with the coffee shop on the the bottom and two stories of apartments and that seems to be a good height and the reason I'm bringing it up as I go downtown raway a lot and downtown raway some of the streets the buildings are so high it's like you're driving through a tunnel like a Manhattan Street and it's really disturbing because it's dark during the day because there's no sunlight that can get through so I hope in Clark we take a look at other towns and not Bradway unfortunately I don't really like the looks of all those tall buildings in raway and we can keep a limit I don't know what the area is zoned for maybe that's a question I have to bring to another committee but um excited about it and hopefully it'll be something that we can be proud of and let the sunshine through and not block all the sun like other towns have been having to experience thank you good evening my name is Glenn Fogerty I uh live on 606 Goodman's Crossing uh in one of the apartment complexes over there uh I spoke briefly at the last meeting uh I'd like to uh second uh councilman tolls concerns about the cor gourney property it's important to preserve our history I'm not sure what can be done about it but uh you know I went to St Agnes School even though I was a Southside Scotch Plains kid so I I did the commute but uh even having uh the colonial Tavern uh in Scotch Plains sparked my imagination as a kid in the Cannonball house there by town hall and it's important that we recognize these elements of our past because once they're gone they're gone um also with regard to uh the conservation group I I'm as a conservative I am supportive of that I was one of the kidss from that used to play in the St Agnes Woods uh probably my own development there of a little fort from when I was 9 years old may still be back there and I hope that doesn't qualify as overdevelopment from that time uh if so uh you know so be it but uh I think this the the the broad scope of the plan of the county is just too much um you know we have concerns as doer club members as well uh about impingement on the privacy of that uh of our property as well and uh it it's you know there was an accident uh in the area where the entrance would be to the park uh a few weeks ago as well and it's just too much it's just too much and we need to preserve the wildlife and the land um so that that's a comment on that uh from last last uh meeting's business I support the council's uh position on not being involved in promoting the offshore wind turbines I've done more research on this and I find it ironic that back in the 70s the left was all about save The whales and save the Dolphins and now uh they are in a position of checking off the woke Green New Deal box promoting these offshore wind farms because uh Governor Murphy uh wants them before he leaves permanently for his his Villa in Tuscany uh leaving us with the expense the pollution uh there's quite a few uh the pilings when they build these things uh can injure the sonar of whales and dolphins as well uh the oil in the gear boxes can leak uh there's a lot of maintenance involved in these wind farms and uh you know I was I know there was a legal development down in South Jersey with regard to this uh so I I encourage the council to stay strong on this and not going along with this this push for wind farms and the wind turbines uh the other thing that came up at the last meeting and I see our our our friends from stronger Clark the Democratic ticket or whatever ticket it is they they are in fact running on uh they have claims that they are are going to make Clark transparent honest and more accountable uh but the topic of their social media use came up at the last meeting and I find that their behavior continues to be anything but transparent uh they keep blocking people or eliminating people from their social media Pages uh Mr Schulman in particular fails to answer pointed questions about what what exactly their positions are on a variety of questions he also claims that he is personally going to make Clark more vibrant whatever that means uh in the last 24 years here uh you know when I think of vibrant when I look at stronger Clark's candidates perhaps with the exception of Bill gab vibrant is not the word that comes to mind I have rarely if ever seen them at Clark Recreation events uh with without them being there for the purpose of Shing for their own votes for past runs for Council or the or the current run for Council uh other people have tried to respond to their positions or try to find out what their positions are so for people who claim to be part of the democratic process I find uh the fact that they or my presumption or belief yes belief that they only want to speak to people within their own bubble is not conducive to a good election uh how do we know what their positions are uh they refuse to say so uh that is my comment on them thank you for your time thank you good evening um JIA 72 Georgia Street I had a question I tried to get up here regarding one of the resolutions but you didn't give me time to get up okay on resolution 13 I know it already passed but today I spent some time at the library trying to find out if there was already was there a bid put in by ajm contractors for this work I couldn't find it I went through a lot of pages on the town website um does anyone know where the bid they the bids are in my office deia the bids are all in my office if you'd like to see them you're welcome to come in yeah by the time I went to look try and find it you were you know the office was closed I see um i' just like to have a little bit of um information because there has been some kind of rumors going around and I know you don't like rumors but that they're going to flip some property over there next to Bartell park