##VIDEO ID:EbL-OWfZtvI## good evening welcome to the September 17th 2024 regular meeting of the Emerson governing body this meeting is being videotaped and may be viewed on your local public access Channel either 36 or 77 the meetings are also available Live on YouTube Mr Hermanson would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all I would ask you to remain standing for just a moment for a moment of silence for some residents who have passed away recently um sorry I flipped my page already David Wen Andrea capan and one of our staff's mothers um Stacy clouse's mom Linda Joan Clemens they will be missed I would also just ask you to keep the dryman family and their friends in your prayers um for the tragedy that was afflicted on um that family from Woodcliff Lake thank you this meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law and adequately noticed pursuant to njsa 104-1 this meeting of September 17th 2024 was noticed to the record and Ridgewood news on January 4th 2024 and published in said newspapers posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building and has remained continuously posted as required under the statute Miss Ryan would you please call the Roll Call of the governing body sure May mayor deala present councilwoman arenia here councilwoman rice here councilwoman Maguire present council president Timberman here councilman Gordon is absent oh he called and said that he was not feeling well and uh councilman sers here okay may I have a motion to excuse councilman Brian Gordon second for tonight's meeting thanks um roll call please or is it all in favor okay all in favor okay no one opposed brings us to proclamations and citations um I believe that Pastor Arturo Rivero is going to join us or we'll give him a couple of minutes um we also have the help bag hunger day from shop rate partners and caring resolution um Proclamation from September 12th 2024 the 50th anniversary of the Amerson public library and we have uh a few of our camp summer camp volunteers with us and it is today is recognition of 2024 summer camp counselors um I am going to come down with the commendations and I'm just going to call your name you guys are going to come up and we'll take a photo okay you ready um do you want to come down with me Mike is anyone else w so I heard we had an excellent summer at camp and that there was a very high enrollment and we're very proud of our um Camp counselors Franklin and Rich and we know that they're doing a great job by the kids and from what I understand they had a huge amount of children that were willing to volunteer and we thank you for that and for that we have Commendation and with this Commendation like I just said you guys might be a little young for this but when you get ready and you start applying for colleges you slip this into your application and it just looks better that you've done something to help out your community and hopefully it'll give you a leg up on your application I just want to find your Billy Trimble stay up here Billy hold on get you guys at the end of the pile I guess Nick Costa okay I must have missed it so before I do go through that pile again we are gonna ask um Mr say your last name for me again neww to neww did I say it right new Schwaner to come up and join us while we look for your commodation in the meantime come on up thank you thank you so much you gave us a good portion of your summer to help our little kids in town and we really appreciate it sorry get let take a little photo don't forget you're always human little mes CL up as long as by the end whatever happens get it done right so I really appreciate you guys volunteering all [Applause] right that's important to get into college too than you very you're very nice to see you okay so did Pastor say that he was not unable to join us did not okay so if Pastor uro comes in I'm just going to read The Hunger action Proclamation just uh so this month is hunger action month it brings awareness um to food insecurity we did ask Pastor artour to join us uh he may be coming later um we're zipping through the meeting a little bit um we are having a food drive there is still time to donate food there is a box in the first floor of burrow Hall and at the end of the month we will be giving the food over to the Emerson Bible Church Pantry whereas hunger and food insecurity are a reality for far too many of our neighbors and whereas those who are food insecure are without reliable access to adequate amounts of affordable nutritious food and whereas food insecurity which can affect anyone is a symptom of broader challenges such as unemployment underemployment disability retirement or unforeseen Financial challenges and whereas those who do not have their basic needs met are further hampered in their path towards self-sufficiency and where as there are 64 residents in Emerson with active snap cases formerly known as food stamps and our schools which participate in the free and reduced lunch program average 5.6% of the population receiving free lunch and 1.1 receiving reduced lunch assistance whereas Emerson has a vibrant food pantry operated by Pastor ort Tor Rivera of the Emerson Bible Church as well as many DED dedicated volunteers where families are fre frequently provided with much needed food and supplies illustrating that this is an issue impacting residents all across Burton County and even here in the family town now therefore be it resolved that I mayor Danielle DEA on behalf of the governing body hereby recognize the month of September 2024 as hunger action month in the bur of Emerson and I encourage all emersons to support our local food pantry so we will get that over um to Pastor artoro did they just these just come out of order thank you Dave and then we're going to go for minutes for approval um the burrow clerk received changes to the regular meeting minutes of September 3rd 2024 may I have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of September 3rd as amended so move second roll call please councilwoman orenia yes councilwoman R yes councilwoman Maguire yes council president Tim yes and councilwoman sers yes thank you and um going over the Clos session minutes