e e e e I was I didn't think I didn't anyone right good evening everybody we'll get started do I read the opening statement uh no we do a moment of silence and salute to the flag if everyone can please stand I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all okay good evening everyone adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the Union County Hawk advertised on January 4th 2024 notification was sent to the Star Ledger and is posted on the municipal website the municipal Public 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 PL 1975 uh roll call please mayor blumenstock excused councilwoman Bodo here councilman Foley excused councilman Lazaro excused councilwoman noi here councilwoman salmon here council president Carney here uh roll call of staff and professionals please John Arthur bur administrator which is me I'm here uh Adam Abramson B Bor attorney here Doug stoer chief of police Mike disco bur engineer thank you um council president I would like to see if we could revise the agenda to move our closed session portion of the meeting to our August 8th council meeting considering we have a significant amount of council members not here uh I'm good with that I'll ATT a motion so move do we vote on this okay so I make a motion to remove the closed session resolution number 24-1 141 second uh roll call uh councilwoman Bodo hi councilwoman ning I councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I okay uh thank you for that our first order of business uh on the agenda you'll see that um there was a presentation from assemblywoman masacus uh to discuss services and information provided by her mobile office uh unfortunately the assembly woman uh wasn't able to stay this late tonight but we do have our chief of staff here so I'd like to invite him up uh briefly just to discuss uh the services provided by the district office and mobile office hours and how to best get in touch with them so take it away sir thank you council president my name is Alex Pereira I am the assembly women's Chief of Staff here in the 21st district serving Garwood and 18 other towns across North Central Jersey um the assembly woman is grateful to the the council that you allowed us use of your building to reach out to Residents we had actually a really good turnout tonight 7 or eight people came in at asking for help with different things with State agencies and expressing opinions on bills other issues at state government if any of the residents here tonight or anywhere in Garwood ever need assistance with the state that is what the assembly woman's office is here to do and help with and we are always happy to help so whether it be the anchor tax rebate missing tax returns for income taxes God forbid need assistance with unemployment need help getting a new driver's license you're confused about real ID anything we are here to help that is what we're here to do so anytime just reach out if you need assistance reaching out to us the governing body knows how to get in contact with us feel like probably a better way than saying out the phone number but anything just reach out to the council and they will get you in touch with us and we are always happy to help so thank you for allowing me to talk tonight and is ever anything that Garwood needs or ever anything that your residents need never hesitate just reach out uh thank you sir I appreciate that and just I know the assembly woman was a council member for a number of years years and I I can see that in her uh her Outreach at this at this level it's it's great I I love to see it so uh thank you guys so much and as he said uh anyone on the council or the burrow office can get you in touch with the Legislative Office uh and they can also refer you if you have issues with State services so uh again thank you for coming sir and then if anybody you too if anybody wants to speak to this gentleman before he leaves your last opportunity thank you okay moving on I see the burrow engineer is here he looks thrilled to see me in this chair being being able to ask as many questions as I want the deis looks different than usual yes it's a little uh little sparse up here tonight it is definitely July um so Mr disco do you have a report for us tonight I do um I gave it to miss Cameron hopefully she passed it on to everybody um there are five bullet points but I will be brief um first bullet point was that the uh NJ doot Municipal a23 bid which we did earlier this year uh miss Cameron told me that there was a resolution coming once we get that resolution we pass that on to do and then they can honor or bless our award and then we can schedule our preconstruction meeting our um Municipal Aid 25 grant application was submitted in June those applications were due on July 1st and we listed what the street sections were dot allows a maximum of three Street sections these days so we have Gallows Hill Road Maple Street from South Avenue to the dead end with an intermittent Block in between not part of it and West Street from Beach Avenue to Pine Avenue the approximate construction cost total 438,000 and we requested 400 12,000 typically you will hear from do it's usually around election day so around November I would expect we would hear about that then typically you have 18 months after you execute the paperwork so the last couple of years we've hovered in the 360 to 400 plus grant uh award so I'm hopeful that we uh mimic that and of the of the 438,000 we get a great percentage of that contracts uh 20 2312 and 3 are all essentially substantially complete minor punch list remains today um due to um the I was be I was in the burrow today so I drove Maple 5th Locust and 2 and some intermittent streets where we planted so many of the trees and um I'm happy and very pleased to report that that all of the trees on those main main streets that I drove were all healthy and flourishing they were green some were red and so uh I spoke to Mr nearad there and I was very uh relieved I believe is the word because we have gone through 90 degree weather and 80 degree weather really since they've been planted and so I think um the letter that was placed that asked residents to assist us with