we're live on YouTube okay e e e e e all right you ready you good okay welcome everybody uh if I could ask everybody to stand for a moment of silence and salute to the flag Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic whichs one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the Union County haulk advertised on January 4th 2024 notification was sent to The Star Ledger and is posted on the municipal website the municipal public bulletin board and filed in the office of the municipal clerk informing the public of the time and place according to the provisions of the open public meeting Law chapter 231 pl1 1975 roll call please miss Cameron May here councilwoman Bodo hi councilman Foy I councilman Lazaro here councilwoman ndi here councilwoman sammon here council president Carney I'm gonna say I and here so we have a tie caught that I didn't even catch that at first R call of staff and professionals please John Authur burrow administrator Adam Abramson burrow attorney here duck stoer chief of police he was here momentarily he will be uh we will move to our report from our borrow attorney Mr abson you have anything for us nothing new to report okay report of our bur administrator right hello everyone um so we're starting and continuing to have some disc discusss about um some properties that might be placed on the recreation open space inventory um thank you councilwoman Bodo we're kind of leading that and talking to different uh stakeholders on that so we'll probably come back to you with a lot more information about that once we have more information about it uh today I actually completed the CER certified Municipal registar courses and passed the exam so that allows me to serve as a backup if people are out on vacation or you know whatever situations might arise where no one's in the office that has that certification I could step in um the grants for this year's kids Recreation trust in Greening Union County were recently announced they're opening in July due the end of August um we should probably have some discuss well we not probably we should have some discussions about whether we'd like to apply if so how much are we applying for and what the projects might be because we still have the outstanding funds from previous years to work through um before we look at next year's funds um also planning to put out a request for proposals for concession services at the Athletic Field Complex within the next few weeks likely to be due probably early to mid-september we want to give vendors some time to look at it let it sync in put together a nice package um and send it back to us and just wanted to thank the recreation director and the community engagement committee for working on that you're going to see some changes to parking ordinances in tonight's agenda once the changes are made um I will update the public facing parking map for everybody not only when the ordinance ordinances are done but when the actual changes in the ordinances are physically done outside painting and signage and things like that and I also wanted to thank Public Works and I know towns all over obviously recently had a lot of trees down I saw many during my drive this morning and um you know garwood's DPW not surprisingly assisted clean things up and you know everything was done in a efficient and uh timely manner so thank you to them that's it for me thank you yes it was it was kind of a scary couple of minutes there last night so thank you I I saw our PD running out there last night and our DPW so um I appreciate all that they did with that uh in terms of the recant Mr Arthur um I know we have slotted some of the older grants to various projects that we've talked about up here um if I could ask you to meet with uh Community engagement just to see where we are with how much we have left from the older projects or the older grants I should say that haven't been allotted um obviously that's important to know before we make go ahead with any decisions I know we've talked about the uh shade structure not sure if we have money left from the grants that would cover that and of course we have to look at the matching situation so a lot to talk about so if you would get the conversation started with Community engagement um and if we need to bring in public works or Finance we can sounds good we'll do thank you thank you uh I just have a quick report a couple mostly thank yous actually uh because I want to thank the Garwood public library for hosting garwood's first ever Pride event this past weekend um families joined together to chalk the walk outside the library enjoy some cake pops and positivity iced tea uh make crafts and of course listen to a story by garwood's own arth author Rob Pearlman uh who if you haven't heard of or haven't scooped up one of his children's books or his adult books uh you definitely should so thank you to everyone who came by to celebrate um also summer rec Camp started and I know Council menaldi will have a report but I just wanted to uh thank our rec director for her work with our counselors ahead of the SE the summer season this year the counselors participated in a safety training conducted by the bars joint Insurance Fund um and she also coordinated a c are training and certification for the counselors through the Garwood first aid Squad so thank you to the squad for doing for their time doing that as well uh this is something I'm very proud the burough was able to coordinate as it really ensures a a safer summer for all the campers um but that is it for me so moving on to comments from the council councilwoman Bodo thank you mayor um just just a few um I attended the senior rri social and it was very nice to meet and speak with the senior they were extremely welcoming and shared very positive feedback and the ice cream was in fact so delicious it was it took my senor report um I also attended the library's Pride event um it was too hot for chalk to walk so I did make a bracelet and actually purchased books for my nephew it was a very well attended event and I'm glad to have been part of it thanks thank you councilman Foley tonight I wanted to just uh start off and see if uh we can talk about the 300 Myrtle block at this time um I believe Council you saidoun I have something in my comments for that so um I was gonna ask for Council discussion anyway okay so can we reserve I know there's a lot of parking things to discuss actually so we'll leave it for um end just I wanted to tell all the residents of Garwood happy fourth and uh happy birthday Mom thank you very nice councilman Lazaro I just wanted to also extend my thanks to the library and gpac and all the organizations and Rob Pearlman um for the pride event at the library um it was a really lovely event to see that kind of inclusivity and people coming out and just having a nice time that's it thank you Council waldi U I'll just Echo everyone's um sentiments about the pride event it was really lovely and uh I know gek had a really good time putting together the the artwork yes thank you I got to mention them with the uh the squares that was really pretty up there um councilwoman salmon thank you mayor I was just looking for an update on the status of the DPW I was informed that we have another employee out which leaves us with only three time employees I do see another seasonal on for tonight so I was just looking for what's happening over there yep we do have three employees out which is concerning that uh they're all three are out on workers comp and accent So that obviously concerns me I know um Mr Arthur has talked to not just the DPW but all of our uh departments about safety training and they will be participating in some safety training um as well um Mr Arthur if you want to update any further I mean beyond that we're just waiting to hear back on when some people will return in the meantime we we may continue to hire more seasonals as as needed okay and how many seasonal do we have right now we're right on the cusp of you know uh two two are done at the end of this month but we just hired another one for next month which leaves us with four whereas we normally have three we also have we could potentially up the hours that they work as well um so we're up one but then also up the option of increasing their hours as well um and still keeping the job posting out there um May C probably going to just keep circulating it and see if we can finding the like seasonal applicants are we using a recruiter are we no we just posted it in lots of different places actually physically posted it uh corkboards in now some places um we posted it online we sent it the newspaper I believe we posted it at least once or twice on social media we could do that again obviously um so we're just Contin we sent it to the county as well um the Workforce Development board and probably a few other places that I'm that is not coming to mind right now but if I look back in my emails I'd be able okay I'd love to know where we're recruiting people from if we can okay okay thanks I think that was your your answer so well he said maybe there were a couple other places so if he there were more places feel free to let me now I will if I find more I'll let you know okay council president Carney uh thank you mayor a few things for me tonight uh first my compliments to everyone who assisted with the pride event at the library uh I was away but I can it was a great time so thank you to uh everyone who made that happen uh I'm requesting full Council support for the two resolutions I discussed at our last meeting uh which are now on the consent agenda at numbers 24-12 two and 24-23 uh the first we'll urge our representatives in the legislature to support dedicated funding for New Jersey Transit by reinstating the corporate business tax or CBT for that purpose uh the second is our now annual plea to the legislature to fully restore energy tax receipts to local government allowing us to control property taxes at the source more effectively uh regarding the CBT I'm pleased to report I've heard from colleagues in Trenton that this has an excellent chance of happening as part of this year's budget process I believe it came out of Senate committee today favorably so uh let's keep up the pressure on Trenton to do the right thing the number of rail disruptions across New Jersey in the last couple of weeks have been ridiculous uh no one's going to make any money in this state if no one can get to work because our public transit is paralyzed uh I also have a few items from our last meeting of the police committee uh that I wanted to discuss in comments rather than my report uh there are three ordinances on for introduction tonight which will restore parking spaces to South Avenue along the south side of the street adjacent to vermel 2 and a few adjacent to the retail area of verela 1 on the north side of the street uh it will also add paid spaces to West Street on the Block between Willow and Myrtle uh all of these spaces will be added into the paid parking plan and will serve the dual purpose of providing needed parking for adjacent businesses while helping slow vehicular traffic in the area uh due to the growing pedestrian and bicycle traffic uh I'm requesting full Council support for these ordinances uh I also have two parking topics we discussed in committee