##VIDEO ID:7wDpFMsPpr8## calling this meeting to order please rise AED States andice yes okay thank you this meeting is called for the provisions of the open public meetings law its meeting of October 15 2024 was included in a list of meetings notice sent to the hunter County Democrat C your news on January 3 2024 posted on the voting board at burough Hall on that date and has remained continuously posted as required in addition copy of this notice is and has been available to the public and on file of the in the office of the buau clerk roll call please Carlo our councilwoman Englehart here councilwoman farara here councilman lit here council president long here councilman Parker here Council vice president Rosetti here car here thank you U we don't have any presentations tonight um okay so regarding my report I've got a couple of things to uh to talk about one is um on the on the agenda is approving best practices inventory uh this is something that is done I believe every year by the state of New Jersey where they send out u a list of questions to be answer CFO uh and the bureau or the municipality to check on um how well we are following rules and rags and how streamlined we are and uh whether we're following Co rules and making sure there's enough affordable housing and things like that um so that inventory was done by Bill Hance the co-a stuff was checked by Beth mcmanis um I reviewed some of the questions that he asked me to opine on which was a lot and um in order to be in compliance with the state you have to score 35 um right now we're a score 42 so we're in good shape and that gets us um if you don't score at least of 35 you cannot you are ineligible to stating so um this keeps our eligibility so you will find that and that's an explanation uh you will also find on the agenda that's something I sent to all of you today which was the um County Recreation uh grant that they have out right now uh for recreation um upgrades for parks and trails and uh asking you all to support a resolution in support of the grant um the grant was due um right around our last meeting my Campion and Bill Hans put uh together um the the grant to the the grant that councilwoman angelheart applied for and got of $73,000 could not be used at all for trail restoration or for storm order in Parks this grant can be so the focus of the grant really is to get the storm order at tuck Morgan under control uh because every time they mulch or do Trail restoration it all washes out as soon as we have a big storm so um remon Vernick turned around uh the engineering in 24 hours um very quickly because we were hitting hitting the critical deadline and um and the application went in uh after our last meeting um because it had to and uh so today you all got a copy of it but there is the the one missing piece that we have the extension on is for the resolution of support to apply for this grant so that's what that's about um also is the some version I'm looking at our attorney some version of the historic map extension This was um as I think you I think it all happen this year will recall the historic preservation commission came before this body uh asking for consideration of expanding the historic district and bringing everybody every house that was uh in existence um in 19 what in 34 um into the historic district because some of them were missed originally when this map was done um the council was unanimous to let that happen so the process went back to the planning board planning board and the historic preservation commission had a public hearing on the map expansion um there were a few people who had you know very good dialogue and concerns and one parcel over at the me uhis Episcopalian Church was removed um uh separately um somewhere along the somewhere along the the the this train of getting this thing through the resolution from the planning board never got sent to council so but the resolution removing the one parcel got sent to council so our attorney was like walking walking with with one leg um did a res did an ordinance for us that will do what they want us to do but it's really inelegant and I want to thank councilman levit for pointing that out it's very inelegant I like to fix government I don't want in 10 years somebody looking at this ordinance going what is what is this mess so um attorney corini contacted the planning board um they went hunting for the resolution it had never been signed which is why it was never sent um it got signed got a copy of it I think yesterday and um he did manage to draft an ordinance rather quickly it's been sent to the planning board attorney for and so he's going to work on it if we get to that point in the agenda we're going to just table it until we until he can get there um you're done with it you finion now okay so maybe you can I'm send to car send to car car can put out copies okay wait hold on Liz this is what I just sent you so um disregard that one Carla I can saw your email thank you changes were not substantive so I good okay all right is do I have to attach the resolution yeah the 19 PES that stays the same that exhibit a is the resolution with their exhibit exhibit B as I said in my email is the um final plan clarkk pton and hints that they refer to I have never seen this plan but they refer to it in their email the final plan and sent that I've never seen and when you said it yesterday uh she sent the the resolution with the April CL report they refer to a September one oh I don't have that the final one that Clark H supported was all the changes appropriate okay their resolution had went from April and car didn't comment one way or other they were the same report I can't assume that they are okay so all right but I mean I was hoping that one of them would chime in and say either they are the same or here's the other one okay I did it the way I had it so got it okay are you sending it to me now I'm okay yeah let me go look for the I also want to just update the Council on the retail uh ordinance that I mentioned a couple weeks ago where everybody from the FCP to the council to me uh to Beth MC Manis our planner everybody thought that this thing was done by the council and it never was uh and it really should have been started at the planning board and then sent to the council so um you know everybody three weeks ago reaffirmed that they were uh they wanted to see that happen and I believe councilman Le said he'd like to see it happen before the end of the year so the there's a subcommittee on the um Lanning board um because of the quum issues the it can only be four but there's there's five members and only four of them can be on at a time um uh and it's myself it's uh the chair Karen gfin councilwoman assaro it's U Brian Sino and Dennis sh and Beth mcmanis runs the meetings um she went off to Spain as you all know for 12 days soon as she got back um this subcommittee has been having a lot of meetings uh there was one immediately there was one last week uh which was a week later there was one yesterday there is one this Friday trying to get this retail ordinance done for the council so once the subcommittee is okay with whatever it is they're going to present it to the planning board the planning board May further tweak it at which point then it will come here as a recommendation to pass um for it to be um introduced and then a full public hearing so just so you want know what's going on in this I mean it's very complicated it's not as easy as just saying everything's going to be retail only on first floor because there's been a lot of discussions about where the retail only is what we do with side streets that are currently in the same Zone which is the DB1 Zone um so right now the DB1 Zone runs from the monument uh to Church Street and then it's also part of M Street and katner Street and Maple Avenue um none of those buildings actually have front that face Main Street so the discussion is perhaps we're okay letting those side streets have offices and not retail if they want to have retail we're okay with that too um retail only first floors between the monument and uh Church Street um second floors would be allowed to have offices possibly Services that's a big discussion about Services um and of course apartments on second second and third floors as well and or fourth floors if they have them um we've been having a lot of conversations about the fact that we are currently our ordinance currently uses sic codes to identify use there's been a lot of properties that have been flagged by people wanting to move into buildings in town by our new zoning officer who follows DCA Code 100% so it's not like I mean I can tell him I can say to him when you turn somebody down give him a reason why and be nice about it but I can't say to him yet can't turn them down he reports to the DCA and follows their rules and regs everybody in construction although we employ them and we hire them we really have no over we cannot overstep State reg so they report to the state so um you know and in a previous life I was telling this to our attorney today in a previous life uh someplace else I worked right before I started there uh that zoning officer told one of the inspectors not to do something and two days later the DCA showed up and did a full audit of the office so I want to see that happen here so um you know I like I said I have certain parameters to that I can guide him in as far as what he tells the public how he handles the public and things like that but I cannot interfere in his job um because that is a big no no so until we fix the ordinance he is responding to sic codes of and they are very precise about what can be in our downtown and our planning board um seems to be and I'll ask the council woman who serves on it they seem to be very responsive to wanting to change the zone and bring back a robust um economy scale of retail which is a long game as I as I have pointed out you know Clinton Town changed their zoning to retail only about 24 years ago it was or 25 years ago it was last year 23 or 24 years later they finally got rid of the last service on Main Street it took that long to flip so this is a long game to give that economy a scale so that people are shopping down the street um you know which is the way it was 40 years ago and then 40 years ago the Flemington Mall opened and then bridgew Commons opened and Main Street basically shut for business and the burough changed some of the ordinances because we had no retail left nobody wanted to be in town now nobody wants to be in walls and um they're closing all over this country everybody seems to want to be back downtown but we got to give them a reason to want to be back town back downtown um so I just wanted to if you have any questions about any of this um there's also in this retail only ordinance it is um there's language in there that is supportive of uh leaving the Victorian houses uh or putting them back together if they are currently offices or if they're currently mixed use allowing them to go back to single family homes um and putting more people on Main Street um there seems to be some support among the subcommittee on that um and um and then going further down North Main Street uh there's been a look at what's down there as well uh and possibly including some of those properties to connect um like the Steve's Corner up with with more ability to have retail because right now now some of those are not allowed to have retell so um so that's where that ordinance is again we're meeting Friday uh this is the fourth draft we're looking at I think that this may be the last meeting before it goes to the full planning board for discussion and I would expect if that is the case that it's going to end up here um for a look by the council before it's introduced with our planner to discuss what's in it I would expect that hopefully you know um by maybe December once it gets to the planning board uh but the planning board may have a lot to weigh in on I'm not sure um I also wanted to just comment on um I have been getting a tremendous amount of emails about tea berries and what is happening with tea berries and how much it's costing tea berries to reopen and I want to set the record straight for the council um there is no bigger champion in this town to reopen tber than me will tell everybody the flat out uh I have been a customer of theirs since they first opened in 1994 I'm sorry 2004 um and uh but you know there's been issues I mean they they purchased a building that was allowed to be a restaurant but it had been an office building for some lawyers and there were only a few lawyers in there and staff going to a restaurant is a massive change of use massive just because you can do it doesn't mean it's easy and you know whoever the contractors are whoever the architect is there might have been like perhaps some bad advice the code is the code the law is the law municip Municipal land use law or DCA code or D Law whatever it is so the intensity of a restaurant over an office requires some sprinkler systems tbes was blindsided by that it is what it is like we can't undo the law that is DCA fire safety law um it's expensive and it wasn't in their budget and I feel terrible about that but there's you know C and ENT toward it's on the buyer to know what they're buying into regarding this water bill that they received and had to pay again going from a few people flush at a toilet a couple times a day to the intensity of water use of a restaurant the calculations are done by the Department of Environmental Protection they set the standard on how many credits how many um what's I think that's the word how many how many uh units I'm sorry that's the word how many units a restaurant has based on how many seats they're going to hold in that restaurant and so it was many more than a law office and those units all cost money the calculation is done by our CFO it is based on a 2021 ordinance um that brought