there were a couple of Corrections that me needed to be made that I felt were a little bit more um substantive um as it related to one of the closed session topics so I would ask for a motion to table the closed session minutes of September 3rd 2024 which are not for release to the public at this time so move second roll call please at they'll be available for the next to be approved October yeah I'm sorry who was I'm a second councilwoman Jia yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire yes council president Timberman yes and councilwoman s yes 5 okay that brings us to correspondence all correspondence is available in the clerk's office that brings us next to financial business may I have a motion to adopt resolution number 22-24 to approve September 17 2024 Bill list mo may I have a roll call please councilwoman aren yes councilwoman rights yes councilwoman McGuire yes council president Timmerman yes and councilwoman sers yes okay we're now on new business there is no new business to discuss um I'm sorry unfinished business we do have Unfinished Business the Broadway path um Mr Hermanson um has some information I have some information and I believe that um Mr Atkinson has some information I'm just going to start because today I spent the morning with our DPW super on a site visit um Perry salamando and I went out and we've had requests from people with small children that are trying to access acran Park from the acran um streets off of acrian on the north side of acran closest between the golf course and acri there's no sidewalk so we are looking to see if there is something that we can reasonably do in order to make that area more accessible for um some of our residents with small children to get to the park so these are some pictures that I took today um this is a porous what is this called rubber um I think that'sa it's in Centennial Park flexi pave and that's already in Centennial Park and then this is the honeycomb um that that you you park on with the porest that the grass comes through is there a name for that I call it the honeycomb stuff a reinforced yes it's really just like a great yeah that makes it hard to either walk on or park on so pass that and then we'll pass them back this way so everyone knows what we're talking about I think we also looked into the pricing for concrete as well as asphalt and we're not ready to make a decision as yet but this these are options that we were are looking into in order to approve the path what I can tell you is that Perry and I went up there a portion of the Broadway path is paved it's just an a street dead ends to it so that doesn't need any kind of um remediation and there's another portion that was previously changed from its natural state and has some sort of like small PE gravel that does not need to be touched as well because it's very easy to move over with a with a wheeled vehicle and then there are other portions that are really tamped down is that the right word just compacted compacted like very tightly but then there's some very Rudy crosses with a lot of rocks and a little bit of a hill so I don't know that we have to do the whole path but I think that maybe we want to address part of a path just to make it easier um that's what we saw in the field today do you want to take it or should Rob take it from here I think sure I mean so sorry move the mic so um all right so I guess different things to consider as we venture down this roadway for this pathway um you know the the pathway that's there the walkway that's there today is you know a little unique um in character as far as you know what you're up against you know there's some areas that are flat um those are easier to contend with as far as the materials um there are areas where there's you know some steeper slopes but there's also some runoff that comes from the golf course area so there's different things that we have to consider as far as what the materials are um that go down onto there um you know as as far as the wet areas and your steeper slopes really want to go with something that's a little harder um that's going to stand up to erosion because you're going to get runoff coming off of those areas um so you want to think about you know long-term shortterm maintenance of it um so that's something to consider um as well as you know walkability right so gravel I think that was something that was talked about I talked about PE gravel but yeah I would I would stay away from the Gravel Products just because it's a little more difficult to push a stroller because that's you know the the we were on a a call with one of the residents I'm recording it and they're pushing their strollers oh sorry they're uh you know pushing their strollers and stuff and so going through gravel is not the easiest uh Adventure um with the stroller especially if it's on a hilly area um so those are some different things to consider but also you got to consider you know where the area is right so it's a there's a lot of trees a lot of uh you know vegetation and stuff that that is in that area so um those are things to consider so like the the Grid or the reinforced Turf it's probably not the best option for over there because it's going to more or less stay as a as a um you know dirt right so it'll become muddy and stuff I mean an alternative to that if you wanted to go that route you could use a gravel inside of those grids um that is another potential option if you wanted to and that'll help hold the gravel or like a stone dust product in place you mean do the honeycomb with the stone dust in it you could you could potentially do that in some of the other areas just to kind of help hold it in place um now I know like the national parks typically what they'll do is it's really going to be mix of the stone dust and they'll also mix in the asphalt the asphalt would go in the steeper slope areas just so you're not worrying about it washing out and making sure that the you know you're out there having to maintain it I just want to interject where it was the steepest is um I guess from Walnut and Below down to Patrick and I don't think anyone's coming with baby strollers that way that looks like because there's