##VIDEO ID:5PHo_QV0BYc## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good evening ladies and gentlemen and Welcome to our regular council meeting of November 4th 2024 uh the first order of business is a call to order and arise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America to theu for second item on the agenda is the reading of our Sunshine statement and roll call by municipal clerk Mrs Lauren stats this meeting of the denell andboro council is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law this meeting of November 4th 2024 was included in a list of meetings that was advertised in The Courier on January 8th 2024 and as a conference was noticed on the official dellan website on October 31st 2024 and on the public bulletin board on North Avenue on October 31st 2024 and has remained continuously posted as the required notice under the state statute mayor sento present council president Albertson present Mrs Lance here Mrs Rios here Mr Scott here Mr Mr Sigman here and Mr vandermark noted absent item number three on the agenda is acknowledgements and proclamations we have two this evening first up is acknowledgement recognizing November as native and American heritage month and uh council member chrisa at East Lance uh will take the opportunity to read it acknowledg acknowledgement recognizing November as Native American Heritage Month land upon which the burough of dellan stands is part of the trai traditional territory of the Lenny Lenape called Lenape Hoke the Lenape people lived in harmony with one another upon this territory for thousands of years during the colonial era and early Federal period many were removed West and north but some also remain among the three continuing historical tribal communities of the region the nanoke Lenny Lenape tribal Nation the Ramapo Lenape nation and the patan Lenape Nation we acknowledge the Lenny Lenape as among the original people of the land in this region and we acknowledge their continuing relationship with this territory in our acknowledgement of the continued presence of Lenape people in this region we affirm the aspiration of the great Lenape chief t n that there be Harmony between the indigenous people of this land and the descendants of the immigrants to this land as long as the rivers and creeks flow and the sun moon and stars shine thank you council member next up is a proclamation recognizing November as National diabetes Awareness Month being read by council president Albertson whereas National diabetes awareness month is observed annually throughout the month of November to raise awareness about the pro the prevalence risks and management of diabetes and whereas diabetes affects 38.4 million people 11.6% of the population of the United States and it is a serious disease for which there is no known cure and is the eighth leading cause of death by disease in the United States and whereas approximately one quarter of the American Americans who have diabetes 8 million 23% of adults do not know they have the disease and whereas another six million or 38% of American adults has pre-diabetes a condition which puts them at greater risk for developing the type 2 diabetes and it if current trends continue one in three American adults will have diabetes by 2050 and whereas type 1 diabetes t t t1d is an autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas is no longer able to produce insulin a hormone that enables people to get energy from food it occurs when the body's IM immune system ATT attacks and destroys the insulin producing cells in the pancreas called beta cells while its causes are not yet extremely UND entirely understood scientists believe that both genetic fa factors and environmental triggers are involved there is no prevention for t1d and at present no cure and people with t1d must check their blood sugar multiple times per day and and inject themselves with insulin multiple times per day to survive and whereas diabetes has many faces affecting everyone young and old alike Caucasians African-Americans Latinos Native Americans asian-americans and Pacific Islanders with many undes unserved populations in the United States having an increased risk for Di developing type 2 diabetes and whereas an increase in community the awareness of risk factors and symptoms related to diabetes can improve the likelihood that people with diabetes will get the care they need before suffering devastating complications of the disease now therefore be a Proclaim that Jason F salento mayor of the burrow of dellan do hereby proclaim the month of November 2024 to be diabetes Awareness Month in the burrow of dellan and urge all citizens of the burrow to take Cog cognant of the event and participate fittingly in its observance thank you council president Albertson item number four on the agenda is Council discussion we have one item best practices inventory which would be led by municipal clerk Mrs Lawrence stats each year the Department of Community Affairs disseminates a best practices inventory and distribute it to all 564 municipalities it is designed to assertain the status of each municipal government practices in New Jersey the inventory assesses each municipality's compliance with various laws and evaluates the implementation of fiscal and operational best practices the inventory is regarded as one way taxpayers can evaluate the municipality's performance this year there were a total of 87 questions 54 unscored and 54 scored and 33 unscored questions some