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 for those of you present in case of a fire please follow the fire exit signs above the doors and exit calmly Chief Savina would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance FL flag of the United States of America for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all I would ask you to remain standing for just a moment as we remember an Nancy Burns a former longtime CFO of the bur of Emerson David stanel Esquire who was recently appointed as our alternate burough prosecutor who passed away after a brief illness and Joseph zadroga a former police chief in the burrow of North Arlington who devoted his life to advoc advocacy for and getting Congress to establish financial aid and health monitoring for the First Responders volunteers and the survivors of the September 11th attacks thank you this meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law an adequately notice pursuant to njsa 104-106 20124 was notied 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 mayor councilwoman arenia here councilwoman rice here councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Timmerman here councilman Gordon absent councilwoman Moore here and mayor depala present second time uh excused absence of governing body member there were no members of the governing body absent from the previous meeting proclamations and citations we we are going to table our celebration of Franchesca anora's 103rd birthday until the uh weather is going to cooperate with her getting here um do I need a motion to table that or is that just something that oh we don't have John on the phone I'm sorry would you call John and get him on the phone Rob please John because of the weather um is not able to be with us in person and he will be joining us by phone can I just have a motion to table the um sove second all in favor I okay Mrs aonor happy birthday we will bring you in when the weather is better appointments and resignations may I have a motion to approve resolution number 55-24 borrow professional appointments award professional service contracts for one-year period using the fair and open process in accordance with the New Jersey local unit payto playay law pursuant to njsa 1944a 20.4 at SEC fair and open for calendar year 101 2024 through 2031 2024 for the burrow architect Kevin s bino s Marino Architects may I have a motion so move second may I get a roll call please councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Timberman yes councilman Gordon is absent and councilwoman Moore yes passes thank you um John is joining us hello John how are you this evening I have a okay okay I'm sorry to hear that excused but please stay with us I think it's going to be a fairly short meeting due to the weather we want to make sure that all the employees get home safely and our professionals okay okay all right good so just as long as you're there thank you um the next item on the agenda is minutes for approval may I have a motion to approve the regular and close session meeting minutes of December 5th 2023 as amended the regular and closed session meeting minutes of December 19th 20123 and the reorganization meeting minutes of January 2nd 2024 so moved can I get a second okay and a roll call please councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Timberman yes councilman Gordon is absent and councilwoman Mo yes passes closing thank you correspondence there is no correspondence this evening Financial business may I have a motion to approve resolution number 56-24 approval of January 16th 2024 Bill list second roll call please sorry that was councilwoman councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Timberman yes Council M Gordon is absent and councilwoman Moore yes pass thank you Miss Ryan um that brings us to unfinished business discussion of Emerson Firehouse elevator project Mr Hermanson would you please bring us up the date with where we are on the project sure Dave and I can give you a little bit of a background on where we are I'm just going to jump out of my seat for glass sure you can continue back in September um we have been working with cdbg in order to get uh unfunded money uh unfunded money means that there's money that uh other Burrows or towns or townships uh that had put in for cdbg either came in under budget or did not spend the money gets put back to the count through uh through them and based off the from the federal government um and in order to uh put in for projects uh we then have the opportunity to get unfunded something that we generally have a funded project is due at the end of December uh usually third Friday in December uh which is other projects that we do which we get a certain amount of money for but the unfunded projects are things that are outside the scope of uh of those so we try uh and put in for uh an elevator we have been looking for to do this elevator now in uh the burough of Emerson for almost I I think from what I saw the notes probably eight years at least eight years we started talking about the mayor and I myself back in 2021 um and the fire chief had been coming came to us along with the ladyes auxiliary along with some of the senior members of the firehouse stating that they were not no longer able to go to some of their meetings because they could not attend uh going upstairs at the meetings uh we also then were looking to do something with a polling place because uh especially next year when the machines are getting bigger uh we are we believe that in and Michelle can uh talk to this our clerk now uh when she went to some of the classes that we are running one of our polling places maybe running not have enough space with some of the with the current new machines so we're looking for we were looking for an opportunity for somewhere else to to start to look for polling place that could also take the polling places out of our schools because the schools are not necessarily ecstatic about us having our elections inside the schools so the opportunity was uh um if we had gone in through the unfunded Side by using the polling place as the firehouse we had to have new J we had to go down to Bergen County uh and have the election board first of all say that they would the room would be big enough that we would be able to do that so last February we were able to get that signed off in case we were able to get funded for cdbg to do this um so we had Richie Miller came up along with it his someone else I forget the other person that was here with us uh went into the building along with Jane uh and myself walked in and told us that the upstairs would be good enough to put a to use as a polling place and just for clarification Jane at the time or the clerk is the administer of Elections correct which which means that everything that happens on Election Day is under their purview and it was really our clerk that wanted to move and the one that requested it because she has been looking for ways to get it out of the school as well that is correct that's how this whole thing started but it also then it's her decision where the polling places are that's correct so what happened was we then looked and said well this would be great because our building is not a is not really Ada so if we could get an elevator in there it would also help for people who would be able to use the building for the you access it that was going to be my question in the first place not even regarding for polling purposes but for the fire department purposes period does the building have to be ADA Compliant anyway no okay if a building is not barrier free right now correct me if I'm wrong it's it is grandfathered in but we have had requests from members of The Ladies Auxiliary who cannot get up the steps to perform some of their duut duties which is preparing things for the firemane a fire so they're kind of um not able to participate to go upstairs to K fact they house their meetings and and things and events and stuff like that up there right they're as need an elevator anyway no no no it didn't at back in that the day that the house the firehouse was built the requirements were not the same as what they are today so the the building is grandfathered in and it's Ian It's relatively standard it's unfortunately a lot of them are the same way I know in your neighboring town to the South they have the same situation that you guys have as far as they don't have access up to the second floor where they hold their meetings and different things so they're looking into Avenues as well fortunately you know Rob was able to find the unappropriated funds through cdbg that would be eligible to help offset the cost of it so so the idea was we could basically solve multiple problems at one time and use cdbg money to help offset the cost here so that we did not have to pay for it all on our own which made tremendous amount of sense um which so we were basically be able to solve the ladyes auxiliary along with the senior uh fire CH fire officials uh you know to go in there we also would solve a polling place issue for us and we would make it Ada certified so there were three things that we were able to do and at the same time receive federal money in order to do it uh and to make this happen so we put in for a grant uh for the $250,000 in September that they got we put this through the governing body we then went and uh in order to get some of those things done uh cdbg uh Mr Esposito contacted us and said I need plans I have to have actual plans in order to do this I have to see what