evidence of bicycles that kids are getting across there with bicycles by foot that's a little bit trickier that's more of a hike up a hill I don't know that anyone's really traversing that area yeah but I mean while they may not once you put it in somebody may try to so really once we do the work you know you want to account for it throughout the whole pathway um that's the one question that I actually have when we start on a project like this because once we start defining it as a a walkway path more of a project what about ADA compliance and how does like once we start touching and playing with that how does that impact our responsibilities for ADA compliance yeah I mean listen you're not going to as far as the ADA compliance you want a surface that's ADA Compliant okay um you know the terrain is the terrain as far as the slopes and stuff you don't have to you know make it so that it's under a certain slope you know that the existing terrain is what the terrain is there today um and you know we're not looking for it to be you know that way but as far as the surface they need to be able to Traverse it and not be sinking down into the ground whether it's dry day or you know a wet day M um wet is when you're worried about it because it gets a little mushy so like a stone dust um is once that gets wet and compacted it's pretty solid surface I know the the trail system out by me out in moris County which goes into hun Hunning County it's primarily when they redo them it's the stone dust material that they're putting down okay so you have bikes um you know people running people walking um you know families with their strollers you know we used to do it ourselves um and then we even have horses on the trails too so you know even the horses aren't digging it up and Runing it up so it seems to work um it's just obviously when you have some steeper slopes you will get some wash out during the Heavy Rain events is stone dust economical yeah it's it's probably the least expensive of the options that you're that we're looking at well we like that yeah um as far as I mean just to give you a range on cost now when we look at it um typically we look at by the surface area right so we look at it by square yards um so I mean stone dust would probably fall within the range of roughly 20 to $40 a square yard um 40 $40 20 to 40 oh 20 20 to 40 yeah and it all it all varies right there's different parameters different things you have to look at um when it comes to that as far as the next option really asphalt is going to be the next least expensive route to go roughly like $40 to $60 a square yard is what I would Envision and then your your top two really going to be concrete which I don't think is really for what we're doing there I don't think concrete's really the way to go um but I can give you an idea that range wise roughly 90 to $120 a square yard yeah I would I don't know what everybody else's opinion is but I would like to leave it in the closest to the Natural State that we can and not really improve it to make it like we paved over um Paradise to make a parking lot the other thing you can look into too um they do have uh perious asphalt um it's a more more environmentally friendly product not that it's not that asphalt's overly environmentally friendly just because of the oil and byproducts in it but as far as once it's in place it does allow the water to go through the product so it it doesn't impede like your tree roots and different things of that nature I know we've worked on a couple of projects uh with the dot and anytime there were stuff near the trees and stuff they went the route of saying hey this was for concrete sidewalk but they said you guys got to use uh permeable concrete do you have any idea how much the um impervious asphalt is per square um I would say it's probably it's going to get you probably to that $80 to $90 my if I had to put a number on it right now it's going to be a little bit more than the regular asphalt just because it's special batch it's not like your regular asphall you just go to the plant and you order it they have it readily available where this they have to especially make it um but we're starting to see that used more often so I would Envision the costs coming down as people are using it more often because of all the new um you know grain infrastructure and different things that are required on the storm water management side of things so so um does anyone have any comments on this oh and I didn't give you the price on the flexi P so that it's pretty comparable and range to the concrete probably around 90 to 110 or 120 um we heard that that was pretty cost yeah and I think when you guys used it it was similar and basically what that is it's just really um if you're familiar with the artificial turf fields the infill for them it's that rubber byproduct that's basically what it is it's ground up Rubber and then it or it's like the rubber play surface um but a little bit more rigid um so you can walk on it but as we saw today there that needs maintenance because there are rips in it and over I mean listen no matter what you go with there's going to be some sort of Maintenance it's obviously you want to go with something that's economical but also you know you don't want to have to have public works out there every other day trying to rake it or move things around because someone did this or somebody did that or you know it blew out because of the rain so all right Mike any opinion on this not yet not yet Ashley no Ashley Jill I'm interested in searching everything but I think that keeping it as natural as possible is what I would want to do I agree Nicole no okay um Rob J have anything to add no we basically that was conversation we've had came through with exactly what we had discussed all the options and uh there was a couple of new ones that you came up with today so we were looking into that and I would Dave and I will go through that right at all options so it's a little how long are we talking if you did from where the roadway stops to the west and bring it all the way down to acrian it's a little over th000 ft of pathway 1,00 ft 1,030 wait is that from Patrick all the way