##VIDEO ID:hAEppN9VHSk## good evening and welcome to the township of East Brunswick Township council reorganization meeting today is Monday January 6th 2025 please rise to salute the flag and remain standing for a moment of of silence for the passing of our 96th President Jimmy Carter and for all the lives that were taken on January 1st due to the attack in New Orleans to FL the United States of America to the for stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all you may now be seated I would like to call to the podium father Hannah from St Mary's Copic church for tonight's invocation father Hannah let go first before to start I wish you all a Happy New Year God bless you all and I think uh yeah one thing I always pray for all of you really God give you a good health and his strength and power especially probably the one thing we take it for granted our help this year our commune actually experienced some difficult time with one of our members but actually he's a good friend of our beloved mayor that didn't actually having a dinner out with his wife just had a massive heart that taken da in the spot I pray number one may the Lord God give you all Health good health and be with you support you uh I will ask you to stand up for prayer our heavenly father we thank you for granted us another year we thank you for our health and our security we pray our dear God that you fill this year with peace joy happiness and unity around the whole world we pray for our mayor and our leader into this tonight's meeting and in this our beloved city of East ruk we ask you our God to grant our mayor and our leaders patient Unity good health to continue to lead leading our city with peace and unity we pray that you will give them wisdom and to make the right decision and also to grant them a spirit of understanding we take to them oh Lord support to them oh Lord we pray this in your name amen amen thank you I will now proceed with a roll call and the statement of adequate notice council member Hall yes Council C McAvoy here councilman Wendell absent councilwoman Winston here councilwoman zii here also present mayor Brad Cohen here administrator Joseph culo here and Township attorney Anthony aoka here adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as required under chapter 231 Public Law 1975 by specifying the time date location and to the extent known the agenda by posting a copy on the bulletin board located in the main lobby of the East Brunswick Municipal Building providing a copy to the home News Tribune and the Asbury Park Press newspapers posting a copy on the Township's website and by filing a copy in the office of the Township Clerk which will be entered into the minutes we're now going to proceed with the administration of oath I call forward Nancy pinkin the middlex county clerk who will be administering the oath of our elected mayor mayor Brad Cohen Mayor Cohen if you could kindly meet Mrs pinkin and if there are any members in the audience that would like to come forward and join our mayor please do so at this time want you to come in a little bit yes this way stand up you're a little bit so the mic will pick you up okay all right all right if you can do you want to say a swear or affirm it doesn't matter okay all right I I Brad J Cohen Brad J Cohen do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I support the Constitution that I support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties as mayor as mayor according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations thank you so [Applause] much I'm glad I'm just going to have you sign the oath oh you already signed all right that was presumptive and then I just have a certificate for you thank you very much thank you thank you good luck thank you congratulations mayor Cen thank you I now invite assemblyman sterley Stanley to come forward assemblyman Stanley will be administering the oath of Dana ziki councilwoman ziki please meet Mr Stanley and if there are any members in the audience wishing to join councilwoman's and Bicky please do so at this time conratulations ready I'm ready all right I I Dana and Vicki do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments and to the governments established in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and and that I will and that I will Faithfully faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties all the duties as councilwoman as councilwoman according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations Dana thank you you just got to sign this here my Lefty got to turn it a little Lefty too okay and one second MH and this is your oath perfect thank you so much thank you [Applause] congratulations the next person to be sorn in is councilman denish ball if there are any members in the audience please join Mr Bal at this time keep can you guys come on the side yes please no problem thank you absolutely ready okay I I D Bal do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties all the duties as councilman as councilman according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations just sign there thank you and this is your oath thank you I would like to congratulate once again our elected official mayor Brad Cohen councilwoman Dana ziki and councilman dennish bahal another round of applause for you well I'm sure all of our elected officials have a few words um if you don't mind mayor Cen would you give us a few [Applause] words well first thanks everybody for coming out tonight in this uh first episode of Arctic weather for the season first want to uh I think the only person in the room who probably is going to remember this is Sterly four years ago when we got uh the ceremony for swearing and we had to do that on Zoom uh because it was in the middle