yeah hi all hello oh good we're live streamed it's empty I'm just waiting a minute or two to see if Kevin will he's calling me now okay hello everybody and goodbye everybody enjoy your meeting thank you bye bye that was my first wife second I thought is Tammy Murphy experience she has less experience she said anything new about Kevin what's doing should I try to call him I did already it looks like an's on the phone with him [Music] yeah I'll wait until uh 7:40 and then I'll open the meeting Bob what time does the city offices close tomorrow I think uh I think two o'clock okay tomorrow yes check and are you Clos Friday are yeah 2 o'clock yes okay how do you feel Michael I'm okay oh you too okay you look good you look fine yeah today is our cfo's birthday oh happy birthday yeah we're not singing today that's why I feel I don't know what to do okay we'll wait until 7:40 and then we'll open Oh's birthday oh happy birthday that's singing that's why I feel he's logging in now good don't know what to do okay we'll wait until 7:40 and then we'll open I hear a replay of yeah I have to that's mine I had to pause it I I have the YouTube open in the background okay and here he is okay right I'm G to start this going okay good all right so we are good to okay here we go welcome everyone uh good evening this is the city of Anglewood city council meeting uh which is taking place tonight on Zoom it is November 21st 2023 and it is now according to my clock 7:37 p.m. could we please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance ALG to the of the United United States of America and to the rep for which it stands one nation under God godis divisible with liberty and justice for all thank you everybody yansy could you please read the statement regarding the open public meetings act this meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law notice of this meeting was included in a notice sent to the record and the Star Ledger and advertised in said newspapers on January 10th 2023 posted on the bulle board in the municipal building and has remained continuously posted as the required notices under the statute revised notice for meeting location was advertised in the record on November 19th 2023 a c a copy of both notices are and have been available to public and our on file in the office of the municipal clerk the angelwood city council regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday November 21st 2023 has been moved to zoom members of the public who wish to participate in this meeting May do so by calling or clicking on on the link below at 7:30 p.m. please see link on our website or by dialing 6465588656 the meeting ID for this meeting is 920 3584 6391 and the passcode is 7694 42 individuals calling into this number will be able to fully participate in the meeting including providing public comment public comments may be submitted by 3M on the date of the meeting either through Written Letter or email to meeting cityofinglewood.org all written comments shall be read during the public forum portion of the meeting and shall be subject to the same time limitations for public speaking duplicate of comments shall be noted for the record and summarized the agenda for the meeting can be found on the city's website at www.cityofinglewood.org proper notice have been given the municipal clerk is directed to include the statement in the minutes of this meeting thank you yansy roll call councilman cop here councilman Rosen white here councilman Wilson present councilwoman wasoski present council president Maron present also present is Mayor Michael wild city manager Robert S Hoffman City attorney Bill Bailey and CFO Michael calman thank you very much um we're going to open our meeting this evening uh we are delighted to uh welcome uh Adam Brown who is the chairman of the board of adjustment in Anglewood um Adam I'm going to turn the floor over to you uh thank you very much Judy uh and uh good evening to all of you on this dark and stormy night um I'm not here lobbing for anything it's actually my duty as the board of adjustment chair to uh provide you with an annual report on what we've been working on and I think the basic concept of the statutory requirement is that uh the city council know the kinds of issues uh where residents or business owners or property owners are seeking an exception to the zoning law U someone mentioned to me the other day that no one really knows what the zoning board is board of appeals is about um it has a duty that's somewhat different from the planning board um our duty is quasi judicial um there is basically a zoning law that's passed by the elected officials of the town that goes through multiple readings uh that goes through public hearings and because it uh it goes through that process there's a degree of Holiness in it because it's been it's been the zoning ordinance has been enacted after due deliberation and many aspects of the zoning ordinance are have been in place for many many years and deserves a great deal of respect but the statutory scheme set up by the state is such that there that this process doesn't always work in every instance and that there has to be a degree of relief available to people who properties and the the criteria very carefully stated in the state law uh where the properties did not meet specific criteria such as their shape such as uh uh the slope Etc uh that they that a degree of relief should be granted um other types of relief this granted is if a use is not appropriate to a particular location uh any longer because of the passage of time we or other circumstances we have the ability uh to Grant relief one of those circumstances is if a use comes to us or prop a proposal for a use uh that comes to us that is inherently beneficial as defined by Statute uh or is of a religious character is defined by federal statute we have to look at it a little more carefully and we have to give a certain uh benefit of the doubt as far as the benefits of changing the youth to allow a particular use such as a school or or a house of worship Etc or a uh you know a medical facility whatever so we have a certain obligation to give ex exceptions now this is not something it's not like a planning board where we get to insert our own preferences we're pretty much Bound by the law and by our own interpretations of the law as we see it so we're really a panel of judges and uh we begin every hearing by asking whether there's been any interference by anybody in town outside of the hearing process because we want to make sure that all of us are on the same page and getting hearing the same evidence so we're quite strict in in hour and how we run our business um so one of so one of the things that we do is we come before you or we send you a letter which we did this this recently um describing what's been going on in the board of adjustment during the last year and uh uh certainly the most obvious thing that's happened to the board of adjustment the last couple years has been this wave of pool applications um that basically probably took up 75% of our time in 2020 21 and 2022 and U that that wave has crested and passed we're not seeing them very much anymore I think we've maybe we've had one or two in 2023 so it's a much smaller uh issue we all know why it was occurring it was occurring why were people building pools because during covid kids weren't going to camp and uh people were stuck with kids all summer and this seemed to be the path of least resistance for caring for them [Music] um so that so the issue of of the pools is an interesting one um part of the problem is you'll note that most of the pool applications in the letter I sent you are in the first and second Awards and uh part of the problem again only part of the problem is that approximately 20 years ago there was a rezoning of the entire East Hill uh for purposes of uh protecting the beautiful Lots uh in the particular in the First Ward and on Woodland and the Southward protecting these lots and preventing them from being subsidized willy-nilly because they were regarded as a um as is a one of the features of the Town one of the jewels of the crown with these old 1920s houses and so a ordinance was passed which basically created every uploaded everybody to one and two acre zones who had been half acre and one acre previously and what this meant was that uh if someone came in with a Halfacre Zone uh with the one acre parameters there was no hope of them ever getting a pool on their property uh because the u b because once you took out of into cons consideration the front yard setback and the backyard setback and the sidey yard setbacks of a of a two-acre lot there was nothing left to build a pool on let alone a house so we have basically we heard a tremendous number of applications in lots that had been uh probably would have accommodated a pool in 19 uh in 1990 but did not in 2023 so that was one characteristic um and there were other reasons some some of these lots are are trapezoidal they're not all rectangular various issues came up but the overwhelming one was the fact that there were undersized Lots um in that had been up zoned 25 years ago and no accommodation had been made [Music] um almost all of those were ultimately approved they did go through a degree of U of modification one of the things we learned during the process of 2020 2021 is the land use attorneys that represent 90% of the applications before the board of adjustment sort of figured out what it was that was important to us and um the things that were important to us was drainage um proper drainage U the second thing was U screening of adjoining properties you know if you're going to put a pool in someone's backyard uh you know within 40 feet of their house we thought that they should have some screening and also new technology in sound muffling so we required all pools to come before us uh we strongly suggested to them and they get the message that they put in sound deing equipment sending enclosures for pool uh pumps and any of you who lived near a pool understand what that's all about and it's a very minor uh expense and so we actually the applications actually improved as time went on as the attorneys figured out what we wanted and U we found that the applications were coming in with fewer and fewer deficiencies as time went on that being said uh there is a dissenting opinion on the board which I'm HonorBound to describe um one of our venerable members the vice chair um feels strongly that no exception should be made for pools uh that are in undersized lots and he and uh I won't get into the details of that because I'll misstate his opinions but suffice it to say uh he said quote I think we're giving out too many pool variances so that's his uh opinion and uh you know certainly given his his his Generations in this town deserves a great deal of credit and his standing as a former Board of adjustment shair and planning board shair I think so uh we will I'll leave that with you um the second um item that came up that's related to that uh is a couple of uses that came up that were novel uh that we hadn't seen before which are really a function of the Changing Times one of them is um wellness centers so we begun to see this uh this has particularly become popular in certain elements of the Anglewood community uh and the regional community and uh these wellness centers you know have things like botox and and other kinds of treatments and but they're not really Medical Treatments they don't really have the characteristics of a medical treatment and we had to wrestle with that because medical facilities are banned on the first floor in the downtown so uh we wrestled with that and we concluded that uh they were more like um um uh Spas which are permitted on the first floor in the downtown and so we made a determination on at least two applications that these wellness centers should be treated more like Spas which because there's only marginal medical uh involvement and U we also approved energy Care Center down on opposite U ShopRite which is a you know a credit to the community something that we really we really needed you shouldn't have to go to the hospital every time you break your toe you should have some kind of ancillary facility you can go to and be treated quickly so we approved that as well um the Third Kind of facility or the second kind of facility that we saw that was not really addressed in the ordinance is that we have uh we have provision for child daycare we have no provision for adult daycare which is a new thing and a big thing and uh there's one major facility down in the corner of Route four and uh and um uh Grand this a couple of brick buildings they also took over a second structure recently the former nve bank or was going to have been the NV Bank headquarters and um these Wellness these adult daycare are essential they really are it's important to keep these fames these folks living at home but if the children are going to be working they need a place for Mom and Dad to go in their uh senior years and these are not people who necessarily qualify for something like uh they may not be functioning high enough to for the you know bring County Family Center and they all come in Van and one of the important things about when we wrestle with a possible zoning change for adult daycare one of the aspects of adult daycare is that there's a very heavy van use and we've seen a couple of uses in town where um the van use completely clogs up uh the area uh people stop in the middle of the street and drop people off if you want to see one there's a adult daycare in Bergenfield on Washington Avenue where they where the van just stops in the middle of Washington Avenue and loads people it stops all of Washington Avenue deadness tracks for 10 or 15 minutes so um you know we'll be happy to advise you on this at such time as you want to uh consider an application during the master planning process u a zone for this but again the important thing for that is that that has proper a drop a pickup and drop off Van zones where people can where the truck where the vehicle could stop and people can still get access in and out of the property so those are the those are the use issues pool Wellness adult daycare uh we would encourage U that to be part of the agenda the master plan if you don't consider it sooner than that um because that's something that's going to keep happening we might as well just give people show people that we actually encourage these kinds of uses they're good for the city they're good for our aging population so that's uh that's the business that's the uh substantive end of my what I wanted to talk to you about uh the next thing is um some um housekeeping we are getting uh some applications that are quite complicated and um uh we're finding that the as I said to you the attorneys are learning how to read the board and we're seeing applications where there are major revisions made in the middle of an application U because the attorneys are sensitive to read the te and to go back to their clients and suggest that they consider some changes this results in a u a notice problem uh we typically when we an application at the end of a hearing we'll give a notice you know we'll say to the public this matter is being adjourned to such November 21st at 7 pm when we'll begin to hear testimony on this matter that's all well and good but when a person comes back to us with a modified drawing it doesn't always um we haven't always necessarily set a date for them so we don't have a provision in the rule for how do we when and do we have to notice people when there's an extended application and I've put some language in here in the letter that I think this is something bill could help with um for a provision for applicants to give um to re notice the public uh when there's an extended application okay I mean some of these applications take years of um Mariah School took two over two years to deal with and we have some applications now that are certainly into their second year some of these multif family property