up to the basketball court no no I didn't go all the way to Patrick I took it up to um Oak Walnut probably Walnut if you went up to Patrick it's going to be even further so it's probably another I'll get you the numbers well if you discount the parts that are already paved too you're still probably talking about a th somewh not yeah and the width we would have to make it a minimum of 4 foot four I wouldn't want to go too wide through there just because you do have existing trees and stuff try to minimize that and obviously the path we can kind of meander just I mean there's a path that goes through there today right so right um they're really is a a well trodden path on sections of it and then others are not I I think I think before we start talking about it anymore everyone should just take a walk up there um and just walk the path um and see what it's like so that you know what we're talking about and Perry's already um was happy that we went up there because with all the other stuff that the DPW is busy with there some Bush that they have to cut back that will make it more walkable right away anyway um because some of that could be impeding people from going on the path so he'll get up there with the DPW and cut some of the brush back um which will make it easier but um I would suggest that anybody go up there and take a walk see what it's all about um if no one has anything else on the Broadway path um that brings us to new business of which we have nothing on this agenda introduction of ordinances there are no ordinances to introduced this evening but we are adopting ordinances um we will be having the second reading in public hearing um Miss Ryan will read the title of the of the ordinance sure mayor this is ordinance number 1692-1708 D50 schedule 14 no parking okay may I have a motion to open the meeting to public um for on this in this ordinance only so moved second all in favor I I any opposed we are open to the the public on uh ordinance number 169 2-24 seeing No Hands may I have a motion to close the public portion of the meeting so moved can I get a second second um all in favor I any opposed okay um may I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 1692 d24 on second reading so moved second Ashley was that a second yes and a roll call please councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman re yes councilwoman Maguire yes council president Timmerman yes and councilwoman cers yes okay thank you and the second reading and public hearing of ordinance 169 324 Miss Ryan would you please read the title of this ordinance sure mayor this is ordinance number 1693 d24 an ordinance to establish ranges for salaries wages compensation and other terms of employment of certain employees of the burrow of Emerson for the calendar year 2024 may I have a motion to open the meeting for public comment on this and only this ordinance so moved second all in favor I any opposed motion carries we're open to the public seeing No Hands may I have a motion to close the portion of the meeting for public comment on this ordinance so move second okay okay motion carries may I have a motion to ad all in favor I okay may I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 1693 d24 on second reading so moved second and a roll call please councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rights yes councilwoman Maguire yes council president Timmerman yes and councilwoman sers yes okay um councilwoman arenia do you have a report for us this evening I do I just got to pull it up I just want to remind you to speak into the mic when you find it it's just brief actually Board of Health met this past Thursday um just a reminder that there is a flu Clinic coming up I want to say October 10th but that's why I got to pull up the report um yes flu Clinic October 10th at 11: to 12:00 at the Emerson Senior Center at 20 Palisades Avenue this coming October um also there's going to be uh November 9th a rabies clinic for those who need to get their animals vaccinated in this coming year and that was it so just the flu to clinic and the rabies flu okay oh they will be um and flu okay coming up with a combined covid and flu vac seen but they have not released that yet I'm sorry can you repeat that they will be coming out with a combined covid and flu vaccine together but they have not released that yet yes is that the one that the county is providing so one of them is our free clinic from Northwest Bergen Regional Health that we give every year and there's a new Clinic that I think Bergen Regional is reaching out with um and it's in addition as and it also includes Co if people are you don't have that right correct all right good um we're working on a November date yeah we're working on a November date Michelle said um Council and rice do you have a report uh quick one from environmental the environmental commission is holding its annual Emerson upcycle townwide garage sale on Saturday October 5th to be included in their brochure please complete the application which is available on the burrow website and also at Burrow Hall and return that to the clerk's office with a 15 check payable to the burrow of Emerson by September 20th I was in burrow Hall today for a number of hours and at least four people dropped off application so I think there's going to be a good turnout for the garage sale this year councilwoman Maguire do have a report for us this evening yes uh the library Board of Trustees will meet virtually on Thursday September 19th at 7:30 p.m access info for the meeting can be found at www.emerson.com all also the library will be hosting a residents only 50th anniversary celebration at the library on Saturday September 28th from 1: to 4: p.m uh the annual volano walk to school event will take place in October with a tentative date of Friday October 11th and lastly I just want to thank the Emerson fire department for hosting the annual September 11th Memorial ceremony and providing an opportunity for our community to come together to remember very nice ceremony that they put on yes it always is councilwoman sers do you have a report for us this evening I do from the DPW here's the monthly update so Leaf bag