you're doing and how you're going to construct an elevator so that we'd have the people to come out to look at it we needed to have our architect uh go through that along with uh with Dave our engineer to go through the process on that uh so we sub we submitted for the plans because we had already put in for the 250 we were then given 199,000 but in order to get that 199 we had a sub he had a the cdbg had a sign off on what we were doing so after the plans were submitted by our architect we got a letter then from cdbg telling us that they were happy with what we did uh with what we're what we're about to do and that it makes sense they gave us the authorization to say that we will get the 199,000 and just like any other cdbg project uh Dave can you know attest to this we have to spend the money first we don't get the 199,000 first you actually spend the money and then they reimburse us afterwards so that would be the same thing we would do the same thing just as we did with the Randol Pump Station and the and Thomas Street when we paved Thomas and um and so this is where we are right now we are basically in a very good situation because this is something that was been been looking to be done for a number of years and here we have an opportunity to actually have a majority of the cost offset and spent uh and paid for uh from a grant that's basically it and a nutshell how much actual cost would come out of pocket we don't have that we w't that's an estimate and generally speaking that's one of the things that uh when we put it out to bid we try to keep that between ourselves because we don't want the people knowing what we're bidding you know what the number is actually until we uh till we have to submit but we have an estimate Dave has given kind of an estimate and has an idea rough of what we think it'll cost just like we did with Randol Pump Station and if the number comes in and it's over that number then we basically go back to the governing body and request that you reject the bid and put it back out for bid again uh which is exactly what we did with Randol and um and now we've gone through a different route with Randol and triy to save the money in order to try to stay within the uh with the budgetary uh you know limitations on just just to piggyback just to remind Nicole um and educate the P the public anytime that the burrow goes out for a public bid we send out Dave writes out or um it's generally you that do do the bed specs right or Lauren does if it has to do with Finance we write bid specs we advertise them people pick them up and then they then they submit they submit sealed bids and then they come into this room on a scheduled date and then all the bids are open and then whoever is the lowest and most responsible bidder gets the bid so you can't really put a price on it because when they bid you have to see how much they're going to bid we have a night what we think yeah we have a ballpark but you never know the exact cost we don't know we'll never know until we actually open the bids yes is there an expiration on the grant money yes so we have to have this this is so in order when we when this unfunded came about there is a certain set time that they basically came to us and said in the middle of September they started basically September 1st and said look we we have this x amount of money you have to submit by September 15th and give us what we need otherwise we can't put you in for one of the one of the projects so I think it was 12 other towns and ourselves put in for this money that was there um and so we had you got to move quick when when this money comes up we we and I think we did a great job you know moving I I want to thank Dave and you know uh and our architect who helped us and I want to thank really Mr Esposito and cdbg for working with us there was a there was a time limit on getting the money but now that we have it I'm saying there is so they're looking they're looking for the project to be at a substantial Point by April 15th of this year of this year yeah so that's that's why a lot of this has been kind of FASTT tracked along where on some other projects things aren't as fast tracked but in order to get the funds everything had to move along and get to a certain point for by the April 15th how long does the bidding process dat for the so typically the bidding so once it's authorized to go out to bid we get it in the newspaper it's usually a minimum of a 10day by law that has to be out on the street before we can take receipt of bids it may be a little bit longer that we go out instead of 10 days because there's a lot you know a big lift for people to put together um on this particular project but in general based on the local public contracts Al it's 10 days from when it's advertised is the earliest you can take receipt of bids and we're working with the county very closely they know what's going on because if we don't get if we don't do this in a timely fashion then we give the money back that's how they get these unfunded programs right if you don't use it it would go back they don't want the money to go back because if they do then it goes back to the federal government and they lose it and it that doesn't look good for the next time that they're looking for next round so the idea is they looking to make sure that the towns that take money actually fund the projects that they're looking to do so um but we feel confident that we can get this done in a in a timely manner to make sure that it's you know what needs to be done and we think that by the time we're done with this this is going like I said can solve multiple problems in the town uh for that building which would be uh which would be very good once it's completed is the upstairs available to the public to use to wrun down you would have that would be something that is a you have to speak we could make a policy decision on in the future yeah that would be something you would I think you would talk to the to the fire you know Fire Chief and see what they say with along with working with them okay well technically it's a burrow building but we would give them the courtesy of letting them know if we were making any plans not now well we would we would speak to the fire chief and the fire officers yeah and have a discussion with them um there's a thought that they may even want to hold their own sort of fundraisers to fundraise for different things that they do for the community or there I don't know that there's any been disc discussion for it but um it sounds like you would want to open it up to the public but that's something that we would want to talk to the um I would public but I mean residents well that's the public yeah that's what I mean I think I just yeah like be sponsored and have a kids party but we would want make sure because they do have a bar up there that everything is secure and you can't just rent it out so we would have to work with the fire department if we were going to do something yeah there there's a number of there was a couple of things that also came about that was that were thought that we might be able to use also for other organizations uh but again we don't want to put the cart before the horse so we want to make sure that if this happens then we can move on and make the next discussion of what we could potentially use it for also after that and not har either but if there is any uh monetary uh out of pocket on our uh expense do we have any money put aside for that do we have anything in the budget like the fire department budget Capital that would be in capital for this year's budget that would go towards this year's budget uh for for this year when we discuss it for Capital this year so that's the idea of of the bid it actually would work out really well for us because by the time we bid this our budget would be out we would know what we would have to budget for it and if you would want to budget for it on that amount based off the amount of money that would come back off the bid you could make that decision then uh as the governing body can say yes or no to it just like the original garbage bid if the numbers come in and they are wonky and it's like $600,000 to do an elevator we just say thank you no thank you for the money spend an extra 400,000 but if the bids come in and it's you know somewhere in a a ballpark that's palpable um to the governing body then we will proceed with the project right and that's up to the governing body of how you guys would spend the money grants it's not a matching Grant it's full no money's ours 199 is ours right now so as long if the job came in for the bid at 19 199 all covered minus your soft cost right the soft cost is not covered that's the only thing that's not covered which is engineer and archit the professional Fe it's also like not been described properly either it's not just reply in an elevator it's the change of the front of the firehouse it's like a new um uh enhanced Breezeway or new front doors and a new entryway to the it's it's not just plopping in the elevator and the elevator is that much money they're going to make the fire department Building look look um remodeled slightly correct yeah yeah so essentially what's being proposed is where the front entrance is today they're going to bump that out of about third I think it's 13 ft so that there's room to house the elevator and the Mechanicals for it and then instead of the entry being straight on there'll be two doors on each side that you come in on you can go to the elevator or you can go into go up the