of covid and uh clearly nobody was having public meetings so I think uh think about that that it's only four years ago and how far we've come uh I also want to thank uh Father Mark Hannah for coming out this evening I know it's the evening of of uh their highest holiday and I appreciate your taking the time to come out here and do the invocation that's very nice of you he has also by the way the longest and most senior uh head of a house of worship here in East Bruns so please give him a round of applause need to thank everybody that was involved in getting us to where we are we never get to a place place like this by ourselves it's teams it's groups of people that are here to support uh those of us that that that are leading because we we do this on the on the backs of people who really support us because they believe in what we're trying to accomplish obviously first and foremost I have to thank my family my wife my kids who have to put up on a regular basis knowing that on a regular evening I'm probably not going to be home uh so don't count on it uh that's a lot to have to give up to pick up the the slack that I'm not there for so I really do want to publicly thank them all want to thank Dana and denesh for working together with me on this last election it was a lot of work and it takes a team and they were there for the countless hours that it took to do this so congratulations to both of you on your well-deserved victories like to thank the East brunic Democratic organization and all of the committee people that are part of making this success ful along with the trustees uh chairman lonsky who's here today and will'll be speaking to you middlex County Democratic organization that has supported us through and through none of this happens by accidents volunteers people who've contributed our Township staff who are just the superstars at the end of all of this they have to put up with every four-year elections and at the end of the day um worrying that their jobs may be dependent upon who's elected for the next cycle but they do their job because they know that at the end of the day the ultimate consumer are the residents and the people that live here in the township and that's their number one priority and that's what we want it to be so I thank them for doing that and for being here and at the end of the day at the at the end of all of this we got to thank our residents who put us where we are uh it really doesn't matter to me if you voted for me or if you didn't vote for me or if you didn't even vote at all if you call up the office and you need our help we don't ask you who you voted for we just do the job of representing the residents here and we're hope at the end of the day that we make more good decisions than bad decisions nobody is perfect what we all do our best in the last two terms we've had a number of accomplishments that I think most of you are able to see they're palpable at this point a Redevelopment has truly set the Township in a 21st century Direction and that could mean everything from what you see at Legacy to the buildings being built at vermella to the new FedEx building that's on edgeboro road which has all resulted in a record number of new businesses coming into the township it's a a a birth and regrowth of our Chamber of Commerce uh the upgrades that have been going on at Midstate mall all of this is happening for a reason because there's a buzz about what the future of that Corridor and what the future of this Township holds and and people want to be part of that our Municipal Taxes over eight years not one year has the increase been more than uh been more than 1% it's always been under 1% so we're still able to accomplish and to provide all the services and all the things that the people in Township want and yet do it affordably we had a major change in our Recycling and Our Garbage Contract this year the way in which we do this the the the that service has changed dramatically but for the better uh we've had a record number of Road repairs 180 Mi of roads in this Township we've handled a good number of them along with adding bike lanes and bike paths at the same time to make the town a lot more walkable usable ridable we've got a record number of grants that came into the township over the last eight years we've now topped $27 million in Grants that's come to the township all for things that if we didn't get that money in Grants we would have to come out of property taxes so it's saving enormous amounts of money our Parks and Recreation Department we have new parks that we didn't exist eight years ago we have Park upgrades we have new equipment new programs new events all of them are exciting and responding to the needs of the people that live here our Public Safety department rated the top Public Safety department in middlex County eight years in a row now we've increased the number of police and we've increased the amount of technology that the police are using in order to uh provide the public safety that we all depend upon we've filled all of our boards and commissions with a swath of people from all across the township representing every ethnic group every religion it's truly a a group that's a a microcosm of the township itself and in the middle of all of it we've had to deal with a worldwide pandemic that shut most places down for a couple of years and yet we're still able to make all those accomplishments and I think what we see today it's really palpable is a is a major change in the culture and the mood of the community it is positive forward-thinking optimistic engaged people value living here in the township there's an overwhelming feeling that we're direct our direction is in the right right way our community is stronger there excited and I think that that's