applications so I would uh ask you to Bill to talk to Mike Kates and see if we can get a zoning or in place for that yeah that's a good point Adam I just on the private side I just came across this in another municipality and um I knew the old tax list was stale and just weren't required to but just we redid it anyway just exact that's what happens people buy and sell their homes in this the people and uh you know we we this board has gone out of its way to make sure everybody's involved and uh Reen notice you know whenever we think it's a apprpriate and I think the attorneys uh to their credit have understood that making sure that everybody has a sense that they've been heard is a very important part feature of the process so we really go out of our way to make sure that everybody gets a shot and uh we very much like to hear from Neighbors you know one of the things that one of the things that surprised me when I got on the board is how little I hear from Neighbors and uh it's something we really do want to encourage because they do have an Insight that would never a lot of things would never occur to us if we didn't hear from them I mean they live with these properties day in and day out whether it's supportive of the applicant or U uh in opposition to the applicant you know all facts are relevant to us um the second thing we'd want to do is change um the checklist which make would make life a lot easier for us I mean we have the authority to ask for stuff that isn't necessarily provided and uh um usually attorneys are very willing to give it to us you know no one wants to take off a board uh one of the things we'd like to have added to the checklist bill is something that used to be there uh because I remember from my days 40 years ago when I developed here is they required um adjoining structures to be shown on the site plan if they're within X number of feet and so we'll get an application uh for a variance uh and we'll be able we'll see the house but we'll have no idea where the house next door is so I think that's a really something that's very easy for for a a surveyor is to add in a couple of points showing the corners of the house next door yeah so I think that's something that would be easy to add it would and it would save us a meeting because many times we ask for it and it would save everybody a lot of uh a lot of uh trouble if we can see that information from the get-go I don't like relying on zoom on Google Maps photographs I'd like to see it you know would that be an ordinance from the council to amend it no just be yeah well yes the checklist the checklist is set by ordinance of what has to be provided by an applicant well you you said before that it existed um why was it removed oh you know every time over the course of years uh the the uh ordinances get re you know republished you know we've had bunch of different uh Landes City attorneys in 40 years I don't know what it could have slipped off 35 years ago I don't know maybe somebody thought we didn't need it anymore you know it's uh who can know who can say okay who can say every time the every time the ordinance is the city or revised something falls off the table that's my experience you know you always have to come back any when you pass any kind of major ordinance you've always got to be prepared six months later to come back and tweak it in that experience Bill yes yep always needs to be fixed right most the problems with Obamacare was because they wouldn't fix it for five years right because they didn't believe in it so you have to be prepared when you pass anything whether it's a tree ordinance or sign ordinance or zoning ordinance um you gota you got to be prepared to come back in six months and and fix the things that fell off the table and talk to the planning board ask the planning board have they seen any have you seen any problems with what we did ask the board of adjustment so those are the kinds of uh housekeeping things but I'm now going to get to the what I think is the most important thing which is um we enforce a zoning ordinance that that you and your predecessors spent a lot of time and experience passing and U that zoning ordinance is uh when we're asked to make an exception to the zoning ordinance the U the Constitution which guides us is largely the the master plan and that master plan if it's you know like the chewing gum loses its flavor if you leave it on the bed post overnight the master plan loses its viability if it lasts Beyond 10 years in fact uh it will be open season on the city for variances if we don't have master plan by the end of 2024 so uh I beg you I beg you to please get going on that um the two issues that are most important aside uh are the flooding issue uh we we get a lot of testimony uh at hearings um regarding flooding uh some of it is firsthand information uh some of it is hypothetical um but nonetheless we don't have a the only guides we have is State Statute and federal statute on you know what do you do in a 100e storm and a 500e storm so but I think the city should play a role in this and uh to my discredit I sat around in the 2014 master plan as a member of the planning board and never saw the issue raised and I didn't say anything because I didn't think about it my my interest was in business district that was what I focus on U but I've lived here 40 years and I've seen many floods and I think that needs to be addressed in how we protect flood prone areas um I think in terms of coverage and all that stuff I don't think that's I think the cat is out of the the horse is out of the barn on that out of the Corral um most of our tributary area is not just Anglewood it's also Anglewood Cliffs and it's tenly and Bergenfield and Dumont and EK and so we don't really have control over their zoning ordinances that being the case what do we do about properties that come to us that are exposed to flooding and we'll always be exposed to flooding unless uh the federal government comes in and does a massive um a massive Improvement to the overpeck so this is something that really needs to be addressed and I think the state and the county and the federal government need to be involved and the city needs to be involved and we need to have a a master plan assuming there's going to be an an environmental apocalypse which is certainly very possible where we're going to start seeing hurricane idas every other year okay there's no way to defend against hurricane ID there's no zoning change we can do all we can do is try to keep the flood prone areas of town out of Harm's Way uh the second area I don't think I need to spend much time discussing um it's the affordable housing issue um I don't think I I think what you're going to find that we're going to start we may start seeing affordable housing uh stuff coming up um in zones that are or in Lots or in areas that are adjacent to the affordable housing housing District so you've you've established a principle around certain parts of town um what do we do if the property is immediately next door okay I can see that that's the kind of thing we have to think about so you really need to spend some time with the residents and with professional planners and really sit down during 2024 and Hammer out where we want it to be I mean we fully understand the time pressure and the legal pressure the city was under and uh you know um and they had to get something out the door but this is the opportunity for you to really plan for the next 50 years of affordable housing you know there was a there was a I was scratching my head about this 10 years ago and I'm still scratching my head about it uh there's this whole notion of uh of a judgment of repose from courts and an affordable housing litigation such as that uh when you have a a judgment or propose it's only you know we're free we're free no you're you just have a couple of years off we're going to be back and get you in 10 in in five or 10 years which means you got to keep providing affordable housing you can't just stop it doesn't mean you have to stop provid affordable housing it just means your Zing ordinances can't be attacked that's all the judgement Repose means means you can't be attacked it doesn't mean you stop build affordable housing and a prior counsel completely misread okay I'm telling you completely misread their obligation and that's why we're in the situation today we should have been building affordable housing all the time the last 10 years this is not the board speaking this is Adam Brown um the last thing I want to discuss to you with the master plan is what I just discussed earlier which is the downtown flexibility okay we have to start thinking about what a new downtown is going to look like um that specifically I would say Dean Street North Dean I'm thinking Van Brunt North and South um I'm thinking Engle and Grand I mean we really have to start thinking imaginatively about how we're going to um fill those downtowns now that retail is on its uh on its back and U you know there are other towns that have been through this process we should just study some towns that we admire you know they figured out how to keep their downtowns vibrant notwithstanding Amazon and um Alibaba and other another online providers the world has changed it's not going back so uh that's my uh thing I just to recapitulate uses the efficiency of the board a couple of tweaks to the zoning ordinance and the plan those are the three things on our mind I guess the fourth thing has sort of been taken care of which was our continued use of Zoom it looks like the state has given us authority to continue using Zoom but I don't I wouldn't mind if that was put into the city ordinance as well because that's very very efficient and seems to be uh a considered a positive by everybody who appears before the board and that's my report I'm happy to take questions okay who would like Ken all thank you Adam for the comprehensive uh sum summation of the year um have you seen uh applications for um homes for people with substance abuse to live in a group setting um coming through the community we have not okay um are you familiar with some of the laws surrounding them oh sure yeah in six I have not seen one before the board of adjustment okay it would it come to you or the planning board some of the some of these it would depend upon if it's a conditional use in the zone or not if it's a conditional use to go to the planning board if it's a if it requires a change of views who would come to us okay so I'm not sure Bill have you ever seen it well this this is a hot issue in many municipalities because there are some DCA regulations that in certain instances say they preempt the local jurisdictions and unless they need like bulk changes or things like that they don't have to apply for use fa it's yeah this is a Hot Topic I was at another municipality last night and this was much discussion on it that's that's y That's probably guess you'd have to ask building department whether they've seen it come through you know they would be the ones who would know yeah yeah it's a little bit settled law right now frankly and there's some conflict I think even within the own within state agencies about that issue so uh stay tuned for sure well the only thing we've been able to do I believe uh We've involved code enforcement uh you know to make sure at least once they're there that they're safe you know that they have the correct number of exits and the uh you know whatever they need uh to make sure that that the facility itself is safe but I don't believe we were too successful uh in challenging some of it anyway does anyone else have any to ask of Adam or to say Kevin has his hand raised oh I'm sorry Kevin yes good good evening Adam um thank you for your end of the year report I appreciate it it's very uh extensive in regard to the Zoning for the pools where we have people that have the zoning already how does that affect us to legitimately enforce um moving forward uh you're referring to people have pools that were permitted because they were sufficient or they were people who have pools already are grandfathered there's no I understand that and it says you have uh uh it has it has occurred more frequently in our triaa so is that something because the co has been lifted that we should still look forward to to requiring that zoning well I think so I it's an interesting question um It's Not Unusual to see in a when someone wants to build a structure in a AAA Zone to see the board take a position that if it's let's say it's a half acre lot which I I don't quite remember what it's I think it's an RA um that will treat it if it's a Halfacre lot in a two acre Zone we'll treat it like a Halfacre lot okay okay which seems you know it seems fair to people and U so I would say the starting point for pools would be to have the same you know have the same concept that if it's a Halfacre lot we treat it like a Halfacre lot no matter where it is in the city because once the lot is created you know that there's a set of uh of of requirements or limitations that are associated with that lot and sort of the at that point it's hard for them to say well we we gave you a Halfacre lot but we're treating it like a two-acre lot for purposes of of use now typically and when a home goes into a Halfacre lot and a two-acre lot they will get a they are entitled to a um to a variance I mean there's plenty of cases on that that I'm sure bill is familiar with that you can't you can't Zone a person a person's property that he can't build a house on it and I think that the uh I think if I were to if I were to summarize my issue with my uh with my colleague on the board of adjustment um it would be that yes you can on a person so you can't build a pool in it okay that would be I think his position and so I I guess I I guess I sort of treat the use of a person's home that a small pool is not inconsistent with the with the ownership of a house and uh my personal uh which has nothing to do with how I hear cases my personal issue is anything that gets the kids out of the house okay outdoors in the sunlight is a POS is a is a positive for society um but that's my answer the answer to your question is all the current pools of grandfathered and U what you have to deal with what do we do with these pools in lots that are lower you know and smaller um smaller Lots than than it's currently zoned for and then the issues of of land of of screening Landscaping is important uh sound deadening you know is important buffering yep making sure there's sufficient uh drainage France Vol is very good at catching that the other thing that we have sort of arrived at is sort of a common law in the absence of any guiding ordinance on it that uh all neighbors should be treated fairly which is you don't pick on your left-hand neighbor at the expense of you know to benefit your right-hand neighbor that are gonna put a pool in up run it down the center line of your property okay and and and just because you're putting a pool in doesn't mean you have to stick it on your backyard neighbor you know put it halfway between your house and the backyard property line you know just some some issues of fairness are they law no uh do they do they help relieve burdens you know the burdens Associated or the negatives associated with a a variance yes so those are the kinds of things you into an ordinance and thank you and just one last quick question in regards to the Del daycare aren't most of those buildings shouldn't they have the permit or the the Zoning for the Vans or is this something new now I mean it's not new that Vans are drop dropping off seniors or or adults um shouldn't there's no take care ordinance in town that's the problem we have no ordinance at all that's the problem create that concept on our own so that's this is an opportunity for you when you create an adult daycare Zone you can put all the limitations you want that's when you would address it but right now we have to sort of make it up as sort of common law with no statutory guidance okay thank you you're welcome thanks Adam uh Charles did