it into a alignment with our sewer ordinance so our sewer ordinance has been on the books for years this brought our water ordinance into the same compliance it is done by almost every municipality that is a water department and what it does is it buys in that property for all their new units to pay into our Capital debt of the water department rather than have it be the burden of everybody in this room and everybody else in town who has been paying the debt for years that's what it does you guys want to do it that's up to you but that's what it does it brings it into compliance and it's been on the books Sewer Department runs the exact same way and for decades but the warrior Department never did so in 2021 the council passed an ordinance to do the same thing to also help offset the debt and not have everybody else pay down the debt and let them buy into the debt so that's the deal and again I mean a lot of this is due diligence and I feel terrible and I want T berries to desperately reopen um but I just want to set the record straight because there's an awful lot of you know Facebook famous people out there who like to chatter and send me hate mail based on policies of the Town there's only one policy in the town which is that ordinance everything else is state law whether it's Municipal L law and how they had to come before the planning board asking for waivers or variances or site plans or whatever change of use also under the municipal land use law and DCA D requiring how much how many gallons they have to buy for a restaurant all of this is out of our hands you know we're just the Shepherds of every every body else's laws so that's my report I'm happy to answer any questions that the council might have on any of this stuff um but personally I think that ordinance requiring people to buy in to all the everybody else's debt that's fair that's my personal opinion I think it's fair did it hit T berries hard because it's a massive change of use yes but you know that's what it is you guys want to repeal it that's on you so I'm done okay well I do a lot of research but I get a lot of when I get a lot of angry phone calls I do a lot of research warning warning warning so uh um so that's my report uh council president long so I got a couple things I'll have a more comprehensive fire and rescue report next time uh but from the OEM uh this comes from our director Brian MCN tonight's agenda includes the approval of the 24 Emergency Operations plan this is a critical step in our biannual certification with the state of New Jersey ensuring that our buau remains compliant and prepared for potential disasters the EOP serves as a comprehensive guide that outlines the roles responsibilities and procedures for effectively managing emergencies coordinates response efforts across all departments ensuring the safety and well-being of the community during a disaster please take a moment for me to thank all the department heads and the contri who contributed to updating their resp itive annexes for this submission additionally October is both fire safety month and pet disaster planning month pet preparedness is crucial as pets can often be uh reason residents hesitate to evacuate during emergencies please highlight a few steps residents can take to ensure their pets are protected identification uh make sure your pet's got an ID a coll notification use animal rescue stickers to inform First Responders of the pets in your home evacuation plan always evacuate with your pets and know where you can take them whether it's pet friendly shelter or friends home and then disaster kits prepared for a pet disaster kit with Essentials like food water medications identification and material identification materials thank you and MCN looks forward to the council's approval of EOP to help ensure the burough is ready for any emergencies we may face um the only other thing I had was I did have some prepared remarks incidentally about zoning um and I wanted to bring up an article I saw this weekend and whenever there's good news news about Flemington we're all very happy right it's always nice to have good news so New Jersey 101.5 published an article uh and I'm gonna read a little piece of if you're curious about what New Jersey's hottest town is right now I think you're going to be pretty surprised ENT for Flemington hun County's cozy historic and growing bedroom community Flemington is great mix of small town charm including historic buildings and freeline streets speaking of historic 65% of their historic buildings are on a National Historic register it's a great place for farm and table dining great boutiques and a really strong Wellness culture it's turning into a hub for festivals and Cultural Events all repped in into uh that Country Town Vibe what's really got people buzzing is a long awaited Courthouse Square project the people have already begun see the change in revitalized mainstream over the past couple years businesses have been snapping up properties that's where I want to stop um because I read that and I got I got thinking and I you know I was wondering what do I see with my own eyes and I see Main Street and I see a lot of properties for sale for lease and they're empty and I can't understand why that is that that always surprises me so what I've learned since I've been on this council is that you know since 2020 nothing is perfect all right seeing a lot of stuff trust me nothing's perfect uh you can't make a a perfect decision the governing body is not a perfect entity I'm sorry but we make the and look councils before us people who passed ordinances previous Mayors for years you do the best you can with the information you got in the moment you got it and you hope you're doing the best thing and you hope you're doing right and what's right for Flemington is what we know is right is a lot of businesses as the mayor mentioned in this town flourishing especially on Main Street has to be Main Street so what I wanted to request from my fellow council members is as we kind of think about all this I want to request that everybody does a a bit more homework myself included on zoning and as a council what we can do with Zoning for example we took another look at the Cannabis ordinance and we changed it we changed because that's what the council can do I want you to consider not just these laws but what what about fees like we can ask questions about these fees because that's what the council can do um and I want the question ultimately be to be and this this would be the essential question here for my fellow council members is are the zoning laws and practices consistent with flemington's needs that is we need a variety of business business we know that we know Commerce has changed we know there's a lot of different things that weren't here back in the 80s when I remember it being pretty pretty active a lot of the businesses that were here Way Way Back honestly are starting to become more popular again markets social centers a lot of lot of third places which is the kind of buzz word I hear in planning groups and chats that getting in but again are these zoning laws and practices consistent with our need so these laws can be powerful tools for attracting and encouraging businesses to start up or move to Main Street um there's somebody out there right now who wants a business on Main Street but they can't do it and so what I was hoping we could look at is what we're already doing as well as best practices we got mixed zoning in this town we got an Arts and Cultural District we outdoor events that attract vendors just to name a few but I think another question here is another essential question is we need to have an incentive you need to incentivize somebody starting a business in this town and how do you do that well I'm always a kind of sideways guy I I I'll look at something head on if I know okay I can work with this but I often come from the side and and I want to suggest that we think about ways that we could incentivize by perhaps maybe relaxing some restrictions on Main Street maybe we could perhaps streamline or FastTrack certain approvals on Main Street maybe we could have temporary businesses that can set up a certain type of business to see if it'll be a hit and if it's not going to work then they're not gambling their savings can we do this can we partner with landlords to better meet the unique and varied needs of potential businesses in their rental space and I'll tell you something you all know it's sad to see an empty storefront doesn't feel good you know what it looks like and you re react to that especially when you know what fingon wants plus so I'm G to sum it up with a statement I've prepared and I want people to really think this over I think we need to have a very focused discussion about zoning as council members and a governing body we need to act purposely and swiftly we can we can amend our ordinances take a look our fees and be dedicated 100% to Small Business Development and the economic growth of Flemington burrow small businesses should be the lifeblood of Flemington burrow we should be fighting for that we must not rely solely upon Courthouse Square to Electrify and pack Main Street with energy and activity it's going to take an examination of our zoning laws and fees so I ask this governing body to start getting its hands dirty we need to start this work yesterday so that future articles aren't talking about us merely being upand coming we want press that's going to refer to us as revitalized invigorated or I even say reborn and that's my report thanks great thank you um and hopefully you know when you'll see this ordinance for Main Street sooner rather than later and uh I do just want to say with interest rates at close to 7% you know it's hard for anybody to BU buildings right now for commercial purposes really is sadly so um Council vice president Rosetti thank you mayor um so I attended uh virtually the shade tree commission meeting last week I just wanted to quickly mention I see on the agenda tonight for the authorizing of the submission of their Community forestry plan so I just wanted to um thank everyone on the shade tree uh commission who's been working on that literally longer than I've been leaon with them so that's a long time coming and that'll really open up a lot of opportunities for them to be back um kind of in good standing with the state um shade tree commission as well as um as mentioned in their opportunities for grant money uh to keep doing great great work around the burrow protecting our trees they've been doing really uh well with adopted trees this year uh they've used just about all their budget so um everything's going really really well on that end thank you thank you U councilwoman andart yeah thank you um thanks Liz thanks um I do want to uh follow up on the some of Mayor um mayor's comments uh specifically about the park Grant resolution that we have on the agenda later on tonight um I wanted to thank um uh the mayor and um Terry and Mike um for moving so fast on that um because we um you know we were told about it kind of late in the game so that was great I do want to thank the mayor for reaching out to me because and and to Liz as well because um basically our previous research um had said that you know this type of of work was not covered in all the different grants that we were looking at and it was a little frustrating because it's something we really wanted to do in the park um so we were really thrilled that this grant was applicable for some of the work that we couldn't find funding for but more importantly we had done I had done a kind of quick and dirty cost estimate for that work and so when the mayor reached out to me and she said what do we need and I said this is what we don't have money for so it was a a really just it was serendipitous um and and a really great work on on everybody's part so and hopefully we'll get it yeah we don't have the money yet so everybody knock on okay um I do want to send my apologies to the police department because I had misspoke a couple weeks ago because I had said that the temporary signs um about not fting on the street were on the um poles and they weren't they were on the sign poles not the electric po so I do want to um apologize uh publicly for that um but and I do understand it was a temporary form of signage um I think there was some public criticism about how it was presented and I don't necessarily know if it was that effective because kind of hard to see so maybe we work together to kind of uh if we're putting up some temporary signage to make it a little more um user friendly I I don't know um I want to mention as far as school Lea on go um I had mentioned at the last meeting or the meeting before that there was an um an open seat the of the um uh on uh flemingon raron School District that's our K K8 District um the we have we have two um burrow Representatives on that particular district and one of those two Representatives resigned a year early um and so the process for the district excuse me is that they collect resumés and then they interview and they appoint for the balance of that term um they did that um last week so I'm happy to report if people are not aware that um Dr Warren Buck Lightner from Pennsylvania Avenue um applied interviewed and was appointed to the F frsd board for the remainder of that open slot which is about a one year one year left in that term so I want to thank um waren for stepping up and serving our community um because I think that b um you know is a is a hard job and and um Everybody volunteering a little bit you know helps so thank you for that um Sam Fleming house sorry I have a lot of a lot of uh lot of announcements here Sam Fleming house had a really great pumpkin event last weekend it's one of our biggest of the year um we uh went above and beyond last year's turnout with almost about a 100 people attending and I want to thank um uh