stairs or you can go straight but that has to be done to fit the elevator it's not like they're just right and and we looked at a number of things I mean Dave can explain too that when we looked at not just an elevator we also looked at potent we looked at like we looked at we looked at a lift and I mean it just the lift's not feasible given the height the height constraints of the lift I I had kind of gone a little bit like incessant on this I want I originally thought that we could do an outdoor lift that is covered on the outside of the building and connect it to the existing um fire escape door and I saw one of those in the city along Branch they have one so um Rob and I made several phone calls to Mr Shirley their burrow administrator and got the specs and then we called up Dave and said why can't we do this this could be very inexpensive and the whole 199 would pay for it and um Dave said there was a limit on how high up the lift could go so it was too high the opening that's existing is is too it was 14 ft say right Max 14t we were the lift would not as go as high as the measurement is to allow it to limit the lift I think the lift was 14t and I think we were like 17 or 18 is what we were so there a couple foot differential between where they could go and what so it wasn't going to be feasible so we looked into those things we looked into a number of different options to try to figure out what was best they we even looked at the side of the building to see if they were going to put on the side as mayor said uh on that side um and then you know reasonable and the feasibility of where it was it said no it can't go there based off things uh for the because of what the building was it would cause issues that's why it was discussed to be put into the front after uh looking at the engineer and the architect any other questions from governing body members thank you no any other questions down here okay um so we are going to vote on um the authorization to prepare and advertise bid bids for the Amerson Firehouse elevator can I get a motion to authorize that um preparation of bids and the advertisement excuse me sir you're out of order I'm not out of Sir you're out of Sir the public portion of the meeting is later in the agenda thank you so you're saying no question are you asking are you demanding Mr Brown I asking okay would anyone like to make a motion to open up to the public right now now on this and this subject only sure okay can I get a second second and is all in favor I thank you would you like to speak awesome come on up I never demand I only ask uh when was this project I need your name oh Tom Brown 114 Pine Drive addresses are no longer required thank you I'm here uh when was this project initiated it started was started to be discussed in December of 2021 okay was there a vote taken to authorize this project by the council yes basically the authorization was to put $250,000 on September 15th to move forward to authorize to go for the grant so the governing body did vote on 20 in two on September 15th for the 250,000 and with that we were then given the approval from the government from the county of 199,000 just for clarification the vote was actually September 19th sorry September 19th I'm sorry and so the what has been spent so far to the AR uh the architect s so as as of right now uh they have put in their planid but they just that's right nothing has been spent they put plans but nothing's been spent so they've done this work for free as of right now we have not had we have not at a point where we have to pay anything yet what is the estimated cost the estimated soft costs I think from would the architect costs were 47,000 for the entire project included or which includes uh their preparation of construction plans bid assistance and then construction Administration um once the Project's under construction okay and then this is also take into account that the building had a structural issue where the floor was collapsing several years ago that has nothing we fixed that problem that's fixed that so that's that's not a pre-existing condition or a no that's not nothing to concern our with this on this no when they when we go to build the elevator portion of the addition there's going to be a foundation that's that'll excavate down into that layer of Organics and stuff and it'll eliminate the problem that was encountered with the floors because it's essentially swamp land that it's buil on okay uh I have questions about the polling place choice that you're making but I'll save that for the other section thank you thank you anybody else like to speak hi there I'm casate dudel I live in Emerson uh I have a question and then some general thoughts on this project so at the December 19th meeting this was discussed there was a discussion of this project and can you just back up a the mic that's rather loud is that better you just back up a little bit it'll you up yeah okay okay good I don't want to like flare your down so at the December 19th meeting this project was discussed and one thing we learned through the conversation Mr Herman said there is an invoice from set Bro Architects for services that have been rendered is that correct no we were putting in for that night if you were looking there was a $47,500 proposal for to go in for he for the uh was it their proposal didn't come until I think you said December right for the which was dece we we received a proposal at for the 47 on December 4th I believe it was and then because it was a December 4th or we had a meeting on the 5th so we didn't put it on until the 19th because we felt as if we didn't want to put something on the meeting 24 hours in you know in advance of that but not being able to uh to advertise it properly to the public so on the 19th it was put on as a agenda item to be looked at for for the entire public right but so the day after that meeting I put in an Oprah request for the copy of that document that you referred to that I I had heard you referred to as an invoice and I have it right here I'm looking at it on my phone uh set Bro Architects invoice date 121 2023 it says invoice now the rest of the invoice was redacted under the I under the citation that what was it I can stop you right there it hasn't been paid yet so it's still a deliberative it's not still a deliberative matter because once the services have been rendered the money has been spent you're going to pay it you're going to pay it I don't know when you're going to pay it but in line with whatever the contract is Services have been rendered and bills are public anyway so my question tonight is how much is the invoice for how much has already been spent so as I just said so John indicated that it needed to be so let's let John speak yeah let John speak I'm not gonna that's a legal question not mine John yeahor a little bit of the delay between the audio and visual so um document if if the original invoice was submitted as a draft document and my understanding is the original document was a draft document in a proposal so until it's finalized then then it becomes a bill payable and do and du and that's that's that there's nothing in the paperwork that indicates that it's tentative it's an invoice it's a bill just like my phone bill or my mortgage Bill I'm sorry I you're free to challenge it if you wish but I I'm not going to argue with you and debate you okay I understand well then I'll just make my point clear it's an invoice and it's part public in your opinion it well it's law it's not my opinion it's the law bills are public and you all are being opaque about how much has already been spent on this project and that's not fair to the public if money has been spent on this project if there is an invoice to be paid which there is I have a copy of it that was redacted the public deserves to know and I don't understand why you're being so Cy about this it concerns me he's trying to respond to you taking a breath interrupting he was interrupting me I will now let him speak interrupting you were on a tie raade and he he was trying to address of course Mr M please speak I'll let him know when he could speak Miss dutel thank you um and you were did not take a breath and he was trying to answer your original question I don't let anyone interrupt me Mr mccam would you like like to speak I don't know what she was she's free to do whatever she wishes when a bill is submitted okay it's operable okay if you could have a seat for just a moment sir again so I don't need to be lectured by the law by Mrs okay she disagrees she disagrees Mr mcan's fine because Mr or Mr Ortiz is here to argue with you I'm sure so yeah but he needs to just wait his turn because it's Mrs Steel's turn no one interrupts me Mr Ortiz um yeah so I mean this whole mess is very concerning there's an invoice to be paid but it's not like I don't understand why you're not being transparent on this and and the I think this project sounds like a great idea I think it sounds like there's a lot of benefits for our volunteers for the public but we need our projects to be managed well and done in a timely manner in a way that captures all of the thought process and the deliberation and and the grant money I mean April 15th is real soon you guys like that it is coming at us like a freight train I hope I need to get out of this icy weather but so I I just have a lot of concerns like I want I want us to be successful I want things to go well I want them to be done transparently and and I I just have concerns that's my comment thank you Mr Ortiz