that's absolutely palpable if you talk to most people that live here in town but we're now in 2025 and we need to look forward we're going to have the opening of vermella which will be within the next year finishing of the Legacy project which is on Tyson's Lane probably also within the next year the ice rinks the cricket Fields the inclusive parks at lenpy all of these things are going to happen within the next year we need to look serious iously at how we're going to be redeveloping edgeboro Road can't spend $3,000 a month on an apartment that sits right on rate Route 18 and have it look over uh the project the way it looks right now on the opposite side we need to work on that we will do that together as a Township the Brunswick Square Mall it is a it is a a beacon of the 1970s uh it doesn't work any longer uh we all know that we need to work as a Township to figure out how that's going to work in a 21st century I do not believe that retail is gone I just think that we need to rework it in a way that works in 2025 in our 21st century and we will do that together we've got new businesses that are scheduled to come into town in 2025 both on Route 18 on Cranbury Road and throughout the township they're all exciting road work will continue I can hear the Sigh right now about all the whining and complaining about Route 18 uh but when I took office I can assure you that everybody was whining and complaining how all the money went to New Brunswick and it all went to Oldbridge which didn't even need the route 18 work done to be honest with you and uh and nothing was being done here and now we got them here doing the work and all I hear about is the complaints about how there's traffic on Route 18 we'll all deal with it I'm sure every one of you know your way around Route 18 without having to use the highway we'll all deal with it but at the end of the day it's going to be a lot better A lot more usable and a lot more friendly to the businesses that want to come here which actually do look at car counts to determine whether or not they think it's valuable enough to even move here so we do want the volume we just want people to move through the highway more effectively we will continue on the road work we will continue on the bike Lanes we will continue on uh getting support from our County and state and getting all of that work done um but but we also have challenges and let's let's make sure that we know what they are so that again we know what we're facing and we could work on them together to solve these problems we have a new affordable housing obligation that's being uh put upon us as of 2025 for the next 10 years uh the initial number was the same 314 that we got 10 years ago we're working on trying to get that reduced some of the places they thought we could build are not practical so I think the number will come down but we will have to deal with it we will do that together uh we will have to do we are being forced by the state and by our County to do a re-evaluation of home values okay hasn't happened in 30 years we're going to have to work on this together and figure out our way through it we will do it we will do it together we have parking Decks that unfortunately are not making the type of money that they did years ago because people aren't going to the city as much or if they do they have uh hybrid schedules where they don't need to go every day so the volume has dropped and we can't make up with that with money coming from the state or for the federal government which used to help us out in order to make up the Gap we're going to have to figure out where parking lots fit in the next uh in the next uh uh uh this next 10 years and figure that problem out and then finally we've got issues going on with the Board of Education as they start to determine what their needs are in terms of buildings and Facilities we will need to work as a Township along with the Board of Education to solve this problems so that everybody at the end of the day ends up in a place that works for the people that live here I don't know what that solution is right now but I could promise you that from this end of the highway we will do everything possible to work with the schools to make sure that at the end of the day whatever we do whatever we decide we decide as a Township and we end up doing what's best for the people that live here and for the people that will continue to move here because education is still the number one reason that people move to East Brunswick and I don't think that any of us would like that to ever change so in the words of Albert Einstein in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity uh so I wish all of you a happy and healthy 20125 may we all enjoy a year filled with good health happiness and prosperity thank [Applause] you I invite councilwoman Dana zii to the podium to say a few words good evening everyone and thank you so much for coming out on this cold snowy night um when you follow the mayor you learn to edit while you sit up there very quick right and as a teacher for so many years the one thing that we always hated was when there was things that would be repeated so I'm going to do my best to make sure I'm not repeating and just focusing on some of the uh other points that you left for me thank you so right standing here tonight first of all feels a little bit familiar and profoundly special when I was first sworn into office in February of 2020 to fill the seat of Michael spino our councilman I had no idea how deeply this rule would shape me since then I've been honored to be appointed then and elected twice and each time the trust you place in me means more than words can express Brad and denes it was a privilege running with you you really get to know a person intimately and