closer to the reservoir flip it with some of the property that the county owns on Lakeside Place and tearing this is you know just at The Rim the back rim of Lake of the Bartel Park against the reservoir yeah and the area by Lakeside Place okay that the county is going to put the parking spots there there's no parking there well it shows on the map so that's they told us I said it at the July 2nd meeting that they had taken that out okay I'm sorry well they they did say that to us that they were going to take it out again this is why we're going to meet with them to see what the new temperature of the water is so to speak and are is there any um explanation of the various other Capital Improvements where else this work is going to happen because it it seems strange that this company ajm is from Clifton and they've already had a contract back in 2021 with the county to do work for the county and they're from Clifton we don't is they done through like a fair and open process so when a contract is awarded we follow local public contract law and where where can I ask where to find it on the website yes well you can just find it you can just Google New Jersey local public contract law I can send you a copy of it okay thank you yeah I think it's it's a coincidence I mean it's just like road paving and other contractors they can bid throughout the state and that's the purpose of the fair and open process there anyone else who wishes to come forward okay seeing no one I'd like a motion to close this portion of the meeting thank you councilman to I'll second it thank you councilman Smith count this time we'll move on to Mayor counsel and professional comments yes very quickly uh Madam president um just you know as they say in the um um era of transparency every public bid is um just what it is a public bid there's bidding law in the state of New Jersey that we follow uh meticulously and uh I don't think this company who's doing the Bartell Park um parking lot I don't recall them working for us in the past maybe they have but I don't recall it and the fact that they worked with Union County it's just probably you know what it is big companies bid out work in different municipalities different County work so I don't know nothing about that but it's everything that we do is properly done bid openings are done uh the right way the engineer puts the bid process together and everything goes out I'd like to thank everyone for their um conversation tonight and their thoughts um again to the reservoir committee people we'll see what um we have to hear next week if anything who knows you know it's summer we met in July to with uh the county and uh it is a slower time of year in government so let's see if there's any new thoughts or ideas and we'll bring them to you and keep you updated as we are updated on it but as of right now today at this moment we know as much as you do you may know even a little bit more but that's what I can say thank you so much and uh enjoy the rest of the summer Labor Day weekend coming up uh in a couple of weeks and uh pretty soon we'll be again please get your branches out there's two more cleanups this year August and September and that's it and then we get hit a fall season so thank you for your there certain weeks that it gets picked up on the third the branches go out on the third week although no one listens to that but that's okay uh I'm not offended it's been 24 years you know if you get beat down long enough you you don't think about it anymore but we tell everybody the same thing every year you're more than welcome to put out all you want have fun but uh put them out on the third week and it's nothing more for the Aesthetics of the town vehicle are safety pedestrian safety you know if they're a day or two we're not going to come yelling at you but like sometimes our truck goes down the road the fourth week in a month and two days later people are throwing branches out and the only thing I can tell you try that in some of the other municipalities around here you'll get a fine we don't do that to you because we don't want to fine our people but we hope for cooperation that's all we can ask for um so third week on the street fourth week we can clean them up and if there's a major storm event we'll take care of them after that but hopefully there won't be any other questions that's it enjoy the rest of the summer thank you for your intelligent conversation this evening thank you mayor um councilman hund thank you madam president I'd like to congratulate the Clark fire department on their 100 year anniversary um my wife and I attended the event it was a very nice event had some nice food there and the music was well so it was a great event to see everyone out there s saw quite a few people that are in the in the crowd tonight that were there as well uh I want to thank the police department for the continued support of the nightly rounds with the lights on um I think that's a great thing that we you guys started and thank you for continuing that and then just enjoy the rest of the summer and we'll be back next month thank you thank you councilman hunt Council mazarella yes thank you council president yes uh ladies and gentlemen summer is winding down and school will be starting soon so please while traveling through our community be mindful of the children that are around the the individuals on bicycles um adults walking around uh mothers walking around with their children with their strollers please Drive slowly be mindful of your area and we don't want to have a Fatality and that would be a horror so please uh watch yourself driving around our community um you know the volume of cars are increasing of course I mean that's the nature of it we have no control over that but please drive safely and slowly