that I'm looking for the full Council to discuss tonight for feedback uh the first concerns some tweaks to the paid parking on the 100 block of Center Street that's between South and Willow uh I've had a few requests from business owners to revisit the possibility of 15minute parking spaces uh this was something that was on our original plan for the area but mobile doesn't have a easy way for us to do this in that uh application set up uh without significantly increasing our overhead uh so Chief stoer proposed an alternative to the committee which would add one space and convert three others uh so it would be one on each side of Center and one on each side of the Willow and Center intersection uh there should be uh something in your packets tonight that visually shows you what we're talking about um so two of those spaces would be removed from the current uh business permit spaces uh which are currently only half full uh one space would be removed from the park mobile uh plan entirely and the final one on the um east side of Center would be an added space um the committee also discussed the dedicated uh veteran parking space uh but we felt this would be difficult to enforce for the police and also could result in an unused parking space uh at least some of the time um so we're also considering adding an allowance into the code for vehicles that are displaying the veteran license plates or placards to park in any public park mobile space without the need to pay uh so if it's okay Mar I'd like to get feedback on this one piece before moving on to the second part sure um and I just want to say in terms of the veterans uh licensing I did do um a good deal of research after it was brought up here and I will um say the county and I most of the towns that I saw that have paid parking do have this in their code um not as a separate space per se but as an exemption for veterans like you said that if they have the placard or the license plates or whatever they get from motor vehicles that allows them then not to have to pay the meter um and so I think not only is it a great idea but it's also very consistent with the county and the other towns around us so um let's we'll go around and and sort of draw poll is everybody looking so are we just do you want to discuss both issues the veterans issu that one first okay yeah I mean I think the veterans issue makes this makes a lot of sense um obviously having a designated parking spot just for the veterans likely would make it unused at times and so you're you're not being able to fully use utilize all the parking spaces but this allows access for our veterans to all the spaces which is even better than just one designated space because we obviously have prob more than one veteran in town so in that respect I think it's a much better plan we all agree yeah I second okay okay so the 15 minute parking spots um there I'm sorry May there is there is another piece to that on the second page um this this was just in committee discussion we weren't really ready to move on this piece yet but due to the uh underutilization of those business permit spaces um there was also a consideration for maybe flipping a few of those to the longer uh six-h hour mark but we were going to take some more feedback from small business and also C tonight on it um so I guess that's sort of my question and to you or maybe the chief um there are I I know that those paid business spots are not full but I do know that some of I I believe some of the ones that were kind of ear marking those two on the corner are those currently have permits from business owners filled those those two ones on the on the other corner you would you would just move them down to one of the other spots okay how many business spots have we sold and how many do we are we offering okay yeah anybody want to comment before I uh yeah so as far as the um business to I just have questions um toay pay parking so Chief would you are you recommending this plan of converting those six business parking spots to paid parking is that your current recommendation once we have signage onth and that's address like obas see where those go I think I'll be ready make a recommendation but I think something be able to do so right now you want to just see how the implementation of other areas of the parking ordinance go and then based on feedback come back with a recommendation on whether we should move forward with this I mean I'm comfortable with that do we is the is is your committee looking for a recommendation tonight on this or just looking for some feedback it was more for for feedback for when we go back into committee and meet because we're going to have a few more parking things to discuss and um you know it kind of touches on how complex some of these things are when we're shifting pieces around um I was more so looking for a straw poll on the on the 15minute uh spaces uh this is just something that um I I do believe from my discussions with the chief that the with the park Mobile in effect we are actually seeing available spaces at times on Center Street which is something I've never seen in all the years I've lived here other than on like a Sunday um but I do know that some of the businesses that are you know more apt to be like a cash and carrier or a pickup are struggling a little bit with that one piece of it that there's nowhere to direct their people to go for just to stop for a minute you know it becomes a walking a couple of blocks instead of one block and so we're trying to balance that a little bit so I I thought the Chief came up with a pretty good solution for where he located them and so how would the enforcement of this 15 minute because you you said um councilman that that coordinating it with Park Mobile was challenging so for those people that are utilizing that 15 minutes for pickup how is that going to be monitored will be monitored by Patrol and parking and also buy business owners too that are going to be L on spes so we'll be uh most likely Cooperative eff yeah I was expecting one or two of the more vocal owners to be on the phone if a car is there for minute 16 so I mean I'm fine with it I think it's a good idea so this would be a free 15 minute spot well multiple so I have noticed too that Center Street is excuse me pretty empty where do you guys think all those cars are going is they're going somewhere I think they're just moving okay I've heard some feedback that they think they're in Kings parking lot okay well like if that's true I'm sure the owner of that lot will notice and begin their patrols I know when it snows they're certainly out there making sure nobody Pars in there um I was actually surprised how empty Center Street's been couple of business owners that I spoke to okay chief can you help me understand um you mentioned with the the the six-hour pay parking there's 14 other spots did you mean there's 14 other six-hour pay parkings for the businesses just in general okay those are just that's the the the business can purchase a permit to to park on Willow on those Corners there umna say something I say we had set up 14 of those but at 50% utilization we're at least having a discussion in committee about do we want to flip those over to some other use uh I am going to go back through small business and kind of push out through those contacts of hey did you guys asked for this and now you're not using it and you know we'll we'll see how that goes well the that was something I was going to ask maybe we kind of do a little uh survey up and down on Center um because I was thinking I I knew that they weren't full my thoughts were once Park Mobile came around that some of them might want to you might see an increase in the in the permit business permit parking um there that they might start once the actual uh paid parking starts uh it just started a couple weeks ago you might still see another couple um that's true too that's more why we were in the research phase at this point and just wanted to see what to lose yeah to to cut them right away before we see how the paid parking is going yeah I understand wanting to wait on that a little bit I do like the idea of the 15minute parking I did hear from some business owners who are like you know grab the food type of uh businesses do a lot of takeout um that that would be helpful um my only thought when I saw this was do we need four but I'm not against it either it just kind of jumped out at me it's kind of where they were located for me it's that you've basically got one on each side of Center and I know we have kind of takeouts on each side yeah and then the the Willow Avenue spots are just you know that could be somebody who needs to run on the post office real quick and post office Lots full or one of those other businesses there where it's a drop off or a pickup even the salons could have somebody just you know playing Uber driver that day and dropping their person off for their hair if councilman Graham was here I would ask him how that works because he is the salon expert but so these additional two are these in the setback boxes or are these spots both the two on Willow okay and then what is that a 25 foot set back there or 50 right I would for just this one I would want to see exactly how far that setback is before we take it away I mean we've already had two unfortunate instances I don't think we need to cramp any intersection with a crosswalk that's just my opinion though I mean I'm okay with it I just want a little more information on just that one how far the the back is y well Chief if you could just get us a measurement uh for where it's going like what whatever it is now and then what it's going to be and then when we discuss this in committee uh because this would have to go back into committee after we straw poll and then come back out for an ordinance so I think there seems to be support for the 15 minutes correct yeah yeah and just need some of that more information and then in terms of the other which I know you Wen were not I think we're all sounds like in agreement that it's a possibility to move these uh business parkings to page parkings we just want making sure with the the new ones that are going to be paid parking see how that affects it all but we're still leaving eight available yeah for purchase well we would yeah we we still have some a yeah plenty available well six are used 14 offered if we took away so he's looking to take have yeah so yeah and not all those permits have been uh set up they can be done monthly or annually some of them are still month-to month so um all right if I can move on to my second item um that I wanted some uh Council discussion on tonight uh so uh we fed some demands in our our last meeting from uh residents on the 300 block of Myrtle Avenue to remove that block from the updated residential permit parking Zone uh so we discussed this at length with Chief stoer and committee and we did not have a consensus there on how to proceed um so at this point the paid parking and the permits have only been in effect as we just talked about for a couple of weeks um the council selected the resident permit blocks and consultation with the chief and the burrow administrator uh to ensure that paid parking for the business area did not push additional vehicles from patrons or employees