distribution will begin October 7th through November 10th you can pick up bags between 8:00 a.m until noon vinyl fence was installed at Washington Park and it looks very nice the DPW cleaned up the firehouse for the 9911 Memorial and the DPW painted crosswalks in preparation of school opening thank you very much for doing that yeah I saw them doing working hard on that they did a good job um council president do you have a report for us this evening yeah very quickly uh again just want to pass along our condolences to Stacy and her family during this time she does a a great job working with re so again our condolences to her uh also Recreation the fall Harvest Festival is uh deep into planning this year it will be on October 20th from 1:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m um again growing off last year was a great success but this year they will have hay rides crafts food trucks again and a beer garden uh and they'll also have a pumpkin patch and for anybody with sensory needs the pumpkin patch and some of the crafts will open early that's all I got all right I just want to repeat that that we are um taking care of some children with sensory needs and there will be an early start for the pumpkin patch and it's on the flyer as well and it's on the flyer as well and if there are any other children that want to participate and they do have any kind of sensory or special needs please reach out to either councilman Timberman or myself or even to Michelle at the burrow if you can't get a hold of wreck and let us know how we can accommodate your child exactly all right um Rob do you have a report for us this evening Dave and I are going to be going back and forth piggybacking pretty good here so uh um first thing is that uh Dave we put out our our garbage bid again uh so that we have we rebid it uh if you want to anything you want to add to that just that we just rebid it so it's it's out for 30 days we're hoping to receive uh you know good bids and we will open the bids and we get it and go from there um we also Dave and I met with along with with uh Perry uh DNL Paving which is going over the road program and going you know re reaching out to them to F out with the timing and I believe they want to start towards the end of September um yeah it may get a little bit delayed because I think there's some overlap in one of our roads with psg's work so we're waiting for them to get done so that they uh mobilize one so I would Envision at this point we're probably early October um being that somehow September's creeping up to being over all right um we we did um Perry and I when we were up on acrian get many questions from any of the residents that we um bumped into about when PSG is finishing the work on their um on their roads and we did let them know that generally they don't tell us they tell the police the day before so we don't have a lot of advanced notice but if you want to reach out and see if we could get some updated information that would be fantastic because I'm sure the residents res up there would like if we could get them more than um a few hours notice yeah I you're talking about not the cut you off the notice you're talking about is it for the gas work itself or for the the paving I think for the gas work because all the markups are up there so so everyone's wondering what how long the markups are going to stay there and the coils are dropped off on each block so I can explain I can explain that I did get an update you had asked me to try to see if we could figure something out on that um what's what's happening is psng tries to get three they try to do at least three houses on every street so once they do the work then they have to go with the homeowners and get in touch with them and the homeowners have to get back in touch with psng to set up the appointments so if they can only get two appointments in one on one street they try to move to another Street to get those to do the work so what's happening is that they you're seeing the delays or some of the you know on those streets is because they're only getting two people responding homeowners at a time so the home owners do get information respond home owners excuse me make a plea to our home owners I am so just going to say so when PSG does reach out to you if you would like to get your street done quicker please make sure that you do respond back to them because the more more people on the street that do respond the faster they will get that street done okay all right do you have anything else to report yes um we had a a young a young man who's doing an eagle scout project he is working right now uh with we have currently a bench in Emerson Woods uh he is going to put three more benches that will meet the exact same standard of what's there right now so there is no changes there's nothing uh they he's working very hard uh going to be rusted wooden benches like what's already there yes and I think you wanted something else you wanted to piggyback that um just that um I spoke with uh Nick's dad and he did ask that I just remind everyone that boy scout Nick Milo um is working towards his rank of Eagle Scout and he's holding a car wash fundraiser Sunday September 22nd from 12: to 4:00 p.m at the American Legion parking lot in Park Ridge um we can post that on our burrow Facebook I post it on my Facebook just as a reminder um or you could reach out if you didn't get the information to the burrow Clerk and she'll remind you of when that car wash is in order for to help him raise the money for the benches my next thing is um you were you were at the courts today though but so the courts have been uh painted we had it tested for water puddling in case there was any puddling that was done earlier there was very little uh issue that need to be you know be corrected there uh so they were able to paint the courts and um start that the mayor was up there today and actually walked in uh with Perry to see them they look very good they we like what they I think Dave can piggyback that also because that's another you I took some pictures I'm just showing the governing body okay you have anything else you want to add to that what's that have you seen