watering and whatever the contract contractors and subcontractors did obviously work so um I'm pleased with that um as many know Elizabethtown Gas is in town performing their restoration work on their gas main work on several streets um today they were Paving Hickory Avenue uh I imagine they got to the dead end of East Street and probably got the stub of Center Street done and if not that would continue tomorrow they were Milling Beach Avenue and based upon what they told me they were going to do that Paving tomorrow we did have an incident with a collapsed manhole today I saw John out there and I'm happy to report that that was repaired uh in quick fashion in a way that will not um longterm impact the paving um and then the last bullet point was just something I know the mayor was very sensitive about which was our rvsa billing uh from the beginning of the year was much higher this year than in past years it's a five-year moving average is how they calculate that bill and one of the um unfortunate realities is that our average flow leaving the Barrow entering the rvsa system has increased in 2022 we listed it a 0.76 million gallons a day in 2023 the average was 0.93 which is a substantial increase and their measuring year goes from October through the following September so I listed the uh the monthly flow rates which go from 086 to 60 which are good values low values 68 we can live with that then we go to 1.14 1.04 0.94 and 0.92 all of those last four five values are very high and it follows a trend in 20 that we had in 2023 where half the year the values were low or consistent with historical values and then the other half are high now the high values do coincide with higher groundwater and the low values especially when you are looking at September October November that's generally when you have low ground water so it's something that we have to be cognizant about and figure out why this is happening and U I suggest that the only thing that that's really has transpired that's new over the last couple years is our Redevelopment project specifically I guess over here on South Avenue so I would request that maybe we can get together with the building department review and maybe just confirm that we don't have either Foundation drains or some pumps that are somehow connected into the sanitary Source system which are contributing to this fluctuating uh data that seems to be higher when we we have higher groundwater and lower when we have lower groundwater and that's all I had all right uh thank you Mr disco uh I have a few questions here from the mayor for you but before I do that I'll open it up to the council anybody have a question I just had one question did now I do want to see gall's Hill get done so I don't want it to come off like I don't but have we communicated with Cranford in any way for reimbursement and what does that look like for us yeah so um I did mention it once but when we looked at the tax maps Gallow Hill is technically entirely within Cranford we do have houses that front along that RightWay so they're actually going to take the lead on it we put in as a joint adventure with that which doot loves they love it when two towns work together they think that's really special so it's a good thing um we did I did speak with the the Cranford engineer preliminarily um about how we would share the not only the cost but the the work effort involved to get surveys done and drawings done and then submit to do um initially um the Cranford engineer thought I would do a lot of that which I'm happy to do uh but the fact that most of the road or the RightWay is really going to be in Cranford probably will change that conversation um and that's okay too so I think we I think it's going to be collaborative in the sense that um we're going to look at what we want to see along that little Corridor there in terms of curbing in terms of Road width based upon what we can do and I think we'll come to a a common design and then we'll fortunately uh get that built whether it's built with Garwood roads or granford roads um I'm not sure they have agreed to share funding yes okay great and I know the two two Mayors I don't know the name of the Cranford mayor but I know that the our mayor and the Cranford mayor did conceptually discuss that and they were both in agreement that the the road needs to be done number one and number two there'd be some sharing of course and a fairness of course okay okay thanks Mike yeah um Council women go ahead so um so you're pretty convinced that the possibility that the higher groundwater levels is is directly correlated to the higher um is is there a way to look at that historically yeah well we have been looking at this historically and there is always fluctuation in the recording of the data that the meters present that is influenced by rainfall rainfall um generally contributes to excess sanitary flows either by direct inflow into into the system or infiltration by groundwater rising up into where the pipe levels intersect it when I look at the recent data and rvsa had only published through the April uh monthly report even though we're obviously in July but when I see that December January and March for instance and even April are much higher than September October November that also coincides with what what I've seen in all my towns is that since November I've gotten drainage complaints left and right because we had very intense rain starting in November which carried through through April now April and May rainfall were fairly normal and I would probably guess that um June was probably lower and with all the the hot temperatures into June and July our groundwater has subsided so it's the the flow data is mirroring what the groundwater does on a yearly basis which is fluctuate high in the spring six months later in the fall lower so it's the the data is telling us that there's a relationship our pipes are very old and there's no doubt that in the last year year and a half our flow data is higher than what it historically been so I'm at a loss other than to say the only thing that's changed in the burrow is other than the pipes getting another year older is that we've had some