onto the neighboring blocks uh ordinance 23-25 which in part established this expanded uh resident permit area passed unanimously last year um so discussion in the police committee last year had uh included extending the resident permit area uh potentially further depending on how the pay paid parking affected the region and uh you know with that in mind and also what I just heard regarding Kings which the chief actually had mentioned to us in committee as well I mean if that is going on it's going to the owner over there is going to complain and it's going to get a stop put to it so the vehicles that are being shifted around due to Park Mobile which they do have to end up somewhere that is correct so um with all that in mind I wanted to open this up for Council discussion and then bring feedback and into the police committee with the chief and uh look at possible amendments uh to the residential permits um councilman FY since you wanted to talk about it earlier if you want to start off the conversation sure so um and this is in regards to the the petition for removing 24-hour parking uh residential permit parking for 300 Myrtle and upon multiple meetings with them on the 300 blocks and discussion about the CH challenges of going back to 10 to two with them and what negative effects may come about the block felt strongly about the need for its removal they've expressed to me over and over again that these restrictions disproportionately impact the daily lives of them and everyone on that block I am proud I want to add I am proud on how the residents of this block came together they petitioned and were collaborative with their neighbors to express these concerns I fear that ignoring their concerns May under mind Community Trust in the Democratic process for I think the impact of going back 10 to two would not be problematic for Garwood and would minimally impact a mobile pay parking and a negative impact as expressed them through my multiple visits at the 300 Myrtle block and the issues that would happen if we do go back to T2 on the Block in terms of cars parking there even with those concerns I expressed over 90% of the blocks still felt adamantly about the need to remove the 24-hour parking process the process of petitioning in the multiple meetings and discussions held show held show clear that regardless of this council's position the people of 300 Myrtle have stated their views what 300 Myrtle did I feel was an example of participatory democracy and I am humbled and proud of that their approach designing this petition and all the time spent discussing this matter with me and governing other go governing officials has been a great example of community collaboration and I want to honor that approach today I also want to add I understand the concerns from my colleagues and acknowledge the hard work and dedication that went into putting this together by the majority of people up here including the surveys and Town Hall meetings and the constant discussions and planning I have struggled with this decision for a while now however at the end of the day I fall into support for the people of that block and for those reasons I stand with the people of 300 mtle and support the removal of the 24-hour par permit parking and revert it back to the 10 to two ordinance thank you um okay does anybody else want to so I just want to clarify they want to go back to 10 to two or they want the parking um just lifted so the petition uh stated they wanted none of that uh however when I spoke to each of the residents stated what I didn't hear you they wanted removal of the permit parking when I spoke to Residents about the concerns there commuter traffic and so forth um and had discussions the residents there agreed that they' be more than happy with the 10 to two uh permit back my just to let you know my conversations um with some of the residents were that it was fine the way it was 10 to two and that's so they would go back to that just to let you know the conversations I had so um anybody else W to St I'll jump in um so we did discuss this in the police committee um my feeling is that this parking ordinance was created over a period of more than a year and we did take input from business owners in the downtown residents and community members um and that was vital to the creation of this uh plan and it makes sense that we would follow the same procedure for making changes to the ordinance um but that being said um I do appreciate the concerns of the residents of the 300 block and I do respect their objections to the inconveniences that the ordinance may cause them but I just think at this point there's just not enough data on how effective the parking rules are at this early stage in their implementation um and therefore I think that any major changes to the residents only parking areas should really um be done at a later time and you know when we have more data to to make that decision I think that you know we were discussing you know continuing the residence only parking all the way up to Locust and I mean anecdotally I did see commuters uh this week walking down Center Street and getting in their car on Center Street further down and driving away so you know I think there there is there is going to be parking uh problems for people all over town the more people use the train so I mean considering they put so much effort into creating a petition talking to every single one of the neighbors I have had a few conversations with one resident I actually lived on that block for maybe four years or so I would if I understand you're saying we don't have enough data to make a decision but they live there they're giving it to us so we should listen to what they're saying um I'm also very torn on this issue um I really um generally speaking think that you know it's important to respect a process that took a long time to put together a plan and um I also you know appreciate the work that not only the committee did but also the chief did in making these recommendations um but I also really similar to councilman Foley really respect that they did not just go on Facebook and you know slam us and say how awful we are they came here they wrote a petition they followed a procedure that to me is much more democratic and showed some level of you know um representative democracy and even though I philosophically don't think we should probably change this um at the same time I don't think that there is a humongous amount of pain that this is going to inflict on that block because they're the ones that are saying they want it so if they're the ones that are saying that they want it and they're okay with the potential arcing issues that could potentially arise on that block that's what then they're going to unfortunately you know experience so I'm very divided on this I'm very torn um but I you know I I you know honestly I still don't know how I'm going to vote because I just have just going bouncing back and forth with how I feel about it and um you know I I really understand both sides and I think both sides have really legitimately good arguments here so um yeah that's a wishy-washy you're gonna get from me so um count coun I did you want to weigh in before I yeah maybe we so I'm also very torn one because there was a lot of work put into it um we had the town halls we discussed it at the citizen advisory panel um something that caught my attention was that they said that no one on the Block was surveyed which is very concerning because everybody got noticed so I have to weigh that in um very very torn um they are doing the tented to you said they're okay we do intend to to okay um I also appreciated that they came to a council meeting we stayed after for almost an hour and a half and I appreciated that they were open to listening to what we had to say and they were also very opening to the consequences that may come that may come with it um I also don't know because I mean they live there you're right they know how it affects them so I'm just waiting I don't know yet well um I'm just want to weigh in on that just a few things the survey issue that was brought up um just to clarify we did have volunteers offer to Mr Harris at who was you know running this at the time to drop off surveys on that block um I so I don't know what happened with that block you know um we we have had Vol uh residents say they didn't get it but then on other blocks they did so I I don't know I just wanted to but yes we did have town halls and citizens advisory panel weighed in and and there was yes and meetings many meetings about it so we did have opport other opportunities but um but I just wanted to make that clear um I do think we can have some more discussion on it but in the end we'll we'll have to straw pull I think because it seems like we're kind of all over the place yeah I I was going to ask you for a straw poll okay go ahead I just wanted to add I did spend three four days talking with them going to their place knocking on the door of the petition if they weren't home going back and meeting with them again letting them know the consequences of what could potentially happen if this ordinance is removed um I spoke with many of them for significant amount of time and they were just adamant no room for it wasn't even you know maybe I can see that I can maybe take the petition off I am concerned about that it was just an adamant absolutely not this is a we are unhappy we are so I did you know because I I speak with most people here that philosophically I don't I think I would like it to stay um and I shared that with them but you know meeting with them over and over again they and I do appreciate I KN I know that you and some of the other Council people didn't meet with everybody and and really talked then as councilwoman Bodo said we we stayed for about an hour and a half after the meeting and talked and we did Express and the chief expressed as well um some concerns that we had in terms of you know the Liquid Church does have a a resident there that they use for different meetings and they do have some visitor passes um but if this was removed then there's not a certain a limit to the amount of C and that could park there at night and they understood that um yeah we we went through the various consequences and they still they they UND I will say they understood that those things could happen that other you know employees from the businesses they understood that that could come back now they said they didn't have any problems with that before will they now though with the paid parking is is the possibility so mayor I just I do want to follow up uh to councilman Foley um I did also go out on that block I didn't speak to quite as many people as he did um I was only available to do it for one night but um I did encounter a resident who was happy with what we had done and I will point out to the council that we represent everyone that being said to councilman Foley and councilman Lazaro I'm going to throw the gauntlet down you both made a statement that I want you to back up what are the points that have been made that are so compelling to you from the the argument either in the petition or what was said to you in person because most of what I heard was this inconveniences me which is something that I pointed out at Council last year