them I was there I spent some time enjoying the peace and quiet up there too there was a hawk that came in he was enjoying the courts before kids were playing on I don't know where we are at this point but we decided on the black and red for the Emerson Cabo colors and I think it looks really nice yeah no it came out well I mean they're they're not done yet they still have I think another coat to do and then they have on top or something they also have to put the court striping on the white lines as well have to go in and then I think it's tape right now yeah it's just taped so they can do the red yeah I don't know what the process is but it's it unfortunately takes a little bit of time but it looked beautiful and it looks like it's a great work in progress yeah so I would Envision the courts should hopefully be done within about two to three weeks is what we're envisioning um the court itself will be completed uh probably this week as long as the weather holds out for us and then the last piece is really the uh the backboards and the and the the rims and stuff all right good that's really good anything else yes uh Michelle myself uh and our CFO and the mayor uh were on a call with cgpn uh along with our planner we had to do our affordable housing uh agent unit uh monitoring report there was a new report that now has to be uh submitted that that's changed uh so that was due as of September 16th which was yesterday we are in compliance we submitted the report uh there is a further report that will be submitted in February that will be a more uh that we have to go through and make sure that we're everything is done uh but we feel very very good about the report that we did submit we went over it uh and that was taken care of yesterday uh in a in a timely fashion so we met the deadline we absolutely met the deadline excellent good work um also um the last thing I have which is again something that I think is very important and has been on the minds of a lot of residents and a lot of people is the lights that we have our traffic lights kindrick Road ly Lynwood Avenue uh also acan Lincoln all of them they have Albin we uh the county we have been in County we have been in constant contact with the county in fact the county had come up and uh in early uh August and started checking lights and checking cars and seeing how long the lights were and we were a little we didn't agree necessarily with that we thought they needed to come back up where the school was in session and where our where our residents uh were now back to work where they weren more necessarily on vacation uh we did meet with them and speak to them again uh with the engineering uh side of that they are looking to make some minor uh touches to the and you changes to the lights well I don't I don't know that they came up with a plan yet I just wrote the letter last week exactly they just they're but that's I said they're looking at minor changes to lights that's all I'm saying that they're looking to to look at some that they will come back to us based off evaluations give an overview so when I was a council woman I think it was what was the year 2016 about 2016 there was a Kinder KAC road project um which made lywood Avenue a one way it moved um uh some of the lanes of traffic and um reconfigured the train crossings and put traffic lights at the bottom of acrian and Lincoln and change the timing of the light at Lynnwood Avenue and it was supposed to be the Panacea that fixed all traffic problems in Emerson and I spoke with Dave about it several times we've called the county several times since I've been in office and this Administration has been here and we haven't gotten a lot of attention um so I bumped into our County Executive um Jim Esco last week I followed up with a letter in writing um we have done this in the past but we've really been reaching out to the engineers for a look back but it's coming to a head and I we we are going full steam ahead um and trying to get them to come back and try to make adjustments not only to the lights um but I have some other things that I may be asking for I don't want to get into it because I don't know if it's possible yet but um maybe rewiring of some of the roads if possible um and definitely timing of the traffic lights but um I think if you've lived here for more than 15 years and you saw it before and you saw it after you know as well as I know and most everybody else that that Improvement that was long touted to be the fix was not the fix and traffic is actually even worse now than it was and we also have a very large building going up in the center of town that we were told would add no cars and we are urging the county to make these changes at this point because we know when that building is comp completed that it will exacerbate the traffic even more so and I want all the residents to know that we are on top of this and we are in communication with the county in order to try and get this problem fixed yes that concludes my report okay I'm glad I you gave a good report on thank you sorry I jumped all over that but I had the all right um I'll give my report and then we'll go to Dave sure all right um so as Jill said uh last Wednesday September 11th the Emerson volunteer fire department held their 911 Ceremony this year marked the 10th anniversary of the commissioning of their tribute Monument with a piece of Steel from the world Towers um world World Trade Center towers it was a solemn but beautiful ceremony and we thank our volunteer firemen for um hosting that event every year for the last 10 years um as we said uh September is hunger action month and myself Captain Roco dardo Lieutenant sakka officers Glenn Howard and Craig Merkel from the police department went down to shop rate and we helped bag groceries in order to um bring attention to um food insecurity as part of shop rights uh part partners and caring initiative um it was very nice and we got to see some residents from our surrounding towns um and they are very appreciative because uh we bag their groceries for them um as part of the mayor's Wellness campaign uh we already talked about the food drive so um you can drop food off in the lobby