would you like to speak yes I would good evening everybody just your full name you don't need to give your addresses you're probably orz on behalf of my clients Miss thel and Miss Brown welcome um I'm calling I'm coming here tonight to ask exactly why my client's uh opah request has not been complied with spoke to Mr Hermanson and it's his opinion which is not the law that a bill is not a public record until it's paid that's definitely incorrect I'll read the definition of public record if you'd like he said that's not what we're saying just to repeat him if you didn't hear not what I said yes no it's not I yes it is I'm not crazy that's not I said okay so do we agree that it's a public record paid or unpa I'm gonna let John because he's going to give us the legal opinion did you want to answer Mr Ortiz John or I'm here to be interrogated by Mr Ortiz Mr Ortiz you feel free to file your objection as you may and you're welcome of course to app on anything you wish to on I'm not going to get back and with you Mr MC do you know the definition of a public record already made a mement right on the box um Mr M do you know the definition I'm not I'm notam this is you indices I will see you in the appropriate for okay so let me continue is there an exemption Mr mccan in your opinion as to this bill I just answered your question I'm not here to answer your questions as as it relates to law we will we will discuss that in the appropriate for thank you Mr M I'm not was going to point out to you that the bill is specifically laid out in the expedited portion of Oprah that's njsa if you want to write this down 47 1 A-5 e it's specifically enumerates bills correct and which means which leads me to the next point is keep in mind Oprah uh provides for legal fees don't want to do that so very Mr John John just let him say one sentence and then I'll we you can respond M so miss I know mayor if I may go ahead John one sec under that statute that I just cited this bill should be available to my clients tomorrow and I would like to know what time my client could pick that up um John as I indicated Mr Mr Ortiz feel free to file any uh any documents you wish to file be my guest you're you're making assumptions that you you're making assumptions about a document that are just are incorrect but please feel free to Mr mccan I'm asking for aild I just heard what you said and I just I stand by my opinion thank you well I I think you should look at the statute a little closer Mr McAn well I and we will be taking the the right action the appropriate action immediately want I'm not Grant standing you should be here you're the town attorney please I'm not Grant standing I'm standing up for what the law stands not policy that you make up Mr MCC respectfully all right Mr Ortiz do you have any other comments no I do not I will following suit accordingly thank you would anyone else from the public wish to speak seeing another hands may I have a motion to close the public portion on on this topic and this topic only so move second all in favor I any opposed okay let's move on in the agenda um where are we at this morning did we make this motion we approve it all right may I have a motion to approve resolution number 5724 authorization to prepare and advertise bids for the Emerson Firehouse elevator project so moved and a roll call please councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Timberman yes councilman Gordon is absent councilwoman more yes passes 4 z uh thank you Miss Ryan which brings us to new business discussion of purchase of police cars Chief Savina would you like to come up and join us please do you want to pull a chair up with you or you want to go to the speaker whichever you prefer that my voice is carries all good thank you mayor um I am asking this year if we could least uh two vehicles instead of purchasing Vehicles the main reason is for the past uh several years our capital budget has been $65,000 to uh purchase a police car unfortunately as everybody knows uh car costs for everybody have increased right now um the cost for a new police car fully loaded is $72,000 so we've exceeded the $65,000 right there um if we lease we could lease two police cars uh one of which would be $63,000 to replace an 11year old police car and um the other one which would be the fully equipped car at $72,000 to replace a car with uh almost 100,000 miles on it we could lease two cars at 17,000 for the uh unmarked car and 19,000 a year for the marked car um those would be fouryear leases and that would come to a total of $366,000 for this year instead of expending the full 65,000 uh we would do that for the four-year lease lease two cars this year the plan would be to lease another car next year no cars for 26 and then again revisit the leasing in 2027 so we'd have to lease for two cars this year yes we'd have to continue the lease on two cars for next year and add another lease for the but if we keep this right the third car for the third car so you'd only want one car next year and you'd want to lease it as well correct and then what happens in the third year the third year we'd pay those leases the fourth year two leases would come off so in the in the third year we don't get any new cars we just pay off the three leases off pay off or continue to pay the leases continue to pay the leases and then in the fourth year fourth year the two leases are paid off we'd have one lease for next year and then we'd lease another car and then another new car for the fourth year so you'd be getting four cars over a fouryear period or is it five cars yes four cars four cars over a fouryear period um I just have a question when do you generally replace police cars and why because I I kind of know the answer but I want people to understand that the cars are constantly running run right now repairs are killing the uh DPW we spent in December uh over $2,500 just in car repairs uh the Fords are not what they used to be we'd actually be switching the tahos it's a better car and we usually we tend to get the cars up to 70 to 880,000 Miles uh before we replace so and it's a safety issue because like I said we have one car with almost 100,000 miles on and when do you generally retire a car when does it usually go to like um traffic Duty or probably we've been going probably five years with the cars and when's the last time you got a new car well there's one on order but you didn't get it yet that should be here hopefully next week and that's kind of the other issue if you get do a lease can you get the car quicker yes cuz the two cars that we would like to lease are actually in stock so we could get the cars those two cars cars within the very near future uh the car we ordered last year is on the lot they just finishing putting the equipment into it uh and with covid that also pushed us back quite a bit with we I think we went a whole year with a year and a half without getting any police car I do see the tahos and other police departments what what what's the advantage to the Tahoe like I said Fords have not been performing the way they usually do that they have in the past if I would really wish they would have kept the Crown V because that car we still have two in the line and uh they last but the tahos it's a bigger car it's a safer car and it's uh more reliable and there's an unmarked and a marked yes and they're both going to be for patrol no one would be uh the chief's car that's replacing a car that's 11 years old and then what'll happen to that car that car will go into the uh traffic road traffic okay so anyone so if you lease a car personally there's always options you could do 18 24 30 are there year options yes there are year options there's a uh two three and four year options yes uh and the fiveyear option as well so it' be three four and five year options on the leases and you want us to do the two first two cars as three three years four four no four years four years and then the second car then is for two years it overlaps and then the second first two are over and then another one is added in the fourth year correct I I mean it sounds like a good continual plan a a lot of a lot of towns are doing it now because of the cost of the cars I mean right now a car for this year 2024 it's up almost uh 19 ,000 and then after four years we own the car or $1 buyback $1 buyback $1 buyback doing it this way uh Chief does the contract include maintenance uh no it does so we still have to fix it and what about mileage on it when it's a lease is there it's more like a finance because yeah because you're yeah but when they write the lease is there like a 10,000 give on it or you know what I'm saying usually a lease package just say you get it with this many miles considering we're going to buy it out it doesn't matter there's nothing with where you can only put 30,000 miles over on the lease of the car any other questions Kelly gy questions no how much um would this save instead of buying a car every year or two cars because I know we used to buy two cars one car two cars one car so how much would this save us in terms of no let's put this way car are expensive the first year it's going to save us uh at least $30,000 any idea how much in the whole year we were paying in order to do the uh maintenance and the repairs I just looked at the last month I did not I'd have to check with the DPW to find out but I know our cars Perry mentioned to me a couple weeks ago he was going to charge start charging space because he had more cars in his loot than nor lot it was like almost $3,000 