when we were discussing this that whatever blocks we did this to we going to have the inconvenience of having to deal with the sticker and having to deal with the guest permits so there there was already a balancing test in my opinion applied to that and as someone who's had the permits on my own block for most of the time that lived in town I I understand it sometimes it's a little bit juggling um just to me Common Sense dictates that this is going to be the only block that has reparking anywhere in the immediate vicinity I I I'm not opposed to changing this ordinance if there's such a hue and cry from from the public or doing an ordinance to change it and we can straw this we'll take it back to committee we'll work it over with the chief and we'll we'll come up with something that works uh I don't know we're going to have to look at the code for the 10 to two because I think we took that out um I know it's in other parts we would so we would have to remove it from the 24hour and then add it in what're what we're doing with um South Avenue which actually required two ordinances so I again I'm not opposed to doing any of that but um again my question is pretty simple like what are the compelling points other than inconvenience and I don't want this that have been made to you and if it's just that I don't want this I can I can respect that too so I guess we have to remember what was the point of this whole um this whole parking project right what was the point the point was we wanted to create a viable viable parking for our downtown businesses that's the essential component here that's the whole impetus for this project and if we undermine that project by creating a Zone where people can park in the middle of this whole you know ecosystem of parking we're going to undermine the whole paid parking project right it's going to take away the whole it's going to it's going to affect it we all know that it's going to affect it right it's not just going to be an inconvenience for one block it's going to be that the paid parking at least in the downtown area that's close to that that block it will take away the whole paid parking project I mean I I definitely again common sense says it will have an impact and then you know having this the radius that the committee landed on last year you know this is also to me a pilot for how this could potentially work in other areas of the of the burrow where we have these parking challenges and I I was away um I was down in Cape May and you know the again that's a worldwide tourist destination but Cape May itself is a a municipality with a similar number of full-time residents as us and they had a lot of this stuff in place including the park mobile and everything else had a lot of bike Lanes um so I appreciate um What the residents on this block have done I appreciate how it's impacted my my colleagues and you don't want to not listen to to to feedback that's part of what we all do up here but I do think Council woman oldi makes an excellent point I mean we created a blueprint essentially for what could be done on the North side so if we now change the plan it's not going to be easily replicable on the North side does that make sense so it seems like the do you want to comment back at all you have like three councilwoman salmon you you was that yeah I mean um so so the point about undermining the actual parking plan can you talk more about like how you see it undermining is it the fact that because now the Avail like one of the ideas that I originally had which I know that the mayor was said that we either can't do it or it's not not feasible is at least my thought was why couldn't we do a 10 to six option I think the biggest concern that we heard from them was this idea of the fact that they were annoyed that they couldn't have residents Park overnight and like I think that was idea but then I heard from other people that having different uh hours for those blocks was not going to be a really good idea either because it would be confusing to Residents going back and forth I I is that correct I know um because I just want to say I think what they're concerned about most is not necessarily the overnight I think that's a part of it but a lot of it had to do with visitors on Saturdays I think as well um because all day you know barbecues whatever they're having I I think that to me was what the feedback I got from them was a big issue so I I guess uh I guess I would ask um you know when I thought about this like I guess if you could talk more about like do you really think that people that people would just ch like if for example let's say people do Park on that 300 block do you think it's going to that there not going to be people who might just decide they want to be closer to the downtown area to use those businesses or do you think that that's going to affect the ability of of us to be able to support the actual um parking officer is that is that what you mean by that undermining is that what you foresee happening yes because I mean we this whole thing was created as a whole right it was created as a and and you you you extrapolate right information based on the data that you have so you say we've got these number of parking spaces we estimated that we would need 14 uh business uh business spots for owners to pay for their employees so it's it's possible that we've made some mistakes along the way right um but we won't know if we've really made mistakes if we suddenly open a new block of free parking for everyone um you know it it's did you you have your finger on it sorry um the only thing that comes to my mind is you know these residents are coming together they're telling us collectively they don't want it kind of brings me back to our Airbnb discussion where we had a group of residents that were affected by one thing on their block and we banned airbnbs off of you know maybe 10 people if that they're they're just asking us not Aban parking for the whole town they're just asking us to change their block like we did this already just a different topic and we listened and we heard what they were saying and not everybody supported it but some of a majority of us did and now you can't have Airbnb in Garwood because of a group of small a small group of people now we have the 300 block of Myrtle coming to us saying we understand that you're putting in paid parking everywhere we're okay with that can you just leave our block alone I think it's fair to listen I understand what you're saying but they know the repercussions that could potentially happen and if for some reason it's not working just as much as we're changing it right now we can still change it back if they choose so um I'm G to let everybody else have a last word before we cut it and and do a little vote I still didn't get my question answered though as to what the compelling points were I think them coming together organizing it um sharing with me their concerns because each house and every on that block shared something whether it's you know I have my parents live here and Aid comes here I'm worried they'll get ticketed they can't give her them a ticket they'll forget um look at the end of the day um this is they strongly feel about this and councilman and I apologize for interrupting because I get that there's strong feelings about it I spoke to some of these folks myself that's not the question the question is what point did they make that was so compelling the they live there and they experienc it but the fact that they organized the Alan that's a facet of things we should consider up here on Council it's not all of it there there's the larger policy discussion just as councilwoman salmon indicated with the Airbnb and again it's not that it was completely banned it was restricted to I believe was it 31 days um there was a lot of conflicting opinions in the community and this Council had to make a call and we're not going to make everyone happy all the time so I just want to make sure we don't lose sight of our roles up here there is two people on that block who disagree with it it's 98% strong feelings that this is something they don't want and they all have a different with a lot of laws over the years I understand that but they've done this in a way um they've shared their their frustrations with it each individual household has their own concerns um those are valid concerns and with that you know I've given them all the all the issues that could arise um and it's something they don't want could I have a chief if you don't mind um uh I'd really respect your opinion um on this and um I I know you spoke to the residents as well about this um can you talk about a why you originally thought it was so important to have that block included as part of the you know permit parking and then B what you anticipate would happen if that were changed I anticipate right all South Avenue paid parking and wherever the other people are parking K make if that gets shut down then we're all those people I I just think the timing couldn't be worse right now to entertain that once we have all pieces in place and really could get a good idea of what it is rather than going back and for you know RMC itself they have a big impact on that block in the afternoon you know that's going to be open season again 10 to two the 10 to two is not going to address anything this that was designed for the community that part there you know 6:30 7:00 if they were there till you know 12 that would be obviously this you know you come in park on the Block lunchtime will your Park to the other side you're good for the rest of the whole de with the temp to so nothing changes for them as far as impact they stop get permits I don't know and again it's the only block that has complaints about it so I don't know okay I would just I would my recommendation would be give it a little bit of time so last thoughts Council woman um so this doesn't become effective immediately right we have to we have time we would have to fix the ordinance which so the earliest you could put an intro on would be July we have one meeting in July so then the earliest you could adopt it then would be August okay so it wouldn't become effective until like August September September okay yeah because it's still 30 days after 30 days after so I mean they're still gonna see the summer with it being what it is so we'll be able to see how the summer goes right we won we won't know the effect of the parking on South Avenue really until yeah until later I mean they know the consequences it affects them right well it doesn't just affect that block though it it the personal inconvenience which seems to be the only point that I'm hearing made over there does affect everyone on that block and everyone else that has to display the permits and deal with the guest passes and everything else I I fully appreciate that it it is part of a larger hole though as Council oldi pointed out that's one component of a of a larger plan that we spent a lot of time on are professionals recommended and and so on and so on so I do think with the the timeline involved like I I am looking for a straw poll tonight so we have some direction this has to come back to committee anyway even if we're going to make the proposed changes to the ordinance it has to come back to committee it's going