deeply when you are in a situation of running a campaign it is really really difficult and with that I think I might I don't know I'm curious about the history of this but I have run with every single council person on the Das and I have really special I feel very special about each and every one of them and very honored and privileged to be working with them so first of all um I just want you to know I take this very seriously this responsibility in this position for our Township I promise to always do my best and I can't thank enough my husband and my son Dylan and Hunter who can't be here tonight for being my anchors my cheerleaders and same Brad wght not being home at night um both of them have become excellent Cooks um which is a great thing right so I really appreciate everything that you do and I also would like to thank um um elect women NJ for their support in this campaign it um it was it's wonderful to be a part of a strong group of women running for office in the state and also the middle sex County Democratic organization and the East Brunswick Democratic organization always always supportive and anchors and I really appreciate for your unwavering guidance and mentorship so as I reflect on this journey I'm reminded of the extraordinary spirit that defines East Bruns WI our strength truly does lie in our diversity it's our greatest achievement together we build a community that all of us are proud to live in and no matter as the mayor said no matter what political party you're in this isn't I don't really think this is really a political position it's a position about the heart of East Brunswick and doing what's best for our community and I will disagree with one thing you said mayor I do mind if you don't vote very much as a history teacher I need you to vote however you vote you vote but you have to vote that's what this beautiful nation is all about um I just want to focus on a couple other pieces um the Arts in our community are flourishing whether it's the visual arts the Performing Arts with our um East bronswick Symphony Orchestra it's another great piece that just makes East Brunswick feel a little bit special a little bit more special right our seniors our senior center there is nothing more exciting than going on Facebook and watching the dance parties that the seniors are having and the different activities it's again it's we're just such a diverse community of people right it's not just about the children in the schools it's about our seniors that we respect and admire equally as much um I want to thank the mayor for your steadfast leadership my fellow Council council members for their collaboration and being Visionaries assembly men Stanley for your mentorship and guidance over the years and to the countless volunteers so many of you are sitting here right now Volunteers in our community they make our community what we are without you we it wouldn't be this strong wonderful Community um and in closing um thank you for your trust and your confidence I'm excited for what lies ahead I really do think that you know this I I I I recently had a conversation with a friend who was not originally from East Brunswick like I and said there was no place I'd rather live right now this community is amazing there's so much more to be offered and the vision is so bright and I'm excited to be a part of it and thank you very much for your trust in allowing me to do so thank you I now invite councilman denish bahal to the podium to say a few words good evening everyone speaking after the mayor and then they covered most part of it so I had to made more edits um thank you assemblyman Stanley and uh m sex County Clerk ncy pinkin for helping us take out today good evening everyone I'm truly honored and humble to take the oath of office for my second term representing all the wonderful residents of this great Township throughout my services I've always prioritized the well-being of East Brunswick residence in my decisions my colleagues and I share the same passion and commitment to our Township and we will continue to make progress with the singular goal of enhancing the quality of life for our residents at this time I would like to take the opportunity to thank everybody who helped us during our campaign starting with the residents of East pons for their trust and support all the volunteers family and friends East bronic Democratic organization chairman lonsky for their invaluable help and guidance special thanks to my wife Hansa and my son Arman for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout this journey and last together let's keep moving East ponic forward thank you all for joining us [Applause] tonight I invite David lonsky to come forward from the audience please I don't know my back to everyone so um let me just first start by saying to our Council mayor Madam's clerk our esteemed business administrator and Township attorney um to all the elected officials that came out this evening uh father Rabbi um friends neighbors happy New Year um I have a a few comments to make and um also to the people at home Happy New Year and so I'm just going to jump right into it you know this is a time of the year where we reflect on the past and look forward to the future with optimism and High Spirits I could not be prouder of all of our elected officials all of the community volunteers and everyone who by working together make this the greatest Township in all of New Jersey on behalf of the eunic democratic organization I have been given the honor of speaking for just a couple of minutes to you this evening uh and to congratulate the newly sworn in elected officials to the elected officials that have been sworn in this evening you've each demonstrated that through hard work listening to the public