councilman Parker councilman's Parker and leit for stopping by the next event is with that gentleman in the back of the room there um Chief and his and his team are going to be at the S flaming house on November 2nd from 10 to 12: p.m. for cookies coffee cops and canines is what they're calling it so come down and learn about some history with our heroes um November 2nd P to2 p.m. we're going to have the the dogs uh one one of the dogs there doing some um demonstrations and um of course tours of the house are always available when it's open spot um sorry let me just get my thoughts here um I do want to correct that article that that uh that our our councilman um chair uh read it's actually 65% of the homes are in the district they're not on the national right there is a difference that wasn't that was the AR have a fact Checker I but I just want to correct the article not not the councilman I'm correcting the article but it's still important we have the second largest historic district in the entire State and and I think that we should be proud of that so I I do want to recognize that um finally um we've been talking about this a while and and I and I wanted to get some uh thoughts on the record uh regarding just in general not any specific um location um like mayor was talking about deberes is more just in general but in regards to planning zoning permitting and code enforcement um you know I I I'm getting I'm getting feedback from several of my peers up here um that we've all been Fielding calls and concerns from various different um uh uh members of the community whether they're residents or businesses non for-profits um all over town and a variety of different construction issues um zoning planning code enforcement everything so something's definitely changed that I I want us to recognize as a council and I encourage us to recognize it um because I realized there's you know when we compared notes I realized there was a kind of unusual amount of complaints filed it seems like in the last 12 months or so maybe maybe up to two years and I was thinking about why and I do want to recognize the fact that two years ago our longtime zoning and construction official retired I'm not blaming at all on that but there was a change there um Pat and John um Dave Ken all the others in the related roles of um in like in the related to construction and um and uh enforcement in in this town they really do work hard and they have a very difficult task of interpreting our intentions and our goals when I say that we have a we have ordinances we have Master plans we have District Maps you know we have lots of stuff that they have to kind of interpret and and and um and rule on and and again I think it should be noted that the mayor's correct in that it is New Jersey law that allows that those officials that Grace to interpret and that's the thing is that they do interpret they have the final say especially when you issue permits for example I'm going to use a very common example if your permit says you're required to have nine exit uh signs but the code enforcement the code enforcement agency a agent when he comes to do his final inspection says you need 10 you need 10 it's there it's there's no that's New Jersey um law so I do want to say but with that with that being said these same offici have that flexibility and there's also checks and balances built within our system um because ordinance are not cut drve they're you know we find errors in our ordinances all the time right um and that's where variances and appeals and subcommittees and work on our ordinances come in so I would really like to propose that we form a subcommittee to address some of these issues because we've all been approached and recognized that um there needs to be some things done some changes are very low hanging fruit I actually worked with the uh construction clerk last year briefly um because we were hoping to put together some frequently asked questions on the website like um am I allowed to change out my windows what do I do with my roof um decks paint colors signage you know can I put a shed in my yard loow hanging fruit and I um recently spoke to the zoning official and um he and I were kind of of U brainstorming and have some ideas about that so I would like that I'd like to pick up the um uh the Baton and and move forward with some of that stuff um but second I wanted to talk about a few comments regarding some of the bigger picture items of zoning and and planning in in general as the mayor mentioned um the planning board is re reforming reformed essentially a committee that was active in 2023 the plane board was focused on some other just as important goals like the checklist and in most of this year but they've gotten back to this subcommittee where they're basically going Zone by Zone and kind of reviewing everything um for ordinances I want to stress um I want to stress that we all don't NE we all up here on this Council don't necessarily um won't necessarily agree with the subcommittee's recommendation and we are not necessarily obligated to um vote for the the recommendations that's why it goes back and forth between Council and planning board um you know is there room for improvement most definitely um SI codes sic codes can be limiting and helpful it depends we can't redo the entire ordinance at once you have to do it step by step um the master plan defines our ideals um and our aspirations and that's you know what we're starting to see on Main Street and what we hope to see but we also can't rule by by aspirational zoning um you know what we want to see and what's on the books right now are two different things and we need to follow the law that's something that's very important um when it comes to a planning board member especially I always saw myself as almost like a a juror um your voting on the law um could we provide more flexibility while amending those ordinances and allowing for officers uh construction code officers discretion in certain outline situations yes um when Pat and John came and introduced themselves to us two years ago one of the things I think we all we all said is we'd like to know what's going on um previous and previous years perhaps there was um a little too much interpretation of what the planning board and the um uh Council wanted um but I think it's also kind of gone 180 degrees in the other direction where it's maybe a little too strict so i' I'd like to work with our um zoning and planning and Code Enforcement Officers to talk about okay you know what what are our goals what what's the bottom line here um we can't tell them what to do as as the mayor mentioned they have that interpretation um uh controlled by law but we can express um some of our concerns and see if we can be uh you know sensitive to um uh some issues in town that we we've seen coming that we've seen a lot of lately um I think I I I think I'd like to see um us us at the municipal team up with landlords to help potential retail spaces become retail spaces a lot of the spaces from what I understand are you know right now old doctor's office old offices and it cost a lot of money to pull those out so maybe with the help of the FCP find some grant money to be able to help um potential um tenants and landlords so things are not sitting empty but I also think Beggars can't be choosers if we have an opportunity we should take it um I do encourage um uh uh the planning board to perhaps consider um putting together like a resolution compliance procedure I think that might help um us get through some of these um bumpy times um maybe a a procedure where zoning construction and permitting office can work together um might be helpful um and and uh finally I want to encourage and I I don't want to correct because do not have the their ordinance in front of us but I do think we should check with that Clinton that comment you made about Clinton because I don't necessarily know if Clinton has that that ordinance that we that you mentioned Mara so we probably should what the retail only yeah um the coun in my comy is the one who told me that they just left in 2023 that in March that they just lost their last service business on the right um and it came from my country so elected official there I realized what he was eled official I realiz that but I I got some I was I was told by another elected official something I can read it to you I mean I can read the ordinance use number two is office yeah I it's on so it's so I think it is number two and there are at least five still non retail businesses by my account two weeks okay um and also that's only for the strip between the other side of that is still that's even worse and that's the other thing I want to mention is is and thank you Trent for saying that so so yes maybe I was beating around the bush a little bit but we did get confirmation that that that ordinance is is not um what was said was not accurate but more importantly um you know I always say this and I'll say it again we are not Lambertville we are not Clinton we are Flemington and our makeup of downtown is a lot lot different we have a lot of big um um old um what were're former single family homes that could be used in one way versus some infill re you know traditional kind of box retail that could be used in other ways so when we do look at the DB and BB2 districts I want to make sure that we're looking at them a whole I do not envy the subcommittee it's not easy what seems like an easy fix is not so I do hear your struggles with you know what just mentioned yes and we had a lot of meetings in 2023 when we were going through the other um zone so I'm not envious um but if there's any way we can help in any way but um we do need to um recognize that while we're going through these changes there are people that are suffering um and U you know kind of getting tied up in the red tape so we need to address that as well sorry I went so long so so I just I just wanted to just uh remind public as well as the council we do have a commercial abatement program uh that will evate 100% of all Construction done in the on any non-residential property for up to five years and free their taxes as if the work had not been done um you know that is critically important for any of these businesses that are going in and changing a use because there is no cap on what will be frozen so um they do a million dollars worth worth of of uh of improvements they're going to get their taxes Frozen as if they were never done for five years um and they can do another million the following year and that'll be frozen for five years two there's no ceiling for commercial or office um uses in this municipality for the abatement program uh I just also want you to know that the planning board has already taken up the resolution compliance that is in the hands of the attorney and the plan are looking at that and they working on I'm sorry the attorney and the engineer uh are currently working on a resolution compliance um policy uh it was the attorney's opinion that it did not need to be a resolution or an ordinance by The Bureau uh but a policy from the planning board and they also want to remind the council that it is the mayor's prerogative in this buau to in Bur forms of government to form all committees subcommittees and make assignments so I will take under consideration what you suggested councilwoman but uh I will think about it we can talk about it some more um moving on councilwoman foror sure God there's a lot of talking tonight but mine can't wait um I am a member of the planning board and unfortunately I'm finding that um that's a that's a role in the burrow and which you have to be very careful in what you say there's a lot of legal surrounding of it and a lot lot of it is perception and so I'm going to address a perception that I I know for a fact is only a perception and it's not a true but I'm give a little history lesson first so in 1933 the United States government based a housing shortage thus the federal housing Administration was established in 1934 the government's efforts were primarily designed to provide housing to white middle class and lower middle class families black Americans and other people of color were left out of the new Suburban communities and pushed instead into urban housing projects the FHA refused to ensure mortgages in and or near black neighborhoods this came to be known as redlining by Banks and mortgage providers at the same time the FHA was subsidized in Builders who were Mass producing entire substit subdivision specifically for right whites the key requirement was that none of the homes be sold to be black Americans the new dl's FHA was basically a state sponsored system of segregation creditworthy applicants were denied a loan for housing in these homes even though the applicant May otherwise be eligible for the loan this lending structure still exists today and it still exists in the framework of purchasing a home perhaps built between 193 35 and 1968 the fj's theory was that when black Americans moved into FHA neighborhoods the value of properties declined this was not based in fact it was based on a very biased Theory only in fact when black Americans tried to buy homes in all white neighborhoods or in mostly white neighborhoods property values Rose because black Americans were more willing to pay more for properties than whites were to get into those neighborhoods simply because their housing Supply was so restricted and there were fewer choices so red lineing was given birth to by the New Deal the federal government created colorcoded maps of every met metropolitan area in the country these codes were designed to indicate where it was safe to insure mortgages where Americans who were black lived or anywhere where Americans who are black lived nearby there were colored red to indicate to appraisers that these neighborhoods were too risky to ensure mortgages that also applies to specific homes outside