last month yeah so how quickly do you need like when do have to go into this deal these quotes are good till the 26th of January okay so um we haven't had a budget meeting yet did you talk to uh Lauren about this yes Lauren Lauren feel about it as far as the uh health of the burrow getting into these two lease contracts Lauren recommends us Lauren thinks it's sound yes it's a good idea I actually think we put in the budget for Cup car this year any didn't we I believe so we did yeah it was in for coup all right so um John do we have to do like a roll call or just to to buy to lease these to give them the uh approval or is it just going to be something that's going to be in the budget it's just something you add to the budget your capital budget it's it's already there it's actually not so that's a question I have okay so it's not a capital item it would go into their operating we had in the operating budget I meant so it's not in the capital budget it would go into the operating budget operating buget a lease right correct so are you saying that you think that we should approve it considering it's not in the budget long term since our our strategy has always been to purchase cards I say didn't PRI chief mik he already asked or he I think we approved if you go back and look we haven't adopted the final budg no no no we haven't even introduced a budget but we had a temporary so we can be used it some toward a temporary which Lauren said that we would just have to maneuver something in order to make that no so so we don't have to take a vote we just have to advise the chief that we will be getting the two leas cars and then Lauren will work it out into the um budget documents and then it'll be approved as we approve the budget documents correct okay so I'm just going to do a consensus is everyone in favor of going in this direction if it's going to save money absolutely if it's going to save money yes another if it's going to save money from councilwoman rice I have a feeling if it's going to save money Mr Timberman and it's going to be okay with it and councilman Moore is okay with it too um it seems that everybody feels that this is a budget saving move on behalf of the police department we appreciate you're looking into it and I will let Lauren know that this is the way that the governing body would like to um thank you staff the cars for the police department thank you very much you're very well appreciate it thank you Chief thank you maybe get us a update on the roads there's a delayed there is a delayed open delayed opening for school tomorrow while we were sitting here okay we just ruined her Bo all right so that brings us to discussion on the uh 2025 G Garbage Contract um considering it's 8:30 and I know that the weather is going down to freezing as the minutes go can I have a motion to table that item till our next meeting so all in favor all in favor okay and um I'd also like to t uh table the cell tower discussion the bid on the cell tower bid um to a day when the weather's a little bit better and we don't have to worry about Dave getting all the way home and Rob getting all the way home and our Clark getting all the way home out of Emerson okay can all in favor on tbling the cell tower okay which brings us to introduction of ordinances um first reading next order of business Miss Ryan will announce by number en title the following ordinances upon approval these ordinances will be further considered at a public hearing to be held on February 6th 2024 at 7:30 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter can be addressed in the council chambers of the burrow Hall Municipal Place Emerson New Jersey and published in the record all ordinances are on the burrow website and on file in the office of the municipal clerk if you would like a hard copy please contact the clerk's office Miss Ryan please read the title of the ordinance sure mayor this is ordinance 1683 d24 an ordinance to amend and supplement chapter 274 vehicles and traffic I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 168 324 on first reading some may I have a second second and a roll call please sure councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Timberman yes councilman Gordon is absent councilwoman more yes passes 4 Z thank you Miss Ryan um the next item is adoption of ordinances this is the second reading and public hearing of ordinance number 1681 d24 um which is salary wages compensation and other terms of employment of certain employees of the burrow of Emerson for the calendar year 2024 um may I have a motion to open the meeting for public comment on this in this ordinance only uh all in favor any opposed uh we are open on ordinance number 1681 d24 four would anyone like to speak May with seeing no requests may I have a motion to close this portion of the meeting for public comment on this ordinance Mo second all in favor I okay um may I have a motion to adopt um ordinance number 1681 d24 on second reading second roll call please councilwoman arenia yes Council councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Timberman yes councilman Gordon is absent councilwoman more yes pass pleas thank you uh this is now moving on to ordinance number 168 2-24 this is the second reading and public hearing of this ordinance an ordinance to amend chapter 200 Parks playgrounds and Recreation areas section 55 recreation activities and Recreation summer Camp fees may I have a motion to open the meeting to public uh comment on this and this ordinance only second all in favor I any opposed we are open to the public would anyone like to speak on ordinance number 1682 d24 seeing No Hands may have a motion to close this portion of the meeting for public comment on this ordinance all in favor okay may I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 1682 d24 on second reading so moved second may I have a roll call please councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Timmerman yes councilman Gordon is absent councilwoman more yes passes thank you that brings us to reports councilwoman orenia do you have a report for us this evening very brief and short just the Northwest Bergen uh contract was resigned so there'll be our Department again for very good that's it okay happy New Year happy New Year um councilwoman rice do you have a report for us this evening um I have two uh from environmental uh some really good things happening over at the woods or in in the Emerson Woods um there's going to be collaborations with the boy and girl scouts coming up they have a first aid kit now available for emergencies um they had the box of light collection over December and they were able to to uh donate one fairly large box of Lights uh to moms and pramas and for our community garden they um the new beds arrived so that's exciting oh nice um for fire I have the report of events so um a total of 112 hours and 52 minutes um of uh fire events man hours spent on events thank you Nicole um ranging from carbon monoxide detectors to cooking fires and um things of that nature no working fires no no good anything else that's all for me okay thank you councilwoman uh councilwoman more do you have a report for us this evening I'm going to read the DPW report Brian um any remaining uh Christmas trees you can be picked up on Mondays Tuesdays and Fridays um there was a minor breakdown of a plow truck from the storm on January 6th that was repaired pine tree fell and broke a residence fence um the DP DPW uh cut the tree and removed it shared service tree truck um took down 16 trees and trim 24 after the storm all the equipment um and trucks were looked at um they took down all holiday decorations and the roads are plowed after the storm and that's it thank you council president have a report I actually don't have anything no okay um I'll go ahead with my report it's very brief 2024 garbage and recycling newsletter was mailed out to all residents at the end of 2023 if you did not receive one copy of that um they are available on the website that you can either download from the website or there are paper copies at Burrow Hall um dog and cat licenses are due January 31st and the applications um for the registration are on the Burrow's website and there's also a page in the recycling newsletter in order to do that um first quarter taxes are due February 1st with a grace period through February 12th if you have any questions please reach out to the tax office 2024 commuter parking permits for the parking on Emerson Plaza East are on sale now at the police headquarters Monday through Friday 8:30 to 7:30 the resident fee is $250 the next regular meeting of the governing body will take place on Tuesday February 6th at 7:30 p.m. and I'm told that we had a big lucky winner at uh shop rate $100,000 lottery ticket was um sold in uh when was it for last night Saturday's um Power Ball and the numbers were 13 31 33 51 58 the Power Ball was 15 so check your tickets if they haven't claimed it yet there could be a winner in and there was a couple more there was one in New Milford too there was a couple yeah just Milford it was yeah and I know that decent and I know that the DPW worked very hard they um some of them worked through the night and some of them came in very early I know they're home resting and they'll probably be back bright and early tomorrow to make sure that the streets are um ready for us in the morning I think we've already reported that there'll be a delayed um School opening and I would uh wait to hear from Perry in the morning but it looks like we may