e e e e okay exactly hey Cole Cole would you like to join us good afternoon ladies and gentlemen happy New Year and welcome to our reorganization meeting uh the first meeting of the year January 1st 2024 our first order of business is a call to order of the 2023 Council um so like call the and arise for the of Allegiance jce all at this time we will have a reading of the sunshine statement and roll call um of our 2023 Council by our Deputy clerk Mrs Lawrence stats present here item number four on our agenda is the adjournment of our 2023 Council and I have a motion and a second move it yes item number five on our agenda is the oath of office for uh my office council member alander Park and council member elect Cal Idis Lance um will be led by assemblywoman Michelle maudis heading the oath of office so I guess I'm up okay e un [Applause] people for you may have noticed the C hat this is Inon pops so every time I've been swor since his death God blessed his soul I've swor to [Applause] next we will have the oath of office for council member croa edes Lance for un [Applause] for e cons TR [Applause] so before we continue I just want to recognize some of the elected officials that are here with us this afternoon um from legislative district 21 we have Senator John [Applause] bramnick assembly woman and Deputy minority leader Nancy [Applause] Munos we have assembly woman Michelle matakas we have former uh mayor Robert J [Applause] Cedar former council member for denel Jeremy louder and we have a guest from Summit councilwoman Lisa [Applause] Allen scanning the the crowd that's all I see so um sorry if I missed you but thank you for being here today um and at this moment we will open the floor to uh Senator John bramnick Nancy woman uh Nancy assembly woman Nancy Munos and assemblywoman Michelle matuda to say a few words if they so choose [Applause] e for [Applause] count item number six on our agenda is the oath of office for our municipal clerk Lauren stats and I will have the Great s un today a lot of standing sitting applauding uh and uh talking so uh you're going to be seeing us get up a few times okay now we've all been waiting for item number seven on our agenda is a call to order of the 20124 council uh by myself and our new Municipal CL reg La stats so can present I guess I was having thoughts second thoughts sorry here okay item number eight is the appointment of our bur attorney William Robertson so can we have a motion and a second on this resolution move it second Sigman yes okay Robertson is here and let's do our swearing in I [Applause] EST item number nine is the appointment of a council president do we have a nomination yes I'd like to nominate Jerry Albertson any second second okay do you accept the nomination okay are there any other nominations to the floor without hearing any we'll take a roll call yes okay woman would you like to do the great honor okay e [Applause] con congratulations council president next on our agenda is item number 10 the appointment of Alexander Miller as our burough administrator can I have a motion in a second please call yes yes I'll have Al [Applause] EST for okay next on the agenda are the appointments of boards and commissions uh this requires no votes um we can pass those three out that way please pass those three I apologize I did not put them in the packet beforehand okay so dellan is successful because our volunteers this year alone I believe we had over 125 Volunteers in our rec programs and our commissions and Boards so at this moment in time I have the great honor to be able to swear in all the volunteers that are currently here and being appointed to a commission or committee or Bard Authority so if you're here can you please rise and I'll read your oath of office too afterwards you can uh join Lauren in the recreation office and sign your oath of office okay so the first part is your name and then the committee to which you are going to be joined I'll say I I member of the okay now we're all online do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the government ablished in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people so help me God congratulations [Applause] thank okay thank you to everyone who Volunteers in our those who are not able to be present you can join Mrs stats at the clerk's office and take your oath of office there and sign Your Allegiance okay next is our agenda resolutions uh Mrs stat if you can lead us through these please move it we have a roll call yes yes move it Sigma yes yes second yes yes movement Sigman yes yes sigment yes yes yes yes Sig yes yes second yes yes move it second Sig yes yes resolution number 14 is to approve the temporary budget for calendary year 2024 sewer utility budget secondment Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr Pon yes Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes and Mr vanderark resolution number 15 is to approve Towing contracts for 2024 move it Sigman Mrs Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr Pon Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes and Mr Vander resolution 16 through 34 will be voted upon in one consent agenda motion and as there are all appointments for the municipal court and Professional Services so do we have a motion and a second roll call please Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr paon Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes Mr V okay 31 through 38 will be read indre correct Okay resolution number 35 is the appointment of rjh solutions for matters related to Information Technology move it Sigman Mrs Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr paon yes Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes and Mr vandermark resolution number 36 