of these urban areas those Maps were colorcoded first by the homeowners loan courp second by the federal housing Administration and finally they were adopted by the veterans admin in 2023 I was finally able to visit the national World War I Museum in New Orleans fun fact from the tour 1.2 black americ 1.2 million black Americans were serving in our military at the end of World War II only 4,000 were enrolled in 1941 the GI bill they were eligible for encouraged loans for newly built homes prompting The Surge of these new suburbs and an upswing in construction the first two years after the war ended 40% of mortgages issued were guaranteed by the VA in 195 6 the GI Bill of Rights ended the black men and women true blue patriotic Americans who served our country at home and abroad were denied those benefits they had had earned because the FHA said so Studies by the New York City Ferman Center and the Cleveland Park in Washington DC smart growth organization Columbia University and the federal organization the urban Institute specifically in their document president preservation and social inclusion preservation Reckoning examining questions of exclusion and shifting towards policy inclusion these all focus on the danger in allowing historic districts to Blossom unfettered especially for homes built from 1934 through 1968 this places additional burden on non-white homeowners to meet the restrictive requirements of maintaining a historic home I personally live in one built in 1913 and I assure you this is not for everyone upate to maintain and to restore these homes when your highly decorated former military officer Green Beret Delta for's father had to move his family into his newly built home in 1978 in Western New York at 11:00 at night when they returned from West Germany and you have keep America clean kill all the end bombs painted on your garage in red this history matters that was us and that was my family I was fine for those residents I spoke to when I was campaigning and those who have reached out to me post the August 27th joint historic preservation committee and planning board meeting I thank you I REM remain committed to not allowing the entire burrow to be designated as historic while I serve on your Council I make that commitment understanding that we do have a stock of homes that were built when the FHA was running a up fast forward to the Flemington New Jersey planning board meeting with the historic preservation committee on that August 27th a comment was made by a member of the planning board regarding the entire town could be made into a historic district a few minutes before we meet we reach the two-hour mark on the meeting at this time in the publicly available recording you will hear these three phrases phrases again right before the 2-hour mark 65% National recognized historic district we are Patchwork but it is historic Flemington I don't understand your point as I'm bringing this up then I'm not sure it matters what the house was built under I.E in response to my mention of FHA Loans my response to the third bullet my specific words because it didn't impact your family you can hear me say this specifically at the 2 hour and 54 second mark on the publicly available recording on the burough website again let me repeat the specific words were because it didn't impact your family under no circumstances did I ever refer or would I refer to anybody any race religion Creed social class as you people between 3:30 p.m. and 6: p.m. on Monday October 14th I heard this now y iged terminology was used by me towards a member of our planning board in response to their comments three different people that never happened it's a publicly available recording of the meeting one more time my response my specific words were because it didn't impact your family I was raised better than to use a phrase such as you people it would have caused my mom to wash my mouth out with a drop of M on a sponge there are racial and class connotations to its usage and my character and who I am does not allow me to speak to anybody that way finally I have never accused anyone of being racist in this bur or on this planning board all I did was tell the truth we all come from different backgrounds and families and what is truth of our lived experiences is not the truth of others and those are my comments okay thank you uh councilman Le sure all right first of off I will be attending the 99th annual sha Tre conference in Atlantic City on Thursday so that way we can receive the uh NJ Urban and Community forestry uh Community representative training and this will satisfy some of the requirements for a few grants um similar to the forestry plan uh that and the forestry plan and this core training are required so that way we can get the grants that councilwoman roset was talking about and um that was something I did want to see pass so I'm quite excited about it um as well the free rabies vaccine clinic will be held at the firehouse from 9:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. on November 2nd um I have continued to work on the bar website and have been creating uh fillable PDF forms to be posted so if you've ever downloaded one before and you've realized it's a scan paper copy of something that was clearly a Word document at some point that will never happen again um I think I've tackled all of them and I will upload them once I have approval from Carlo um on Saturday I did attend the pumpkin decorating event at P castle and as always that was a wonderful time and if anybody is wondering I decorated my pumpkin to look like PuppyCat from the animated web series being PuppyCat photos of my work are available on request thank you so much we were all wondering on that I'll show you after the Mee okay at the last HBC meeting uh they did approve one project and that was actually tea berries and while I haven't heard anything similar to what the mayor was talking about with that um they were in and out in about 15 minutes so no problems at the HPC uh on November 2nd the HPC is hosting a historic walking tour presented by local architect Chris Mel I do not have the full registration details yet but sorry it is on November 2nd what time yeah that's a wonderful question I appreciate you asking that looking to yes I will be posting a news item on the B website as soon as that uh information is given to me which will hopefully get at tomorrow's night's HPC meeting um and I'm sure they will post it on the HPC Facebook page as well um and lastly I just want to make one last comment about zoning um to clarify what I do want to get rid of is the SIC codes I think they are exceedingly restrictive um and for example I've heard people that maybe wanted to open something like an arcade on Main Street which I think we all agree would be pretty cool if they did unfortunately as it stands right now if he wanted to do that that is not a permitted use on Main Street so he would have to potentially go to the planning board and try and get a d variance or use variance and you know maybe ver spending $20,000 on a planning board hearing to get a maybe um which I don't think is really conducive to what we want to do here in the burough um that being said like mentioned um to Clinton as far as I can tell does not have 100% um you know non retail and there an ordinance does allow for offices on Main Street um I'm not exactly interested in getting rid of all office uses on Main Street I think it should be as open as possible and honestly I think this is one of the things where the free market honestly decides what's best um and allowing small businesses to compete by you know paying different rents is probably the best way to allocate that portion of land on Main Street um I I don't think we can possibly anticipate or plan every single potential use or what might work or what might not work in this specific instance and allowing them to just ash it out naturally is probably what's best for the burrow um other than that I wish har Lu with the minutes that's everything thank you um Council Parker right um so you know I've been listening to everyone I was going to do a report I I've been listening to everyone and it's there L right speak your so so what I will say is this I I'll say from listening to everyone I've actually walked the streets over the last couple um you know definitely like last week but over the last couple of weeks here and there I've been walking the streets I've also set in several meetings and one was the FCP meeting which was pretty you know I mean our business owners are having some issues right and we have to address those issues um I understand the zoning I understand the zoning was done a while ago but here's the thing what happened last year is not necessarily effective this year right and so I I lead on the premise of is if good is better better ain't necessarily good enough right and so you've got to keep stacking and you've got to keep looking in you got to keep examining and you have to keep look and you have to get more people involved and you've got to look you know it's about pivoting and I say this constantly that I don't understand why pivoting is so difficult here and it is it's just difficult here no one wants to Pivot and there's these there's everybody has their silos and I will say from my standpoint point of being on several different committees I actually get to see how things are broken I see what works and I see what things are broken and it kind of goes back to what Susan was saying because I do with this and that is is that there's not that link of communication between each one of those entities to say if you do this this is what's going to affect me if this affects me this is how this is going to affect that person I said this last year and I said there are there's there chains that are just broken doesn't make it bad or horrible and you're not pointing at people is just saying we've grown as a burl we've changed how we want to do things and therefore there's some processes did did not change when we Chang so it kind of and it also goes back to what Jeremy saiding yes we want business and da D we want this to happen we want that to happen if it's consistent with our values and there in lies the issue if it's consistent with our values and I keep hearing that throughout the community I also think that that um you know if if you just look at today you know I I I I subscribe to this as well t a fool who looks at tomorrow trying to capture yesterday because it's never going to happen you're never going to recapture yesterday what you can do is honor yesterday but you can't recapture it and the more you try to recapture it the more life just keeps going by it just keeps going by because everybody else is just going to keep moving right and so I I think what we have to do as a console I think what we have to do as a town I think we have to stop I think you just have to stop for a second and I think you have to re-evaluate what are we really really looking to do and what does that mean and what is the impact of that I don't like hearing business owners saying that I feel like I'm being pushed out or that I want to come in but I have to do but this this zoning does not allow me to do this and this doesn't allow me to do that that's what I mean by a pivot right I do think that there are some instances where every Everything Is Not black and white there's so much gray and I understand that the there's a subcommittee that's looking at things and the whole bit but here's my other question has anyone actually got together with the landlords and said here's what our vision is here's what our values are now we need you to understand this is the perimeter how what is your what is like how can you work with this can you work with this what do you see because obviously there's some people are going to drop off right but there are other people that may come in but here's the other part of this the business businesses that you have here today the business that you have here today are struggling to stay here so we can't make it more difficult we've got to make it a little bit easier and I do agree with Jeremy we need to look at fees we need to look at maybe first floor is going to be done we need to as Trend said you know it it depends on when I look at first or retail I look at what's the size right because not every size in those in those first floors a retail store can go in or retail establish could go in so maybe that should be zoned for offices and I just think it's not enough peeling the onion back I really do and I don't think there's enough of the the professionals such as the police department getting involved being having a say so or I know DPW definitely has a say so but there's other departments that need to have a say so and I think with they need to come forward and say here's this is how it impacts us in a little bit because when it gets to console it should be a slam dunk it shouldn't be like we're going back and forth and back and forth it should be a slam dunk because we've heard everybody that I will say that and I'm going to end with you know the newsletter the intention of the newsletter was to inform everybody with this newsletter was nothing like I had anticipated it would happen and it's it's you know partly my fault and partly because I just can't get content so here's where I think the newsletter needs to be for now I think everything we talked about tonight I think zoning I think um the the the um uh the wars that we've gotten the the anything like that we need to talk about we need to let people know what's going on but we also need to let them know what's going on Redevelopment because that's a huge huge concern huge concern I cannot tell you how many people are asking when is the hotel going to be done I mean they're like fed up with it right and they also want to know what other Redevelopment like where are we with things we don't have to be specific