Redevelopment projects which may have altered either groundwater levels around the building either by pumping or something or something I can't explain yet but I think that's what I'm suggesting somebody maybe we can coordinate with the Cranford building department and look at how that building was built and just verify that we don't have sanitary sore cross with the storm sore or Foundation drains or some PP PS or any type of pumping of clean groundwater rainwater into the sanitary system so if it comes up that that building well obviously if we if we find out that that building is the source of the extra water then we found the problem but if you find that that building is compli everything looks good what would be the next step to figure out where the water is coming from the next step is is the presumption that there is a large amount of infiltration and inflow coming into the sanitary store system which is very normal and very typical for all of the the member municipalities in rvsa why it's manifesting itself in the last year and a half I can't explain I just don't have a good answer for that unfortunately the five-year average has been trending up but it took a significant jump up the last measuring year 2023 and looks like half of the Year thus far right so I don't have a full answer on that I just know that it was a concern when our rvsa bill came earlier this year and looking at what I see the first six months our bills going to go up again because we're going to have another high flow year and we're going to knock out that measuring Year from five years ago that was lower so on balance we're going to go up again and it's a area of concern for everybody right thank you so it's just a kind of a heads up I think this is coming um maybe we got find the reason which may be difficult Mr disco is there any possibility that with the Redevelopment um the ratios and those Parcels of land of perious to impervious coverage are probably um what from the planning board perspective you would say are better like there's there's less cement coverage than there was before could that have affected this in any way I don't think the change impervious cover would have a significant impact on sanitary flow yes uh you have if you have reduced lot coverage or or impervious coverages you'll have less runoff of storm water it just seems to me that uh if a coverage change if some if there was more impervious that more water going into the ground it just seems not realistic that that water slowly is going to trickle through the the subsoils and wind up in the sanitary store I think it's more of a direct connection U logically and again only because we have a a an impressive sized building or buildings I should say within the the time frame that coincides with these excess flows I'm just not sure what what else to point to in reality we've removed some buildings uh that um may or may not not have had um illicit connections or connections along our our railroad Corridor so we can't point to them and say the removal of those is is is doing something it's only something new again it's it's undefined at this time but it's I know it's something that was very concerning to the council when when the rvsa bill came in we usually get them I think January February and we had to you know fund it so I just think we're going to have that uptick of the increase again just based upon the data I see so it's worth looking at why um and again just from experience when I see flows high at high groundwater times and lower at non-g groundwater times there certainly seems to me to be a a quasi or quasi direct relationship but but pinpointing where those sources are is the much more difficult task so we need to do some more detective work and um have you uh or can you coordinate with uh with Mr Arthur and the building department to I certainly can I only looked at him today because I had gotten a um a blast uh about uh one of the reports and I said oh let me look at some of this data and um that's what I did I I appreciate that I'm sure you'll have updates for us in a in a future meeting and if not I'm sure the mayor will ask you uh I do have a couple of questions here um sure one is actually the same question I was going to ask except I saw myself today uh the mayor was asking me to inquire with you about the guest company work Beach Hickory and that uh that last piece of Center there that a bunch of us have been asking about for a while um I did see that that work was was in progress when I was uh down there today yeah and I I apologize to Kaa I mean the gas company when I asked for their notice that how did they notify the residents recently they just gave me the seven to 10day Outlook I didn't really have schedules or anything like that I reached out to the gas company but they didn't respond to me and I imagine that's because they're really at the mercy of the schedule of the contractor the paving contractor but anyway they were Paving uh Hickory today I'm sure as they were Paving halfway through Hickory they did the dead end of East and as they finished up Hickory they either finished Center Street the dead end I didn't drive there this afternoon to see that or they'll pick that up tomorrow but I imagine based upon where they were this morning at 11 o'clock or so looked to me like they were going to finish Hickory they certainly had the the uh equipment and the trucks there to to accomplish that they indicated they were Paving tomorrow they were Milling Beach today so I'm imagine they're going to Leap Frog to Beach tomorrow and that is essentially I think the the limits of what they had to do all of the gas main work that they did it's important to note they will be paid curb to curb we absorbed two blocks of beach through our do which I talked about on my first bullet point that we're going to try to start this year and all of the other Street sections in that job were committed to by the gas company either through moratorium or just uh Paving swaps so right thank I I know uh people were hoping you know wishing for the completion of Center Street to some degree it was that Missing Link the the uh the end at unami Park there U yeah there is one