of the topics were affordable housing Broadband budgeting capital projects cyber security ethics Financial Administration Personnel procurement shared services and compliance with filing the annual financial statements as well as information that must be on our website the unscored questions contain opportunities for municipality to request from the DCA additional training or advice the state can withhold some of our discretionary Aid if we do not answer a sufficient number of questions this year we we received a score of 43 thus we will be receiving full funding you needed um a 35 or greater to receive the full funding and we did we got the 43 good work to the administration and all involved to make sure that we meet that goal so good job congratulations anything additional that said everybody got a copy of the entire survey and all the questions and answers thank you Council okay question okay thank you uh next up is item number five on the agenda approval of our meeting minutes uh can I have a motion second on the regular meeting of October 21st 2024 move it segment second re are there any comments additions or redactions or edits to the uh meeting minutes of October 21st as they currently stand without hearing any we will take a roll call please Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Scott yes and Mr Sigman yes uh item number five on the agenda is the adoption of an ordinance 202 24-28 can I have a motion on it to open it up to the public uh 202 24-28 an ordinance repealing article one entitled pay to playay of part one administrative legislation of chapter 10 contracts of the revised General ordinances of the Bureau of dellan move it Sigman second Albertson before we open the floor to the public which we just opened it I would ask our buau uh Leo Council Bill Robertson to kind of just address this so public is aware of what it is this this is really the nature of a housekeeping item uh in 2023 the uh uh Governor signed into law something known as the elections transparency act that made various significant changes to new jerse PA laws and those uh laws uh sign significantly one of the things that it did was that it repealed a section law 48-51 that had previously allowed local municipalities to adopt their own additional restrictions on the pay to pay to play regulations the purpose of this ordinance is to repeal the Burrow's local pay to play ordinance which is no longer authorized by New Jersey statute so that's a all the state place that we are still governed by all of the state regulations that's all it's taking place it's administrative and has to be thank you so with that we'll open the floor to the public for only 2024 D28 the ordinance uh please state your name and address we leave the floor to the public in person and online okay without hearing anything from the public we'll close that portion we'll open the floor to Mayor and counsel to have a discussion or ask any questions of Mr Robertson uh beyond what he's already stated and what you understand in the ordinance okay without further Ado we'll close that and we'll take a roll call please Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Scott yes and Mr Sigman yes item number seven on the agenda is resolutions 314 through 320 um if we if Mrs stats would so kindly read through giving us the opportunity to uh ask any questions in between sure resolution number 314 is to pay the bills move it sigment second Albertson Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Scott yes and Mr Sigman yes resolution number 35 is to authorize a work change order for the dellan firehouse rebuild move it sigment second Lance Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mrs Rios Mr Scott abstain position of the fire department Mr Sigman yes resolution number 316 is to approve a microing license for Latrice skin beauty move it Rios second Sigman Mrs alberon yes Mrs Lance yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Scott yes Mr Sigman yes resolution number 317 is to approve Lynn's Nails for a nail salon license move it sigment second Rios Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Scott yes and Mr Sigman yes resolution number 318 is for the transfer of Appropriations for the 2024 operating accounts second Sigman go Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Scott yes and Mr sigment yes resolution number 319 is to authorize a tax overp payment refund move it sigment second re Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Scott yes and Mr Sig yes and resolution number 320 is to award a contract to CME Associates to perform Engineering Services for the North Avenue Improvement project way finding at a cost not to exceed exceed 39700 mov Rios second sigment Mrs Albertson yes Mrs Lance yes Mrs Rios yes Mr Scott yes and Mr Sigman yes okay uh next up is Council reports item number eight on the agenda council president Albertson yes fire department uh call statistics for the month of October 37 total calls 18 false alarms five Hazmat nine good intent four fire one EMS year to date 244 total polls monthly activity October was another busy month for the fire department um they whoops sorry about that they did a lot of uh emergency events several drills and events in addition to emergency fire calls which as we saw was a lot um on October 2nd they continued to organize the um firehouse and load equipment on new apparatus October 4th 5ifth and 6th they had Factory operator train on the new truck four which is a ladder truck October 