balancing the pros and cons of various initiatives and suggestions that a consensus resolution makes our community the great place to that it is I have seen firsthand the countless hours of deliberation research investigation and fact finding that goes into the respective decision making process of each and every one of you I commend each of you for your dedication and service to our community I'm very proud to have worked alongside you during this past election and over the many years of our friendship we are a very grateful community that you have decided to give your talent to the township of East Brunswick denesh you're a small business owner I've watched you run your business and I've witnessed how your experiences as a small business owner have brought another level of care and consideration to the decision-making process in your role as a councilman I've also witnessed the sacrifice of your family in allowing you the time necessary to dedicate to your elected duties and to stop by my office for some some meetings um I wish you continued success in this upcoming term of office Dana and Vicki uh you have a lifelong dedication to the betterment of our community and while as you indicated you may not have been born here you spent a lifetime here so thank you for that working with the ebea the VFW the beard done the ebef and countless other organizations we can always count on you you are a true leader and a highly respected educator in our Township I have seen the care and consideration that you put into your role as a council person and your family is second to none they are always there to support your endeavors including that of council person thank you for everything that you've done and I'm sure that you will continue to do for our community I wish you continued success Mayor Cohen I cannot adequately express my deepest respect and appreciation for your commitment to our Township over the past eight years as mayor and before that I know that you will have the same energy dedication and commitment to East bunic over the next four years as you have in the past you work tirelessly for improvements to our Township you have toiled over major decisions and whether the final answer is a yes or a no we all know that your decisions are based on what you truly believe is the best for our Township your family is also rich in dedication and commitment to making East Brunswick a better place and I thank each of them while you're sitting here for that role uh on behalf of a very grateful Community wish you success and Great accomplishments during your next four years as mayor um as I mentioned to each of the three of you the East brunic Democratic organization will be making a donation in your name to a charity of your choice so having spoken to you I'll Now read off who these recipients will be uh on behalf of denes a donation will be made toward the installation of a shade structure to be built um adjacent to the daisy wck building at Bicentennial Park uh and that was at the suggestion of our great um recreation department chair um and uh Dana Z Vicki um a donation will be made to um the sponsoring a vet program at our local VFW and that's a program in which the uh bills of a vet that's having difficulty meeting their financial uh obligations um there's a a fund that's uh in place for them so I think it's very worthy great idea and mayor uh donation is going to be made to the Mayor Cohen charity fund for those that are un familiar with that uh it's a charity Fund in town that helps support um local residents and organizations uh again that are in need and provides them with local assistance it's been a great program that has survived over the years and we're very um proud to make that donation and we thank you for your efforts in making that charity a great success um so I know you're all not here to listen to me um so with that again just want to um wish everyone a Happy New Year uh thank everyone for coming out and best of luck to the entire Council and to all the administrative staff that's here thank you thank you [Applause] CH okay Mr lsky thank you once again the first resolution on the agenda is resolution 2501 which is a resolution to appoint the council president for 2025 I now open the floor to the council to nominate a president for the year 2025 I would like to make a nomination thank you Council councilwoman siki is there a second I'm second are there any I didn't nominate anyone yet but I'm going to may I say a few words okay thank you so dear fellow council members it's my honor and privilege to nominate Kevin McAvoy for the position of president for Tan Council Kevin is not only a dedicated public servant but he's a friend and a neighbor whose passion for our town is evident in everything he does over the years I've had the pleasure of working alongside and learning from Kevin I've witnessed his unwavering commitment to our community whether he's engaging in conversations with our community residents tackling tough issues on Council or simply lending an ear to someone in need Kevin does lead with heart and integrity and I thought this was a just listening to some of the current event things that are going on right now with the passing of our um 39th president Rosal and Carter wisely said a leader takes people where they want to go but a great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go but ought to be and I think this exemplifies Kevin um he's a remarkable he has the remarkable ability to Envision the future and Tackle challenges and he certainly has the experience um and his record speaks for itself from champing initiatives that have improved our infastructure to advocating for programs to support families and small businesses he's constantly worked to make our town a better place he