to need to come back out it's going to take a couple meetings to get it done which is I've explained that to everyone I've spoken to on either either side of this issue so I mean I want to just ask real quick you you mentioned local inconvenience you want what are you looking for in terms of in uh feedback from the the the clock so the the argument is not persuading me speaking only for myself that I find this inconvenience because of the guest or the or the permits there are plenty of other residents in town that are dealing with the exact same things and and granted none of them have put together a petition to come and talk to us about it but look I've heard grumblings from folks on the 500 block of of spruce uh we heard it um going door too uh last year on the 500 block a willow when we were when the ordinance was up for the original ordinance was up um last year towards towards the end of the year where people were like is this necessary or not so I'm not saying that the concerns are invalid but for me and not to pre-stage how I'm going to straw poll here it hasn't moved me yet like I hear it I understand it I appreciate it and I I do appreciate folks trying to engage in a in a more positive Democratic process than just calling us names on Facebook but it hasn't the case hasn't been made to me I'm open to it but it hasn't been made and I'm open to pulling this back in a committee and also percolating it a little bit as we have data rolling in and we discuss it with the chief because we're going to have to do a couple of more parking ordinances this year anyway so that's my feelings as the the committee chair but all right thank you everybody um I think at this point let me give a little straw poll it seems I kind of feel I know where is in but let's get official um here's the question I guess do you at this time want to roll back the 300 block of Myrtle do you want to adjust that ordinance knowing it could take a couple of meetings it's not going to you know be adopted next month do you want to uh look at amending that ordinance and rolling it back to the the 10 to two commuter yes so as I sorry I'm going be a complicated answer but um no I told you I said coming in here I was I could be and I have decided that I I'm not ready to roll back yet okay so I sorry I I told you I just I was very very wishy-washy but um decided that I'm not ready to roll it back okay so yes no uh yes yes Council at this time I'm I'm not interested in making any any rolling back of any parking regulation okay she councilwoman I'm going to side with the residents just because I feel it affects them personally and you can always go back so yes okay so three three yes and three so yeah I'm I'm with councilman Lazaro um I'm open to being SED but I haven't been yet so I'm gonna go with a no for right now you tied me on this you tied me on this all right um I I I think I feel as we all do here is that it's it's it's not an easy answer because I want to I appreciate how they have brought this to us and they they have come to us in the right way and they've been looking at it um but I also understand why this was done as it was done and I understand as the chief's point of view is that we haven't made all of the changes yet to what parking situation is going to be so that it's very hard to just say do this until we know the other pieces so I'm as torn as anybody else um I would like the police committee to take a look at this and and look at at rolling it back for for Myrtle um I think like I said it's not going to happen overnight we all can and I judging from everybody's opinion up here even if we put it up for introduction it might not pass since everybody seems to keep going back and forth um so I I would like the police committee to to to move forward and look at that ordinance and amend it I intended to bring it back in the committee no matter what the straw poll here was just well but so we and work with uh the Mr uh Arthur and chief stoer on that okay okay and we will see and uh hold on this is still my Council comments right I know we've been talking for a while oh my gosh wait we haven't done the meeting um okay that's all for me I I want to just say I do appreciate the conversation up because it is there a lot of times everything is very we all agree you know or sometimes there's only one person that doesn't agree or two people that don't agree and it's very nice up here to have this kind of civil conversation where we can all lay out uh our view points and so I I appreciate it I think it's also good for the public to see sometimes these conversations are had in committee and you know comes out with the recommendation and so we move forward with it and so it's kind of good for the public to see more of the discussion among us because it's you know and how we feel so mayor what I democracy what I will do is I will advance this out of committee even if it's two1 against that way it can it can come back out here yes so if it's two1 against then I'll tie it myself got it okay let's move on to the minutes miss Cameron minutes of the regular meeting of the mayor and Council held on June 133 20 24 can I have a motion to accept the regular meeting minutes so moved second um all in favor I opposed abstain um we have a abstain from we'll need one from Council we we have just Council woman I wasn't here but I watched the meeting so I didn't know I had to abstain you have I think you have to abstain if you weren't here correct she watched she watched it she's good realistically abstaining is still a vote okay just checking Communications miss Cameron New Jersey state League of municipalities received and filed Township Township of Cranford regarding ordinance received and filed rway Valley sewage Authority regarding minutes received and filed okay we have a couple of ordinance up for adoption tonight miss Cameron can you read ordinance 24-16 by title only yes an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burrow of Garwood by repealing chapter 74 entitled contractors do we have any correspondence concerning this ordinance we do not does anyone wish to be heard uh anyone present wish to be heard concerning ordinance 24-16 coming up good evening mayor and Council Bruce Patterson 325 Willow Avenue this is a a pay to play ordinance that is coming down from the state um yeah just a just to give you a little history you know I really wasn't going to speak on it but just a little history back in 2010 uh the burough tried to put in a payto playay ordinance I went to common cause and I got a model ordinance from them which I uh gave to the uh Council and they reviewed it and attorney Renard burough attorney Renard back then uh said he'll take it under advisement take a look at it uh he rewrote it and he really made it toothless you know by I accepted that at least they got a pay to play ordinance in there um at that point attorney Renard was actually Vice chair chair of the Democrat County committee you know which I had to scratch my head over but I accepted what he did uh here it is you know now it's being replaced by a Statewide um payto playay ordinance I assume I guess attorney uh Adam can just verify that but it is Statewide and I'm just wondering um what the attorney's uh sentiments are on this payto playay ordinance is it is it uh strict or is it loose or is there loopholes cuz I'm sure he's the one that actually looks at it with a legal eye you know we're we're basically just residents of the state you know that are obviously going to be under this ordinance from the state so thank you very much thank you Mr Patterson anybody else wish uh present wish to be heard concerning this ordinance okay can I have a motion to close public hearing so moved second any discussion from Council Mr Abramson so there's no new ordinance we're actually just removing the current code because the state law trumps anything that our code sets forth and since our code was I believe was not completely in compliance and the law consistently changes it's just easier to say we're going to follow whatever the law is thank you very much can I have a motion to adopt this ordinance so moved second uh roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Lazaro I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon I council president Cony I okay miss Cameron can you read ordinance 24-17 by title only yes an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burrow of Garwood by amending chapter 134 and creating new article 9 privately owned assult storage sections 13442 through 13446 do we have any correspondence we do not does anyone present wish to be heard concerning this ordinance can I have a motion to close public hearing so moved second uh any discussion on Council okay can I have a motion to adopt this ordinance so moved second V call please councilwoman Bodo hi councilman I councilman Lazar I councilwoman oldi I councilwoman salmon I council president car I uh we have a couple ordinances up for introduction miss Cameron can you read ordinance 24-19 by title onine yes an ordinance of the burrow code of the burrow forward by amending chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic article one traffic and parking section 21- 8.8 paid parking zones can I have a motion to introduce this ordinance second second roll call please councilwoman Bodo hi councilman Foley I councilman Lazaro I councilwoman NY hi councilwoman salmon hi council president Carney I miss camon can you read ordinance 24-20 by title only yes an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burrow of Garwood by amending chapter one entitled vehicles and traffic article one traffic and parking section 214.2 parking prohibited between 12: a.m. and 11:59 p.m. can I have a motion to introduce this ordinance so moved second a roll call please councilman councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Lazaro I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon I council president coring I miss C can you read ordinance 24-21 by title only yes an ordinance of the borrow code of the borrow of garard by amening chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic article one traffic and parking section 21-1 fing prohibited can I have a motion to introduce this ordinance I'll make that motion second second roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Lazaro I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I okay Council standing committee reports Finance councilman Foley nothing to report at this time fire councilman Lazar Community Development councilwoman salmon thank you mayor the mayor and I have met multiple times with Harbor consultants over the past few weeks the number for our fourth round fair share obligation will be released F sorry will be released in October we are looking into existing properties around the burrow to help satisfy the need currently along with our town planner the mayor and I also met with our planning board chair we're looking into additional areas in the burrow to potentially rezone to help satisfy the need as well we'll be scheduling a meeting with garden homes in the next coming months to review their updated project plans for vermel update vermel is addressing the sign issues for their parking lot they have informed the mayor that the signed company will be coming out to address