but we should let them know how it's progressing that's what we that's we owe this town that we do owe them that as all of us are sitting up here that is what we were hired to do and that's what we should do so here's my proposal to everyone I would like to put the newsletter out I to put it out this week but obviously I didn't get any content but I do want to put it out within the next two weeks I want it to be out in October and I'd like another one to come out at the end of November so I am asking every single person up here to please get with your committees and send me something within the next week and I do not have the time to chase you down I don't have the time I have a life like you have a life so that's what I'm asking I'm asking each of you to commit we' set up here and talked about what we want to do and how we're going to do it so I'm asking you guys to commit to the newsletter finally I will say this and that is you know we talked about what this position up here means this is a tough position it really is very difficult it's not I the more I say that the more I do enjoy it I love what I'm doing I love servicing the public I love listening to the public but I really want to make sure we're solving problems and not just talking about them and adding to them so with that I thank you and God bless us all all right well um I'm happy to give an update on Redevelopment and where the other sites are everybody can see where the hotel is um the uh Liberty Village came to the planning board uh last week for their compliance hearing and absolutely nobody from the public showed up to their hearing or tuned in to zoom to watch it so there's that for interest in Liberty Village I guess they'll show up hopefully for the public hearings um which I don't think people are not showing up because they don't want to Mayor I think they're showing they not showing up because this time of the year you have kids that are in after school activities and they're running I just see my neighbors who are running around every single day through until like late dinner time to get their kids they're going to be coming in probably in November to start their hearings I think it's the the 22nd thank you the 22nd November is when their hearings are going to start um the 200 foot notices will all be going out to the neighborhoods and um and that's where they are the other two sites the two Agway sites are currently under redesign because of the DP and storm water rule changes it's got nothing to do with the council uh or or myself or anybody else um you know and uh I have periodically hurt for both of them it has been crickets uh for a while and um you know uh that's where that is um I'm going to remind the council that you have the right to pull status as redevelopers um if you are not happy with how things are not progressing um we can always talk about that and get some advice from our uh either our Redevelopment attorney or Municipal attorney but nothing has happened now um in your so uh and it is like I said um it is back in all their courts because of the DPS for more rule changes so because they chose to redevelop in flo plan um on M Creek so uh that's where those are so we're up to public I didn't miss anybody on the council right no we're up to public comment session number one any member from the public wishing to address uh the council need to come up to the front have a seat we can the microphone uh we need your name and your address for the record hi my can you hear me yes okay my name is aen I live on 71 mine Street 71 mine can you sell your last name Yes W LF e and then there's a space g o l d h i r s h and um I'm here because of traffic concerns um it's been probably about four weeks I don't know the exact date my son was walking my dog while I was away and my son got missed by the car by maybe just inches but my dog was hit she's okay but it wasn't the first time we've had a close call like that and just last night I was almost hit twice once when I was walking up to mine mine Street to main crossing over Park and then also when I was walking my dog i w often that night at Stango because it's well lit and crossing over there um at the corner of mine and Academy I was in halfway through there and someone just kept going so I had to stop in order not to get hit so um and apparently it's a concern with a lot of people on that and speeding and I printed out a list of concerns most of them have to do with people not stopping at Cross wall um people with their electric bikes not stopping for signs like like they're seem to be oblivious that they're supposed to be following the same rules as cars um people walking out when there is not a crosswalk and just walking between cars and not paying attention um the lack of sidewalks for the high school students and Intermediate School students where it ends um that was one of the last ones see I think they talked about where is it um New Jersey Avenue and Elwood I guess the sidewalk just ends and then there's no sidewalk safe sidewalk for the students to travel so I had put out a note and these were a lot of the concerns I have five copies I didn't know how many were on the board I should look that up but um that those were the main concerns of sidewalks um some of the suggestions were um pedestrian signs like there's nothing on M Street to let you know that there's a crosswalk coming up there actually is one sign but it's nowhere close to the the crosswalk so as you get closer there's nothing to indicate that you're supposed to be stopping other than the lines going across and people seem to think it's optional um I can't tell you how many times I've been in the middle and people just keep going or I have to stand there for minutes after minute after minute to get someone to stop um there were suggestions like um adding signs um speed fums I know that's not popular but because of snow plows and other things um you know the way you have the painting on Park Avenue where it says stop ahead adding maybe that to mine Street um and perhaps on some of the areas maybe three-way stop signs because Park Avenue and mine seems to be one of the biggest ones um I've um personally witnessed quite a few close WS there because I walk a lot with my dog and I walk most things in the town so I would really like to see some more safety measures and I've written grants before I know you usually use professional Grant makers or grant writers but I would be happy to volunteer my time for anything as I'm of you I've got lots of free time as a retired teacher that's so kind of you so um I will tell you the Mind Street has been a conversation up here off and on for the last year um the chief has had more guys out giving tickets and we they've also been surveying those electric signs that you see with the speed recording it they've been surveying the speeding um we are discussing what to do Chief and I actually talked today as a weird coincidence about a three-way stop sign at Park in mine um it is you know there aren't a lot of cross streets on mine Street to be able to make like even you know like Academy and Dewey they just they don't go anywhere except out to M Street so it's kind of hard to just suddenly we don't have a lot of traffic either like Park I mean totally agree with you Park Avenue and that mine intersection is dangerous and the speeding is very bad on M Street according to the chief surveys um he is trying to get more guys out we are hiring another officer this fall uh hoping to get you know more more feet on the street getting tickets to slow down the traffic even that electric sign that you put out sometimes for the yard sale just putting that out as a reminder every so often that to stop at pedestrian walks might be a great idea but it's also really important you know that see something say something if you see Speeders get their get their license plate numbers down or if somebody is you know not stop you got to call people have to call cops you got to call the police you know I mean I don't read Facebook so if something's going on unless somebody tells me you know you got to call the police I mean you and I corresponded I think right yes um and uh when it's happened with the dog and you know I mean it's it's so important that people get to the police as soon as possible because otherwise it's cold news you know and they there's little they can do other than having a complaint and sign a complaint versus them doing an investigation and going after some so so I I will tell you this I Chief and I have met about this and we met as ear yesterday yeah um and and I will tell you that he does have people out there we just talked about it a few minutes ago so everything's a process right um and so I think when they see more cops out more policemen out Patrol in that area that may help I think the tickets are help I ass sign the the the the things that you're talking about is at the other end and maybe it needs to come up to this end by stangle a little bit so that people will know that's happening because I I'm I am going to just assume I don't know that they it's true so let me put it up but I think it's a lot of people who are just passing through yes cc lington to avoid the circle and so therefore they just see it as a Raceway um and the the chief has actually um and his patrolman have actually done a really Yan's job at actually trying to get under that so it can just give him some time to do that but I do agree if you're starting to see more of that pick up the phone and call um call the chief and let him know that it's happening that it's still happening or whatever the case The Pedestrian crossing signs just that even the ones that aren't flashing just the ones that let you know ahead of time I agree with that I do think all actually that you're supposed to have a certain amount of Fe before the crossing to let people know that there is I agree I I do agree with you there their sence is is is probably something that can help the situation I don't know that it will solve the situation but I think it will help the situation the speeding is a big problem the speeding I mean it is a very Broad Road right we only have parking on one side of the street which gives an illusion um that it's it just invites theaters and you know when the chief gave tickets out um the last ticket was a couple of weeks ago and they was a lot no nobody was from Flemington burn not one none of them were from Flemington they were from Pennsylvania and a lot from uh a lot from R Township and other municipalities in hun but not none of the spe I will leave this is a list of different concerns please you don't mindor I got one arm our traffic engineer regular engineer something to actually investigate for example on M Street you know some cheap low cost way I mean low cost so we had parking committee meeting coming up so Jerry and I when we talk today about the threeway stop um Jerry pretty much quickly blessed it but we really need our engineer to like wait our traffic engine they can't be you can't just like you know put a police officer there 247 places that are speeding they got a lot other you know crimes to investigate things to resp you know I'm very supportive of anything that's signage that's bright that shows people where they're supposed to walk maybe ways to do it because that's right I'm very anxious to make this the place where side rocks don't end so I may speak to you offline some of the difficulties with um I I I believe she's uh speaking of The Pedestrian signs that are in the middle of the roadway that's a tough intersection to volume the traffic the size of the vehicles we would be losed in Le talking talking about the ones to the yeah those are um uh the DPW puts those up and they are accordance with traffic standards so you know everything's pretty much on point with the where they belong where they can be because of uh you got to make sure site is an issue that they can't be you know there's certain Heights there certain requirements that uh might can't be does excellent with but I'll I'll confirm with him that those signs are out and about there's always some more signs location put um the speeds on M Street you know when we're out there uh it is we have made an impact I think uh next month I commissioner Parker I'll have the traffic speed study again for him yeah and and he can elaborate more once we col the data yeah um but the main thing is Facebook is not the appropriate source to to make those reports we Facebook to that if you call us when it happens I was away my son was why why did you say call he um the dog was really um upset because they were one of the bystanders got out of his car and was kicking the car of the person that hit her and screaming at her and so she was shaking all over so he just wanted to get her home yeah that that's so the the person who's kicking the card instead of calling 911 decided to kick a but but I can say I get I was the person that did see it and I'm not on Facebook all the time I'm just not that I happen to see that and thank you for reaching out to the mayor and reaching out to the police because that's the only way we can get change Facebook doesn't give us a record and that's why I reached out on Facebook to get someone who witnessed it and I did actually brought that over and the main my main point of that is to explain one little some details a police officer can't take would report if they didn't witness so if you witness somebody U not stopping for a crosswalk um you can you by all means call us report it and and the good thing is that you have the same right to go sign a complaint on that driver for that violation so um what you'll do is um you'll witness it grab the license plate it's always great to get a description of the driver uh come to the police station when it happens um and and uh file that report and then we'll refer you over to the UN report and you can sign the complaint it's the same level of a