8th the drill to unload supply hose from truck 4 October 11th participated in the walk to school day events October 11th participated in Greenbrook Fire Department open house event October 14th was their monthly Department work drill October 15th they conducted a fire safety demonstration for A+ preschool on October 18th and 19th they stood by the annual ha to Trail October 20th they conducted an annual live burn drill at the middle sex County Fire Academy October 22nd they repacked the hose on new engine 3 and truck four October 27th they participated in the Founders Day event and Halloween parade October 30th they participated in the American Legions trunk Retreat and on October 30th they had their monthly fire company meeting Firehouse rebuild is progressing and nearing completion hns continues to delay final completion and has again missed another deadline to complete the project apparatus update engine 3 was placed into service this past Saturday and already responded to two calls truck four members completed Factory training and have begun driver's training all equipment has been mounted and we expect to place the truck in service the week of 1111 membership the denan defender fire company and denan fire department are seeking new volunteer members anyone interested in joining can visit www. denalan fd.com or email at join DFD dellan fd.com dellan downtown management organization will be celebrating small business Saturday on November 30th with a promotion similar to what they did last year if you spend $100 in dellan and you send your receipts and they will you will receive a $20 gift card for the businesses here in town the denalan Carol fund is collecting canned and non- perishable foods for Thanksgiving Foods food goes to local families in need if you have a turkey or would like to donate please contact Harry Albertson or Laura Murray you will be able to drop food off at the schools as well thank you thank you um Alex in terms of H&S and meeting not meeting deadlines and delays can you just advise Council um that Scott brusher you along with the chief are what like how what are you working on and making sure we're holding them accountable we've had a meeting with h it's just on mle things SCH a lot of are not dead dead so you know have you been kept the breast of this bill I have been yes and waiting for some of the background information to be prepared for what the next steps okay There's issues that's been going on at some point or another might okay so uh further discussion on that if we can have a meeting separate of this meeting I'd appreciate it thank you council member Rios yes yes D and Recreation Department as our fall soccer program is coming to an end Recreation Department would like to thank all of our volunteer coaches without you we could we cannot have a successful growing soccer program this soccer season we had 161 players 21 Co volunteer coaches some coached multiple teams at different age levels Recreation youth basketball registration will be open opening up this week the basketball season will begin Saturday January 4th practices will take place on Saturdays basketball is offered to kids in grades K through six volunteer coaches are needed if you are interested in becoming a volunteer coach please email Rec program coordinator Kelly Cedar at kedar denaro.com Recreation Department adult pickle ball program the pickle ball program will begin later this month we are waiting to hear back from the school regarding facility usage Veterans Day ceremony Saturday November 11th as always the recreation department will support the J American Legion and the VFW Post on Monday November 11th at Washington Memorial Park at 11:00 a.m. please come out and support all of our amazing veterans gent Public Library thank you to everyone who made a made our bike Parade from Greenbrook if Elementary School to the General Public Library such a wonderful success including the Fantastic Touch a Truck Event that wrapped up the parade special thanks to the dellan and Greenbrook fire department DPW Rescue Squad Police Department dellan mayor Greenbrook mayor Library staff and trustees for your support and participation please not not the library will be closed November 11th in observance of Veterans Day don't forget to check out our website and Facebook page for new programs added and for a schedule of our current popular programs Bard ofed the fall School play will be 10 ways to survive a zombie apocalypse on November 15th at 7:30 and November 16th at 2 p.m. and at 7:30 next board eved meeting will be November 19th at uh 7 :30 no school on Tuesday nove November 5th Thursday November 7th and the 8th that's all okay thank you uh council member Lance from buildings and grounds contractor has started installing the new qual box system entry for the police Lobby and Chambers for entry sorry um and is expected to take 3 days the system will ensure the police uh Lobby and council chambers entrance will be lock down off hours um there will be a call box system outside the entrance that will go directly to Somerset County dispatch who then will contact our Police Department officers who will likely be out patrolling uh this is the same system we have inside the lobby presently um updates on the new phone system uh the new phone systems have been installed and about 80% setup um they replaced an out outdated 20-year-old system and now all the Departments including the public works and Construction office for the buau um will have an