the issue but in the meantime they have shut off the parking full sign a verela retail update the sweat house is moving along and making good progress they have signed a lease with a personal fitness tenant and will be and are in the beginning of the stages with a Caribbean food concept I will update the council as verela shares their progress thank you mayor thank you Public Works councilwoman Bodo thank you mayor in addition to their recurring activities the DPW performed the following duties set up and take down the water Mis for the summer Recreation programs water the flowers in the street side pods on the newly planted shade trees prun the trees and vegetation along the brook within the 200 block of Willow Avenue weed the Landscaping beds at the municipal and Sports Complex begun to weed the landscape EDS at Kennedy Plaza removed the fallen tree due to the heavy winds in the 400 block of Hemlock Avenue perform street sweeping operations in accordance with the annual public work schedule please note however that on June 25th sweeping did not occur on Willow Avenue due to the large number of vehicles parked streets side residents are reminded to check the schedule and to please remove the cars from the street so the department can efficiently and effectively perform street sweeping as a reminder for July on the North side Odd Sides are scheduled for July 3rd even sides for July 11th on the south side out the Hickory I'm sorry out out of Hickory to Locus July 2nd even of Hickory to Locus July 9th out of spruce to Willow July 16th even of spruce the willow July 23rd unfortunately if a street is not swept the sweeper will not return until the next schedule date please note the next bul pickup is scheduled for August 19th applications are due by Friday August 2nd I know it's early but people are away in the summer the next Green team meeting is scheduled for August 27th please stop by if You' like to learn more about the green team that completes my report Okay police council president Carney uh thank you mayor I covered most of what I have to report tonight uh in the comment period but the committee is uh working on a few other things of the chief that I just want to provide a quick update on uh discussions are ongoing in committee regarding police Staffing uh the chief is actively recruiting to fill the vacancy caused by recent resignation uh due to a pending retirement we're also looking at a bit more turnover at some point this year uh law enforcement recruiting is becoming more challenging across the state so we will keep an eye on this and provide whatever support we can to the chief uh we also discussed options for the NextGen 911 system uh which the burrow will be required to proceed with by sometime in 2025 uh with the withdrawal of the vendor KML from providing their product in New Jersey and this was the vendor we had selected to provide the 911 equipment to us which had payments spread out over a 5-year period uh Chief stoer has been actively working on Alternatives the police committee discussed various options from different equipment vendors and also the possibility of various versions of a shared service with County dispatch to handle call aning call call answering sorry and other parts of the dispatch function uh after discussion the police committee recommends the system provided by the vendor zetron as effective cost and function wise I requested councilman Foley refer this to the finance committee uh for followup from a budgeting perspective because the price while similar overall did not include that um installment payment over fiveyear option uh Chief stoer will be presenting all the options we reviewed to finance and I will await feedback from that committee before discussing further in our committee and coming back with a final recommendation yes a lot of talking yep as always right Community engagement councilwoman ning thank you mayor uh just a couple of updates for recreation um the camp is up and running 187 campers are registered um a request for rep proposals and RFP has been created by our Recreation director in order to find a suitable provider for concessions at the recreation center Mr Arthur mentioned that in his comments this morning this at the top of the meeting um it will be publicized over the summer and applications will most likely close in September with the goal to have it up and running by the spring of 2025 um we have the Step Into Summer walking challenge through June 30th um it's in the final week and there will be a grand prize for the participant with the most steps the recreation committee plans to do a walking challenge for youth in the fall and also we'll have uh some plan land walks open to the whole family um the ice cream social is scheduled for July 22nd at 700 p.m. free ice cream treats for the whole family during the fire department's pump drill which is 500 East Street uh the recreation committee is looking for new volunteers uh help provide input and ideas for the recreation programs throughout the year time commitment is one meeting a month and also assisting if available with up to F uh six events throughout the the year and no information yet on fall programming but I will have that coming up historical just a few things to announce for historical um we discussed um plans for next year uh they would like to um digitize more of their collection in order to make it accessible to the public um and also the fun historical facts Friday will continue next year uh but instead of uh bi-weekly it will be once a month um and they are also working to provide photos of garwood's fallen heroes for the Memorial Day flag project that the recreation committee has been working on and that's all I have for my report thank you Library councilman Lazaro thank you mayor lots of events going on at the library this summer on July 1st 8th 15th 22nd and 29th the library is running a program called we in the world check out the library's whiteboard as you walk in the library each week for hints helpful Friday identifying the country of the week correct guesses will be entered in a random drawing for a prize a winner will be drawn each Friday with the winner contacted on Monday on July 1st at 2m there will be a program called Ocean Adventure join the library for a highly interactive program featuring a huge display of ocean creatures learn amazing facts about lobsters jellyfish sharks and manta rays t a shark and dig for sea shells and sharks teeth registration is required there's a limit of 30 on Fridays in July um from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. there's going to be a scavenger hunt you can view a picture of the Lost suitcase on the libraryies Facebook and Instagram page at 10:00 a.m. on Friday find the lost suitcase somewhere in Garwood leave the suitcase for others to find return to the library uh and Report the suitcases location by 3:00 to collect a prize on July 5th at 1 pm. there's a Lego water challenge build a Lego structure inside the library for 30 minutes then take it outside and see if it this is for children 4 years or older registration is required and a limit of 12 on July 8th 18th 23rd and 30th at 2 p.m there's a program called musical Adventures join the library for celebration of music from around the world each session will explore a different genre of music from countries including Australia Mexico Africa and Russia on July 10th 17 24th and 31st there's a program called artists passport participants will use various art techniques and Crayola products to create art from around the world including Aboriginal dot art from Australia animal sculptures from Mexico African mudar etc for children in second grade and older registration is required limit of 12 and finally a reminder that on July 16th there is a special primary election going on that election will be held seeking replacement candidate for the deceased Congressman Donald PNE Jr the gar Public Library is a polling location the library will be open for browsing and checkouts the children's section will be closed computers and seating are not available the pickup of kids craft supplies is permitted and just a reminder of the summer hours for the library the library is open from Monday through Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 pm Friday 10 to 4:30 p.m. and closed on Saturdays and Sundays and the library also will be closed July 4th for Independence Day and that's all for my report thank you School Board leaon council president Carney uh thank you mayor the Garwood Board of Education met on Thursday June 20th uh after moving their usual Tuesday meetings since it conflicted with graduation uh I was away and haven't had a chance to review the video so I'll provide a full report at our next meeting okay um our seniors we at at our last meeting we had our ice cream social as councilwoman bod mentioned the Garwood seniors provided lunch and the burrow brought in the so delicious ice cream truck uh it was a very nice event and the ice cream was very much appreciated as it was a very hot day um but the event was very well attended by seniors in Garwood both members and non-members so thank you again to the rec director Kul isek and Senior Club President George deers for organizing and getting the word out uh and of course thank you to so delicious uh as they were lovely to work with as always our next meeting is on July 11th at 12:00 pm at the Nights of Columbus uh small business council president Carney uh thank you mayor uh pleased to report we have a new Garwood business uh Urban cone which some people may have already noticed is operating I think the mayor is familiar with it um they will be having their official ribon cutting and grand opening on Saturday July 6th at noon uh this event will take place at their location here in Garwood which is uh on North Avenue right at the intersection of uh Lincoln uh it will include free hot dog hamburgers funnel cakes and of course a full offering of their homemade ice cream so I for one I'm very much looking forward to that uh and also the Small Business board will be meeting in the month of July to discuss a few pending issues and also our fall events thank you uh and just to let everyone know I'm not familiar with it because I'm there every day my daughter's working there I figured you would fill in the blank ice cream every day I'd love to but Board of Health councilman Foley uh nothing to report at this time okay planning board councilwoman sammon thank you mayor the planning board met just last night the board approved the two subdivisions for Russo development the board also reviewed an ordinance for storm water control and adopted the revised developers assistance package the board voted to accept the propo proposal from Harbor consultants in the amount of $3,575 The Proposal was prepared at the last at the request of the planning board to address recommendations stemming from the recent master plan reexamination that's all for my report thank you um officers reports miss Cameron CH chief of police monthly reports for May 2024 do I have a motion to accept the officer's reports so moved second all in favor I I opposed okay public comment if there's anyone in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and Council please step to the microphone and state your full name