complaint as an officer issu it just stes a little bit longer process that's good to know I'm glad you tell said that the can't just come and take just and do anything without witnessing we can speak with both parties a lot of times uh these incidents traffic incidents aggressive drivers are heat of the- moment situations where after a while people lose the enthusias or the desire to follow through with the complaint we also find you know sometimes people's perception is not so we can't file that but uh you know I if you like that can be in contact maybe we can me it up or I'll have an officer stop by and can chat about more issues for you okay um so we'll follow up and any other questions we good take up too much time thanks no we'll talk traffic engineering globally speak Friday yeah if you guys if you guys could ask him specific I'm very curious what the cost of a rectangular rapid flash got rectangular can you send I'll send you an email email yeah thank you Thurs uh we'll be at siol we'll have couple officers out there eating ice cream and hanging out with people so I own little plug thank you I can I just want to say there there's definitely a a Broken Window Theory about traffic calming and vacancies so I remember when 39 mine was at 39 M and on stangle road which is confusing you need to get your name Robin leus executive director of the Flemington improvement district thank you and um when uh uh oh my God the The Appliance Store was functioning and um the owner was very often out in front getting deliveries you know people were parking people were standing front of the shops talking 39 mine a beine of young women and their moms shopping that slows traffic down and since those two stores have been vacant one is going to be a development project that's going to be vacant for a long time the other has had people who've tried to rent it and because of a a interpretation on whether or not they can have art classes they can't they they we've lost like three tenant for this one little space so you know everything is interrelated when you have functioning businesses you have calmer traffic because there's people Park getting in and out of cars there's people walking in front there's something to look at when you're driving by and drivers who create cut throughs don't drive on those streets because they get slowed down and the more you slow people down the better it is for business business the more business you have the more slow down the cars get you know I was in The Gift Horse uh right about rush hour and I I couldn't even concentrate on what we were saying because the cars were flying by so fast and I'm so ADHD it was it made me crazy and I was like how do you you know but these whether they were really going faster than the speed limit or not it felt very chaotic it doesn't you know and the gift horse smells like heaven it's a beautiful store it's charming and relaxing like these the the traffic is very chaotic which is not good for business or for pedestrians or for having a quaint vibrant town so you know having more business will definitely help slow down the traffic and slowing down the traffic will probably help us get more businesses and so we'll the conversations we've had about zoning tonight be very helpful I think T berries is a really good example of if we want restaurants or cafes how many places can have a restaurant how many landlords are going to spend the exact you know exorbitant amount of money needed for spr for today's sprinkler systems venting Etc you know and maybe we incend people who use use electric ovens or have uh less or take up less use less water I mean there's lots of ways to to incent change but I think a realistic inventory of our assets um many of which are historical you know and many of which have become very different things over the years but how viable are our buildings for for the retail uses we we most desire and how do we get there is really the question and that's all we want is to have a little time to talk to our landlords about you know if because the longer you wait the the more difficult it is to get a a new tenant you know the the restaurant at turntable Junction is has everybody who's want to open a restaurant has gone in there it's has so many issues it's not viable um yep if if a very committed family like our friends at Viva Mexico didn't take that property and it continued to sit there for 10 years you know it probably the whole building probably would have needed to be demolished so I think it's about how do we marry our goals with incentives with where can stuff realistically go and make it work and find every Grant I mean I love that um the mayor and I had a conversation and I said well you where are the incentives for these people who um you know have have own buildings but need to make extremely expensive changes to get retail and there was an incentive that hadn't been talked about for many many years you know and like the last people who took advantage of that incentive are now now getting higher tax bills than they did that like the fiveyear mark on the last people who used it 2018 yeah so I also think Robin this is a part of the marketing strategy right with the marketing company is that that that those types of things need to be discussed I do think that in terms of restaurants I think it is it's it's it's insurmountable because of what they have to do in order to change something into something and that's why we lost um the Jamaican restaurant because they just couldn't they couldn't afford to do what they needed to do in order to stay here right so I I think there's it's complex I don't think we're going to solve it tonight or whatever the case may be but I do think it's a conversation between the landlords that we've never engaged in and I think that has to happen and again with us as a console coming back and taking a very hard look at zoning and figuring out what is reasonable and what will attract people and maybe it won't be restaurants right maybe it's just going to be something else or or maybe it's just a sandwich chocol or whatever I I'm just do it out right um based upon what they're at being asked to do but no one's going to come in and turn a place around and spend millions of dollars and I have friends in in very highend restaurant business um I know what it takes to do that no one's going to do that without a guarantee knowing that they're going to have put trap they're just not going to do it so I mean we just have to be reasonable thank you brother agreed and just really quickly we have a lot of events so we have on Thursday we have this incredible program with Roxy ballet they are a professional Ballet Company they're doing a full uh Hispanic Heritage Month they're doing six ballets six different totally different Repertory ballet uh programs one of them is is a dance of Al fra k um it's awesome it's inside stangle so we're weatherproof and I really hope people come you can bring children they're they're fine with children they're fine with people coming in anding free to the public it's free and it's sponsored by the um hunon County cultural and Heritage uh commission this is a program called dancing on the green that's been done at Old York Winery out in the fields and they wanted to do it on the grass on stangle and then it got a little cold and a little dark and we decided that we would put it inside stangle and and uh it's going to be wonderful what time is the event so it starts the first dance starts at 6 o'clock and there's like Thursday this is this Thursday so it's a special event at the Sip and stroll um then the following Friday we have the witch walk and the moon Market on stangle road we are closing a portion of stangle road right in front of the brewery so that it's a little brighter and a little um more festive to have everything in that one area but really the witch walk is is a Fleming a strange Flemington tradition of new and we have come up with an event that people really love it's really fun it's for everyone of all ages and and I hope everyone comes what's that isn't on the 19th that is on the 20 thank you the 26 we're using Court Street park for the first time we are decorating for Halloween in hopes that in the future we can actually have like a pumpkin Festival where we use take advantage of the 1600 Farms that surround us and get some in on some of those pumpkin carving and decorating activities and and then have a place that can be ready for the um we're going to this this uh Year we're doing a movie on Saturday night we're showing halloweent town which Bears some similarities to uh the burrow it does I must say and um we're also having the kids annual Halloween costume contest in the park on Sunday on Sunday yes from 2 to 5 the 27th Rob go back to the is there a ghost walk as well no it's just the witch it's the witch walk GH the basically it's really a misnomer because we it should be called The Witch Dance because nobody's walking we're dancing we are we're dancing we teach there is a German witch dance called the hezel brunt something that people do they do it in French town they do it in other towns and we teach everybody how to do it and we do it and it's really fun a couple years yeah it's like the dance in like out all oh yeah it's that dance it's kind of historical come on down it's really fun we have a lot of fun and a lot of creativity and it's really can get you to wrap this up yes so then we're having our second first Friday event on Main Street on November 1st and the theme of that because November 1st is the day the dead and you know a Mexican tradition we are going to have a craft some food sampling and some other things so we we just have a full complement of of H fall events coming up and that's it can I add sure there are some local burrow residents that are members young ladies that are members of that Rocky it'd be really lovely for us to support them it's wonderful please come thank you you thank you anybody else from the public I read your name and your addresser c u p e r w Wait can you do one more test okay Caroline Cooper wit c u p e r w i c name is Thomas it was a lot easier go your first name is Karen Carolyn oh Carolyn okay yes um 57 Brown Street in Flemington bur you wrote to me was your house open for the open house yes I was I remember yes and I sent you an email yesterday so yeah you sent me in the council presid yes yes so same so uh recapping um so uh so we bought our house uh at 57 Brown Street uh on July 31st of 2023 so just over a year ago um at the time the title company so we met you know got approved for a mortgage uh Title Company came in and our taxes were estimated at $3,715 um and then uh so we worked that out put money into escrow for the year um for the mortgage company to pay it uh and in October 20123 so the title company expected 3,715 for the year and when we got our first bill for the first quarter it was $4,000 so um what ended up happening is that our escrow account was immediately empty and that we one year later so in July of 2024 now need needed to reimburse the mortgage company $111,000 in taxes that we didn't know um when we bought the house that we would have to pay and also a 25% increase to account for the taxes that we now know we have to pay um or we could spread out the $11,000 over the next 12 months in which case our monthly payment goes up 50% for the next 12 months for last year's taxes plus this year's taxes um and that's a lot so um so I uh I went through a bit of a nightmarish uh effort to try and get an explanation of how this occurred and where these numbers come from uh and eventually ended up at the County tax assessor uh who confed that it was not a bookkeeping error as I thought it might be um but rather it's a problem that most new homeowners are having uh because uh of the housing market being so high that as soon as you purchase a property uh as far as the tax assessor is concerned when I sign my name on my mortgage I'm saying yes this is the value that this house should be assessed at even though you know obviously no one wants to buy a house in this current economy because it's not easy um so immediately uh you know basically overnight when I purchased my house uh my taxes quad uh more than tripled uh from what I had anticipated when I bought it um so now I'm stuck sort of like I'm not moving my son again through districts so now I'm stuck trying to find basically a part-time job to pay for my taxes which um is sort of two problems so one is there's two things that upset me about this one is that if I had known at closing what the actual numbers were that may have affected my decision at that time but at this point I've owned the house already I've move my son and I'm going to make this work one way or another um uh and so that's you know one problem is the the transparency that I feel should have been there at the beginning um oh and another County tax assessor also pointed out that uh that Flemington burough does annual reassessments some towns do them more spread apart so we get affected more quickly and uh in in trying to make me feel better um said that there are other people whose taxes jump significantly after they've had their house for 10 or 15 years and then if they can't and then they find out that they can't afford their taxes and they lose their house and I I didn't actually feel better after that so um so uh so I have a few uh ideas I I know absolutely nothing about um burrow rules and and so forth a first- time homeowner so I'm still figuring this out but I would I see this as a problem that I'm sure a lot of other people are facing along with me and I think that there are hopefully some ways that we can uh address it so that um you know we had I I overheard mention of businesses having a very long amount of time before they had to pay the taxes on their improvements and I understand that that's what the difference we have that with I found out about it after