you have your hand up before yes go ahead Mr Brown appreciate you coming in and giving us the state of the board of adjustment and um would I'd like to uh I have an ask for you and your board as we go through the master plan that y'all participate uh and advise because I think it's going to be important because you're the You're The Keeper of the zoning or or the the just you arm as you said earlier so I think that that guidance would be helpful I'd like to have you lean in on that stuff um since we've gone through this issue with affordable housing and the overlay have you had any applications in regards to that come in front of you regarding the overlay nope not a whisper yeah I I you know I think you know what what what would be important and then I'm I'm going to close with this is is that um and I think would be a good practice is maybe annually you and and and your team and the board members hold a meeting to explain what the board of adjustment does I think the more that we inform people of what the boards do the better understanding that they have the more value it means to everybody and I think that that's important to to to understand I think that we need to share as much information as possible to the residents so they understand how how things work and if they have issues or concerns they know where to go and what questions to ask and who they could ask them by so I appreciate that uh thank thank all the members on the board of adjustment uh for their work and uh commitment to the city of Anglewood thank you very much you know uh one of the things that occurred to me that was on this list that I didn't add is um if we could I think some U um Contin continuing education for board members would be would be very valuable I think very helpful I don't think it's a lot of money um I think if the city found a way to put something modest in the budget so we can bring in professionals or sign our people up for courses I think that would go a very long way there are courses on flooding and their courses on uh the law and um uh affordable housing there all kinds of stuff that I think that our board members should be U exposed to and U that's a great idea okay but again I I want to say in behalf of the board we we regard it as a tremendous honor that you've entrusted us with this and um we wish you all well in 2024 thank you again so much and Happy Thanksgiving Thank you Lisa Lisa oh I'm sorry Lisa oh go ahead go ahead okay I'm going to lower this hand okay so I'm going to make a few comments um first of all thank thank you Adam for that presentation and for sending us the um report um so my first comment is um in terms of what um councilman Cobb said um in and um also the planning board attorney um has also not gotten any applications um regarding the overlay Zone second of all regarding the continu continuous um the continu education credit I think it's a really good idea I think that it should be offered we should do it inhouse and offer it for the planning board board of adjustment and the city council so everybody could benefit from it um third of all in terms of the pool um you know um I listened a few times to there's a board of adjustment meeting that you had in October 20th 2022 and that's when you um when you actually you were I guess preparing for the report and you went through all the pool applications in the prior year it was a really excellent discussion um I think the discussion you know was was at the about an hour and a half into into the meeting if you heard some cases and I and I went back to that a few times because I found it um um kind of educational for me um and in that conversation the planner Mr Zabo uh did address some of the issues that you talked about with the pools um and and the conversation was and and which is why I think that with the pools I wouldn't I wouldn't I don't mind I mean you I guess the board of adjustment you know doesn't sore a lot of cases but I don't mind it going Case by case in that one of the things he talked about was um you know sometimes in these cases there's a self-imposed hardship so people go in they put up a house in such a way and then they don't have room for a pool and they created their own hardship he talked about um he he himself not even um Vice chairman Marin but uh Mr Zabo talked about there's no entitlement to a pool sometimes the site is way too tight um and these are just things off off what he said he talked about when you had us um small Lots then you you end up with you know of course increasing your building and impervious coverage and he and he and he talked TOS that you need to look at the negative criteria in these cases you want to look at at the character of the area and and and look at the negative criteria involved in improving these cases so so I thought I thought that was very enlightening he didn't um I I actually had that conversation Adam you mentioned to him about well maybe treating one half acre the same anywhere there there's a one half acre and he actually rejected that notion um so so I thought it was a worthwhile conversation in that in that conversation he also referred to a a a study that he did that he gave to the board of adjustment on these issues and I'm wondering if we could have a copy of that study that he refers to on October 22nd I don't know if that's something you can get for or whether yansy could get that for the council yeah I can get that for you I will I will mention to you that the board was not enamored with the study um not because it wasn't excellent in its execution uh but because somehow it felt that Anglewood was in some way uh equivalent to other towns I mean Anglewood has its own zoning history and its own uh Dynamic and certainly the negative consequences U have to be considered I think the question before the board um is whether there are public benefits or whether there are benefits to having in the community okay and I think where I differed from the great denter was that I personally felt that there was a benefit to pools and I think Beyond just the private benefit of the owner and he did not feel there was any kind of benefit to it so uh the negatives are well understood and and we went out of our way to try to amarate those negatives by things like sound ding by screening okay by putting by requiring uh that pools be put it in the center line of a property not favoring one neighbor [Music] over uh one of the problems we had with pools and we had to read the negatives into ourselves not a problem one of the features of U hearing the pool applications is U the first and second Wards tend to be socially cohesive communities and people uh these These are communities that U have children go to school together um and share houses of worship and we observe there's a tendency not to object to neighbors applications and we reached a point where we decided that we simply had to call in we had to notice these objections on ourselves it could not depend upon what might occur in other towns where neighbors might come with you know torches and pitchforks uh over a neighbor's application that doesn't happen in these sections of town for the most part because of this cultural affinity and so we had to read between the lines because our objection our objective is not one to benefit one neighbor or another neighbor or to benefit one applicant or an objector we defend the zoning ordinance and we bring up issues even when no one brings them up so so that so you're you're quite right I'd be happy to share that with you um I I think what we were dissatisfied with in terms of the or of the ordinances in other towns was that they were overly focused on X feet here and Y feet there and uh did not focus on equities of the situation as one neighbor versus another or uh the fact that a property was up Zone substantially uh they just they were very they were probably ordinances been in effect for 20 30 40 years with in in lots that could ACC omate uh the pools so that I think that really was my was my issue uh with John thing that all being said the board of adjustment is not a legislature okay and we're not a legislature we're a court so and the reason I we I brought this poolish up to you poolish up to you is you guys have to decide during the master after the master planning or as participants in the master plan whether you wish to legislate okay so I'm happy to share this with you but that's the point that's that's the reason I'm discussing with you we were perfectly happy hearing all these cases and deciding Case by Case by the way I think we're still going to need to hear them Case by case I still think I looked at I looked cases and I would say 90% of what we looked at no matter what you do with the zoning ordinance we're still gonna hear it because there going to be some Quirk each one so I don't ever going to be in a time when we have no pool cases but all I'm asking is I think the city council should have some input into how we address them certainly the sound ding issue you can address certainly the uh Landscaping the screening you can address right um uh certainly the issue of fairness between neighbors is something you could address uh certainly you could say um that we think that if you if you depend upon us for giving you a benefit you know a zoning or a zoning variance or the pool's got to be no bigger than x you know people should not putting proposing Olympic siiz pools and coming to us for a variance right that doesn't seem particularly U appropriate but that's something that I think that you guys as the elected body of the city should uh consider thanks Adam thanks thank you I didn't mean to take this much of your time but I really no it's okay I it's very interesting um Lisa are you finished because Michael Wilds has something he would like like to ask yeah I'm finished okay thank you thanks Lisa uh Adam what a treat um I've come to really appreciate your service and the different hats that you've worn and it's a real treat to see the report and in today's um presentation as well um you're speaking uh significantly when you talk about downtown flexibility um what we thought uh would be appreciated was people living and sleeping in the city the last master plan artfully spoke that if the Mitchell Simon lot came on the Block we should try to put an apartment building there and things seem to be changing and the politics of development seem uh to be changing um I'm looking in structural terms on a few things number one I concur with you on the zoom I think it's for the more senior people on the boards it's the most convenient way for them to see all the plans and be able to do this from home um how can we create uh a more um Right of Confrontation as it would be for the public to feel that they are participating as much by Zoom as they would be in person in other words to me when we had the entire gallery like we have now with the public it gives the opportunity or the appearance um where you can read people's expressions and faces and and their po anticipatory parts of it seem to be more democratic than when we just have our panel there and we're removed from public um scrutiny as it were would you would you like my can I answer that one right off the bat Please We're Not A legislature okay and we're we're judges and we we basically um make a decision based on testimony of exp of of part of the participants and of their attorneys and their experts and our experts and we're really not particularly interested in seeing the facial expression of people sitting in the audience that's really not an appropriate uh thing for us and so in our sphere it's more it's a different role that you perceive and since it's a quasi judicial decision it has to be based on the merits of evidence that's put forward yes if people want to present evidence uh rather than a scowl uh they're welcome to come up and say and you know under oath well they can always come here to scowl if they need to so you talked also about social cohesion you know um being neighbor um you know being on the same kind of plane um we have to kind of keep in mind technology you conceded that the last master plan didn't deal with flooding we seem to have a hundred and a 500e storm every few years these days um I I would just urge you to play a role when we do get in the planning board up to the master plan when it comes to technology whether it's drone uh technology or other things that you think from meters parking meters and other ways for code enforcement and psng and all the things that kind of uh go into our property and our property rights and interests in the city to opine I think it highly important uh because that seems to be going light years ahead of us and just one final comment for your edification I keep interviewing new Talent uh for the different boards I think it's important um there there are people that leave our city or grow tired or get conflicted because of professional and personal challenges I just want to make sure you and I are on the same page about the nominations that I make to the governing body and so forth so that we never have a lapse in membership and participant participants yes well the most important thing mayor I think that on that issue would be that uh my the the perfect result would be appointments at the organizational meeting on January 3D so I spoke to you my intention is to renominate everybody uh that wants to serve and there are a few other people that confided in me that they may be moving forward so let's you and I make that happen then okay and I want to bring up the last thing about the technology we have we have two issues of course one is sustainability right whether we we build a town that we can that can uh that sustains itself that's going to be a bigger problem as time goes on but I think the real issue is going to be resilience which is how do we keep taking these hits that are not of our own causing and U not have a uh a a National Emergency in town every time we get a flood and this is not something we created okay we didn't put the Greco School under six feet of water and we didn't put 111 uh West Street underwater and we didn't put Westmore Gardens underwater and we didn't put um shoppr right underwater but somebody did okay some city government did uh because all of those were with the exception of shry were undeveloped until after World War II and there's a good reason why uh during 300 years of settlement of of Englewood never no one ever put anything there but previous councils and their wisdom did put stuff there and we're stuck with it and we've got to find some way that we can not have a we're going to get flooding again and again and again and one of the comments I I've observed one of the things I've observed in 40 Years of building how old am I excuse me 50 years is that when you have a major flood zone impervious coverage and perious coverage are exactly the same okay when the when the voids between uh rocks and soil and stones are filled with water uh there's no difference between a a grassy lawn and a pave driveway okay they all have the same runoff once they've reached saturation point the whole downtown is the whole hill is paved doesn't make any difference what's on it so that being the case if we're going to get more idas then the only way to really deal with this problem is is resilience in building a town that can sustain the hit you more CH more ways of piping the water out it may be we may be it may be yes and we may need places to detain water well we are working on that and I'm sure you're going to hear more and more from the council and excuse me from Bob Hoffman but anyway that's the best that's the best solution of all is to start to build a town that can take the head anyway once again pardon me for uh thank you so much for appearing before us by the way thank you guys for everything you do I really I do appreciate it it's hard work okay okay thanks good night Adam night okay we are going to now go to uh the approval of minutes we are going to deal with resolution 354 d11 D21 d23 which is the resolution accepting minutes uh do we