through our community uh so until next month be well stay safe and God bless thank you thank you Council mazarella Council Manti uh thank you madam president uh once again congratulations to the Clark fire department um and I want to thank them for everything they do for our town um it is Clark Crusader season um our fall Sports over at all our schools have started already um I look forward to football season field hockey boy soccer girls soccer everything else so just want to congratulate and uh get out there and support our student athletes over at the schools it's just a great time and uh you know just give you a sense of Pride to root for our team so that concludes everything have a great uh Labor Day and we'll see you soon thank you councilman OK Conor yes thank you so I know the political season is upon us and there seems to be some misunderstanding about the 2% cap with regard to the tax levy the municipal tax levy represents the total amount Clark needs to raise through property taxes to cover all essential services like police fire department and Road repairs the New Jersey 2% cap on Municipal budget increases is a legislative measure designed to keep local government spend sending in check this cap restricts the increase in Municipal budgets to no more than 2% annually however it's important to understand that the cap differentiates between two types of expenditures inside the cap and outside the cap inside cap expenditures are the primary operating cost of a municipal services including salaries utilities and routine maintenance the 2% cap is strictly enforced by New Jersey state for these expenses to prevent unsustainable budget increases and excessive property tax hikes outside cap expenditures cover costs exempt from the two% limit such as Debt Service payments pension contributions and certain health benefits these costs can rise above the 2% cap due to factors beyond the municipality's control like fixed obligations or Rising costs Clark's Municipal tax levy has increased by $5.8 million since 2014 I'll summarize the $5.8 million increase over the past 10 years which covers both inside and outside of the cap expenditures pensions and statutory costs 1.3 million Library 420,000 health insurance 950,000 emergency authorization high at Hills 400,000 salaries 2.5 million and other about 284,000 gives you around 5.8 million to minimize these out outside cap expenditures we have focused on long-term planning and strategic budgeting we have Incorporated measures like setting aside reserves and forecasting future needs which help mitigate unexpected Levy increases additionally we ensure transparency and accountability through strong oversight and regular audits to address potential issues before they escalate while inflation between 2014 and 2024 was around 32% certain higher percentage costs like health care energy and pensions have risen more sharply this disparity explains why some budget increases might exceed the general inflation rate understanding the factors affecting the municipal tax levy helps in explaining the changes affecting the town and again it's important to understand the tax levies important to understand how it's calculated so um again I just wanted to get it out there there you know it is political season so these are the facts um um with regard to the king mansion I grew up right near there and everything you said the true the Haunted Mansion the backyard and you know um her being the TRU officer as a little kid we were always afraid to go buy her house because we thought she was going to come get us because I guess remember in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the uh the person who drove that uh that that cart with the with the cage and had the kids in it that's what we all kind of Imagine would happen to us if we went by our house when we weren't supposed to so a lot of good memories that will be missed and um you know that concludes my report or my comments for this evening good luck to all the kids in school great good luck to all the kids going back to college specifically the freshmen enjoy no air conditioning in the dorms as most of them don't have it and uh I'll see you next month thank you councilman oconor councilman Smith thank you Madame President uh deia Collins just on the U bid process just to maybe explain a little better for you whenever there's a project that needs to be uh done in a town we send out a request for bids there's a date on them they come in uh usually in blank envelopes marked with uh what the bid number is and are opened at the same time in this instance there were four bids received for the Bortel parking improvements um the engineer reviews the bids and makes his recommendation to the business administrator and the mayor and then that also comes to us and we review them and most times if the engineer uh meets his expectations and the town's expectations we go with it in this instance the lowest bid was about 247,000 333 which was the ajm contractors and the other two bids that uh we reviewed were 306,000 and 319,000 and that we accepted the $247,000 bid because that did meet the uh specifications of the township engineer uh and also enjoy the rest of the summer and that's all I have this evening thank you thank you councilman Smith councilman tol thank you madam president I'm just going to piggy back on what was said about the fire department I had this past Saturday visited the Centennial Celebration and I was had the true honor of being with councilman Bar ameritus Council who basically showed me all the new equipment we had purchased for the fire department and showed me all the response equipment that they have an incredible if you ever been over the firehouse you hear the sirens go but when you actually see this equipment not in