we so uh so tell me about that so yeah but let me first just so we didn't make any Home Improvements except for repairs after we bought it so the prior owner did the prior owner did and they could have filed and re it stays with the land so theyre so so oh so if they didn't file then there's nothing I can do okay so there's that um I was so close well I shouldn't say that you should talk to the assessment right I uh which one because I've Ed okay okay um I had so when I well so with the so there were some improvements made by the previous owner prior to selling um which according to the burough assessment office is why my property price R but but the fact of the matter is that my so for example my land is specified as being as having been previously worth something like $80,000 and the following year was valued at $150,000 for the land not the house which I no one made any changes to so even though yes there were improvements there were not $200,000 worth of improvements there were some improvements and then there was the market that caused the vast majority of the price increase and so it seems uh it seems to be a a common but significant problem that as the direct result of the market changing my taxes became unaffordable and there needs to be some way to balance that that perhaps uh a limit you know some states I've been trying to Google this the best I can um have tried to put limits on how much a property can increase in value over the state of New Jersey does not do not have one but but even the states that have one uh it's it's still complicated because it's the Burrows that do the tax you know there the towns or parishes or what have you that do the tax assessing um so um so I'd like to I'd like to sort of brainstorm with you um if we could impose some sort of like in my case less than 300% would have helped me to in my tax assessment value from before I bought the house to the following quarter so uh if we put a 100% limit the the municipal Municipal governments in the state of New Jersey I can't speak of any other state must be governed by what the state allows us to do and the state does not allow us to do that they don't allow you to so the power to change people's taxes or give abatements or freeze them rests with the state legislature we have no power to do that so senior tax freezes veterans tax freezes um or the state tax court or the state tax court right all of those things rest but to change the law rest with the legisl we have zero power to do anything I hear this all the time about you know something for the seniors whatever there's a uniform tax code in the state and the property tax laws or government legislature one thing that I heard about other towns within New Jersey is that some of them do not tax at 100% or that U so whatever your your property is assessed at that in Flemington burough we tax it 100% whereas other Burrows might tax that 80% of your um your property value you're breaking the law they're breaking the law state law says they're we're supposed to be doing reassessments every year and taxing in 100% so municipalities that are doing it are breaking the law yeah I I I we we have first of all congratulations and and and it sounds like you made a good [Laughter] that being said we had a long um we had a long uh Ed came earlier this year and he was I I highly recommend all residents come that night because he comes every year um kind of explains to everybody how assessments work and one of the things that that was said that I was a little confused about I thought Ed had said to us earlier this year that um each the the the burough is broken up to basically every five years so you full to go in to go into the house full assess look at every room ask but when a house sells he's got a real cost right a real value so then it I've got to ask you I've got to ask you because you know I got your email I took it to heart I said it to Ed I said I want to know what the story is on this property he told me that they always send out like most um real estate agents m send out an Oprah request to know exactly what the real taxes are going to be your real estate agent did not do that we bought our house in 30 days okay because that would have told you right then and there Ed would have worked those numbers and told you something much closer than than whatever number you were told it might have been 10,000 it might have been nine he might have told you 12 but he would have given you a much closer estimate or he would have given you an exact number based on the property what you were actually buying it for so so there's that that is a that is the method for new homeowners to know what they're walking into um it they respond to every Oprah it Oprah come in here constantly um byy new home you know new property because not just homeowners I mean it's business owners too to know what to because as soon as you buy a house your prior the people who you bought it from I think paid half of what you paid for it l and then they less than half and they did a lot of work and so it all caught up when you bought it and that Oprah request would have given you a much better idea of what I mean it would have given you probably you know if he knew you were paying I remember what you said for 50 or 435 whatever it was he would have worked those numbers for you and so I think the land value also I mean you know there's been a lot of property inflation and value in this in this town properties have very quickly bidding wars all the time I don't know over okay so well it wouldn't say it was a bidding war we had to bid we lost two houses that we couldn't get you really should so my suggestion to you is you really should bring him out ask him and will come to your house you should bring him out talk to him so the abatement program allows up to $50,000 worth of improvements I think you probably had a lot more if it doubled in price no I I would say they're probably around 50,000 there's any before pictures because I know the listing would have had the after pictures yeah so if he may be I don't know if you can go backwards under our ordinance or not okay um the state allows us to do this so we have an ordinance that that memorializes what the state allows so I don't know if the state allows us to go backwards but that's worth a shot let him look at it see get some pictures out it's also worth a shot if he knows that you um were in some kind of you know price price inflation that may help you I mean I don't know how much it's going to significantly help but you know if if you can get the abatement at 50 and if you you overpaid you know like you got into a bidding where we paid over 40,000 over and he'll look at it and he knows whether this house is worth whatever but that's already you know one quarter off your taxes right there right so um and then you know you can always put in for a tax appeal but you should just like bring them out call Ed Kerwin or tax assessor and have him do a home visit we exchanged some some voicemails or in the process of that good because that's the best there's really nothing we can do for you because the taxes are the taxes and you can do a tax appeal you know by April um but you know what you're telling me it sounds like there's nothing we can do about your taxes inum or anything because the state doesn't allow us to so but Ed is been doing this for like years I mean since God made you know he knows he know and and's and he's a taxist I don't even know how he counts so he knows what the values are and he really is a very kind person and he will do everything he can to try to figure this out with you okay so I really I mean that's your best but you know that op request is you know that is the method right there to protect everybody who's buying a home to know what the real taxes are going to be they know Carla's going to run and screaming out the door because well CU s right over they were I mean they were also literally fixing up the property up until the day that we bought it so I don't know how up to dat um they they actually left things undone that we had to hold on to M and escro because uh there were still things that they hadn't finished by the time we moved in um it's a beautiful little house it really is I like it is but Ed's Ed's comment on the phone was that it was like new and I said you haven't seen where the water comes in through the roof and that's why you need have them come out yes do you know and and remember that if you do work to fix that roof you get up to $50,000 in tax frees right all right you know for five years thank you I'm so sorry I wish we could do more for you welcome thank you but um yeah I really wish we could do more for you but the law is so tight on this and but Ed is Ed is your best bet I'll find out when Trenton's meeting I'll be down there there you go there good for you okay anybody else from the public yes just need your name and your address sure Brian b r i a n beckon ball b c k n BAU G and 22 benell Street um sorry I'm getting here late so you may have covered a lot of this already um one of the topics that was like um pedestrian safety Improvement we've been talking about M streets specifically okay great is here okay great um I guess with mind Street one one thought is that um most people do OB the speed limit but the ones that don't really don't um you know and I'm wondering if a um you know a traffic you know a bum so let me catch you up what you missed okay thanks let me catch you what you missed um so the police department has been monitoring speeds that little sign that they're recording so we we are very aware about the R of speed and how much speeding we're going to get another report next month on the amount of speeding that's happening online they've also had the police out there doing some ticket blitzing um on Speeders none of which are from Flemington they're all from elsewhere we kind of knew that right um and we are G to be talking uh to our traffic engineer to look at a global calming plan for M Street possibly a three-way stop at parking mine U maybe some other uh two-way stop you know Dey or threeway stops at Dewey and Academy whatever but we're going to ask him to take a big look at it um to see what we can do for traic calling our DPW does not want speed bumps it's very hard to plow it's really rough on plows and the people who live across from the SE bump we hear Boom all night right you know so but we are we are gonna we have a meeting with the traffic engineer Friday we'll be bringing us up to him on Friday okay and and vanel does have a number of like you know curb bump outs and things like that you also have parking on both sides of the street which is the slow traffic down and you know I I have dogs so we walk up and down the street a lot you know and and I notice it's it's areas where there are fewer cars parked on the street that have the most of eating you know so it's like let's get more people parking on the street and SL Town um so there's that I guess uh people cut through the school parking lot quite a lot between they speed through the school parking lot yeah yeah yeah between uh panel and and and the street park everybody it in a cut through yeah and that's fine I can choose and it has a 5 m hour speed limit but sometimes you see cars coming through quite a bit faster well yeah they should not be speeding right so again I I don't know what to do about that but I just want to point that as a concern thank you for bringing that attention because maybe the chief can because we we live immediately across the um from the the exit of that parking lot you know that kind of exil parking lot onto Bell so we see you know you see we see what happen and you know it's it's probably one in five or fewer but you know it's it's it's a school right there's a number of children you know they in in the neighborhood and they play they walk and stuff so so there's that um I noticed that the sidewalk on this um on Park the up at the corner by the school across from the school the sidewalk is Park yeah the street right here so if you go out the door go left and the other side of the street this is Court this is Court Street all this is Park I'm sorry Court Street right street right here so go left go up to the end of the street hor the sidewalk is an a terrible and that's the school you know then people chill across there a lot um so I guess those are the the things I want to point out and then um I don't know if this is the right meeting for it but I wanted to see if there was any updates on the status of the Redevelopment or the application for the briquette property oh that's all approved that was approved it was a d variant so right uh okay myself and councilwoman we were we were actually recused from it but but completely approved and I don't know okay what's going on with it okay I I heard some like kind of talk on the Block that there have been some additional um I guess requests made of the developer to replace sewer connections for homes on M Street I don't know offsite of the property and that was like a sticking point and I don't know if that's true or not I haven't talked to the developer but yeah I I don't know if you want to send me an email I find out for you okay send it to me find out for you I'll talk to the vpw you know cuz cuz we're you know we're actually you know in support of that Redevelopment and you know I think it's it's good and you know hopefully you can move ahead at some point um fairly soon I know they were requested to do extra stuff regarding flooding they satisfied the planning board on that I'm not heard anything about sewer so send me okay yeah send okay great I just make one more com real quick if you have concerns about the the parking lot for the school maybe attend a doe meeting tell them they can make some modifications to parking lot something that would get right um what is the the um I mean I guess I'll look on the on the website do you know what