have a motion oh can we hear what minutes were approving just want to confirm uh June 27th 2023 okay uh do we have a motion please no moved second I second uh any comments any comments from the council from Michael okay roll call councilman cup councilman Cup oh you're muted sorry yes councilman Rosen yes councilman Wilson yes councilwoman wiski yes council president Maron yes okay bills and claims excuse me everybody resolution 355 d11 D21 d23 this is uh to approve payment of bills and claims um do we have a motion no mov second you could take both of those seconded because it was two people who said so move well I'm not seconding I'm only moving we moved at the same time so it don't matter whoever okay will will one of you second yeah I second it don't worry okay great anyone have any comments or questions go ahead um on page four and and and I'm going to ask you in page seven uh this uh Atlantic Coast Recycling LLC um September's bill was 23960 uh 30 and we have one for 26,8 2570 in August and my question is to Mr Hoffman Mr Kaufman whoever like to answer this is that if we're gonna average somewhere in between like 24,000 a month which will put us close to about a little over 250,000 a year um did anybody kind of work up the numbers to see what this cost is and are there other ways to doing what we're doing here with this uh Atlantic Coast Recycling or cheaper methods cheaper ways do we have an answer Bob um the the answer the answer is of yeah this this is for the S single stream disposal um of our um of our recycling material um you know we've we've looked at it we're we're looking at it for budgeting are we budgeting the right amount for next year one of the ways to do one of the ways that we can ameliorate it or reduce it a bit is is to evaluate um is it um if we went to dual stream would there be would there be a lower cost but then you know that we we have to look at is the material clean and then what is it what does it do to our residents but um Mr cob to to answer your question we've been monitoring it um but we you know we don't have a definitive answer we you know um dual dual stream would wind up reducing the reducing some of the costs but um there's there's other factors that are involved so did we did we look at other um firms who do who do that do we look at other towns who do that as well to see if we could get a better price could we negotiate a better price with these guys I it's we haven't we haven't looked at other towns we haven't looked at a shared service with other towns if that was one of the one of your questions you know that's that's something we would probably do in the future but we have not approached um Atlantic you know the the the recycling company Atlantic Coast Recycling to see if we can get a better price um there are there are I believe two other uh competitors now and that you know that have um have additional capacity so we'll wind up looking at that but there there's going to be about um 8 million tons of capacity coming online with Atlantic coast and with other suppliers in the in the near future so that should help this is this is pretty this is pretty expensive this is a this will be a big budget item here and if we if we're going to continue with this price then we're going to have to look somewhere else to to to uh uh reduce some costs uh from us because this is almost 300,000 a year right now and uh who knows how it goes usually things don't get cheaper they get more expensive uh correct you know the the um the only thing we can do is we we know that there's going to be additional capacity that's coming online in the next 14 months and um you know we will be we will wind up talking to other uh to Atlantic Coast but also to some other um of other folks in the recycling business that now that will now have excess or additional capacity um yeah on on on on page six um we got something with the library sofa chairs removal $4,066 that's pretty expensive well yeah that was that was the removal of um 10 sofa chairs and other other desks you know other other furniture that um that was removed so it just wasn't the sofa chairs but there was there was 10 of them but yes that was that was something that uh you know it was T taken by their by the cleaning company and it was um it was disposed of so that was something that was that we questioned because I wanted to I wanted to know what you know what was it so well hopefully we got him some new furniture that's what I was one yes we did and this this this was broken tables and you know CD chairs and things like that that had outlived its useful life so M Mr VY didn't join us this evening did he I know okay um because I have some questions but I have one more question on page8 um at the top lsrp remediation and it looks like uh it's a fee we have three uh entries there one for 16715 one for 23,8 55 and another one for 10, uh $740 and the re remediation fees what was remediated I um Michael if you could check but I believe that there's there are wells that were there that um that have to be monitored for um you know for significant period of time so is is that yeah so Michael are you able to are you able to check on that yeah on yeah and one more question on the same page right below it um it says emergency repairs 10 locations [Music] 85284 yeah that's a new Prince Construction that's we went out to bid um to have a a Contractor on call so that they can if there's a pipe break or something like that that they can come and repair it so we've had uh the the engineer directs them so we have had collapsing sidewalks we've had them uh had to repair sanitary sewer lines storm water sewer lines in different locations around the city okay can we get can we get those locations and share that with the council members so they know so that uh they're asked any questions um by the residents they can answer the question sure what we'll do is we'll we'll get we'll get that the uh we'll get the information on the three lsrp um costs as as well as where new Prince has has been directed to make the repairs and we will send that out to the to the governing body one was the Anglewood the 23,000 was the Anglewood Police Department I don't fron would know exactly what happened over there um the other one was yeah I I think yeah if he if he knows just have him uh put an email together and also for um down below where we have um and which I didn't know um it seems like a lot West street Road improvements for 65,7 2016 and then we have below that Road program for 418,000 it just be nice to know where these things are taking place if we can have those details uh shared with the council members so that uh we know what particular work is going to be done or is being done or has been done thank you uh Kevin yes um did you give a quick explanation on the pilot agreement on page one uh for King Gardens housing for 31257 82 sure we the uh the city has to give 5% of all pilot revenues to the county so this is just 5% of the uh 2023 revenues that we receive okay and does that include um are we are we plowing is that part of the the percentage we get back for for not plowing in that area or are we plowing no nothing to do with that okay all right um and I see that on page two and I may have missed it uh the parking garage we paid for the PS and and so forth but I didn't see an entry for were we repairing new um our old cameras or putting up new cameras and painting did I miss that on here or has that not taken place yet Mr Offman no there are there are there are new cameras that are that are in there as well as the um the the new fire alarm system that had been that had been damaged um councilman what page was that on page well it's on page two but it was under parking in a garage and I figured that if the cameras were approaches that we might have had that on this list as well because I knew that was a Hot Topic yeah I think the cameras had been previous purchased and now they now they were installed but we'll we'll get we'll get the information and email it out to the council okay thank thank you for that Bob I appreciate it and uh if we go to um our holiday bags AR aren't our bags consistent or are we doing new designs for the meters the the holiday bags I believe this is this is um the covers that we're putting over it's um basically starting tomorrow uh through through Christmas the day after Christmas so that there's there's um people don't have to pay to park to people don't have to pay for the meters when they come I'm I'm familiar and thank you for that but I'm just asking we had some before and I'm just asking did we do a new logo or a new design I don't know the answer to that I I know I know that the bags were kind of seedy and we we ordered new ones but um okay well and and we had something on um uh page eight for the Sho repair for $2,935 [Music] And1 we we had discussed at some previous meeting in regards to training um that individuals that come out to repair our equipment in our parks and our and our sewers and so forth and our pumps um can that not be looked at again that we have our dpws take classes or get certified to to do these repairs is that out of our scope the um Michael if you could look this up uh councilman the the theoretical answer is no if this is a p if this is a piece of equipment this is something that our mechanics uh can can go to school um and and learn how to fix if this is is you know if if this is a you know something that's on a vehicle but I'm I'm just not sure if this is one of our um one of our pumps at a pumping station yeah it's on page eight halfway down right 2206 storm sanitary Improvement um because for from what I understand that these pumps are repaired within a couple of hours and that that just seems keep popping up every now and then and I think that $20,000 may be worth us looking at um repairing our own equipment yeah the materials cost uh $9,400 uh there was 53 hours of Labor and 27 hours of straight time and 27 hours of overtime so it was 81 hours of work you said 51 hours 53 hours of straight time and 27.75 hours of overtime so that's a total of 80 80 hours yeah now Michael was that was that was that for um Park McKay Park Pump Station okay so this was a stationary Pump Station councilman yes and I'm I'm just curious the overtime what is that for a weekend or something that it was an emergency they they gold in on a Saturday or Sunday or they they is they bill us after 5:00 is that what that how does that work I don't know yeah we'll get back to you I we don't I don't have access to that right now but um I'll make it I'll make a note so that was page eight I can tell you what it they uh I can tell you what it was in more detail they provide a labor to check problem with muffin Monster not working and to pull pump number one clogs performed wet well cleaning performed confined space entry and pulled and unclogged both pumps pulled and disassembled muffin monster found cartridge was defective bearings cleaned Inlet chamber and discharge pipe BR cartridge and pump back to shop for appears placed bearings disassembled pump mechanical and thank and thank you for the detailed itemized list thank you for that but I was just curious if we're paying an hourly rate how do we how do we work that into overtime I'm not I'm not following how that works it's there there yeah I guess their guys work overtime so they charge us do we have a contract with them a main agreement yes we do and that's and and and they doing us like that can we can we search around see right around you know if there are other people who do this that could be a little cheaper little bit little bit more because we have more than one pumping station in Anglewood and it's going to be used because there's a need so we we need to be able to be in a position where the maintenance on these things are are more frequent so then we don't have to pay these prices with overtime and all that other stuff so we may need to shop around how long how long and if we do have a maintenance agreement how long are we tied to this maintenance agreement yeah we we'll check I you know this is this is something that I think we went out to bid for recently but we'll check and get back to the council okay I I have a question I'm sorry Kevin have you got anything else no I think that's enough for me thank you I I want to ask about also on page two uh rudman's firm is charging us for something in the month of of September and since they're paid on an hourly basis seems a little unusual to have a number like this uh I don't know what they're charging for I would like to know what it's for it it's a lot of money it's almost $2,000 y okay I'll let I'll let I'll let you I I'll let you know tomorrow because I I have I have their uh their their file on my desk good because $1,835 can't figure that out 15,000 also seems extraordinary for one month but uh could you please let me know yeah okay anybody else we had we had some hearings and grievances but I I will I will let you know I'll let everybody know yeah Bobb I'm sure they worked it just seems like a lot of money anyway anybody else with any Ken yeah thank you uh Michael yes all so um you thank you for explaining the pilot payments earlier now is that for all Pilots or is it just specifically for these three properties that the county gets a 5% cut so we only have four Pilots so three one of them was in existence before we didn't renew it it's an old pilot that was in existence before the law came in effect so Westmore Gardens were not paying so the other three were paying and so all future Pilots would have a 5% payment to the county yes any new pilots would have 5% yes is there any similar obligation of new pilots to the school board no okay thank you do we have any more questions okay roll call YY uh councilman cob yes councilman Rosen yes councilman Wilson yes councilwoman wasi yes council president Maron yes okay we are now we have uh no ordinances for second reading now we're going to ordinances the in an introduction this is the first reading for ordinance 23-28 yansy you want to read that one uh this is an ordinance amending chapter 25 section 25-20 schedule 12 of the traffic and parking ordinance of the code of the city of Englewood for West Palisade Avenue from the monument to the T neck border thank you do we have a motion I need a motion no motion I'm sorry Kevin is that are you raising your hand no ma'am okay do I have a motion for this we have no motion I I I think we need to discuss this um no we will I think I believe we have to have the motion and then we have the discussion I think the problem is is that why I'm saying it is because we've had this thing come up twice already and um you know I think that the the ask was last time was let's discuss the specifics of this before we got to this point again and here we are again that's what I think so because I think there was it was some it was um were questions gray areas in terms of what does this mean uh did we line it up with the previous ordinance the parking on there uh on on the palace Avenue uh we we know something needs to be done because in order to sweep the streets we know that the signage is bad so we needed to know how how this lines up and it's not only that that you got two Wards involved you got the Third Ward and the fourth ward on each side so it it it's it's incumbent upon those folks to know that uh what we're what what's being attempted to do that's that's that's what I'm saying I think that this is why we have this problem here right now okay Bill can I ask you exactly what we should do with this if we want to uh what if you move the table it and put it on for the next wor session as a discussion item okay yeah can I just ask if if we can uh have a motion to table oh before you do Judith this is what is it doing from the monument to the tinic Border what's theas excuse me Michael the reason we're tbling it is so we can have more extensive discussion on it right now I'm just curious what the ordinance is looking to to enact in other words is it a traffic the the ability for DPW to sweep both sides of the street uh