with a body on it but being on display and incredible what these guys do just an incredible job and I'm just giving my accolades and what a great job they do for no pay they go out in the middle of the night it's been said I'm not going to repeat myself I'm just going to repeat what's been said what a great job and to fire chief Frank Sasa and his staff what an incredible work of art all of it is is done so meticulously for saving lives and if you see the equipment you understand wow we've invested well for your tax dollars into a PR project where life is saved and housing and all that is there what a great job just you're overwhelmed by it all when you're sitting right up front not with a fire truck but all the equipment and everything they had to use to throw on their back and run into a burning house just overwhelming and Al I had a great time with a lot of memories sitting there talking to you and showing me all those great things they have in that that house on Broadway I'm going to cut over to what we those we've lost in the last month Joseph SOA a 55- year resident of Clark New Jersey beloved husband of former Clark councilwoman Marie SOA to their daughter Diane son Michael and daughter Marie many are and many grandchildren our deepest condolences to the SOA family and I'm going to say this I got a visit at Town Hall he just we walked in the same time William Caruso Mr Caruso and I served back in the 80s and he he followed me into the history room where I had the history collection the Township's history collection and he followed me in and he kind of in a weird way said how am I going to be remembered said bill you going somewhere you didn't you know what's that all about and he gave us a photo for the history room which we will have on display but he basically said I want you to tell the people if something happens to me his exact words I want you to remember me for three things I told his son and his brother tonight at the wake that I would honor him and his father's and his uncle his brother's wishes Bill Kusa wanted to be member for three simple things he was a 53e resident of Clark he he was the founder of Clark senior housing he was the founder and the initiator of the Clark senior bus and he also brought in state federal and County money to Clark senior citizen programs and that's what he did his time as a councilman and many years thereafter as a resident of the township so Bill I did what you asked we'll leave it alone and wish you wherever you end up in good spirits thank you very much Madam president I have nothing else to say thank you councilman tol um I also want to congratulate our fire department and it's always very exciting throughout the year when um we hear about all the new volunteers that come in it's just amazing uh the it's really a Priceless resource that we have having that volunteer fire department so um kudos to all of our firefighters we appreciate them um i' just like to remind everyone um it's only a few weeks away we have our 911 ceremony at I believe it's at 911 on on 911 which is a Wednesday this year and we hope to see you there I know we have our regulars come out so it's it's a nice way to um show our honor you know to honor those that passed and also to just reflect upon our nation and the strength of it and how we can join together to keep it strong um and that concludes my report I'd like to ask our professionals attorney any comments actually tonight I do have a comment from M Collins um the local public contracts law governs how municipalities May Grant contracts when a contract must be bid under the local public contracts law it must be let to the lowest bidder regardless of who that bidder is so when they when you receive a bid that is the lowest you have choice but to accept it unless in some way it's non-responsive that's all I have to say have a wonderful Labor Day weekend and enjoy the balance of the summer and I think that's what councilman Smith was trying to explain the non-responsive part when he said that certain if the bidder is not responsive they don't apply this the scope of work that they're going to do isn't what was asked for they're disqualified but it always goes to the lowest bidder and there are certain purchases that have to be made through through that bidding U Madame clerk no comments thank you thank you Mr olich our business administrator I have one comment if um everybody could go to our website and there is going to be a survey we do it every two years on prioritizing Health initiatives within the town it there's a QR code on there it's a 15-minute survey we get all of the data it's all Anonymous data um you know we were second behind Westfield so I want want to be first on responses this year and but it it also gives us a lot of additional information from a a health and wellness perspective and things that we could do it's again it's only 15 minutes and this goes along with all of the things that we're doing related to um the mayor's Wellness campaign um our rec department um the active kids program that we're starting and um we're going to be making some more announcements about this but we're going to have a sister city um since the great wreck department that we have run by Ralph Bernardo uh we were approached by um some intermediaries about doing assist City with San Antonio on health right so we're going to be doing a lot of things and this is important this plays into our whole um whole process of going forward so 15 minutes on the website QR code we also have the paperwork in town hall if anybody wants to get the QR code um and then we're also going to try to get it up on tv36 perfect okay like to uh request a motion to make an adjournment so moved thank you councilman told have a second thank you councilman hun meeting adjourned