is to appoint Kelly cupit as Dell's qualified purchasing agent movement Sig Mrs Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr paon Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes and Mr vanderark resolution number 37 is to recognize the appointment of officially elected 2024 line officers and executive officers for the D fire department Mrs Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr Pon Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes and Mr vanderark let's give a round of applause for our firefighter [Applause] resolution number 38 is to appoint Catherine as denan Municipal Fort judge Mrs Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr paon Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes and Mr Vander resolution number 39 is the appointment of Alexander Miller as fund commissioner to the central Jersey joint Insurance Fund move it Sig Mrs Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr Pon Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes and Mr Vander resolution number 40 to petty cash fund move it Sig Mrs Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr paon Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes Mr vanderbar resolution number 41 is authorizing the hiring of Delta strategies LLC for the provisions of Consulting Services move it Sigman Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr paon yes Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes and Mr vandar resolution number 42 is to authorize an agreement with acua LLC for Risk Management Consultant second Sig Mrs Albertson Mrs Lance yes Mr Pon yes Mrs Rios Mr Sigman yes and Mr vanderark at this moment in time I get to uh provide the municipal address and uh it is shorter than last year so you're all you know good standing I see mayor Cedar going thank God okay so good afternoon ladies and gentlemen members of the denell and bur Council and burrow staff and our distinguished guests I begin my fifth state of the burough address by wishing you and yours a happy and healthy New Year I am honored to be here today to begin my second term as the mayor of dellan we've accomplished a great deal together over the last four years and I look forward to the jobs ahead of us that we will accomplish we are privileged to serve this great burrow with the amazing people who call it home and the business owners who invest in our community putting their trust in all of us up here today a fact we must always keep top of mind I look forward to working with the members of the burough Council to accomplish even greater tasks ahead Teresa Albertson Joseph Paul John Trina Rios and Daniel Cole Sigman as well as Harold vanderark and crool Edis Lance who I thank and congratulate today on their swearing in and thank you assemblywoman Michelle maudis for joining us today to swear myself and our council members in and senator brck for swearing in our council president I would also like to extend my thanks and well wishes to Jessica Dunn for her years of service on the burough Council and look forward to working with her in her new volunteer position congratulations to Teresa Albertson for being appointed council president we know you will serve this community with devotion and sincerity additionally thank you to council member Trina Rios for your honorable two years of service as [Applause] counil I would also like to take a moment to recognize Dr William M Robbins who recently retired from the burough after serving 22 years as municipal clerk and registar and eventually our administrator and that's already having served as the library director for 13 years prior so I believe that's I'm doing my math right 33 years or so Al together bill has played an intrical part in moving dellan forward working tirelessly to ensure our local government provided the best Services possible for our constituents his calm demeanor will be missed at Burrow Hall but we know he's looking forward to endless rounds of golf in the months to come thank you Bill for your commitment to the burough of [Applause] dellan now as one chapter closes another opens so I'd like to congratulate Lauren sta for being appointed municipal clerk and registar and Alexander Miller for being appointed burough administrator today both are dedicated public servants who we all know will work hard to serve the residents and bus business owners of dellan in their new roles and finally One Last Farewell goes to John Bruder Esquire who served as prosecutor for dellan for four years and eventually as our burough attorney for 22 years John is recently been approved to become a superior court judge yep congratulations John although we are losing a brilliant legal mind the state of New Jersey will be gaining a judge who is the epitome of honor and integrity and who will enforce the law fairly and justly thank you John for your guidance and friendship you will be missed and with that note I'd like to welcome our new burough attorney William Robertson Esquire to the deis and wish him well in his new role with us he's already been informed that we have a lot of work ahead of us there's no slow days here and is ask Alex and Lauren and is prepared to be busy welcome [Applause] William it is my honor to stand before you as your mayor this afternoon to in inform you that the state of the burough of dellan is strong living and doing business in New Jersey's Miracle Mile is a real blessing we faced unfathomable number of four adversities over the past four years including a global pandemic hurricane Ida the rebuilding of our firehouse and destructive flooding yet our community continue to show up to support one another with generosity strength and optimism for the future we can only be successful when everyone pitches in and in