audio attendant the system will streamline Municipal operations improve communication and enhance efficiency across all departments furthermore the phone system will forward all voicemails to each department and enable direct communication between departments through the internal system a conference call system has been added which will be beneficial in facilitating more cross departmental uh meetings and collaborative efforts this new phone system is projected to save the burrow around $10,000 annually an update for the Columbia Park camera system school district is still in the process of upgrading the new system at Columbia Park as in the past the burrow will be working with the district as part of a shared service agreement and video access to the park and that's all okay thank you council member council member Sigman uh yes I just want to personally thank all of the coaches for the rec soccer program this year especially uh coach Ed who is coaching our team right now uh Sans me since I'm here at the meeting uh so thank you all and thank you to the rec program for uh allowing us to do an end of the year party we're really excited for that coming up so thank you so okay thank you council member Scott so the DPW continues their routine cleaning of the downtown burough parks and properties uh the weekly Lawn and landscape and maintenance and Landscape Maintenance of the burrow parks and properties Leaf cleanup the burrow properties and Parks uh Leaf bag pickup throughout the burrow and just a reminder they will continue to pick up through the end of the year uh they've removed debris from the trash trap continue watering the new trees downtown they've done the brick work around the new trees installed new street signs on South Madison and Center painted yellow curbs downtown and ran multiple loads of leaves to the compost site in East Brunswick the burrow mechanic's been busy servicing the police Fe Fleet of vehicles uh that have come up for maintenance repaired all issues with the fleet as needed upfit uh the fleet vehicle for OEM use installed the emergency radio in the detective Bureau vehicle uh repairs to the existing detective Bureau fleet vehicles service The Refuge truck for the upcoming Leaf season which is in full swing uh adjust and confirm the leaf equipment is fully operational as they move into the leaf season pickup and repaired the DPW Durango which was poor driveability and some stalling issues that's all you okay thank you uh uh for me this evening first up is tomorrow's election day um November 5th if you're voting by mail you can return your mail and ballot uh three different ways you can have it postmarked by 8:00 pm. on Election Day and re have the the Board of Elections receive it within 6 days post post election so long as it's postmarked before 800 p.m. on the day of the election uh you can place in the safe secure Dropbox by 800 p.m. on Election Day which is at uh the dellan public library put that on my notse before I get forgot dellan Public Library um you can also deliver it um in person uh to the County Board of Elections in New Brunswick uh by 8 8:00 pm on Election Day so that's if you're voting by mail in person districts 1 3 4 and six will be at Lincoln middle school at 400 uh Den Allan Avenue districts 2 and five will be at the denel senior center in Columbia Park polls are open from 6:00 AM to 8:00 pm uh remember to thank a poll worker as they are working hard to help make sure our elections are safe and fair um also keep in mind I I highly encourage regardless of what the outcome is tomorrow night we're all Americans first and foremost that bond is more important than any outcome of an election we'll always have an election but being neighbors family friends that's an invaluable Bond so please remember that connection don't lose friendships or neighborly love because of who you may be voting for in your neighbor or family member may be so God Bless America we're Americans first so whatever the outcome just remember Americans first okay um that's just me on my soap box I'll get off it for now uh Penfield place in Maple Avenue uh New Jersey American Water project uh the New Jersey American Water uh finished the project last week by milling and Paving both the 200 block of Penfield and Olive Maple Avenue and they also finished that section of Oka they tore up uh this project included new water main and water services to each residential home new fire hydrants and newly Mill and paved streets uh the burrow removed and replaced severely damaged curbs and gutter sections um we also woke up and saw that a school zone was painted over there that'll be fixed uh so for the neighbors that live in that area Town it'll be fixed so no there's no school going over there uh downtown trees from Madison app to the 200 block North Avenue five more trees were planted last week in various locations on North AB between Washington Avenue and Madison a the DPW crew has been installing the brick around the planter opening in the with cement uh which will maintain the stability of the bricks they're doing a great job so thank you uh for them doing that uh Comcast you may have noticed started installing on Thursday um the burrow well this is Let's uh handle this now yeah so the buau uh we put a stop to that work uh because we noticed the project uh they were installing cable Peds uh which are those uh ugly looking green boxes uh which was not part of the plans uh we would not have signed off on that um so after