which is which in order to do it right now they have to go out and mark the street and give people notice to do that and and also with with that is the sign the write the proper signage and the ordinance have to line up so we do it once uh so we get it right okay now understand huh thank you Charles it wasn't sure over this silence now I understand it and one of the reasons why I wanted to table it before which we did was because there were people getting absorbing amount of tickets without clear marking of the signs right okay so I this is just for procedure we're going to uh have a motion to table and then at our next meeting we'll have more discuss just discussion on this well if I may yes if if the council has any questions um before then we're we're happy to answer them one of one of the requests um at the at the meeting was to show was to show a mockup of the sign so that's what's in that's what's in the packet packet right so so that's so that's been T it's been tightened up um there's been a couple of variations of the sign but this this is for the coun the council to consider um you know so if we can if we can do a discussion at the next meeting um but there's only two meetings left in the year so if the council wants to discuss it at the next meeting that's fine we would just wind up introducing it after the council's satisfied with it um after January because you you know you would have the introduction of the ordinance and then the adoption at the ne at the next meeting okay a point of order we can't uh we can't do uh bill I believe we can't can't carry it over you can't the year yeah you can't that's why we just uced in 2023 and adopt in 2024 correct but that's why you were saying we would have discussion at the next meeting so so it wouldn't not be introduced in December it would be introduced in in January I believe you were saying just so everybody knows which means it correct adopted in February but the de but the details can be ironed out at the next meeting because correct yes it would it would be on you got the north side you got the north side which is the third W side and you got the south side which is the fourth W side so you know the sign is has to be right on both sides of the street because it impacts the people how they're going to move their cars on on both sides of the street okay I I get a sense that we have agreement that we we should table this for more extensive discussion um right okay uh do I have a motion to table so move second second roll call sorry you're going a little fast for me uh councilman cop yes councilman Rosen yes councilman Wilson yes councilwoman wasi yes council president Marin yes okay ordinance 23-29 Deany want to read that please this says an ordinance of the city of Anglewood County of Bergen state of New Jersey to amend chapter 319 property registration of the general ordinances of the city of angelan okay uh do I have a motion bill can you what this is before we I we'll do that I just wanted I was just following procedure to get the motion in the second and then the discussion I don't care follow that okay can I just have a second and then we'll go to bill is there a second I second it all right bill would you like to explain this to us uh yeah yes this is uh we discussed this at a prior work session this is amending um the municipality the city's disorderly conduct ordinance um to no bill no that's the one before this is property registration this sorry 2029 2329 yeah this is the um we we have a ordinance on the books for property registration for properties in foreclosure and vacant and abandoned properties uh there was that was adopted probably 10 years ago um there was litigation over that not involving the city but elsewhere in the state and then subsequently the state legislature amended that statute to insert it made certain changes including uh the fees and fines that can be paid um clarifying who's responsible on the municipal end Cod and enforcement the city clerk and what have you for enforcing it and that um uh what's now before you then is essentially an amended ordinance um that pretty much mirrors the legislation that was adopted in 2022 I believe it was and was subject to challenge however that stuff has all been concluded now so this requires uh and responsible party for example is defined in the ordinance as the owner of a vacant or abandoned property or a mortgage company a bank A lender that is foreclosing on property uh that way it enables municipalities to have uh a warm body for lack of a better word to contact on behalf of a bank to say hey there's verman here it's in disrepair and it requires them when they do file the Foreclosure to register with the town so that the town and code enforcement can track it this does this give us teeth yes yes that's why we brought it up okay anybody else any comment sorry I was looking at the wrong device when you don't worry I got a quick question as you guys know that we had a um a incident next to the brook on uh West palate Avenue where where the city had to go out and get it cleaned up um and so how do we move forward for um continuous maintenance if they do not comply um there's a series of fines and they keep getting accelerated um or enhanced uh as it's uncured if a certain amount of time goes by that's unacceptable to the city the city can either through our own DPW or if necessary depending on the nature of the violation uh uh cure it and then uh put those costs back onto perhaps the bank in foreclosure or the vacant property owner if it doesn't get paid immediately it's a lean on the property that would earn interest until it's paid so that's Property Maintenance that would go to uh sites like uh Green Street and ingood Avenue in the corner there that would help inform them to keep it maintained it could yes any other question or can we have roll call roll call councilman C yes councilman Rosen wife yes councilman Wilson yes councilwoman wisotsky yes council president Marin yes thank you we're now ready for public comment on agenda items once again councilwoman one more oh I'm sorry how could I forget this ordinance 20 3-30 uh which is the disorderly conduct would you read the ordinance yansy the title this is an ordinance of the city of Anglewood County of Bergen state of New Jersey to amend chapter 307 Article 1 disorderly conduct of the general ordinances of the city of Anglewood okay do we have a motion I'd like to make a motion to table this Ordinance do we have a second second I second okay roll call sorry sorry I'm just writing councilman cob yes councilman Rosen yes councilman Wilson yes councilman wiski yes council president Marin yes thank you and now we come to public comment on agenda items uh once again we ask uh the members of our public to State their names their addresses and to keep their comments or their questions to three minutes if there is a question we will answer the question at the end of the public comments on agenda items Yancy would you call the people setting up my clock okay uh first one with their hand raised is Diane Janson please unmute Diane hi Diane 89 richin Terrace um my first question is on uh the resolution uh 358 cross Condo Association I do not see an attachment there so I do not know what that is in reference to and if you could explain that my next question is on 359 the appointment of a special counsel for Anglewood care one uh uh pardon me Anglewood Anglewood one uh the lawsuit and uh question is for bill is it possible that because there is a lawsuit that the builders do not want to proceed with the overlay Zone uh since it could put them in a precarious situation thank you very much thank you Diane jcy is there anyone else no no one else has their hand raised all right bill could you answer U you want to close the public portion first close the public portion I could okay um close the public portion okay I am closing the public portion and and just to address uh Miss janson's comments with respect of 358 uh the Cross Creek um in New Jersey there's something called the qualified Municipal Services act which is where municipalities um do not provide for example snow plowing garbage removal leaf removal Recycling and lighting for qualified Community Association which is typically a Condominium Association the municipality in lie of providing this service can reimburse them for the costs that the condo association actually incurs or what the municipal cost would have been uh had the municipality perform those Services whichever is less so historically the city has had uh as long as I've been around um agreements with Cross Creek and some other condominium units which will be coming up soon as well uh for this uh cross Creeks res excuse me cross Creeks expired December 31st 2022 and uh our Auditors our CFO uh went through their actual expenses and then did an analysis of what it would cost the city to do and uh made a recommendation in terms of what the municipal cost would be previously Cross Creek the reimbursement was $145,000 a year it's come down a little bit um I'm speculating but probably due to a decrease in snow removal given the uh relatively mild we've had of late so our Auditors came up with a calculation uh and that figures $140,000 in change so it's a little bit lower per year and it would be a three-year agreement part of the delay in getting to this was uh minici palities aren't obligated to pay for all the lighting on the premises just for the street lighting and uh I know there was a lot of difficulty getting that information from public service to allocate it just to the street lights uh not for the entire lighting for the uh development so that's what that is um the next item 359 special counsel um yeah it has nothing to do with the builders or anything it's just to um authorize uh Mr buac firm uh to continue a special counsel for the city and to defend the city in that case uh and file the answer thank you Bill okay uh we now move to resolutions this is the consent agenda we have resolutions 356 to 362 do I have a motion so move do I have a second second I I'd like to I'd like to uh pull 362 and vote on it by itself okay I'm assuming we can just do that yeah can okay okay we're pulling 362 but we're this has to do with 356 to 361 roll call councilman cup yes councilman Rosen yes councilman Wilson yes councilwoman wiski yes council president Maron yes all right we're now moving on to Communications 362 I'm sorry okay um I just wanted okay ask Char uh we're now voting on 362 d11 D21 d23 uh Charles would you like to read read that um yes a resolution recognizing dmhs football team for winning the Super Football Conference Ivy division championship terrific do we have a second do we have a motion yes I make a motion do we have a second Charles okay yany roll call counc yes councilman Rosen yes councilman Wilson yes councilwoman wiski yes council president Marin yes and congratulations to our terrific athletes proud of you yep and they coaches and the coaches and the team managers and everybody who's invol everybody had anything to do with it we applaud you yep okay we had now are going to move on to uh communication ations from the governing body and the city manager we'll start with mayor WS thank you thank you council president good evening everybody election results congratulations to 37th legislative district state Senator Gordon Johnson and Assembly women uh shemma haer and Ellen Park on their re-election as well as to englewood's First W councilman Dr Rosen swag on his reelection and third W councilwoman elect Angela David I thank Angela for her service on the angood board of education and look forward to working with her for the betterment of our city as a councilwoman we are also fortunate to have an active and accessible representatives and I'm pleased to see that they receive the support that they needed to recognize their service uh the city Thanksgiving schedule is posted we want to just uh remind everybody the Inwood City Hall offices will close at 2 p.m. on Wednesday November 22nd will be closed Thursday November 23rd and Friday November 24th for the Thanksgiving holiday trash collection will be suspended on the 23rd and 24th resuming with the regular schedule on Monday the 27th uh I caution everybody uh with Thanksgiving travel the TSA anticipates an extremely busy Thanksgiving travel uh season this week n next with the highest number of people flying since 2005 Airline Travelers are urged to take advantage of early online check in to utilize Airline websites mobile apps to monitor flights and to arrive in ample time to give thorough uh to give time to potentially long security lines as always if you see something say something that looks suspicious immediately notify at TSA and other Public Safety agents Ang Wood's bakeries have been recognized congratulations to all uh our due also for Ang Wood's own baltazar Bakery and DOL de sister store in West New York for being named to new jersey.com list of new Jersey's top bakeries our city is home to some of the finest shopping and cuisine in the area I urge everyone who has not yet had the Inwood experience to visit and to see all that is enjoyed a special thank you also to Flat Rock Brook after 50 years it's anniversary at history day looking back at the history of its cherished long nature preserved learning not about its different uses that it went through but as well as those that it would like to in the future ultimately we're very fortunate at to have this beautiful tract of open space rather than an apartment City Rock Quarry or gun range those were all the things that were suggested thank you again to executive director Steven Weisner along with his predecessors and all of the other board members volunteers and supporters who have helped maintain this very special piece of our city and finally the city of Anglewood is currently running a survey to allow residents to give feedback on city parks the survey is available at the city of Anglewood Facebook page please take a few minutes give us your opinion on the state of the city parks and how we can better serve the community's needs uh for the rest of an update on englewood's um latest news and how it affects you join us every Friday on the city of Ang Wood's Library Facebook page where we have a virtual coffee uh with the mayor I wish everybody a meaningful time with your families uh and may God bless our city and all of its residents in this Thanksgiving week thank you thank you m M uh councilman at large Charles Cobb thank you good evening and I just like to thank everybody who's listening to this virtually um f first I'd like to start off by congratulating our football team and uh becoming champions of the ivy league I think it's important that people understand what it means to become a champion you know that will go with those young men um for the rest of their lives but more importantly when I looked at this football team and I looked at the people who are involved you know you have young men you have these coaches and then you have Team managers that consists of some young ladies as well and it's truly uh at the leadership of Joseph H Jr uh that has really brought this home he he has a family affair you know his daughter is one of them managers as well and his wife they work in the concession stand so he has his whole family involved but I kudos to the parents kudos to the players kudos to the the the student athletes on on that team that have come there and they have represented the city and that's what we come to expect you know whether they bring home a championship or not but they have represented the city in the right way so I appreciate each and every one of those young individuals along with the coaches wives mothers parents fathers and all that's involved but also we have uh a socer team of young ladies who are also Champions League champions at Dore high school so something's in the water once again andle that we're we're doing it right we we have kids that are being successful student athletes that that are working really hard um and so this is really shining a light on