and address please limit your comment to five minutes Johnny perard 410 is Bruce a Garwood ladies and gentlemen I say once more that we need to Mech our police officers firefighters and rescue squad Personnel they're out there for us 24 hours a day 7 days a Beek you the fire department and rescue squad volunteer outfits but they're out there every day serving us and risking their lives they are the people you can count on they're the one with the attitude of I'll be there never you fear that's the kind of attitude that's needed in police and fire departments and the rescue squads too we need to back them up in every way abolishing police departments abolishing fire departments and abolishing rescue squads is not the end answer and Mark well what I do say ladies and gentlemen should never be the answer we must back them up in every way because we need them and we need them badly and we need them every day every day and we also need to back our military personnel especially with the situation and that's blazing in the Gaza and many others in probably in the Pacific as well we we need to back our soul soldiers Sailors Marines Coast Guards and Airmen because some of Garson are are now serving in our military services we failed to back them up in during the war in Vietnam and during that time three of Garwood son lost their lives fighting for us three of garwood's sons they loved us so every day in aund ways they told us so and all honesty and affection they told us so they loved us so every day in aund ways they showed us so with loyalty and bravery they showed us so they were our Defenders and they kept us free they took an oath to guard us and fought for [Music] Liberty they loved us so and we should know for we love them so and finally we need to pressure the state legislature in Trenton to reopen some Clos H hospitals such as mberg in planfield we need those hospitals and we need them badly and we need them ASAP especially at a time when we're letting we're unfortunately letting some uh terrorists to come come in our country we need to back them up and what if another 911 attack occurs we'll need those hospitals very badly as sooner we activate those hospitals the better off we all will be do M yourself clear thank you thank you Mr prri is there anybody else who wishes to address the mayor and councel uh good evening mayor ladies and gentlemen Council Bruce Patterson 325 Willow Avenue I mean this parking situation is it's definitely interesting uh how it's evolving and to tell you the truth whatever this concept is ending up presently I mean there's no consistency it seems like there's no consistency a lot of talking lot of changes a lot of revisions but there is no consistency of all these parking everything's different you know now you're talking about a vet parking which is nice I mean I don't know how you're going to identify that and I don't know what's going to happen if two vets want to park downtown I maybe paint the spot red white and blue I guess for for that but I mean I it's turning into a dumpster fire that's what it sounds like Myrtle Myrtle Avenue is now you know protesting Willow's quiet I'm on Willow you know you talk about surveys nobody got surveys on Willow either Myrtle says the same thing I actually opra um and and cam this you know I actually opened for for the results of the surveys and I guess it's taken more than just the seven days it's taken up to three weeks for some reason but I guess I'm happy about that for now are those 15 minute spaces that you're talking about I mean why I mean you know I understand that there really should be something like that but why don't you just put them at Burrow Hall and if somebody needs 15 minutes to load and unload at their store maybe just get a a plaque or a piece of paper from the uh bur Hall put it on the dashboard but but tell you the truth the 15 minute spaces should be at bur Hall only because that's where people really use them uh the post office spots nobody's really talked about them I don't I don't know what's going on with that uh also somebody mentioned parking committee who is on this parking committee uh yeah and actually when is the when is the ticketing going to go uh coming into uh initiation I know right now it's all it's all just warnings so uh looking at 24-1 122 I I spoke on this uh initially the other meeting but I mean you know why is it that every answer from the government is let's just tax our way out of this situation and I and I talked about corporations last year and and I mean last meeting and and yes you know they're fleeing New Jersey so the highest densest state is going to actually want to tax them more and and it just seems that people are I don't know they want to penalize success they want to penalize capitalism they want to penalize commercial Enterprises which which is just amazing in this state I mean I grew up in this state it was never this bad really wasn't the New Jersey Transit yes they have problems for some reason the problems came out out right around now when everybody's talking about this CBT tax which is interesting you you wonder if they not a conspiracy but you know they're creating this but there's 14,000 employees by the way on New Jersey Transit 14,000 employees the trick here is before you start banging corporations with tax how about looking inward into New Jersey transit to find out what the heck is going on that they just keep running a billion dollar deficit or something like that I mean yes the state should be funding some of this but I mean the just the raway the Ron Valley Line which you're you're a member of anyway the Ron Valley Line if I don't know if anybody really travels up and down it but I'll tell you the transit oriented developments that have built so far Garwood has it Westfield has it Union along their station I mean there there's thousands in fact there's tens of thousands of units all the way to bound Brook I mean all these Transit oriented developments all these PE people taking the train aren't they supposed to be covering it I mean you know we built all these things and yet we're still having problems there must be internal problems in New Jersey Transit and that's where you should be looking first before you start banging successful uh corporations who who previously flee flee the state some of them were Merk they're they're leaving the bisco left chub partially left I don't know if they're going to really pull out 20 seconds Mr Patterson I think you should table this I mean this is really just a knee-jerk virtual signaling uh I know it goes through Garwood so you know that's why you're reaching out but I'll tell you you really should actually address dumpster fires like the DPW issue and and then this parking issue get a little more consistency into the parking issue so thank you very much thank you is there anybody else who wishes to address the May on Council we Gibson 63 second avue just following up from the last meeting what happens often in the meetings I see the format is for example myself I make a statement and then there's a retort and the retort doesn't actually match statement so it sounds good but it's not actually that good so mayor about three weeks ago more than three weeks ago I sent you an email I asked about a zoning enforcement report and what was the nature of 10 North block a zoning per application for a amusement device in a licensed establishment under a review by Vincent ber I just asked I said is this about Crossroads I have not gotten an answer yet and you stated that was my question and you stated I had I was upset because there was a zoning violation that was dismissed okay no one has gotten back to me the question remains unanswered you stated that you empathize but you specifically created this situation in 2020 all the members of the council that were here then voted to expand the bar Outdoors 75 ft from a residential area clearly you did this to benefit Le Frank at the expense of the residents this was not necessary and is a direct conflict of the prior councel and upheld by the Union County courts and you stated that noise complaints are very tough I don't believe so this they're tough if you don't want to address this is an ongoing systematic situation that was created by the council and are refusing to acknowledge or take any action it's not a matter of catching it as you stated this is an ongoing situation Garwood is an extremely small town we could walk to the bar in seven minutes it's amazing how different how distance the bar is when we talk about it it sounds like it it's 100 miles away okay from last week's comments do you believe that a commercial business profits take precent over njde noise ordinance or Garwood noise the nitrate family has been in the house 80 years we were there before Crossroads and before three businesses before this this is a commercial for-profit business New Jersey D is is something garw is responsible to enforce we pay the same taxes everybody else does I have filed numerous quality of life reports why is this different we know why it's different Crossroads is a bar with music you stated it's a fine line it's not a fine this answer is very simple roll back the outdoor expansion okay you cannot allow a bar to be 75 ft from a residential neighborhood that and the outside wasn't there for 20 years this was0 Friday and Saturday night I didn't J not Captain scoper has already spoken me twice and we have an ongoing conversation about this and an an open Internal Affairs of course that I have not got an answer that was filed March 18 so this is at 60b at the at midnight that doesn't happen in your yard that doesn't happen on your block I don't I don't even bother so one of the issues it's very simple there's something called transmissibility okay every this room has a transmissibility in other words if there's a decibel level in this room there's a certain if the door is shut there's a certain decibel level that it can't be heard on the outside or it could be measured it can be measured here and it can be measured on the outside I have seen music clubs where they have a decel meter inside the club and the DJ knows that he cannot go above that decibel level or you will hear it on the outside of the building Crossroads has nothing like that it is very simple he needs to know what decibel level inside will not be 50 DB outside the property it's very easy you do one measurement and you're done and anytime he exceeds that simple okay it's it's only tough when I make it tough by pointing it out I've tried years to do this I ask you please stop stonewalling this is not difficult thank you is there anybody else in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and Council miss Cameron I believe there's some correspondents that came in yes there it is uh the first correspondence is from Amber Hackler um I don't see an address um it's a request for official comments to be read at the June 27 2024 council meeting for several months a group of neighbors have been working on behalf of the 300 block of Myrtle Avenue residents to resend the 24-hour resident parking ordinance we have a petition signed by an overwhelming majority of homes on the block yet have been unsuccessful in our goal of removing the ordinance for our block we have had extensive conversations with individual