discussion and uh um some colorful language with Comcast on Friday uh they confirm that they will be using the surface volts instead so basically if you have like a water meter by the curb line it'll look like that but a little bit bigger and like a square so this way you're not visibly seeing something placed up um there will be some housing and power supply boxes at various locations uh most likely one on each block just because there has to be some source of power to these things um I guess my my my saying would be is if you are unhappy with the location please reach out to Alex Miller we'll work with Comcast to see if there's a better location there will be a few boxes we can't get around that that's just part of the deal but they weren't supposed to be boxes every other house the way that they were putting them up they're supposed to be that flat surface to the ground um so you're not visually obstructing the neighborhood um but at the end of the day it's good news we have Comcast coming in uh probably not the best way they should have rolled out but uh we stopped them and made sure that they did the appropriate and right thing for the burough of dellan so and uh thank you to Karen and Al who are part of the dellan team on that project they they worked with us to make sure that they did a quick turnaround so and thank you to Alex because uh he was getting an ear full too so thank you but just reassurances if any of your neighbors are questioning or asking those boxes with exception of specific locations they'll be removed and it'll be a flat surface box um our Engineers report as you notice way finding signage uh meeting was conducted with the downtown management organization for my understanding uh the sign details have been modified bur per those comments from ddmo and the Burrow's comments uh CME is preparing the Dot permanent local Aid submissions you saw that resolution this evening uh client Place completion corrective work remains as part of the punch list uh so more update on that as it comes along Lincoln Avenue the final reimbursement figures are under review by the do which is the Department of Transportation uh the burrow anticipates uh will ultimately receive receive the entire Grant which the final reimbursement should be around 300,000 which would be nice to pay down our bit our debt Services uh Washington Avenue street lighting bids are scheduled to be received on November 14th which will occur in these Chambers correct okay uh Second Street phase one the NJ doot has authorized the bidding of the project a meeting was conducted with the mayor's traffic and pedestrian safety task force uh their comments are being incorporated into the plans and we're developing a bid schedule railroad covert uh which is the South Avenue project uh CME has coordinated a meeting with the I bank to discuss the status also requested a meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers to discuss the Greenbrook project uh because Greenbrook projects can impact the time frame in which that project now gets done uh strip join our 635 bound BR Road demolition contract to be bid upon completion of the building assessment so we're one step closer Rescue Squad um CME has been discussing street light conversion cost with Mike Coy of psng as directed by Frank l l Lessie I always pronounce licy okay should known that uh Mr Coyle has in turn contacted Bob Hughes of uh psng regarding the Burrow's concerns and so we erate his response that's basically converting all the soft lights of the of the uh Victorian decorative lights and making them all led to match what the grant ones will be coming up so uh so we have a nice uh cohesive look uh Mara house the building assessment has been authorized and they're scheduling a kickoff meeting so that'll be fun won't it um based on discussions at the engineers recent projects meeting uh we have uh they've been preparing and submitting the following an updated budget letter for the Second Street phase two which is the second part of the grant we have which will hopefully start designing and Engineering into the new year uh that proposal for the marous um they're also preparing a budget letter for the uh rapid Beacon Light installations at new Market in Grove and Washington and orange based upon the safe uh routes to Transit Grant uh budget letter for Street scap Lighting on North Avenue from middle sex burrow border to Madison which is the transit Village Grant um budget letter for the 2025 ms4 permit requirements and uh proposal for the inst the rapid Beacon Light installations at Madison and first Madison dellan Washington and first and Washington and den Allan um so um in response from the dot because we've been waiting for the dot to do ADA Compliant ramps throughout the entire downtown but we I don't want to say we threw a wrench into to it we asked them because we got money for more rapid Beacon lights in the downtown so you can cross North Avenue safely um we asked them to incorporate that into the contract so um they're currently looking at that and reviewing it if it can be underneath the contract as it currently stands um so last thing I will do I do my annual volunteers wanted call out um volunteers have a meaningful contribution to the countless numbers of denell and successes over the years uh we wouldn't be where we're at without our volunteers who have serve on our buau uh committees and commissions and Boards so if you're interested in helping out too whether that means you're