dellan we know they do as mayor I am encouraged and inspired every day by our Collective volun tourism and unwavering dedication to continue making denel a wonderful place to call home so to that end we accomplished a lot in 2023 including the continuation of historic improvements to our infrastructure acceptance of sizable Grant funds and the continued revitalization of our downtown first of note our commitment to providing cost effective ways to improve our roads has been paying off with nearly eight of 16 miles of Municipal owned roadways being newly paved since [Applause] 2020 in 2023 alone this included the completion of nearly one mile of road pavement projects through the middle County Mill and pave program enabling us to pave Columbia Street J do Drive Kennedy Court Oak Parkway which desperately needed it Pearl place and Penfield place as well as the ability to install new ADA Compliant crosswalks and replace severely damaged curbs every road paved has received enhanced striping and signage to ensure traffic and pedestrian safety and enforce speed limits especially near our schools parks and downtown businesses this year in particular these enhancements can be seen on Prospect Avenue kudos to the residents who advocated for that they should be recognized we also collaborated with the school district to build a sidewalk from p Street near Center Street to favor school to assist pedestrian access in that area protecting the people living in and visiting our one square mile is the utmost importance I would also like to thank the mayor's traffic and pedestrian safety task force for the continued assistance and input on this matter [Applause] yes since being sworn in as mayor in 2020 the burough has been awarded a total of 4,435 460 in Grants from state and federal agencies for various Road Park Environmental and Transit Village projects that have already been or will be implemented over the next two years thank you for 2023 this includes a 529,000 Transit vill Village grant for decorating lighting around Route 28 between Madison Avenue and the middle sex border and 496000 for Second Street improvements Phase 2 between Madison Avenue and North Washington Avenue from the New Jersey Department of Transportation Municipal aid funds we also received 436,000 Safe Streets for all Grant from the United States Department of Transportation to assess and plan for p pedestrian accessibility throughout the burough of dellan additionally dellan was awarded 170,000 from The Local transportation proc projects fund by the state of New Jersey to install rectangular rapid flashing Beacon lights at the intersections of South Washington Avenue and Orange Street and New Market Road and Grove Street two locations that darly need that lastly we received a $39,600 grant from the US Department of interior in coordination with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the lower Ron Watershed partnership for a trash trap installation in the Greenbrook to help capture debr G from going Upstream of dellan we were honored to be the first in the state of New Jersey to benefit from this pilot program through these newly awarded grants we intend to improve the experience of both residents and visitors with re-envisioned streetscapes improved roads and pedestrian accessibility and the protection of our local environment we will that's important we will continue to make strides towards improvements in the B d by applying for grant opportunities that will assist in offsetting the cost of these Capital Improvement projects the economic development and revitalization of downtown dellan continues with its Renaissance and I say we're in a Renaissance of new Investments and small businesses over the last four years we've been able to close nearly 68 million in residential mixed use and facade Improvement investments in our downtown with several still to come along Route 28 in 2023 we welcome two new businesses including a coffee shop an event Hall several eateries and a gifts and apparel shop the denell and downtown management organization continues to plan events and beautification projects for North Avenue throughout the year the nearly fully occupied dellan station project which we actually have some residents here today um was has welcomed hundreds of new residents to its town homes and and apartments and its retail space now houses blue Foundry bank and Kastle Institute for rehabilitation and there are two locations still available if anybody wants to open a business these improvements will spur additional Investments and increase commercial values of Dell's downtown properties which is essential given that 89% of our tax base is reliant on residential property values the goal of revitalizing our downtown is first and foremost to help stabilize taxes for residential property owners so long as we continue to promote and adopt a Commerce friendly mentality that attracts and retains new businesses investors and Builders Dell's downtown will continue to thrive and increase Revenue that helps the burrow to offset the tax burden on residents in addition to our Redevelopment efforts we conducted and or adopted four planning initiatives to help guide the Burrow's decision making over the next decade on matters related to development downtown Improvement districts and a Main Street program as well as working to build out a mun Municipal wide strategic communication plan Dell's master plan the blueprint for Dell's future development and land use was amended and adopted this year after its reexamination focusing on downtown Redevelopment and Zoning flooding and storm water management sustainability and circulation and accessibility secondly the burl the first in the state of New Jersey to adopt a climate