members of the council to plead our case an abbreviated list of reasons to remove the ordinance include residents see no or incredibly little parking issue on the Block Monday through Saturday the block only gets crowded on Sundays when liquid church is holding services and the ordinance does not apply on Sunday anyway residents feel the cons of major inconveniences of our own cars and our visitors parking on the street do not make up for any potential pros of the ordinance no one on our block was included in the initial survey about implementing the new parking ordinance and we have seen no evidence that a survey was in fact specifically sent to homes on our block the ordinance is already being implemented in an inequitable manner Liquid Church has been granted a high number of of permits even though they are not residents living on the Block we have nothing against the church but if their members and visitors are given leniency on parking rules so should visitors of Myrtle Avenue residents and the residents themselves the easiest way to fix this is by resending the ordinance on our block we are asking that the council to please take a look at to please take our blocks carefully collected petition seriously and resend the 24-hour parking roll on the 300 block of Myrtle Amber hacka Bates 343 Myrtle okay thank you there any there's more one more um from Michelle capab biano um resolution 24-1 122 appears on tonight's Council agenda it is a resolution to protect New Jersey Transit by ensuring wealthy corporations pay their fair share in taxes it is beyond disappointing to me that this count would choose to bring resolution 24-1 1224 without first bringing a resolution to support State Assembly bill a496 which is the New Jersey Transit accountability act which requires an independent audit of New Jersey Transit with frequent delays and cancellations New Jersey Transit has proven not to be a reliable form of transportation before any money is sent their way there should absolutely be an outside audit throwing money at at problems without actually identifying and fixing the problems will not solve the problems we all deserve an affordable and reliable mass transit system there needs to be accountability before implementing a new tax on corporations to help fund New Jersey Transit shelle capan full for mytle Avenue okay and that's all yes thank you okay can I have a motion to close public comment so moved second all in favor I opposed okay um Mr Patterson I want to clarify a few different things that were said that weren't correct the veterans parking that we're talking about is um what was decided up here earlier tonight was not to put a specific spot out there for a veteran it is um to allow a veteran who had a disabled veteran who has the either there's plates that they get or there's a placard that they get from the DMV it's to allow um the disabled veteran to uh Park without having to pay for a spot um mayor it's just basically what the bur would be doing is codifying the law that allows for any exemption thank you there's a there's a state statute that allows for it and we're just basically codifying it in our own code thank you yes so it's not a a spot that we're adding just for that um and we do have although it's not 15 minutes um similar spots uh we have visitor spots here at Burrow Hall uh there's three spots for short-term business that anybody can use if they're just running into bur Hall to do business so we we already do have those there there is no parking committee I don't know I don't think anybody said parking committee but um I know we did talk about the citizens advisory committee was a part of did did have discussion um on the different uh on paid parking and the Very issues that would go along with that so I don't know if that's what you're speaking to but um the citizen advisory panel over the past year and a half that this has been discussed uh has been involved in those discussions um and I believe uh Chief they enforcement has begun or are we still at warning stage enforcement has begun okay thank you um okay um Mr Gibson um that email I apologize that you haven't heard back from I will check with our zoning officer I forwarded it to him because I honestly don't know it it gives a block it doesn't have a specific and uh so he he's the one that that would have the specific so I will double check and get back to you on what that is um and I apologize you haven't heard yet but I will I will work with uh work with him to get you that answer I think at this point what I'd like to do is I'd like to bring this to committee um because there is nothing that you know obviously as a mayor that I could do it anything any discussion anything like that needs to be vetted through through Council anyway and perhaps we can the committee can have discussions with um our employees and and see if there's any road to go down um so I'd like to actually turn this I think the best way to to do this would go to Community Development councilwoman and maybe um you can convene the committee and have a discussion on um on this topic I want to be clear so we're talking about a noise Topic at the crossroads okay perfect um Miss Heckler T spoke to 300 Myrtle I think we've talked about that a lot tonight so um Miss Kappa biano I appreciate your uh thoughts on the other Bill uh a496 um that bill is very specifically for New Jersey Transit itself and is an audit of their budgeting practices um and it's asked to make recommendations on on various things um and I'm certainly all for that I I certainly don't ever think it's it's a bad idea to um investigate uh budgets like in that way especially um you know such a a large a large conglomerate like NJ Transit but I I also think that there is Merit to this resolution that we have um I don't think it's I I think when Mr Patterson says it penalizes just the you know capitalism or the businesses well I guess could go back and say well why are we penalizing the middle class commuters that are now going to have to have a a fair hike if we don't um fill the budget um I I actually um want to today actually Governor Murphy met with New Jersey Transit and Amtrak uh so I you can head out over to the news I know that they are planning a joint investigation um so I don't know if the bill a496 necessarily even goes far enough to be honest because this is not just New New Jersey Transit but it's Amtrak you know it's NJ Transit equipment but it's Amtrak infrastructure so um I hope that something soon comes out of that meeting today investigating both NJ Transit and am Trak to see where the root of the problem lies obviously we can say it's it's very old infrastructure and Equipment which will need money so that goes along with budgeting and that goes along with the corporate tax so it's all nice and cyclical but um so I I'm am you know I think that I don't know all of the details of that bill um but I I I'm certainly not against uh looking at at NJ transit's budget but I I do think that it needs to go further in terms of the problems that they're having right now um and I think that is it so let us move back to our consent agenda anybody have anything they wish to be removed okay can I have a motion to adopt our consent agenda so moved second uh roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foy I councilman Lazaro I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon hi council president Cory hi okay um at this point we will be moving into executive session uh miss Cameron can you read resolution 24-1 1225 yes close session resolution authorizing an executive session for the purpose of discussing contract negotiations and matters of attorney client privilege relating to the above and in accordance with njsa 104-112 Clos session meetings open to public exclusion of public subject of matter whereas it is necessary for the mayor and counsel of the burrow of bar to conduct an executive session close to the public in order to discuss the above listed matter now therefore be it resolved that the Council of the Bureau of gwood move to go into executive session in accordance with the provisions of the open public meeting Act njsa 10 4-6 for the purpose of discussing the subject stated above be it further result that the matters discussed in and minutes of the closed session shall be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists action may be taken okay can I have a motion to adopt this resolution so moved second all in favor I opposed okay yeah just mute the uh mute the mic and then when we come back out just I'm just go e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e thank you very much there's another cop to okay okay can I have a motion to resume regular so moved second all in favor opposed okay um miss Cameron can you please read uh this res is I'm sorry resolution 2425 126 yes thank you I couldn't remember the number what weed can I uh can you please read resolution number 24-16 yes uh resolution ratifying the settlement agreement between the burrow of Garwood and PBA local 117 whereas the burrow of Garwood burrow and the policeman's benevolent Association local 117 Union are parties to a collective negotiations agreement effective January 1st 2023 through December 31st 2026 agreement and whereas the union filed two griev es regarding the utilization of compensatory time and whereas the parties have negotiated a settlement agreement which resolves the two grievances and arbitrations docketed a2024 d158 and ar-24 d159 and whereas the burough Council has had an opportunity to review the settlement agreement which is attached here to as exhibit a and whereas the union ratified and executed the sidebar agreement on May 2nd 2024 and whereas the bur of Garwood is desirous of ratifying and executing the sidebar agreement now therefore be it resolved that the burrow Council of the burrow of Garwood hereby ratifies the settlement agreement between the burrow of Garwood and Philly benevent Association local number 117 which modifies the utilization of Lea time as set forth an exhibit a attached here to and further authorizes the mayor to execute the settlement agreement on behalf of the burrow thank you um can I have a motion to adopt resolution 24-1 126 some of second uh roll call please miss Cameron councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Lazaro I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon hi council president Cary hi okay anybody else have any other new business okay payment of claims uh miss Cameron be it resolved that the following claim as approved being the same are hereby ordered paid when properly signed and verified and the payment of payrolls as listed is hereby confirmed and ratified uh can I have a motion to adopt payment of claims so moved second roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Lazar I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon I council president Corney I the regular meeting of the mayor and Council will be held on Thursday July J 18th 2024 at 7: p.m. in council chambers information for meetings is posted on the bar website uh congratulations to all of our graduates from Lincoln school from Arthur L Johnson from the magnet um and have a happy Fourth of July can I have a motion so move second all in favor to adjourn I opposed okay safe and happy and healthy forth