resident who stops me every time he sees me so I can't can't wait to run into him yeah um I did see I don't know if that piece was done yet but when I was going to work this morning it was milled down and ready to go so um everything that I think that I mentioned that they would pave today was milled previously so they were ready for it yeah um also uh I know we just approved the bid at our last meeting um but do you have anything or any sense on the timing for that that dot project um that's probably the first bullet point so Katherine when I spoke to her a couple days ago she was going to forward the resolution executed resolution to do all of the other data has been given to them so then they do their thing and make sure what we've done is legal and all that then they basically tell us we're good to go we scheduled a pre-construction meeting with the contractor and we're off starting to build those streets um also I forgot to mention on on the Elizabeth Town Gas there are streets uh that were impacted also in Westfield so I noticed that they were also milled already so when they pave tomorrow they may be doing Beach but they also may be working in in the Westfield area I don't know the names of the streets in Westfield other than the continuation of Beach and there was another one it almost looked like the continuation of pine which is interrupted by houses is on the other side of that so okay and uh one last one from the mayor um she wanted to know if uh the crews had come back to finish the paint work uh in the area of Stephanie Gardens the handicap spaces the no parking on the corners Etc I drove it today and didn't notice so I will when I leave I will drive by there and figure that out contractors's been reminded of that that about that if they haven't done it and I I will check that when I leave here tonight I'm guessing if it hasn't been I'm getting an getting a thumbs down from the audience has been done so thank you will you uh be able to chase them down for us we will we will be vigilant on that I'm writing it down outstanding thank you uh that was everything that I had did anybody have any follow-ups okay are you uh staying with us tonight Mr disco I will be happy to leave at your pleasure sir thank you sure sure sure okay all right so uh thank you Mr disco have a uh have a good evening will you be with us uh first meeting or second meeting next month uh I don't know what the dates are I'll be happy to talk to Kathy and to John I think it's 8 and 22 but don't quote me on that I'll probably be not available on the 8th to 22nd it'll be perfect all right thank you sir um we will move on to the report of our burrow attorney Mr Abramson nothing new to report all right and uh last but not least report of the burrow administrator Mr Arthur right hello everyone um so we have a number of ordinances and resolutions on our agenda tonight so I just want to go through a few of them for points of clarity um ordinance number 24-19 adds 6-hour paid parking 8 amm to 6:00 p.m. to the easterly side of West Street between Willow Avenue and Myrtle and instead of just the north side of South Avenue between Center and West it adds it to both sides of South Avenue between Center and West ordinance 24-20 then removes the easterly side of West Street between Willow Willow and Myrtle from 24-hour residential parking since there will then be paid spots there so we had to for most of these we had to add things to one ordinance and then take something away from another ordinance ordinance 24 21 removes the south side of South Avenue between Center Street to West Street from prohibited parking since there will now you know from 24-19 be paid spots there it also removes language regarding firefighter parking during an emergency on parts of West Street but to be clear firefighters will be allowed to park anywhere they want or need during an emergency um so it's just kind of clarifying language a little bit there ordinance 24-22 allows anyone with a disabled veteran or purple heart license plate or placard issued by the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission to park in any paid spot for free um unless the vehicle parked in one of the spots for more than 24 hours ordinance 24-24 allows for a handicapped parking Zone outside of a residence which has been reviewed and is being recommended by our chief of police uh that's all for parking ordinances but there's another couple ordinances and resolutions I think should be clarified a little bit more as well ordinance number 24-23 allows the burrow administrator to hire seasonal and temporary employeers employees without prior mayor or Council approval the previous language just basically said ba could hire certain employees and at our attorney's recommendation we should clarify that language so this clarifies it um and was already uh reviewed by our finance and Personnel committee as well resolution number 24-34 authorizes us to join the New Jersey Cooperative purchasing Alliance which is administered by Bergen County but which includes municipalities and school districts throughout New Jersey I saw on their website actually our Gard Board of Education was listed as a member as well um this opens up more State contract vendors to the municipality included including a purchase of equipment for the camera project at the Athletic Field Complex and lastly resolution number 24-40 is a necessary requirement and must be passed before putting out a request for proposal for concessions at the Athletic Field Complex uh it's been reviewed by our bur attorney for completeness and it he's ensured that meets the requirements and allows us to put out the RFP that our rec director has worked hard on and that our community engagement committee has um reviewed with our rec director and myself so that's it for my report if anyone has any questions uh just a quick followup regarding uh 24-23 which is a introduction tonight yes um and reference to this we are going to update the code to clarify uh essentially the uh Authority that's designated to your position for the for this uh there would still need to be a resolution to confirm it at some point correct we would do it retroactively