approaches every challenge with thoughtfulness humility and steadfast determination to do what's right I believe right now Kevin makavo is the leader that Our Town Council needs at this moment his experienced dedication and personal connection to our community make him uniquely qualified to guide us forward I am confident that under his leadership we will continue to move forward in challenging and prosperous times so thank you for considering Kevin makoy for this important role and I wholeheartedly support this nomination and urge my council members to do the same motion to approve no are there any other nominations no a second it is my it is my honor to Second a nomination for councilman M to be our council president for another year all right I will now proceed with the roll call councilman Bal yes councilwoman Winston yes councilman makoy yes and councilwoman ziki yes congratulations council president maoy this is your third consecutive year council president for thank you for that firm Applause appreciate that I recognize that as you accepting Kevin McAvoy as the council president let's move on to uh Council vice president and it is a resolution 252 correct by saying that are there Nom any nominations for Council vice president councilwoman Winston thank you council president um I would like to nominate Dr Dana and Vicki and we every seconds I second the nomination okay I'd like a few few words thank you is yours um good evening is with great pride and admiration that I stand before you to nominate Dr Dana ziki for the position of council vice president Dr zii is a name synonymous with service dedication and unwavering commitment to the betterment of our community for decades Dr ziki has it served as a beacon of inspiration not only as an exceptional educator but as a tireless volunteer and advocate for positive change her work with various organizations most notably the immensely successful ebea bear Den has left an indelible mark on countless lives through her efforts the bear has become a Cornerstone of support and unity embodying Dr zi's core values of empathy collaboration and service her leadership style is one that uplifts others Dr ziki doesn't just help people she empowers them she seeks out collabor cation recognizing that the strength of a community lies in its Collective effort her passion for bringing people together her ability to listen with intent and her drive to find solutions that benefit all make her the ideal candidate for this role doctors iniki's dedication is not just professional it's deeply personal she has devoted herself to fostering a community where everyone feels seen heard and valued her vision for a more inclusive United Future inspires us all and her actions speak louder than words as a second term vice president I am confident that Dr Dana ziki will continue to lead with the same Integrity passion and commitment that she has demonstrated throughout her remarkable career it is an honor to nominate someone so deserving and I look forward to seeing the positive impact she will undoubtedly continue to make this coming year are there any other nominations for Council vice president close the nominating process roll call please Council ball yes councilwoman Winston yes councilwoman ziki yes and council president mavo yes uh at this time Council woman's amby would you entertain some thoughts you might have regarding Council vice president I am overwhelmed thank you so much um Dana thank you for the beautiful nomination and tribute it just was very touching I really appreciate it and like I said before it's it's Unique because I got to run with everybody on this on this dis right and you really do get to learn a lot about each other and I can honestly say this is an amazing team that has the greatest values and the greatest integrity and we will make our residents proud so thank you and thank you for your support thank you as I begin my 51st year of service to the community of East Brunswick now as your council president I will be honest respectful and fair recognizing other perspectives I will listen clearly communicate and be a model of accountability as difficult choices often lie ahead I will use knowledge intuition and the experience and skills of our civic-minded Township Administration and the respective department leaders to support and light up our mayor's vision for 2025 and Beyond I am confident that our future together is prosperous and with humility thank the council for their trust and support in me as council president for 2025 thank you at this time we will hear from Rabbi Larry Barn spegel from the East Brunswick Jewish Center for a benediction good evening everyone happy New Year Mr Mayor Mr bahal Dr zii council president mavo other Council officials and guests I'm honored and humbled to be here today to offer this benediction to you the Bible teaches TI justice justice shall you pursue as we come together for this new year and this new beginning may we be inspired by the wisdom of the past may this year be filled with righteous decisions that uphold Justice fairness and compassion for all members of the community in the ethics of our ancestors right we can learn as well it is not your duty to finish the work but neither are you at Liberty to neglect it so as new leaders you are asked to Simply guide your flocks with wisdom May the work be done in harmony for the common good may your actions reflect the values of kindness integrity and respect and may you serve the people of East Brunswick well for your term to come and all together we can say Amen am there are a few people I would like to identify and say thank you for coming out here this evening County Sheriff Millie Scott County Clerk and please hold your applause till I'm I'm finished thank you County