those programs up there and then we have a 16 under baseball team led by Steve barriel and a bunch of other gentlemen that they were tournament champions uh so you know our young people are are really representing this city and they should be applauded you we often time talk about all the bad things that are going on but these are some of the good things that are going on that we can all be proud of with this stuff um getting on so I just wanted to uh lift that up one of the things that I I think think is important I I want to address again is this we keep hearing about this affordable housing thing and I I will continue to tell people that the city's position is the right position we continue to do that and we continue to make ways to make this right for the city and and people can feel comfortable about our positions because our positions are to defend you and we're advocates for you and we are going to continue to do that um again nobody's losing their home again we still have control of our zoning as Mr Brown said earlier and and he's part of one of the the stewards of of the zoning so again we we're going to continue to work hard we're going to continue to keep you informed about what's going on about that so and we're going to take all the measures as possible to to make sure that things work out uh for us um so with that being said what what what what I'd like to close in is just saying that I want to wish everybody a a healthy safe Thanksgiving and take some time to to just spend some time with your family there's a lot going on in the city of Anglewood a lot of things that need to be addressed but you know spend some down time with your family get re-energized come back and let's continue to do the good work uh to move this city forward thank you thank you very much Charles um first W councilman uh Dr Kenneth Rosen swag hi uh thank you good evening everyone um I'd like to uh uh thank the residents of the First Ward for putting their faith in me for another term uh I greatly appreciate it and never take it for granted congratulations to Angela David who I look forward to working with on the council next year um on November 12th I had an opportunity to participate in the two parks in one day program um I was there uh for the first Park Mars Park which is a hidden Jewel in town as part of the program uh participants put stakes in different areas of the park of things that they liked or things that could be improved and um there were many stakes in the ground that I couldn't even really get to them all the park is after all about five acres uh so very very successful program and congratulations uh uh to Dr wasi and the ruter team for organizing that uh congratulations again uh uh to the football team on their championship and I wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and safe travels thank you Ken um Lisa second ward council woman Dr Lisa waski hey thank you um so first of all I want to congratulate our our football team our girls soccer team and our 16u baseball team on on their success um I want to congratulate Senator Gordon Johnson Assembly women shamah haer and Ellen Park and of course Ken Rosen councilman Ken Rosen swi and and Angela David on winning the third W Council seat I look forward to working with her I want to thank thank everyone who came out to participate in the two parks in one day um event um you know I spoke afterwards with um Professor wolf wolf from Hofer about it uh he's the professor from Ruckers who is leading our strategic Vision plan and he was pleased with the turnout he was pleased with the data that he received and he will be um we will be having a meeting with the Strategic uh committee on December 11th and he will brief us at that point about that I want to remind everybody to please complete the community survey just yesterday we've gotten a few hundred responses yesterday alone we got 70 responses 70 responses um I was telling uh some of my fellow Council people that 45% of the responses are from the second ward so we need to we need to get responses from the entire city I did send an email to all my Council colleagues today uh with the links please share it with the residents in your ward with your neighbors or just with residents anywhere in Anglewood and um we're doing a big push over the next few weeks to get as many responses as we can I'd like to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving thank you very much Dr Quadski um fourth W councilman Kevin Wilson Kevin you're muted sorry about that good evening everyone um thank you for taking the time out during this busy holiday season to zoom in with your counsel I too would like to give a hearty congratulations to the coaches the staff the parents the districts of the varsity football team the baseball team and the soccer team kudos to you guys great job um you you're making it difficult for people to follow but that's always good to have a good goal for people to shoot for um that are coming behind you so congratulations to the programs uh my condolences to the place family during this difficult time of the holidays uh heartfelt condolences go out to you guys and we've been having some situations in our Ward and throughout the city of abandoned cars and so I I've got to say that if in fact that you see something that you call the proper authorities um we don't make these rules where people can park without a state plates and it's okay and if we do not know we cannot Rectify any of those situations so please advise the proper authorities I had the pleasure of uh attending the Veterans Day at Depot Square which is the Veteran Park now um and that was a beautiful ceremony so I salute you Veterans for all that you've done all that you continue to do thank you for your services uh I also congratulate uh Ken you're in for you're in for another one um you must like it so kudos to you happy that you won um and miss David uh if you're listening congratulations um you're going to have some big shoes to fill uh Judith is moving on to probably bigger and better things um thank you for all that you've done Judith and helping with the communication with me as I was coming on in a new freshman I don't take it lightly Judith so thank you for um for for guiding me if you will uh to the Ruckers Community I had the opportunity I think it's three weeks now to meet as they were walking through McKay Park and we actually had a student that is from Inglewood and so as I shared with them is that as we get older it is so important that we interact with the Youth of the adults of the future because they have their finger on the pulse of technology and things that they would like to see so thank you for those that that that helped bring that program here it's going to prove to be instrumental and I look forward to working with you guys and learning a lot uh for those of you who are celebrating enjoy yourselves be mindful of your surroundings as you shop and enjoy the holidays thank you very much Kevin um I guess it's my turn now and uh uh as I come closer to to the end of my participation on the council um I want I just would like to thank my fellow councilmen and the mayor um just for uh being who they are giving of themselves and caring so much about our city and I'll have more to say about that when I get to the last meeting tonight I just would like to say this because I hope people will realize that uh I am not running for office I am telling you uh what I'm about to say is because I care so deeply about this city um I'm going to talk about affordable housing not for a long time I have always appreciated each person's right to have their own opinion about anything uh I think it's very important to have your involvement whatever we're doing we're in a situation now where those people that are fighting and and are very upset about the overlay uh have an opportunity to work with the planning board on the renewal and the revision of the existing master plan I think if you heard the beginning of our meeting uh Adam Brown spoke about adding sections on affordable housing and on flood abatement and once that is being worked on by the uh the planner that the that the plan board will hire to guide them this is your opportunity to review whatever has gone before this has to be done and we need the community's involvement in the renewal of this master plan it must be done um now what I'm saying to you is in response to the two lawsuits that have been filed against the city now once again I sit here representing the Third Ward but also our city these lawsuits and um Diane jansson mentioned she wanted to know what that uh resolution was the hiring of attorneys what these lawsuits are doing is forcing the city to defend itself which means hiring attorneys the only people that are going to benefit from these two actions are the attorneys this these lawsuits and the fact that we have to go to courau on these two issues is going to cost every citizen in Anglewood money this money will come from somewhere and it will be from programs that we cannot afford because we are paying litigation costs that are totally unnecessary and I'm just going to backtrack for one minute all of you who don't agree with what has been done which is your right have an opportunity to keep their eye on on the revision and the renewal and the addition to our master plan this is where your efforts should be this is where the change can be made so I am appealing to your sense of fair play and caring about this city to think about that these this litigation is costly and is unnecessary you will have your a chance to be heard when all of the hearings begin for the revision and the renewal of our master plan which will be done by the planning board those are the meetings you should be attending anyway thank you Bob our city manager all right um thank you council president and good evening everyone I'm pleased to report that at our next meeting December 5th will be an inperson meeting uh work has now been completed on the new microphone system the recording system and the audio visual system it was completed last Friday November 17th and there the training is scheduled for next Friday December 1st so that the the system will be we will be able to operate the system and our our first meeting using the new microphones uh will be on December 5th so we're looking forward to that and then our meeting after that is December 19th um the city today uh hired four new police officers lateral transfers um these officers are are bilingual two speak Spanish one speaks Turkish and one speaks Arabic uh they will be at the meeting on December 5th so that they the governing body will be able to meet and greet them their bios will be sent out to the governing body uh but uh we we will be welcoming officer Juan capellan we will also W welcome officer Kevin burito officer Muhammad deatti and then officer wasam salame um two of our officers have received um training for Crisis Intervention all have received uh received awards from their their current departments the um uh we're also looking ahead that on January 24th 2024 the uh City will be holding a written exam for a for the police department for the police test as of Monday the 20th as of yesterday we had 55 uh people that had signed up to take the test so those who take the test uh and pass will then be scheduled for a Physical Agility Test and then um the uh they this the candidates will then go through um other batteries ATT test and the goal is to have the background checks done and have candidates ready to attend the July 24th uh the July 20 24th uh Bergen County Police Academy class and then uh they will be able to graduate in in December and then have training three months of field training and then they will be uh be be released to be on patrol by March of 2025 so that is that is our our goal we have we are um we have retirements and things like that that are that are occurring but longer term our goal is to be able to have um a valid list where our Englewood residents would have priority on the list and then we would we would have a continuous list so that we would be able to hire in the future from that list um also on October 23rd the police department began a pilot program with social workers so the program is called arrive together it's the arve together initiative it's a grandf funded program where we have social workers that are are riding with the police for 16 hours a week and that they they're able to help when there are behavioral health issue calls that come in and so far the the results have been very positive U year-to date our Dispatch Center has seen an increase of 13.8% in the number of calls that uh that have come in so that's an additional 5,610 calls over 2022 for the same period of time in 2022 we had 40556 calls this year for the same period of time we're up to 46,6 calls on Thursday November 30th uh and this goes to some of the items that were talked about by uh by councilman C um chairman Brown for the zoning board and the mayor um on Thursday November 30th the city will hold a bid opening for responses to the master plan RFP so um we look forward to the planning board evaluating the responses and then selecting a planner who will Begin work in early January on the city's update to the master plan uh as of um a week ago we had 16 planning planning firms that had uh asked for and received copies of the RFP packet our new Mac electric garbage trucks are now scheduled to be delivered in March of 2024 and the reason is there was a three-month delay because Mac is part of part of the United Auto Workers Union and there was a three-month strike so the the um the trucks will begin their um will um the the the trucks will once again start start um on the line next week so they're partially built but they will be they will be finished so the strike was settled last week and and we're looking forward to to having the trucks come the next couple of days the forecast calls for heavy rains and wind so our DPW has been out checking catch basins and picking up leaves as quickly as possible but um please help us by making sure that leaves are not blocking drains and this will help prevent ponding or flooding as we move forward and then as uh councilwoman wasoski mentioned and so did the mayor we have the community Parks survey uh so please participate in that as of 11:30 this morning we had 288 complete responses to the survey and this will help the city evaluate the parks programs in the future and how how uh how our fund should be spent and then on behalf of everybody on the city staff I want to wish a happy and healthy and safe Thanksgiving to to all who are listening thank you thank you so much okay we're now um at the point where um we are opening the meeting to the public session where our uh who our attendees have an opportunity to speak uh ask questions uh comment uh if there are questions we will attempt to answer them when everyone has spoken uh please give us your name your address you will have three minutes Yancy you're you're muted I just realized uh first one in Q is Amy Bullock please unmute good evening Amy Bullock howand Avenue um a couple of things I want to run through very quickly um at a prior meeting I asked about these first draft ordinances um being included in the agenda with just the title and could we please include the draft of the ordinance um it would be helpful for the community to understand what the goal is we understand what a draft is we will understand that it's not permanent but I think the right thing to do in the spirit of transparency is to include the draft ordinance in the agenda there's no legal reason why you can't can't it is done in other municipalities um so I'd like to to hear what what the issue is with that I also asked the question whether or not the city has an ordinance or resolution on record regarding nepotism cronyism and political patronage I would like an update on what's happening with the Taylor Bliss house Liberty school um are we working through an sop for the recreation department and the Board of Education for uh shared services