resiliency plan which mainly focuses the speech is just going to be long if you keep clapping um now I lost my place um no even I'm saying no which mainly focuses on ways to mitigate flooding and storm water runoff through promoting green initiatives and Design standards and assessing where and how to develop in the in the areas prone to flooding we also work throughout the year with sustainable Jersey on a pilot program to help create an equity profile and Municipal communication strategic plan the fruit of this label will be assessed and hopefully implemented this year finally we worked with a graduate study class led by Dr David liskin at the Ruckers blous School of planning and public policy on the benefits of a downtown improvement district and a Street program in denel these initiatives will help guide the burrow in sound decision making as we continue to grow based upon the recommendations from the master plan reexamination and climate resiliency plan we continue to work with our Municipal planners DMR Architects to amend our Redevelopment plan these amendments include clarifying intended uses throughout the Redevelopment area permitting New Uses such as artist live work Studios larger commercial St uh stores and larger supermarkets entertainment venues instit institutional uses and Film Production Studios the creation of a 12- foot buffers between existing residential areas and new developments no longer allowing for buildings to go right up to the backyard on property lines yep it is good because they don't deserve the uh the creation of Workforce housing and the promotion of green design standards all of these decision were based on feedback from residents and business owners through various surveys and public events a prime example of engaged constituencies impacting policy the buau of denan also adopted a number of quality of life ordinances designed to improve the Aesthetics and peacefulness of our neighborhoods while supporting Economic Development some highlights include a vacant and abandoned properties and storefronts ordinance to establish minimum standards of accountability on owners or other responsible part parties of vacant and abandoned structures and storefronts to protect the health safety and general welfare of the residents of dellan an amended dellan alcoholic beverages ordinance to allow for restaurants in dellan to operate their liquor licenses on Saturdays and Sundays to encourage earlier operations such as brunches in these establishments a new chapter 152 for the burre entitled film industry setting up a process that motion picture studios must follow in order to film into kudos to council member how for helping me out on that and amended dellan noise ordinance making it more enforceable by the police and now code enforcement by removing Antiquated language this ordinance was written with the assistance of Chief Daniel Smith legal counsel council member Hal Vander Mark again thank you and the administration therefore and went through an extensive review by these responsible parties to enforce it the bur negotiated Fair contract with our labor unions representing our Department of Public Work employees and police officers in which we work towards mutual agreements and the increase of pay Dell's Union and non-union employees are now paid at rates similar to or surrounding and comparable municipalities this will help in attracting and retaining a Workforce in in return the burough was able to negotiate with labor unions as well as establish policy for non-union buau employees that moving forward employees will have to assist in paying in into their healthare upon retirement this is intended to help the burrow be fiscally responsible to its taxpayers by having employees contribute to these benefits in retirement while also continuing to provide quality services to them and pay Fair wages to employees as part of our ongoing effort to promote transparency in government and enhance Communications with residents business owners and visitors the burough regularly posts timely updates and virtually broadcast Council meetings mayoral town halls and monthly messages from the mayor on our website as well as hosting monthly walks and talks with the mayor residents can also sign up for our enotify to receive alerts about important incidents such as emergencies and road closures additionally we updated our council chambers this year to include microphones and new camera system to better record and publicly view meetings in the chambers the systems right up there today it is our responsibility as a governing body to make constituents acutely aware of the happenings within local government and we will continue to fulfill this Mission we also congratulate and thank the denell downtown management organization for continually improving its monthly e newsletter next stop dellan and the Dell's quarterly newspaper the dellan report which entered its 13th year publication notably dellan was a final 16th contender in the National 2023 strongest Town contest the contest sponsored by strong towns celebrates communities facing and addressing challenges such as housing transportation and economic uncertainty with resilience I believe it to be a great honor for our square mile burrow to be in competition with other towns across our great nation of the United States of [Applause] America I would like to spend some time recognizing in detail the fantastic job our departments boards committees and commissions have been doing to enhance the lives of our residents this year the dellan Parks and Recreation Department had another successful and memorable year in 2023 hosting several events and serving nearly 814 youth participants in activities such as basketball tennis track