between 8:30 a.m and 7:30 p.m there is a box on the first floor outside of the bottom of the steps um these are two important programs that I would like to encourage eligible residents to participate in for property tax relief the Anor rebate program provides up to $1750 to eligible homeowners or renters information can be found at anchor nj.gov the deadline to apply is November 30th 2024 there are a lot of different requirements in order to qualify if you have any questions about that you can call Lauren in our um our CFO in our tax office or you could even ask your accountant um we also have for eligible seniors and disabled persons application for the state's 2023 senior freeze program which reimburses property tax increases on their principal residents um and they are being accepted through October 31st 2024 so those two deadlines are coming up and it they they do take a little bit of uh footwork so please reach out um to Lauren if you have questions on those two programs they may be able to save you some money um another program that I strongly encourage our residents to look into is Emerson's Home Improvement program it provides up to $177,000 in assistance if you qualify who meet eligibility requirements to make needed repairs for roofs foundations heating electrical Windows insulation Plumbing and more there is more information on the burrow website or you can get it at ww hip c.net they are our affordable housing Rehabilitation agent and you can also reach out to them for more information um at the request this is an update on 419 at the request of the implementation monitor retired judge Harry Carrol an on-site meeting with the burrow and redeveloper was held this past Friday September 13th to review the progress of the block 419 project affordable housing attorney Brian Giblin and administrator Rob Hermanson attended on behalf of the burrow as well as uh redevelopers Jack and Sam kugman and their project manager judge Carol will be providing a status report to the court but today we learned that starting this past Monday um the redeveloper has resumed work at the site and will be pouring ing concrete um in the parking garage to finish the last level of the parking garage and that information was reported to rob from one of our um construction officials so we are hopeful that that it is back on track and as always um we have always wanted them to uh build exactly what was approved and we would love for them to finish it um last week I sent a letter as I said to Bergen County um executive Jim tadesco uh to again make it clear to him that the 2016 Kinder kak Road Project is not working so we did request the meeting with um Mr Tedesco and New Jersey Transit in order to find the solution um hopefully we'll have an update on that at our next meeting um we are working on another mayor's Wellness um opioid um abuse program for October or November were they hoping for either one so either in October or November um we did one on fentanyl in the spring there is so much very important information one grain of sand of fentanyl accidentally taken by your child could kill them um so we will advertise this and we encourage all parents children grandparents to come and learn for the warning signs on this terrible drug as well as others um our senior bus service continues to be available to Residents age 55 and older or uh residents with special needs needs Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays to schedule a ride please contact Stacy at Burrow Hall um and then I just have a few save the dates Motor Vehicle Commission at the senior center Friday October 4th from 9: to 300M um you can do anything that you could do with the DMV there so um come on down they are filled up for their real ID appointments um if you desperately need a real ID you can come down and see if they could fit you in no guarantees cuz the time slots are taken up um but you could try the Bergen County satellite office will be here October 9th from 10:00 a.m to 2: p.m at the senior center Walkins are welcome and they can take your picture um for your passport start the passport application administer notary Oaths um process photo cards for seniors veterans and exempt firefighters and again that's Wednesday October just add oh and they also is that did you write that out for me so that I could do it why don't you just add that because this is something that you made me aware of before my last senior meeting so if you would just piggyback on me and explain what that is sure so um and the microphone please sure like you like to tell everybody else um the Bergen County clerk's office has a property um alert notification um where um because of rampant um fraud um residents can sign up uh to put their uh addresses on um on a list and then be notified if any changes to their deeds or anything um fraudulent is uh is occurring so from 11 a.m to 12: p.m um uh on October 9th on the county clerk's office's visit they will have someone available to explain the program and help anybody register um as needed okay thank you I appreciate that because that was something that was new information to me that there's a lot of fraud going on with people's Deeds um and we want you to be aware of that and stop it in its tracks if it happens um we also have our Emerson's uh free paper writing event which will be Saturday November 2nd from 9:00 to 1: p.m at the DPW recycling center and uh the clerk's office will be open late October 15 until 9900 p.m that is the last date of register for the November general election um and the governing body and the American Legion Post 269 will be honoring those who have served our country on Veterans Day Monday November 11th at 11:00 a.m our Police Department through their Community Police Poli uh policing program will generously be providing a full breakfast for all that attend um and as that date gets closer we will announce what time the breakfast will begin um but the ceremony will begin promptly at 11: um more information on all of this is posted on the burrow website did I miss anything Melle all right I think we're gonna right thank you we are going to rob did you want to talk about the two positions that are being