appointed to a committee or commission or task force or you simply just want to volunteer there's many of ways to do so I ask that you please go online on the website apply put your name forward and uh see what you're willing to do for the town we can only move this town forward for those PE for if with people stepping forward so applications will be considered for appointments to fill vacant seats or and uh based upon the interest of an experience based upon volunteers so visit us at dellen uh- nj.gov and uh sign up and volunteer um that's it from me this evening um department heads let's start with legal anything thank you may no report okay great I guess no legal report it's a good report uh municipal clerk nope you spoke about election so all good anything I miss nope okay uh let's thank uh Lauren and Brianna from the clerks and registers office they're going to be waking up bright and early at 400 am to make sure that our elections are good tomorrow so thank you for your service and uh we got to get this we got to stop prolonging this meeting because she's got some z's to catch up on so uh uh it no report Administration yeah 10:4 uh I know a lot of things been flying around on social media about the uh the p and the PS that were installed they're going to be remov and I know there's a lot of conversation back about right away and good distance right away and I'll just tell you right now every street on right so like each street is three feet off of the uh the curve some Street I think it's Third Street on one end is the street with is 50 80 and the other right so um not that they would stick you know a head or something like that just understand right away is where work with utilities or infrastructure need in the right away but normally it's somewhere normally within a couple feet from the curve somewhere between sidewalk curve usually or somewhere right next to the sidewalk I know that people comment about right away and right away means it's the res property yeah that's clarify we do not own that property I know that's a misunderstanding we do not own that property but for the utilities and other services that need to be provided to your property that are public we need the easement in order to get to your property so that's Reser yep and I I I will respectfully say to those who feel that this was not rolled out well there was multiple press releases multiple newsletters in print and in email and the Comcast did go door too leaving door hangers so um I'm sorry for those who might not have seen it but just because you did not see it does not mean we did not do it so makes the other company better and this happens in everything so other that have well it's a bit of a shock I get that is that it from administration because Lauren's got to go to sleep uh well we don't have somebody from well chaplain do you want to say anything for the firehouse going well we have a lot of work out here doing stuff on between that falls and God bless them guys checking on them every now and then sure fine and that's about it we're doing well thank you thank you for your service you too Mr Green uh Rescue Squad Squad sure uh a lot of events in October we were able to successfully attend from the rescue squad if we weren't able to we were more than likely on Rescue Squad call so uh able to maintain our current high quality service while uh living in fire department we're very appreciative of the fire department sharing space continue and the bur working with us on the relocation so just uh go to our website.org if you're interested in more information volunteering with us uh take all thank you and I hear you're having a a membership growth yes absolutely yeah we uh this past month we' brought on three uh new members uh so good work we're getting more members uh we're training them or we're putting them through the the run through so uh we're we're in service we we're doing calls we're getting training uh we're doing the whole thing so uh we're up to more than 20 closer closer to 30 MERS nice good job God bless it's good we want to keep that local so good work keep it up Captain anything from the police department's perspective no nothing okay thank you for your service okay um with that we'll open up the floor to the public it's item number 10 on the agenda we'll do the in person then online and then a general so anybody in person uh for public comment please state your name and address the microphone's up here I will note we have been having uh complaints that we well I personally have had complaints that uh we can't hear so if you're able to make it to the microphone I would appreciate it if not we'll try and get it close back as possible um so okay now the floor is up to open to the public state your name and address please the microphone is up here okay uh anybody online from the public please state your name and address and uh we're all ears okay I'll do one more blanket for both online and in person please state your name and address we are here to listen to your concern okay without further Ado we will close item number 10 on the agenda which is public comments next up is item number 11 adjournment which is resolution number 321 can I have a motion in a second please move it sment second Lance all in favor I any nay waiting for that day okay everybody thank you for joining us this evening our next council meeting is November 18th uh 2024 at 700 p.m. in these council chambers you can join it both in person and virtually and until then