soccer baseball softball flag football and summer camp 53 parent and guardian coaches volunteered their time to meet the 6% increase in participation in its third year the Hometown Heroes Banner program continues to grow downtown thank you to Alex Miller and Kelly Cedar for advocating for this program we also excited to welcome Kelly to the Parks and Recreation Department this year as a full-time Recreation program coordinator she will undoubtedly do a fantastic job I for one look forward to hearing her ideas to enhance our Recreation programs welcome to the team [Applause] K we continue to honor longtime denell and tradition such as the Memorial Day parade and ceremony our Veterans Day ceremony the Christmas tree lighting and Santa around town we recognize and appreciate the hard work of Alex Miller and grth as well as our Parks and Recreation staff the Recreation Commission and all the coaches and volunteers who helped support the department and its programs this year the denell police department had an active year with 175 arrests 3500 summons issued 2400 motor vehicle stops and the hiring of two new officers Jeffrey Jones and Gary Smith detective John D'Angelo received a Meritus service award by the 200 Club of middlex County for his part in apprehending a convicted Megan Megan's lost sex offender the dellan PBA 146 led by our good friend Joe Dudley back there toy drive that I'm going to talk about a su LED another successful toy drive this year collecting multiple trailer loads of toys for those in need during the Christmas season [Applause] Y our burrow is safe because of our officers and we thank them for the risks they take each and every day to protect our thank you n Fire Department continues to serve our burough with honor and bravery these men and women have shown nothing but grit patience and dedication to their jobs as the firehouse its engines and its equipment are restored or replaced due to the fire in 2021 we are all looking forward to when they can call when they can fully operate out the soon to be George W hulic Firehouse which we an anticipate will happen later this year so it's going to [Applause] happen and just a notable mention for George hodi our friend George is going to be what 98 this year yeah something like that God bless him he was born and raised here he drank the water from the bonate brook I think uh we have the Fountain of Youth here apparently um we thank the D and rescue squad for being there in times of great and urgent need for our residents and look forward to their new building at 635 boundbrook Road we happily announc that the dellan office of emergency management received an emergency management Grant this year in total of $10,000 under the leadership of OEM coordinator Homer Mosley Jr and Deputy OEM and search coordinator William Carlson denell and search team continues to remain active and has completed approximately 300 hours of training this year that's [Applause] great denel Public Works under the leadership of Alex Miller you might have to start having a drinking game every time I mention your name in here under the leadership of Alex Miller and Richard herker hired two full-time uh one sorry one full-time employee Gregory stalker to improve up to further improve upon the tremendous job they've been doing maintaining burrow properties catch basins and much more the D and downtown management organization hosted its annual harvest fest in Washington Memorial Park sponsored Dell and Restaurant Week in spring into Wellness hosted events such as shop small business Saturday decorated the downtown for the change of holiday seasons and hosted several grand openings for new businesses the dellan arts and culture commission hosted their annual Art summer camp presented summer C uh summer concerts and plays in the park decorated the storefronts for the holidays and will soon complete a public mural project that will be placed under the Madison Avenue train trestle both organizations really help to brighten the spirit of our Miracle Mile this year the denell municipal Alliance also holds held several events informing our community of the alliance's mission to protect our youth from the effects of drug and alcohol abuse the denel and diversity inclusion committee worked to celebrate Den's great diversity while the denell public library a cultural centerpiece of our community continued to provide Youth and adult programs technological needs and educational materials to nearly 12,000 visitors to the library in 2023 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the Arnold Schwarz Memorial Library and we anticipate a great year full of celebrations the friends of the denan public library also coordinated their successful outdoor Market in Washington Memorial Park this year with funds from vendor fees benefiting the library the denan planning board held many important and uccessful meetings this year as it continues to be the municipal agency that oversees site plans for redevelopment projects and other zoning related matters thanks to the volunteers who make up the planning board and thank you to Chiron Roundtree and Lauren stats for administratively keeping everything moving forward almost there I promise there's a lot going on so we want to you know recognize that the mayor's cannabis task force sought additional feedback from the community and conducted extensive research regarding the commercialization of cannabis and dellan before ultimately deciding to recommend to the mayor and councel that we remain opted out at this time they will continue studying the outcome of multiple lawsuits that are occurring between municipalities and their applicants to further assist denell in making its final decision on the matter the denell