have a delayed opening for burrow Hall as well um Dave do you have a report for us this evening uh sure I have a couple things to update to you guys on okay um so the do I don't remember if I made this announcement and if I did I apologize just y let me but um the dot made announcements for the fiscal year 24 uh dot um local aid grant which is your road program stuff uh the burrow was awarded uh $186,900 uh for improvements to Park Avenue Phase 2 um so that should get us completed with um all of that portion of roadway from uh where we left off uh last fall which was at Spruce and we're going to go from Spruce to the municipal boundary um for that down towards Westwood correct excellent um another Grant announcement that came in um was for the Bergen County open space Grant um so we've received additional funds for the basketball court at acrian Park Park so that now um gives us a total um well so the Bergen County Open Spaces of a matching Grant uh I think the grant for that one was 60 um right there $ 6,111 and then we also received the grant earlier last year um through the DCA um local Recreation for 60,000 so the combined with the 50% matching uh we have about 180,000 in Grant funds to uh get the park improvements done over there so that'll be so there was 160 that wasn't matching and 160 that was Grant was ma was one was matching one wasn't matching correct so the three of them together with our funds is $180 to be spent 180,000 180,000 that's what I meant couple you know the comma forget commas once um so that'll be a project we'll be looking to move forward uh for this year uh to get that that underway um another project just to update you want I know uh we had taken action I think back in September to award a contract um through the co-op program for Athletic Field lighting over a bank of field um things are moving forward with that the permits were issued uh recently for the electrical work for that the lighting is currently being manufactured we're anticipating having um that material delivered the end of this month um and whether per um they'll be able to install the new lighting um which should take about 2 to 3 weeks to get that completed so um um spring season they'll be ready to go ready to go and Rob those new lights are going to save us money on energy as well right on our BS yeah but I also want is they're they're energy efficient so they're it's they're LED light fixtures so they're the top of the line as far as the Energy Efficiency for the field lights the lighting you have over there today is been there for a couple years now few 20 30 20 keep going but I want to say something this way just piggyback but so when you go back to the grant realistically that 60,000 that we received the other 60 from DC D DCA DCA can be the 60,000 we use as a matching grant for the 60,000 that we get from the from the open space so we don't have to really spend the other 60 so it depends on what the project comes out to on the cost we may not be a we may not have to spend a dime in order to do those to do the upgrades so depending upon what happens but the idea would be if we can use that 60 then we offset it so that we would have we would have to spend yeah I know our on on back on acran I know our original estimate that we had submitted with the Grant application was around I think 220,000 for the improvements there um but Perry was working on with psng in order to change the lights so that to get the lights done for us for free so uh to go through that so if we get the lights done that would come out of the cost of the 220 which what we're saying is that we may be able to use the other 60 at match so we may be able to do those that's what we're looking at we're looking into potentially doing that where it's not going to be any cost to the taxpayer all right that sounds good Rob do you a report for the you have anything else Dave no um R yeah Rand jump in is needed yeah Rand Rand um we've been working with the the vendor that's through the C up um to get them all the information they need to give us the pricing so we can move that forward and get things completed um to satisfy the cdbg grant that you have for that as well um similar to the to the elevator the time frame they're looking for is April 15th to get all that done so we're pushing the vendors along as quickly as we can um to get everything that we need to move that forward um there was a meeting I think last week with the vendor so they could take a look at the site um so everything's moving uh nicely with that project um and those pump stations are going to save us money as well because they're going to be more efficient and because they break down all the time the DPW is constantly called in to check on them so we will definitely be saving money on salary and wages for overtime um because when they're up and working uh they'll streamline the process of what they're supposed to do which is move the water um and that's I'll be working with public works on your 2024 Road program they got a the list finalize and we'll look to try to get that out to bid sooner this year so we're under construction for late spring early summer um as opposed to The Fall season on that so didn't you mention they want to finish the last piece of town too PS p yeah the they other than they they'll 98% of the town will be done except for a couple of spots up on uh up by the by golf course no um on by the by shoppr up by in the shop shopright area on the road up there but that's basically so you mean down by not up by down sorry yeah he's not an I'm not an Emerson I'm not an Emerson resident you know yet working uh Cindy we're working with the vendor to get some stuff finalized so you can get a couple things ordered um the last time I spoke to him pumps for that station I think or scheduled for like April I think is what he had from the vendor um so slow and slow and steady all right good well thank you and so he took most of what I was going to say which is great all right good do you have anything to add only on the other the uh one thing I definitely have I would like to speak about is the cgph or our administrative agent is right now is working with our developer for affordable housing for affordable housing on the two units when we have more information of how or you know what to do to the advertisement for that for people who are interested in those two the units that they're going to be uh there we will get that out to the public and let them know but there we are working uh with our administrative agent to get that done all right so we do have a list that's been ongoing for years in the clerk's office of people that we will contact when the process opens up to apply for affordable housing and we did forward that and I just want to clarify to anyone who says thinks they're already on the list we were very clear and telling people that they were not on the list for affordable housing but they were on the list to be contacted one of the affordable housing units opened up and the process began so we should be contacting them at some point soon is what you're saying yeah and well C GPH will do that we that's we forwarded they'll do it yeah yeah uh our clerk hand that list over to them we did our clerk handed that list over to cgph good they have the list right yeah that's what so we already they already have it they've already we're working with them on that to get it so if people still wanted to apply for affordable housing do they call Direct to um uh the company or do they reach out put that out that's right now if we they still call us we'll put we can always update our list of what we're we're having to forward it to them but they will uh go forward on going on this and on how to take care of that for us going forward all right good um anything else no that's it I all right good does anyone have anything to add before we move on okay the next order of business is public comment members of the public are welcome to speak on any topic by coming to the table stating your name for the record and the interest of time speakers are limited to three minutes in cons um Miss Ryan did you have a report I think you did I'm sorry she doesn't usually have a report and she does have one this evening all right um as everyone knows uh longtime bur clerk Jane dii retired on December 31st Jane left us in such good order so thank you very much Jane if you're listening uh for the last few weeks though we have been working to transition the office and also transition for the St start of the new year we've been working with the elected officials administrator department heads and other staff to take this opportunity to brainstorm and to try to streamline processes to make operations even more efficient for residents everyone has their own way of doing things and Jane left an incredible and indelible mark on the burrow I can never F Jane's shoes in the future though you may find some of our processes have changed statutory processes never change however other non-statutory processes May thank you to everyone for their patience and understanding and I look forward to Ser serving the borrow this year please don't hesitate to reach out to me if I can be of assistance thank you that concludes my report well thank you for your report and I I want to thank you because um I know this person sitting right here was devastated when she heard that um Jane was retiring and although we greatly Miss Jane and there they are big shoes to f I feel like the transition has been somewhat seamless so thank you for that and for all