um advertised right now just the the two positions we have out right now is the fire uh in inspector a part part-time fire inspector and we also have a part-time violations clerk for the for court okay both are out and we are taking resumés okay and Michelle did you have a report uh yes I actually do why don't you go ahead with that um so thank you councilman McGuire um the Bergen County clerk's office will begin mailing out the vote by mail B this Saturday September 21st so if you're signed up uh to receive one um be on the lookout uh uh you are able to um request them as well if you're if you want to vote that way um we have uh links to uh the application uh on our website and you can also come to uh Burl Hall we have paper copies the county will be opening the um vote by mail uh ballot uh dropboxes this Friday to start receiving the ballots so um the one that's outside on Municipal place will be open um starting this Friday and just please make sure when you are dropping off your ballot that you are finding the correct Ballot Box if you're doing it for the first time there's also a mailbox out there um I guess either one would be fine but really The Ballot Box I think is if you want to put your mail in ballot is the place to do it or most convenient yes I believe yes sure um today is National voter registration day so if you aren't registered to vote um you you can do so um and uh they you're encouraged to do it um you can go to our website where we have links uh that will take you to uh register to vote um you can also visit the clerk's office um we have uh paper copies as of the application as well um as the mayor said we are going to be open until 900 p.m on October 15th uh to take any uh voter registration new voter registrations um and it as the mayor said it is the last day to register to vote in the November 5th general election early voting starts um on October 26th and ends on November 3rd um and we have the uh list of the locations on our website as well that concludes my report now thank you generally if anyone has any questions um regarding voting you can start with Michelle and the clerk's office if they are not able to help you they will direct you to the county clerk's office um who will definitely be able to help you so if you have any questions about voting this year um please contact us for some help all right Dave do you have a report for us this evening so we highlighted on the majority of the items that I had to report on so all in t about everything there's yes the only thing I would like to update you on is the the Cindy Lane Pump Station we are almost there so the electrician is just finishing up all the wiring uh for the new control panel and getting the pumps up and running once that is completed they will be contacting the pump manufacturer and will be setting up the startup of the new pumps and getting that those ugly ass trailers and hoses out of the road so nobody runs into them you know it's tough to see them but uh magically somebody hit one we've been this close for a long time yes right well as of this afternoon from the contractor the electrician will be back Thursday and Friday to finish up all the wiring and then we will be calling in with pumping Services who is the pump company and they will we getting the startup so cross our fingers within two to three weeks we will be completed there that's Cindy Lane that is Cindy Lane what about Randol Randol we're still working with pumping Services directly on that um finishing up some of the submitt with them to get everything manufactured and installed in a much more timely fashion than this other project so all right and you know that we have a timeline on that to me yes yes and we had a a followup kickoff meeting with Bergen County where we went through everything um between the burrow ourselves the contractor and the county as well so okay good Y and that's all that I have thank you okay thank you does anyone have any questions for um Dave about any of the projects that are going on with Engineering in town no no John do you have a report for us this evening okay um that brings us to public comment members of the public are welcome to speak on any topic by coming to the podium and stating your name for the record in the interest of time speakers are limited to 3 minutes in consideration of all who may wish to speak please keep your comments brief and concise may I have a motion to open the meeting to public comment so move second second all in favor I any opposed we're open to the public seeing No Hands may I have a motion to close the meeting to General comments from the public so moved second all in favor I any opposed motion carried um that brings us to resolutions on consent may I have have a motion to approve consent agenda resolutions 22-24 through of the public May remain on YouTube until we return to open session at which time formal action may be taken may I have a motion to go into close session so moved second roll call please councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rice councilwoman McGuire council president Timmerman and councilwoman cers yes need to open the door open the door all right can I have a motion to reconvene please mov can I get a second to reconvene second so second all in favor I any opposed all right we're back in open thank you for opening the door Rob do we have any more business to discuss yeah I'd like to make a motion uh to authorize the burrow to offer a financial incentive of 2500 for a single plan and 5,000 for a plan other than a single to those participants electing to part participate in the high deductible low plan of the New Jersey state health benefits program for the plan year 2025 the resolution would be 225 d24 and this is for the um insurance plans for for the open enrollments in October okay good um can you get a second on that second and can we get a roll call please councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire yes council president Timberman yes councilwoman sers yes all right May with no further B any other business with no further business to discuss may I have a motion to adjourn at 11 10:58 p.m so moved second all in favor I any opposed