Clerk Nancy penin clarabell Cortez our County surrogate Dave lonsky the East bronz RG Democratic organization chair Amy papy East brunic Democratic organization Vice chair assemblyman sterley Stanley who had to go to another January 6th meeting along as well as with assemblyman Robert car binek I'm looking for one of my faves state senator Pat digan I think that I think Pat had a scoot as well our chief of police Captain Frank lasaka our East bronic Emergency Management director Mr John kasic wrot down a couple of Mayors who may have stopped by for some token you know token hellos and piscatway mayor Brian Waller was here thank you Brian East Brunswick Board of Education president Heather Gau East Brunswick Board of Education member Wilbur pan East Brunswick Board of Education member Lorie Herrick all of our directors and department heads here in East Brunswick East Brunswick board and commission leaders all of our Police Department who know that this particular Council fully respects our police department and I see some of our officers staying with us I'm sure the the big part of it is the refreshments that are coming up next and so we're going to go on a recess and if you don't mind out the back door make a make a right make a quick left all the way down to our big conference room we'll have some refreshments and Council and mayor will come back and have our formal meeting at this point and we're in recess I'll call the Chamber back to order uh Council you have before your resolution 2503 adopting the meeting minutes 12 23 2024 meeting May I have a motion motion to adopt and a second roll call please councilman Bal yes councilman Wendell yescom Winston yes councilwoman yesc president yes move on to our report section and uh mayor come uh I think I spoke enough tonight council president covered everything right our business administrator Mr Chris kulo yes just one item uh from the council agenda remove 2556 it's not necessary a lot of laws have changed and it enables us to to do that without that resolution that's number 56 right and we're going to pull that from the uh consent everybody's got that our Township attorney Mr a coka there's nothing to report council president thank you you're welcome Township Clerk M lawful uh we have a rabies clinic in the township it's a free rabies clinic for all the residents um it will be held on Wednesday February 12th from 300 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. um so if you have any Fair animals and you would like to get them revaccinated bring them over to the community art center all right so um and that's allk you uh Council only border committee reports okay moving on moving on to our public portion Miss laul please read our uh public comment statement the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments in accordance with njsa 10 colon 4-2a and the East Brunswick rules of council the the council ask the public to limit their comments to 5 minutes or less at the conclusion of the statements or questions from a member of the public the council president at his discretion may choose to respond or not respond thank you would anyone like to address council president please good evening nval Tel for uh toall Oak strive East Brunswick so um I'm I'm again here uh for the same to think that I have been um asking this Council for last many months uh to call for a ceasefire as the right moral thing to do and also to break the sister's hit Sisterhood City agreement with an Israeli city um I don't know if you guys are reading the news on what's going on but I just wanted to Enlighten this Administration that between our last council meeting and this meeting uh eight Palestinian babies um or maybe I should say infants have been frozen to death in their refugee camps uh because isra Israel bombed their homes and then restricted essential supplies as well so can you imagine eight infants frozen to death because of Israel and that sister Hood City that we have is an Israeli city so that city is equally complicit in this genocide um the the horrors of this Israeli crimes literally have no boundaries the genocide is well documented it's all out there all you have to do is just Google I really want to give you some examples um there are as a society as an Israeli society which that City Y is part of is really I I don't think that there's any moral thing left in that Society uh they think that killing a Palestinian baby is necessary because they will grow up to become Arab this is literally the qutes of the people who are living in that Society um the root of this whole society is based on stealing lands and kicking out people who are native to to that land people who literally have no DNA to Middle East are living in that land feeling not even like living I'm also an immigrant but I did not come here and kicked out the people who were living here so it's not about legal immigration that's happening there um the other thing is that I don't know what else Israel needs to do to bring some conscious into this Administration to do the right thing and break the sister city die I mean how hard it is if during the World War II you have a sister city agreement with Nazis would you continue to do it it's worse than them these Israeli soldiers are worse than them uh they have bombed hospitals schools displaced people tents bombed they have Target killed children and women they have gang raped prisoners which is by the way you can simply Google a Palestinian prisoner detainee gang raped by Israeli soldiers and you will find all the footage online so you have so much evidence to see that okay this it's a shame on East Brunswick to have this agreement um they have literally raped to death a famous Palestinian doctor Dr Adnan alberge again the whole there are multiple