of your hard work me too yeah I was terrified was everybody terrified when Jane said she was leaving Jane was incredible but you hit the ground running I I will have to admit I was terrified myself but when I found out that it was Michelle who was taking the spot I was not terrified anymore all right enough she doesn't like that enough I know but all right so that that now we're going to go to the public comment members of the public are welcome to speak on any topic by coming to the table 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 General comments from the public second all in favor I any opposed we are now open to the public would anyone like to speak Mr Brown just as a reminder just your name is is needed not address we're allowed to have privacy these days no such thing as privacy for you there is uh okay Tom Brown first question is well actually so this is Tom Brown Tom Brown Cas you didn't know former Council former chair of the commission blah blah blah all lot fun stuff um first question is uh well comment is I'm I'm pleased that you're concerned about accessibility and so consider this a request under the Ada title 2 that you make your website accessible to Residents who have limited Visual and Dexter issues I made that request twice before and it was denied it was ignored I was actually told to figure it out by the burrow administrator I did not say that you did no I did not and on the record and that was not H that did not happen what we actually worked together was that there was a uh a toggle that we were talking about that to see if you had on your computer change the color I did not tell you to try to figure it out that was that never came out of my mouth M Mr BR I could tell I can assure you let me speak for just one second I know I will not take this away as your three minutes I have been presid some suggestion go sorry go ahead I've been present for some of the issues where you have requested that we do that and Jane basically was knocking her head against the wall trying to figure out with the website designer and the company how to achieve that for you and they were not giving her the instruction on how to do it so if you were asked to do it yourself it I'm and I'm not saying that you were but if you were download a plugin and see if it works it doesn't work a limited access to doing it there are grants available this year we are going to look into um with our web designer if there is a way for us to achieve that okay that has been disced it has been discussed it's not that we this is also we've never shut the door and said we're not going to do that never all right so we've in fact we complied with a lot of your requests I mean when you were a member of the community garden we changed the lock I think six times um so that it was able to it changed it twice no I think there were several locks that were purchased it's broke CU they were cheap we've always tried we've always tried to help however we could but there are limitations and there are limitations by staff that don't necessarily know how to do the computer programming and things like that so they've tried to get help from our um support team that deals with our computers and if they don't know um then we're limited but we are it is still a work in progress and I and and your attorney should also acknowledge that the my request so if you could wake him up on the phone just so he sleep I think he's listening intently and and I'll just say one of the things that I Rec could you put a hold and see if he's listening to this please can I what can you ask him if he's still there John are you listening to this conversation I okay great he's awake title of request I heard heard your I can hear you the people speaking tonight you know what I'll move the phone I had it in front of the name plate maybe that was blocking it okay that that was probably my error because I put it in front of the um name plate which might have been hindering the sound what I was trying to do is watch it on YouTube because audio on YouTube is fine but but when so that's why but it's delayed I know when Mr orz was speaking it was it was almost impossible I couldn't hear I just want to State um if it came across that way to you I'm sorry but that's not our it was recommended to to you from our website was to ask if you had that on your computer to see if it would change work right but I didn't tell you that it was on you I I just was Rec a recommendation that was made that was all so I just want to make sure I'm clear I remember that I think someone did say that there are computer programs that you could download on a personal computer that will reverse the color yes and I think that's probably and that's what happened and that's why I was asking to unable to do it for the full website I can jump in I've gone to professional developments for I'm a teacher and there's different um tools and apps that you can get that they can read to you they can change the color I just went to what I think it's September so I can look through my notes on that if you want me to if you can find something for the spreadsheets that you published for the budgets that would be great because if I try that tip that you gave me right it disrupts all the other color settings I have on my computer and it makes everything else unusable it's the Excel spreadsheets so specifically Excel it's specifically Excel PDFs no issue I can deal with that so you specifically need Excel spreadsheet in the those are your budget those are only the Excel everything else you're able to see yeah make a note of that did you well you when you reup your contract with gov office they should have a adaptation for if we AG up with gov office because if they don't have that mechanism and that's one of the reasons is we had a contact with them and we had just recently purchased it that we couldn't just scrap the money that we spent and immediately change it but it might be enough time that we're ready to move on from them if they don't offer those features I'd advise it because I spent the last 10 years of my working career working at web accessibility and they're awful um okay that's that um also since we're talking about accessibility what's the status of the crossing inide going ker macr I know you said you submitted a grant there is a grant and that's we are waiting I think that Grant from safe schools comes in April I want to say that's I think it's April was what they what they're telling us so that's where we're just waiting to hear from them so that we would be able to upgrade not just the one light but we're looking to so you have gotten the grant you have a conf no no no we have not had any confirmation that we've that their award we believe I I believe the award is given to us in April will they let us know about the award on it so then if you don't get the award then you're not going to do the Kinder KCK light that's not what I said no no that's my question no then at that point then we would have to look at a potential other option because the idea is if we can do this without having to pay for it through taxpayer dollars that's we're $5,000 and every dollar here is important to this governing body and to the same thing through through the uh through the taxpayers and if I could do it uh through Grant then we do it through the Grant and it's not just five because like I said we're do 15 to install it's $5,000 after Stant a state Grant we still have to pay for both lights it's not would not be the one light we would not just do the one we would do both because if we do one then we would only be catering to one one side on the one we we have to do both we that's the idea what looking at it the perspective of what was discussed so that was the reason why we put in $5,000 that that that was your net out of pocket a after after I had the discussion with the state it's more it was more it was more like 7500 for for two and then another 75 for the second L I think it's 7500 comb about 15,000 for both can I ask a question about that since it's a main you know therough the county won't pay for it we already asked that was the issue they said they would install it they'll install it for us but they won't pay for the just from the beginning our contention when he originally asked for it was that it was a County Road and the county should be installing it and the county kicked it back to us and said we'll install it we'll do the the manpower to put it in if you buy the devices so we've been I think we've applied for two different grants and it's been denied right now so we're going to try that's their standard program for lights that's the County's program yes we feel comfortable we'll see what happens on the we we'll see what happens we you know and then the state do also has a grant program that I spoke to the administrator of that and said your net cost would have come down to 5,000 I I think it's nice that you're throwing numbers out but he's saying that we have a do you an estimate yeah we were given estimates that's where we that's where we are email I have with the do if you'd like I can give you share you the emails do sure happy to but at the end of the day we are in we're waiting to hear back if we if we do not get the grants we've applied already yes yes we have absolutely applied okay but if you could send the information I think that would be helpful sure I'll send you the I'll send you the contact the guy I was talking to with do you know was the local aid office or no it was the uh state do they have a yeah they have