the timing of those meetings generally the same as ours I think uh no the changed to Thursday nights they just had they just had a meeting a couple weeks ago but Thursday nights if you go on the blomington raron school district website okay they changed from Mondays to Thursdays last year are they at the school they're at JP case at 7even o'clock okay which is the Middle School up on on there's there there there's six schools in the district but the District Board of Ed meetings are up there okay yeah okay great all right thanks thank you look for that email thank you anybody else in the public okay seeing them we're going to get on to the m agenda uh we approval of a bunch of minutes uh regular session September 23rd 2024 have a motion please move is there a second second uh all in favor any opposed okay executive session September 23rd 2024 move is there a second sorry second all favor opposed okay um we have nothing under consent we have the introduction of the ordinance what are we doing with this yeah guess either either car or I September 9th you know that included the final Pro map okay so we don't have it we have the the resolution and the um preliminary map that was produced map is from ail this year proba for all over when she was absent from are you is it your advice that we table this to the or can we vote for want a map map in the resolution they provided so on page it says September 9th this map says September 9th but it's very hard to read as long as it can be read you can pull that off Market exhibit B and you can introduce it good job car I'm with that as long as you can make it out probably have that in better form somewhere and are you you're okay with this attorney as long as she's got that M that map which I never seen before but the governing bodies got Comfort too I think we're going to move this to the bottom of the agenda can I have a motion to amend the agenda to move this or to table it for for uh to later long is there a second Sor I'll second so we'll wait we're gonna wait and do this later so everybody has a chance to look at this I'm fine with it being Complete Car you're fine with it the map is not that different except for the new oror I'm fine with this ordinance I don't vote the last page where did you get the last page what was it what I said what did you print the page for like where did it come from car sent it to like when you printed this doc this was everything is from in the resolution it looked like this was in black and white or no no it was in color I mean I could print it in color but so you could email you could email it to the whole C remember you will have a chance yeah so if we introduce save it and then and then send it to everybody so they can see it in color and that would be good so we could introduce it tonight if everybody's comfortable um and then get the better looking prob have we get I do have a color map but once I copied it it look at the next couple minutes while we keep moving on um all right so we have a couple of uh public hearings um ordinance 20242 and ordinance amending chapter 4 licensing Institute regulations for advertising signage in certain instances uh this is the signage ordinance that the council worked on for many meetings uh and introduced at our last meeting the public hearing can have a motion to open up the public hearing or mooved is there a second my public hearing is now open is there anybody in the public or online raise your hand please if you have any comments seeing none have a motion to close the public hearing we'll move is there a second s second all in favor to adopt ordinance 2024 D21 move is there a second second any discussion Ro C sure councilwoman uh Englehart yes councilwoman faar yes councilman l yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes and Council vice president Rosetti yes uh second public hearing is ordinance 2024 22 and ordinance amending chapter 26 zoning section 2631 sign to amend the regulations for temporary signage um again this was worked on very hard by the council uh for many many many many meetings um can I have a motion to open to the public for the hearing move there a second sorry second all in favor public hearing is now open any member of the public mission to speak on this please raise your hand line or come to the microphone if you're in the room see none have a motion to close the public hearing move there second all in favor can I have a motion have we hearding on this the point board heard this those I think so yes pretty sure yes the planning board the planning board voted in affirmatively that this was I not reive thank you for checking yes this isue on Friday I wasn't sure planning board did concur in fact I know they did because they asked the question to vote on both them and I said no just the one you were there yes so they only voted and I talk ear have pleasure talk you can talk to her all right can I Mo oh wait I do the motion and second write to vote now I have a motion to have a motion to ordinance 22422 move is there a second Sor any discussion roll call please councilwoman angle yes councilwoman faar yes councilman Le yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes Council vice president R okay uh regular agenda item 134 resolution 2024 d137 authorizing the adoption of rules and regulations for the Flemington burough Police Department I have a motion to this resolution Parker is there a second second any discussion roll call please councilwoman angart yes councilwoman fararo yes councilman lit yes council president La yes councilman Parker yes and Council vice president retti resolution 20 2024 138 resolution authorizing the Trust on Grant application this is the county uh the County Recreation and trails Grant I have a motion to approve long move there second second any discussion all call please councilwoman art yes councilwoman barara yes councilman L yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes and Council vice president Rosetti resolution 2024 d139 Award of contracted Crossroads Paving 386 South Street s 169 Newark New Jersey 07145 for the William Street roadway Improvement project I have a motion to accept move there a second angle second any discussion roll call please councilwoman anglehart yes councilwoman farara yes councilman Lev yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes and Council vice president Ros resolution 20241 140 authorizing submission of a community forestry program as prepared by the Flemington BAU shade Tre commission pursuant to the New Jersey shade tree and Community forestry assistance act njsa 13 Co i1 L there 171 at SEC can I have a motion to approve long move is there second par second any discussion comment just yeah sure Liz um reading through that V report it was wonderful and gave me a lot of insight into how you guys operate and how you make decisions it was wonderful great glad to hear it was good yeah I know they worked really really hard so yeah presid just the basic like what what is this as so this is goad yeah so I mean it's it's literally what it says a community forry plan so even though we're more of a Suburban Urban you know burrow um we still are considered a forest right an urban Forest we have trees that help impact the environment they help uh remediate flooding right trees soaking up we want to make sure that um we maintain that so part of what's gone into this is It's Like A Five-Year Plan basically for how we're um keeping track of all the trees making sure that there's no hazardous trees making sure that trees are being cared for properly replaced as needed like all these types of things that the Comm uh you know the commission works on regularly um shade trees for our sidewalks which helps people want to linger and visit businesses more like it's all connected um but basically it's just a five-year plan for what their goals are um and again by doing this and by Trent thank you so much he's going to be doing the core training that allows them uh to be in good standing with the state and apply for Grants to help money with you know for whatever they need the the programs the public Outreach the um adopted tree all all the um things that they do as as a commission update we already have we've had this plan we had a plan for a very long time and available on our website this just updates the last Plan update right right it's all updated and um I guess that some point over the time you know we're not in good graces with the state so this is just a step like we have to do it um to get back in in their good light thank you thanks L anybody else have any other questions or comments not call please yeah councilwoman engart councilwoman faar yes councilman lit yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes Council vice president resolution 2024 d141 Award of contract to MSP construction cor 19B Min acing Road Flemington New Jersey yes that is how you pronounce it for the Main Street sanitary sewer Improvement project can I have a motion to adopt move there a second second any question I did you see me raise my eyebrow smile on your face please councilwoman Englehart yes councilwoman farara yes councilman Le yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes Council vice president resolution 202442 resolution authorizing a newy operation plan I have a motion please second second uh any discussion that's what start um R please councilwoman angelart yes councilwoman farara yes councilman lit yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes and Council vice president Ros we're going to go back to number 11 the introduction of the ordinance is everybody comfortable introducing this tonight know you'll get a color photo of the map in the next please can I ask a question real quick sure are we are we is this ordinance justes to take away the garage or is it to approve the whole plan wait what it's a little the worry a little confusing the original one was but the paper is updated right that's the new one I think the new one should that I give credit for that the garage at8 New York Avenue 19 well this is my Pro this is my question I this is the garage is like in my backyard so do I have to do I have to uh do I have to umuse recuse myself because we're voting on the whole thing but then there's this thing about Gage that's Financial benefit to it I mean I don't I don't care either way but it's a can't it's up to you you feel conf if we we're voting on the whole thing I'd like to vote on the whole thing if we're only voting on the garage voting on the entire I'll just conflicted Council I'm I don't feel it's a garage but I just I just I didn't want I didn't want to I didn't want to screw up the the vote for any anybody anybody question good um okay so and some time anyway so um all right so we're we've got ordinance 202 24-23 and ordinance of the Bureau of Flemington adopting an amended Historic District map to remove and should say and to remove behind New York Block 19 can we put in one one word thank you and remove the garage behind 8 New York blck 19 lot 7 Avenue as a contributing structure in the historic district and I have a motion to introduce is there a second angle second uh roll call please councilwoman angelart yes councilwoman farara yes councilman lit yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes Council vice president Ros wait what was the title be add between the word math and two okay so she M and to remove yeah okay okay Y and and counc vice president voted you did okay yes okay thank you so the motion pass public hearing what no it's fine you're good good public hearing is what October 29th is that our when is our next meeting 28 29 29 today's the 15th oh no it's 28 28thday Tuesday has to go back plan this has to go back to yes it does have to go back to the planning board and and they canel their October 22nd meeting so you guys have a lot of time now oh wa so they got noticed today that they cancel so we're done in November then guess we're gonna have to what's so they beet November 8th yeah wait I can look at my calendar I just put it on it's before the leag the week before right because I have this on set on airplane got see bring my calar uh so there since they canel on the 22nd their next meeting is what the heck is it uh the 19th is that right the 19th and then they're meeting on the 26th so it's the 19th so I I guess uh we won't be able to do the public hearing for this until the 25th of November that's I thought we had one meeting in November I have a I have a meeting on the 12th of November and one on the 25th this year we'll see that um okay so that looks like that's the public hearing is the 25th they canel the I anybody would like anybody fromc oh that would be a good idea we just I just have to confirm with the plan board I know I know they cancel it because I saw the notes today yeah I think it's a good idea too okay um all right so that's that you got no work session up to public comment session number two okay chief no okay anybody online no can't even see who's online so it doesn't matter I'm all right item uh 16 pay bills authoriz pay bills in the amount of $287,000 87496 can I have a motion second angle second roll call cleart yes councilwoman forar yes councilman L yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes and Council vice president than are we gonna do the other or we just did it the historical we just did it oh that takes place that has to go back to the planning board now for concurrence no the one I just made copies you need to hear you're good it Carla Carla had some surgery yesterday she needs to go home good you're okay we're all good okay so I do have I do want to just give a brief update under Public Safety the executive session um so if you can stick around just I mean it'll take five minutes under number two I a motion to go into executive session there second all in favor I rather not breakast can I have a motion to adjourn move is there second all favor