parking authority saw strong return of commuters to the train station parking lot and expect this trend to continue in 2024 to increase the ease and convenience of purchasing a daily parking pass the parking authority has begun offering the option of using a mobile app for payments this app M2 Park can be downloaded on your mobile phone and readily used for your convenience and our Municipal Clerk's handle dozen of pets licenses marriage licenses and much more while the Construction office issued approximately 1100 permits this year 350 certificate of occupancies and completed 1,800 inspections between all subcode officials yes that's a lot of work that they just [Applause] did D now and also some of our also saw some of our local establishments employees volunteers and residents recognized State and Nationwide in our business Community Rome pizza was awarded one of the best New York style pizzas in the nation and number two in newers Jersey Warrior martial arts was named one of the top five martial arts studios in Central Jersey Maggie Murray's Pub was recognized as the best Irish pub in Middle sex County and the dellan hotel in Ras skeller was named one of New Jersey's coziest restaurants by new jersey.com dellan Resident Jake mosa hyped the Appalachian Trail in memory of his grandfather Jim mosa and helped to raise funds for the Alzheimer's research Alex Miller take a shot was awarded public servant of the Year from the middlex County Regional Chamber of Commerce Recreation Commission chair Jim Brennan was given the notable honor of being a lifetime service Honore from the New Jersey state Governor's volunteerism Awards Kelly Cedar was awarded the coach of the year for the gold division high school boys tennis from the greater middle sex conference Harry Johnson was awarded coach of the year for the gold division High School girls soccer from the GMC and the late lur of ausy was honored in in memorial for the f s Matthew sin award from the njrpa this [Applause] is our Miracle Mile is filled with amazing people who achieve great things with the individuals noted above proving that even in small towns big things do happen through collaboration professionalism and volunteerism our employees and our community made great progress with the bur in 2023 while remaining true to our small town values now I'd like to share with you just a few tasks on the agenda for denan in 2024 and Beyond the construction of the dellan station project as well as other recent investments into the revitalization of our downtown has led to the increased interest in denal from Builders and business owners we anticipate the construction of several residential mixed use projects this year it is important to recognize the significance these projects will have in attracting new residents and businesses to dellan that will Foster an economic boom for our downtown our vision and duty is to make dellan a better place to live work play and do business in this year we will make strides in assessing the benefits and implementation of a downtown improvement district this will assist in marketing attracting and retaining businesses in denal and will provide for greater funding opportunities for beautification projects downtown to further revitalization in Den Allan mentioned to you you both uh we will continue to work with New Jersey legislative district 21 Representatives Senator John bramnick assemblywoman Michelle mudas and Nancy Munos to ensure that New Jersey Transit does not forget about the dire need to modernize our train [Applause] station and just a quick note on day one when I called our friends in ld21 they showed up and they have been fighting with us and for a new train station ever since so thank you we will continue to explore ways to save money and streamline Municipal Services through Innovative shared service agreements with nearby municipalities and local agencies major infrastructure Improvement goals in 2024 will include working with New Jersey American water and P on more utility improvements and Paving roads working with middlex County on the milling and Paving of more Street Street working with pasaway Township on the milling and pavement at Center Street using the New Jersey Department of Transportation Municipal aid funds to improve fly Place continuing to seek grant opport opportunities for beautification and infrastructure improvements advancing the South Avenue culbert rebuild under the New Jersey Transit tracks to alleviate flooding the fundings in place the permits in place and the easements in place so this is happening yep strongly encourage other internet and cable providers to build out infrastructure into nellan to help create competition in this markting say this two are interested and we've had conversations so let's hope they raise the capital uh working on ordinances to regulate truck traffic throughout the bur which we know is a big issue uh and developing a student ambassadors program with the high school so our youth can be involved in our committees commissions and volunteer programs to gain a better understanding of their local government as well as host a volunteer Picnic Day in denell and to celebrate and honor our countless volunteers Kelly I might be throwing that at you when you finally get on board okay we plan to look at ways to enhance Public Safety with the denal police department through the organizational structure of the department and the assessment of the appropriate number of police Staffing with the hopes of adding a traffic control officer and community community engagement officer we also will continue implementing pedestrian and traffic safety measures such as enhanced striping traffic light signals and Rapid flashing Beacon lights at Key