a program designed to assist counties and municipalities I believe Hice guy okay um Mr you know what I'm gonna I'm GNA thank you for researching that no um when I was a council person and different things interested me or didn't interest me you would do more research or less research because if you wanted to really sink your teeth into it you could speak about it all day long and there were other things that you would understand but it wasn't the thing that motivated you or that you needed as much like you do I'm fairly sure you want me driving to stop and shop so what I'm so what I'm saying is if you do have the time and you can help us with that kind of research and point us in the direction and give it to us because the office staff we just have Michelle and Trias and Rob okay you know what I mean like if you could Tee It Up for us and make it easier it would be greatly appreciated what I'm saying is because you have the need now because you have the need you would know exactly and you might have better Direction on where to get what it is that you need okay so if you tea it up here's here's a tea up challenge Grant he said WR it down I wrote it down I've already wrote it down they also they listen while I keep talking also for the uh Emerson woods they also pay pay for accessible paths as well thep challenge gr it's look at their website they pay for a lot of things yeah uh check check it out uh there you do have some skin in the game for that but you know I can I think it's worth it okay thank you for your time Lewis Avenue what's the status of that Lewis Avenue what's the status please that is we are just waiting to close on the property we're waiting to close on the property and what was the final price uh 50,000 for both put in for the um for that plus closing cost yeah it was I think it was not to exceed 60 but the actual selling price was 50 right was 50 and then without with plus closing cost okay all right uh F final uh checklist item Oprah requests for Bill lists uh many municipalities publish those on their website some post them on their agenda I submitted an Oprah request for Bill list no response no acknowledgement those are bills that you've already paid those are public record can you either today share those post them because the past year or so there is no information out there when I spoke to Jane she said I'd have to O each one you shouldn't have to open this okay we'll look into that it sounds that sounds more like a policy decision of whether we're going to post it on the website or not but it's also public records request that we're eligible to get we'll look into that but the the the the can I get the request acknowledged acknowledged yes I what do you mean by filed I already filed it and I received no acknowledements I spoke to the your new the new buau acting clerk when last week so is the seven days up uh she said she wasn't aware that you were supposed to acknowledge her receipt of records request well that might be her new policy is there a state statute that says you have to acknowledge there is a best practice that does require that recommend that there's a best practice ask your attorney that we're paying for I think I'll actually look on our best practice um check sheet and see that okay ask your attorney I think that's helpful also another question of the burrow Hall what's the do you have a statute that says that I could look it up but you have one you have an attorney on the phone right now you don't want numbers out of my memory because they probably won't work well I don't expect you you could email it to me if you'd like how bur Hall how much has been expended to date on architectural designs and planning I off the top of my head I don't know for Miss rer I don't I don't know where we I know what we budgeted at one time when we put in but I don't know where we are exact that exact number I'd have to ask the CFO okay so is that or do I have to submit an oah request to get that because that's a public record as well I don't know you'd have to ask John on that that opinion for John but I I think that if we've already paid something yeah then it's not deliberative anymore do he charged by the word he doesn't speak I mean he's listening okay can he offer an opinion well if I ask him for opinion he'll give me an opinion but he doesn't just butt in unless I generally ask him to he's the bur attorney not your attorney he he what if there's a reason for him to give me an opinion I'll ask him for the opinion he's not your attorney specifically either he's the bur attorney yes he is he he he is hired by the burough to represent the interests of the burrow 100% And that's I'm a res he's not here for a question answer period just with you in consultation so I'm not sure that he's prepared to give answers to anything that public can he app on this in the moment can because I excuse can he opine on this right John would you like to comment on why you're not answering Mr Brown's questions and interrupting the conversation his questions he doesn't understand your question to hear him as I as I state so if he's alluding to some sort of op request I think he said something about architect Architects um he's looking for the architectural bills that have been paid to date put a on it I do not dispense legal advice to the public his his interpretation if I heard it correctly is incorrect uh I'm here to provide uh legal consultation to the mayor and Counsel on behalf of the go on behalf of the people so you're you're correct I can start a give and take but I don't know what document he's referring to specifically I can't give an answer to Broad toad generalizations which is what he's doing from what I can tell so um no that's my that's where I stand on that issue I I don't know what he's talking about best practice uh you know best practice from who okay uh I don't know what he's talking about so if you could provide us with that information it' be helpful look at the best prti I have a negotiable billing rate no worries thank you for your time uh all the time and you know we I sit in attorney's meetings with with regard to op requests we discuss these things all the time and and off the top of my head I'm not familiar with the best practice rule that he's referring to in terms of bills on uh websites I don't I don't I I just did a quick search uh for some of your surrounding towns and I don't see any of the surrounding towns U offering bills to be paid uh as part of uh as part of the uh uh documents on the website there Prov resolutions they provide provide agendas for things to be discussed but nothing the lines of Mr Brown is talking about as it relates to you know publishing bills before they get paid um so I I don't know but refering okay John Mr Brown is back M Mr Brown is back at his seat I understand that John com design to elicit a response Mr Brown and engage in a back and forth as I said I don't do that that's my comment I tried to explain that to him but um he's back in his seat and I'm gonna see if any other person from the public would like to speak we're gonna move on website if that's what he was asking about sure um there is an a there is um there is um guidelines uh from the federal government as it relates to the ad Ada it comes under the uh web content accessibility guidelines uh that's published uh by the federal government and and those are things that our web provider is familiar with so if he's asking for things like you know color changes and things of that nature uh that's appears to be within uh the guidelines uh that he's requesting if I heard him correctly yes but John we have our own internal issue where we haven't been able to do it with the program no that makes sense that that's understandable yeah and we've tried to do it several times for him yeah no yeah no these are guidelines these These are guidelines I'm just saying that you know uh he has not been denied it he just we're just not capable of doing it with the website that we have right now right okay understood okay all right thank you John all right would anyone else from the public like to speak seeing No Hands may have a motion to close the public portion of the meeting so second all in favor I any opposed may I have a motion to approve consent agenda resolutions 58-24 through 64-4 can I get a motion a motion by uh Nicole may I have a second second that by Timberman and a roll call please councilwoman AR J yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Tim yes councilman Gordon is absent councilwoman Moore yes passes 4 Z thank you which brings us to closed executive session members of the public May remain on you excuse me until we return to open session at which time formal action may be taken may I have a motion to go into closed executive session to discuss matters except from the public pursuant to njsa 104-1 at second adequately noticed by resolution number 65-24 some second a roll call please councilwoman arenia yes councilwoman rice yes councilwoman Maguire is absent council president Timmerman yes councilman Gordon is absent councilwoman more yes this is 4 Z thank you we are now in closed session um Dave thank you no keep that just a draft and don't leave that line around is oh it was unanimous two may have a motion to convene move second all in favor hi any opposed for my phone uh is there any other further business with no further business may I have a motion to adjourn at 10:19 p.m. so second all in favor thank you everyone for coming out in this horrible weather uh we'll see you in a couple of weeks