articles on it with evidence that isra soldiers have done that so I don't know what else you need to know I mean I can come here in every meeting to tell you more about the war crimes of Israeli Society so yam is it's literally like a black it's like a black patch on East Brunswick to have this agreement and I would really like this Administration to consider reconsider think and use your moral judgment come on like as a human we should not do that we should break ties with these kind of people thank you if you wouldn't mind uh Mr spelli we started at 6 and we had a uh Changing of the Guard are you you heard in the hallway you're you're you're not not the first one who who thank you Mr saell anyone else wishing to address council president seeing none we'll close the public portion um let's move on to our consent agenda and does any one again number 56 is removed does anyone need anything separated yes 2561 um councilman 61 61 anything else right so then let can I get a motion for uh 254 through 2560 resuming at 2562 through 256 three we have a motion for that motion to approve and a second second we'll do a roll call on that please councilman Bal yes councilman Wendell yes councilwoman Winston yes councilwoman zimi yes and council president maore yes councilman Wendell uh you have the floor um 2561 is a resolution authorizing a change order for uh DMR Architects for the ice rink um it's a $50,000 change order for what was originally $179,000 contract it's well over it's it's almost 20 it's about 28% of the original contract I don't see anything that has gone on out there that would you know allow this contract to increase that much when the original contract was only signed in August of 24 change order sorry sorry the change is order is in order to account for the additional work that's going to be needed for us to put the solar roof on and the solar engineering uh part that was not part of the original uh plan um you just approved the change order to I understand the change order that was their estimate on the cost that it would that we would incur for the redoing of the plans to account for the the uh solar room the original construction Administration contract was $179,000 it was based upon the dollar figure that we were bonding for which was much more than uh the money that we have authorized in contracts for the for terminal construction so to see and and I also always question when a when a change order or contract like this has a even dollar amount of $50,000 when the when you consider what's the original contract amount for terminal 30 some OD million dollars right so we were doing that the original contract for terminal was $26 million it just went up to 28 in order to for the solar a separate contract was for the ice part and so it brought the total to about $331,000 million dollars compared to the 40 million that we were told at the very beginning was the estimate for the whole project so thought so so the thought was that uh the return of investment on doing a solar panel roof now will take our energy costs down significantly I am not questioning the Sol questioning is I'm questioning the $50,000 when we originally had a bond amount of $40 million the $179,000 in construction Administration the contract was based on the $40 million so if we're still well under the 40 million why are we going up 28% in our construction Administration especially if it if the solar is only a $2 million or $2.6 million contract that's a lot lot of money for construction Administration for an additional 2.6 million that should have been included in you know the the the original CA construction Administration contract was based on $40 million we didn't even get come close to $40 million we should be asking them for a reduction from the 179 and the 2.6 mil councilman window where's that number coming from that's the solar I I could be wrong it could be 2 point whatever but it it's it's roughly $2 million of an increase in the contract I am not inclined to vote for this to approve it uh especially since it's just a flat $50,000 so it's not based upon a percentage of the increase in contract it's just ah $50,000 $50,000 to provide construction Administration on a $2 million change order no I have a motion to approve I'll motion we have a second Okay resolution 2561 does not get approved got that Council we have uh one ordinance for introduction Township Clerk can you please read ordinance 25 um yeah 251 ordinance 251 an ordinance to exceed the Min the municipal budget appropriation limit and to establish a cap Bank in accordance with njsa 4A colon 4- 4.14 for calendar year 2025 I'm to clarify from oh Mayor Cohen you have any which one is this this is ordinance 251 this the camp bank that we always do at the beginning of the year which gives us the ability to have leeway within the first couple of months until you have an actual budget in place uh so that the township can function right uh and uh economically uh it's a the bank cap that we do uh repeat every every single year uh so this is no different comment from Council motion adopt second roll call please councilman bahal yes councilman Wendell yes councilwoman Winston yes councilwoman ziki yes and council president M yes for the good of the cause AC quiet AC quied good congratulations everyone tonight on on the new appointments and the new the new theor I thought tonight was a lovely evening and I think it speaks to the positivity and um good energy we have moving forward yeah that that's that's a good way of saying it C in Winston it was a wonderful evening and uh thank you for the refreshments that uh were brought in uh everyone who was here in the meeting really appreciated that may I have a motion to adjourn so move and signify with i i guys have a good night here