intersections in denan as well as a complete and green streets policy alongside our Safe Streets for all assessment additionally we will also be looking at the overall organizational chart and behaviors of the bureau government to see where we can have efficiencies so that we can continue to enhance the services for our constituencies lastly this governing body will continue to work closely with department heads to develop a long long-term capital Improvement plan that will strategically allow for downtown park and other Capital Improvements throughout the next several years we plan to work with our financial advisers and W Financial Group LLC to build out a revenue analysis from the Redevelopment projects and work on a Debt Service payment plan to help alleviate this burden on the taxpayer y as we have so much to accomplish together moving forward we will continually be reviewing and updating es too as needed I would like to end my address to you today by thanking the bu's Administration staff and our various boards and commissions and committees though there are many I'd like to recognize by name there are a few individuals and they work very hard throughout the year so I'm going to give the time to recognize them by name William Robbins our former municipal clerk and burough administrator Alex Miller our superintendent of parks's recreation and public works and now B administrator Lauren stats our new municipal clerk and registar Deborah Weaver our human resources manager Julie grth all Recreation staff and the Recreation Commission Richard Herer and all of our Department of Public Works employees Chiron rry our administrative consultant John bruer our former burough attorney and now William Robertson our new burough attorney Scott Olson our our Chief Financial Officer uh tax collector Don Hutchinson tax office clerk Gail Warner and tax assessor Don gutell judge Katherine how Municipal Court admin administrator Terry Chrisley and violations clerk Denise denado George Dean and Kenneth B and dist and our code enforcement Mike Rossy clarabel John Scott Travis and Michael in our Construction office the police chief Daniel Smith Lieutenant uh Chris fers Administrative Assistant Debbie Richie and all of our police officers Chief Jonathan Scott of the dellan fire department and newly sworn in Chief uh William Scott and all of their membership Chief Jeff best of the denal rescue squad and all of their membership OEM coordinator Homer J Mosley Deputy OEM coordinator William Carlson and their entire search team and OEM staff thank you to all of our government services employees and volunteers agencies including parking authority planning board ddmo the mayor's traffic pedestrian safety task force the dni committee Dak I'm just going to abbreviate them the mous committee sha tree the library the Cannabis task force and denell Senior Club in 2023 we had 125 volunteers participate in Recreation programs and or burrow commissions committees and boards and I hope we continue to build on that number dellan success is truly measured by those who serve our community finally I would like to recognize and thank my family for their unwavering support I extend my love and gratitude to my wife Lindsay for whom without I would not be able to be here today my thanks and love to my mother and father sister and brother and their families which are right over here and a special thank you again to my popup from whom without I would not have begun my journey into local politics sorry I am humbled and proud to serve the community that helped raise me and my family with 2024 to to be in WoW extra exciting year given that Lindsay and I are wel welcoming our firstborn a baby girl this [Applause] February that hit harder than I expected as mayor of den I promise to work with all members of the council to ensure responsible and transparent government is delivered to our constituents with all residents feeling they are fairly represented and welcomed in our Miracle Mile may we continue to devote our minds and hearts to Public Service above all else so that dellan continues to be a place where our neighbors friends and famili seek to create the greatness that uniquely defines our community thank you for your time today and I hope you have a happy healthy and blessed New [Applause] Year okay at this moment in time we'll open the floor for any public comment we just ask that you please state your name and address without hearing any we will close that portion of the meeting now we have some recognitions which I'm going to go down to the floor for [Applause] we where where where time [Applause] to for to here time start only C say saw heard thank [Applause] you [Applause] guys m [Applause] together B [Applause] SP B [Applause] con [Applause] that's so you our [Applause] achievement okay our Proclamation awarding will has dep [Applause] life okay congratulations well okay so uh before we adjourn the meeting um I would like everybody to know immediately after this those who are here as volunteers you can join Lauren in the recreation office sign your oath of Allegiance if you can't today or those who are not here you can sign them another time um and also for everyone that is here we are going to be going to the art Annex directly after this uh food will be provided by the den hotel and so thank you Peggy for allowing us to use your establishment Peggy Lockwood's here and [Applause] so we would like to welcome everybody to the art Annex immedately follow the conclusion of the meeting so with without further Ado I guess you can say uh can I have a motion and a second to adjourn our first council meeting of the Year move it Sigman all in favor all right any Nays okay happy and healthy New Year [Applause] everyone we