so to speak whether it be the pool the junior football team or whoever um curious as to why we're approving minutes from June and November and I've heard the question asked a couple of times to the planning board Andor the board of adjustment if they've gotten calls from developers but no one has asked the residents if they've gotten calls from the developers and I can tell you we get mailers we get text messages and we get calls um so calls are happening they're starting on the ground with the people who actually own the property the city doesn't own the property there's no need for them to engage with you if they can't get the property um the last thing I want to say on a very different note is I had the opportunity today to attend a a screening at the uh Consulate of Israel in Manhattan today um to to view some of the footage from Hamas body cams and uh some of the victim's phones and I want to say that I've made the statement before that I I unequivocally stand against terrorism and I'm gonna say it again in any form I will continue to be an advocate for innocent victims who are whose lives are either ended or impacted by terroristic acts whether those acts have happen across the world or right here at home because we do have terrorism here at home and the African American Community understands that very well um I think as a city we need to focus on fighting terrorism whether it's at home or abroad and we need to be United in that because the victims it doesn't matter what side of the tracks they're on a victim is a victim and that's who we should be working to um to support in these situations regardless of who what when where why how race Creed religion economic status victims of terrorism deserve our our support thank you I look forward to the answers to my questions thank you Amy okay uh next is it just says Zoom user please unmute yeah Rick Wilby can you hear me yes yeah yeah you know I I want to be clear on what's going on here not just only the terrorism that Amy Bullock referenced abroad but at home you know thank you Kevin for acknowledging Bernard placed and what his family's going through uh I had the privilege of being on a zoom with some Palestinians and the esteemed Dr Norman uh finklestein who's the author of the Holocaust industry and you know within the context of the occupation from 1948 up until 2023 it's easy to identify who the terrorists are the terrorists are the United States of America that funds an occupation and gives them all the means to annihilate a civilian population the UN Security Council has said that the Palestinians are occupied and they have the right to self-defense I asked Dr finlin this question and he answered that a lot of these young men have witnessed Terror at the hands of the occupation and have grown up in an open air concentration camp and have done what anybody else would do if they had no other alternative to preserve their life the death count is up to 15,000 right now half of those are children many of the people that were on the zoom were Jewish voices per piece that were clear that a lot of them were Holocaust Survivors and when they said never again they meant never again for nobody it is a shame that the baby killers and zionists on this Council continue to ignore some of you guys are doctors you continue to ignore the doctors that are being killed in Gaza the reporters that are being killed in Gaza the children babies men women elderly that are being killed by terrorist criminals from all over Europe talking about they're indigenous to a land that they occupy because of a British mandate shame on you all that want to talk about your standing with somebody we don't stand with evil we don't stand with oppress we don't stand with criminals we don't stand with white supremacists we don't stand with Nazis we'll be very clear about the Palestinian issue and the rights of those Christians and Muslims and Jews that do not want nothing to do with a Zionist ethnostate that wants to do what the k Klux Clan aspired to do to have a Homeland for white supremacy cuz that's all it is and again then we will be very clear about our support for Gaza from The River To The Sea Palestine will be free thank you Ricky next it says greats sun1 yahoo.com please unmute thank you very much Council and good evening to the council and good evening to all who are present if you do not mind I'd like to be a point of personal privilege Shakespeare once said take and when he shall die take him out and cut him out like little stars and he will make the heaven of face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night I say this to open my remarks because I come on a point of grief in tribute to a man who believed in the value of peace and life and he came from humble beginnings in Japan in 1928 as a son of a fisherman of seaweed later on a life-changing alternative event took place that made him question everything his brother was killed during World War II in Burma and then he began to have a life-altering encounter with a man who would change his life through the value of Buddhism named Jose TOA he was introduced to the practice when he was 19 and he began a journey to promote the genuine aspect of Peace at that time the doctors told him that he would not live past 30 but because of his faith in Buddhism in the n school of Buddhism and so much more he would live for nine decades traveling the globe meeting with leaders writing books including one that would Chronicle his journeys the new Human Revolution I speak about the man whom I mourn with profound Sadness the man who was the leader of a group called The Society of creating value daaka who on November 15 2023 entered transition to the next level if it wasn't for him and the movement to bring this great philosophy of Buddhism you and see me standing here today speaking to you directly or being able to lead my community towards a betterment of of the United States and Anglewood or anywhere to promote dialogue and peace through life he was a man who fought so hard and gave his life so that we could be the peacemakers the game changers and the Earth shakers I am proud to stand here today as one of those many disciples who believe in the power of this great philosophy my friend Brenda is among them my mother as well and we all stand in mourning for This brilliant man who we lost there will be a memorial to celebrate his life this Sunday and I ask any way that a tribute of some sort be given to his life through the council or through the mayor in any way shape or form thank you very much thank you Chris okay uh next in line is Diane Jansen please unmute hello hello Diane Jansen um the first question is again for uh our attorneys and uh councel uh I believe with respect to affordable housing round four um a number of towns I know are working together they filed a suit in the appell division against the state and the governor to compel uh them to nominate members to coach uh W or to that is to reconstitute coach which is the Council on affordable housing the towns that are participating in this are chadam Clinton Greenwich Lebanon saddle River and Westfield and the oral argument is currently scheduled for December 12th 2023 in Trenton how will this affect us can we be a party to this um because right now this affordable housing formula let's face it it's 80% market value this is a builder remedy as far as many of us are concerned so that's point one uh point two is I agree with planning board Vice chair Marin with respect to pools in undersized Lots not having the lot size needed for a pool is not a hardship I also feel that with the inordinate number of pools in WS one and two and the lack of pools in WS three and four that that has truly created another unintended divide between the private sector and the public The Have and the Have Nots we have a community pool and that has prison type toilets in the ladies room that's not acceptable come on so you know if all of us were using the pools would we have prison type toilets in the ladies roomp so I just raised that uh number three uh we're only online for the park survey we that's really not acceptable um number four hybrid meetings uh I don't know what we're putting into uh City uh into the municipal court but we really need to look at uh tck Council and how they do wonderful hybrid meetings they were able to do it uh during their tense time when they were doing the peace and unity uh uh ordinance and hackin Sack Community Center if they can have Hightech hybrids why can't we and then lastly Judith Maron thank you for your service and most of all thank you for heading up the purchase of 47 Brooke and preventing it from being developed and putting people In Harm's Way thank you for making it the the oh just thank you I you know something was done right and we're so happy to to uh uh thank you for that H with much gratitude I know all the residents of Anglewood uh feel that this sets a precedent for future development thank you Diane okay next is Alita felle please unmute can you hear me yes okay I just wanted to quickly say um Alita friselle Fairfield Street Inglewood New Jersey and I attended the um Park event the mors park piece I've lived uh in the third w for more years than I want to admit and uh I did not know about moris Park I had a girlfriend that lived right uh up the street on Mars Avenue and I did not know about Mars Park I did come out to um the first half uh one was Crystal Lake and the other was Mars part um I found that the it was well organized thank you Dr Lisa wasoski for that um it it was unique in that they had students that uh distributed cards um for the residents and the residents would write on the card what they liked about the par what they disliked and any recommendations they had and then the students would put like a stake in the ground and place that card in the Stak um so I just wanted to um thank you for that and say that I enjoyed it immensely and uh also got the email um with the survey that's it okay thank you okay uh next is Sarah strowman please unmute I wondered when I was gonna go on uh Sarah strowman 72 West Hudson so I took a break from Anglewood politics because it's as exhausting as ever and I wanted to join tonight specifically to reflect on Anglewood and the direction the city's taken especially in light of the global political scene since we feel like we need to voice our opinions in that realm um before I get there I want to address what was discussed earlier by Adam Brown and also councilman Cobb in regards to recycling so I am an ex Environmental commissioner and I am always disappointed by the council but I am extremely disappointed by the council now um I'm very much caught up on the overlay situation and I'm baffled that City coun that the city council would completely disregard its constituents but based on the topics that have come up which I'm going to talk about I'm not surprised and I wonder how much the environmental commission has been involved or will be involved because when I was on the commission we met in city hall and then we got moved into the library and now I think they just zoom calls and I think everybody just sort of thinks the environmental commission doesn't do anything or care about anything and really recycling is important it's part of the climate change issue so if we're going to talk about cutting a budget of $20,000 for recycling then what are the alternatives to reduce the waste stream that is something that is very important that impacts soil and erosion and flooding and all of the other issues that get baled up into this conversation but seem to be passed along as separate entities so that needs to be addressed um the other thing that I wanted to talk about was how in the city council meeting last month everybody talked about how Anglewood is such a A diversity and Diane actually just mentioned about the pool situation and divisions in the city and I find Anglewood to be a very segregated City and I mean yes we want to talk about diversity when it's convenient and we want to give ourselves pats on the back but um when we actually have to talk about diversity and inclusion uh it's doesn't actually come up so the mayor already knows this because I attended a zoom call a few weeks ago and I criticized his use of language on the situation that's going on in what is known as Palestine um I will not engage with the mayor in a private phone call because I do believe that this conversation requires everybody in the city of Anglewood there are people that do not stand with Israel I am one of them and I am okay saying that I am okay declaring it I am not being anti-semitic I do not need to denounce anything I just need to make sure that everybody here understands that this conversation has destroyed any sense of equity or community in this town and everybody jumped into a resolution and everybody spoke out and nobody actually talk to the constituents in this town except for a certain group of people so when wait is it the time three minutes up yeah sorry thank you thank you uh no one else has their hand raised oh oh sorry one more oh no he had his s raise but he lowered it he raised it again you want to try it it says hoil uh please unmute yes good evening City counil i' like to uh present this question to the council the mayor City attorney William Bailey and the city manager could we please have your a name and address for the record okay I thought she said my name Joseph ho Elmore Avenue Eng Lord thank you Mr Hoy the City attorney and the city manager uh with regards to the four police transfer that were hired today I'd like to know uh what standing did these officers have on a current ordinance that's on record in the city of ingwood that gives preference to ingwood Residents and is this hiring in violation of the ordinance and I'd like to know why we're ignoring that ordinance as well okay is there anyone else who uh would like to speak oh is Mr Hoy done Mr O are you done well as soon as we close we will answer his question thank you uh Zoom user raised their hand again but we're only allowed to speak once sorry okay is that it yep that's it okay so we we will now uh we will now close the public session we have answers now to the questions that were asked uh Bob you want to deal with the whatever you would like the uh there were several questions um sure I'll I'll start um Miss bulock asked several several questions she asked about draft ordinances in the agenda um you know if that that could go um you know that that that's been a a policy of the of the city that um final ordinances are are are put out to avoid confusion um not not draft ordinances because they are they um several you know they they have the ability to be changed so we don't want to have confusion um there was also a question that was asked about is there a resolution on nepotism I I um I don't know the answer off hand we'll look but we are redoing our employee handbook and we can we can look tomorrow tomor but I'm I'm not sure I'm not sure of that answer um there was another question about um the tlor Bliss house uh there is a you know just an update on the Taylor Bliss house I know that there's work that's being done on the Taylor Bliss house um to to button it up and to um uh uh make it ready to become a museum and and an office the um of I'm not sure what else what else to say about the Taylor Bliss house at the moment um the uh there is also a question about Liberty school and what what we can say is that their Engineers have recently gone through there to um to make sure that it is structurally sound and they will be providing a report uh to the city in the near future uh there was another question about um Recreation shared services if does the recreation department have shared services with the school district um so the theoretical answer is yes there is uh this the city through the through the rec department requests um use of uh use of Board of Education fields and other other facilities uh for for different Recreation groups and and programs um and of there was a question about the pool so the governing the governing body has discussed um renewing leases for the pool and there is some work that needs to be done um on uh I I I guess on um on identifying um retaining walls and things like that that will help protect the pool pools in the future of and then um that's those are the questions Miss Miss bulock talked about going to the Israeli consulate and uh looking at video footage of the October 7th terrorists strike um I I add of the October 7th but um and that she stands against any form of terrorism which is which is very commendable uh Mr Wilby spoke um he St stated his his opinion um he's entitled to his opinion um everybody is uh nobody wants to see children killed he had meent he had stated that uh half of the half of the children half of the casualties in in in uh in Gaza were children that were killed um uh you know I will just say the United States is not a terrorist organization but everybody's entitled to their own opinion in you know Mr Mr wilby and and others um there was a the the gentleman um with the email address of greaton one commented um a revered leader who died at age 95 he was a um a a member of the of the Buddhist sect and there's a memorial service on Sunday November 26th um Miss Johansson provided uh talked about 12 towns or several towns that are are suing the state and the governor about uh about the Council on affordable housing and to make sure that uh people are appointed so that COA uh the COA um office can be reactivated and we can have Kaa um um articulate the the rules that all of the all of the municipalities have to follow and not not the courts so um that's something that would be welcomed by almost every municipality in the state and then um we'll put on our list I'm I don't remember going into the ladies to the ladies room but she was talking about um the toilets in in the women's room at at some of our community pools and then looking at the looking at hybrid meetings for tenek and yes we we will do that to see since we now have new technology whether that works and that was very nice of her to um to provide um kind words to to you council president for the the work that you've done um as council president and also for the purchase of 47 Brook Avenue um Miss strowman talked about uh recycling how important recycling is um Mr H made uh asked questions about the police transfers and what's the standing with the ordinance the city uh that the ordinance was not violated we are actively looking for um future police officer candidates um to come from Englewood just as we did for the fire department uh there is a provision for lateral transfers and um that's what the city that's what the city used um and you know our our ultimate goal is to uh to Serve and Protect protect the residents um Madam pres can I just add just a couple real quick things absolutely with Mr HW thank you yes um just in terms of Mr hoy's comment I just want to note uh I'm not involved in the labor we have special labor Council I I know a little bit about labor but I know enough to know what I don't know so there's another attorney that advise the city on that um in terms of Miss bulock also mentioned patronage uh we have one of the strictest payto playay ordinances on the books in the state um however a few months ago the state legislature uh passed law um basically preempting all local ordinances with respect to pay to play just as a point of information and Miss Jansen um I would just note the attorney handling that case is a guy by the name of Jeff seran who coincidentally is is partners with Mr buac so we can get some information on that as well in terms of uh if there's an interest to participate in that that's just all I wanted to add thank you very much I have a question if I may um and this is just uh I guess for the city manager or for the attorney although he ConEd he was an expert on the labor issue um when the police department hires laterally because they're all trained and ready to move in um is is that is the assumption that we're deriding an ordinance or we have the ability at our fingertips to do a few things in order to find officers Mr Hoffman the answer is we have the we have the ability to do a few things and we had looked um of through the through this this process to see if there would be if there was um Anglewood residents that wanted to make a lateral transfer but that was that was not the case we have we have some needs uh but the that that needed to be filled we have we have retirements we're going to have more retirements coming up but you know make no mistake about it the long-term plan just like with the fire department is to have a valid list that we can go through and have Englewood residents serve serve this city um we had this had been talked about previously um in in close session but our we are um after our our class in January um there there is there is still a long a long lead time but this is you know our goal ultimately is not to is not to have lateral transfers in the future our goal is to is to have valid lists that we can that we can use that would have Inglewood residents first and then Bergen County residents and just just go through it that that would that would behoove us to then dig into our high school and if there's a path for law enforcement to encourage uh the high school students who then want to go maybe to John J or to criminal justice and then to you know to kind of incentivize them to stay within our system and within our city so you I'd love to see that now that we have what I believe a talented superintendent and yourself seated that we delve into creating that inventory that constituency of homebased law enforcement whether it's our finest our bravest our Public Works and so forth a lot of kids don't want to go to college and they're interested in the science of police work and so forth so again to the extent that we have to protect our residents and use all tools accessible to us I'd like to see that initiative in the coming years yeah the the superintendent there's a list of 31 um different positions in the city that um we can work with the high with the high school line and we're we're looking forward to doing that good thank you Charles Charles yeah I I I I have a question and I I want an answer I you know I didn't know that we were h Hing anybody till tonight till we got there you know so um again and I think I've said this before is that it shouldn't be a secret to us we shouldn't have to learn at the meeting that we've hired four police officers and they're gonna be sworn in a different day I I I I think that that is not the way we should be operating like that bring it to the council after these people have been hired because you know there's a whole process that takes place I rail against that I am not happy about that I'm and and and I'm talking about the process you know tell tell us okay we got some candid this is what we're gonna do I don't think we should know tonight okay you know I'm still waiting for fair and equal pay for people in in the city but we're hiring all these other people and they'll make more money than the people that we got making 14 to $15 an hour so you know I I I think that we need to do this but need to also consider how this community views this and they don't view this positively at all at all at all and so now we got to deal with this you know and and and and if we don't get out in front of it this we we we play defense all the time so you know I I listen I I don't take ownership of of of of this because I'm just told tonight and I'm and and I and I'm not gonna cut any more I ain't happy about finding out tonight I'm not happy about and you know what I'm a taxpayer here so I have a voice too as well and to sit on the council and not know what's going on that's problematic it shouldn't shouldn't it shouldn't happen that way it just shouldn't it's just not the right way to conduct business if we need people we should have that discussion we should say here's what we're GNA do here's what we'd like to do the actions your actions speak louder than what you what you're talking about so you know it this is very unfortunate and I just have to tell you that this this is not good at all and you know what you can tell me about being safe and angle with or whatever you know what I've been here longer than most so I I I just don't think this is the way we want to operate this is not the environment that we want to uh have here now you lead now tomorrow you know I'm getting text from people banging my phone up about this did you know about this and how do I look how I say no I I don't I don't I don't like that I don't I don't like that thanks councilwoman Uh Kevin has his hand raised Kevin go ahead yes um I've attended two uh composium where the police chief had his staff with him as far as recruiting and direction for the upcoming class and the test and they talked about the extents of the agility the resume the dressing it was very informative but never once out of those two events did I hear that we were at a rush prior to this upcoming test that we were looking for four people laterally uh it it it's just hard to explain to my constituents after I shown up at those two events that these guys appear to be leap frogging as opposed to me saying or sharing with the community that these opportunities are available and this is what we will be looking for and I would like to see where it was we're in a position where we can allow laterals to supersede our ordinance in regards to um giving the England residents a a opportunity because at every turn where it appears that we're championed for our community there seems to be something put in that I'm not aware of of how they Leap Frog or you guys we're leap frogging over the ordinance and if there's a need I I think that should be shareed not just that we're doing a huge test and I was saying kudos to the Recruitment and it almost seems like we're doing something different we're giving a test but we're already going to hire these four people it's just it's just it appears like it's misdirection and it's hard for me to explain and respond to these emails that I'm getting in Texas right now that no one knew and I sure didn't know and I think that we should be afforded that opportunity before this slaps us in the face Bob would you like to respond the I'll go through my I'll go through my notes tomorrow but this is this is something that had been um that had been um reviewed pre previously but um I don't want to I don't want to give the Council wrong information so I will I will go through my notes and get back but this is something that have been um discussed in in one of one of our previous Clos sessions but again our our goal is our goal is to have valid um valid uh lists for three years and and not have to do this in the future I I for one Mr hofman would like to see the provision that supersedes the ordinance that allow laterals okay because some of our experiences with laterals and as we've had discussions could use some improv it correct Wilson I remember saying at a meeting that we shouldn't take any more transfers and allow other people to get in there absolutely so now while my phone is banging right now I'm G to be banging tomorrow because this here is not the way we should do this and now people feel that they haven't they don't have the opportunity and that's the that's the problem we go down to these whole we they came down to the houses of Warship and sell these goods and now they're saying to me hey what about this because I was at both of them just like you were and all I'm saying is if that's what we're going to do transfers are not gonna be on the list they just they don't make the list they keep going and now you you you know that that's not like you say okay you got to get on this list let me make sure that every Englewood person has an opportunity first is is is is that how we're going through the process I don't know what the process is I didn't even hear the opp I'm just being told I'm just being told and and and again I don't like that that that speaks volumes about how we operate and we want to know about dysfunction we want to know about all that and I just can't Digest that M Madam president I see you waving at me but this here bothers me tremendously because I I we can't operate like that out here in the public sphere that's all I'm saying I all I'm all I wanted to say to you Charles is we've asked Bob to give us the history and before you go any further give the guy a chance to come forward with how this evolved that's all I'm saying I'm not saying you're right or you're wrong I hear you I I I hear you but I'm what I'm saying to you is I addressed this before so about the transfers and all that because we were getting all these transfers from Patterson and I said we're getting all these transfers and we got all these other people and we got all that and all I'm saying to you is this one before tonight if we were hiring people we should have already known that that's all I'm saying this is about Communications and then if we're doing that don't come down there and have these things at these churches if we're not going to be honest with them and and that don't do that because listen when I go there they're gonna tell me I'm not doing this no more with y'all I don't want that that's not right we're misleading people don't do that to this community and it's all right because some people got they can go home at night I live here we got to understand that and that's all I'm saying is we need to be truth tellers with this and be honest and transparent smells bad and looks bad that's all I'm saying that's all I got to say I'm done Bob Bob where are the four transfers from the the uh the the four the four transfers are from are from Patterson so and the uh you know we're we are being we we have a we're going to have we're projecting 13 vacancies com coming up and we're going to you know our we're we're not doing you know the the the police with why we taking people from patter why why why are we taking people from patter and they got the AG over there doing an investigation why are we doing that why are we to stop PR why are we going to make an opportunity for somebody else when we got o make opportunity for the kids here this is what I'm saying I said this and I had this conversation before I listen I can't I can't walk away from this one okay this is not good this because we said that and it's not about them it's about the process it's not about them it's about the process and that's what I'm saying to you now we we you you got to deal with the people who are paying your salaries here in Anglewood because they feel like they're being misled here's my phone banging nap same thing what's going on not bad the the people are not being misled and um they are being misled they are because you can't tell me that they're not being misled I'm being misled because I ask not we not do this with Patterson again so if I'm being misled the people are being misled because I represent the people okay that don't change okay this is not this is not the end of this conversation obviously you're right about that correct get close session too yep correct but the process already happened Madam chair I'm not disagreeing Kevin you can't you can't unring the bell all right okay can we uh have we an we've answered the questions from the public uh I'd like to close this session so that we could go into close session anybody uh do uh I'm sorry I'm a little rattled by this discussion get a motion to go into close session session do we have a second do we have a motion session have a motion let's have a second I second it okay all in favor can we have a unanimous all in favor to go into close session hi hi okay we'll see you then hold on hold I didn't hear from everybody I called roll I guess okay yansy roll call sorry I was muted councilman cop yes councilman Rosen yes councilman Wilson yes councilwoman wasi yes council president Maron yes okay we'll see you in close session everyone please go to the link that I sent you this afternoon thank you C good night