at the next meeting probably right Adam you can afford him that power right now which currently has the power to terminate without a resolution but if we want we can do one retroactively after it's after the it's done whether someone's hired or terminated because if you read it previously um in a with um Tina the old administrator she had the power it got updated to remove certain employees those that I believe were temporary seasonal or I think worked within Administration nonunion yeah within non yeah right um okay fair essentially putting the power into the administrator for these select jobs so okay that was that was the int I just I yes because right now he can just hire certain employees but we don't know who certain people are I was under the impression that it would then come to us and then it would just be a diff back date of a higher date you can do a resolution if you want recto actively but by giving him the power they're they're officially hired otherwise you're not really giving him any power by saying oh we still need to pass that resolution okay so I I was good with delegating the The Authority just because I know that it's held um held him up from hiring uh seasonals and and even temps for the rec Camp uh because he has to wait for a council meeting in an agenda um but I would like to see a resolution just so that it's brought to the council's attention that it occurred yeah even if it's just a confirming resolution not that we're yeah it's something you can do it it obviously wouldn't do anything more than confirm what has already occurred but you are designated power into him with this change officially okay um does anyone else have questions for Mr power that he currently has but for certain employees that we don't know exactly which ones right so we came down to the seasonal and temporary who be on the lower level of purposes and hiring and I'd be happy to put a resolution together every time you know it's not I don't think it's going to happen a couple times a year really um and one big time probably for the camp sometimes one big batch but either that or if you just work it into your reports just so Council has awareness that it's happened because especially if you don't sit on finance you're not going to see some of this stuff yeah and of course the council always has the power to reverse any of these decisions anyway if you really needed to but um fair enough yeah um yeah if you don't like the hiring the code could be changed back to nothing yeah understood any other questions okay pman did you have something yeah I think the purpose was just so there was no delay in you being able to hire someone so and just specific yeah that's really just you know something like seasonal sometimes you need someone two days from now right and you know for example right now our last meeting was what 20 25 days ago something like that so that's all yeah the administrator remember is still held accountable for the hiring so it's not to his benefit to hire terrible candidates certainly is's not gonna go in like you know hire everybody all right uh did anyone else have a question from Mr Arthur okay hearing none we'll move on uh I do have a report from May blumenstock tonight uh I'm going to read this as if I am the mayor uh I want to apologize for not being at tonight's meeting but I know that you're in good hands with council president Carney my own comment to that is the night is still young um I also want to thank assemblywoman masacus and her staff for coming tonight uh the assembly woman has been kind enough to come to Garwood before and meet with our seniors at their club meeting uh and when she asked to Mo hold her mobile office hours here in Garwood and attend our council meeting I jumped at the chance because I think it's vitally important that residents know the various services our local and State offices can help them with uh I urge everyone to take advantage of that and to reach out to your local and state leadership I also want to announce that the municipal Alliance is now looking for more volunteers as our new coordinator the Burrow's Administrative Assistant uh Patricia Vasquez is diving right in and reinvigorating the group the municipal Alliance was run for many years by the late Barbara Tweedle who did a fantastic job running drug and alcohol prevention programs and helping the community um very appreciative to have Patricia on the team and to keep the alliance a Mainstay here in Garwood uh the burrow will be working on getting the word out to Residents to learn more about what the municipal Alliance is and how residents can help but uh in the meantime if if you're interested in volunteering you can reach out to Patricia at p- Basquez that's V qezg [Music] [Music] garwood.nj the email system much more than I am all right I will move on to comments from the council beginning with councilwoman boto thank you I just have one comment um just a reminder to please move your vehicles for street sweeping the DPW is working very hard they're doing their best however they're finding that many cars are not being moved and that obviously disrupts the efficiency of sweeping thanks thank you councilwoman uh councilwoman ndi you're up next I have I have no comments this evening only I do need to apologize for not moving my cars this [Laughter] week so so it was you I am that person uh councilwoman salmon no comments all right and that leaves me uh good evening everyone uh I want to begin my comments tonight with congratulations for two of our local small businesses uh Alonzo's Cafe celebrated the first anniversary of its grand opening this past Saturday uh I attended along with mayor blumenstock and councilwoman boto uh who are both regular customers like me uh and we had a blast uh I really appreciate the awesome Vibe and the sense of community that they've brought along with the outstanding coffee and treats uh we also had another grand opening in town on July 6th uh for the urban cone which is located at the intersection of North and Lincoln uh they also threw a heck of a party for the occasion and I was thrilled to welcome them to Garwood on behalf of Mayor blumenstock who was away that weekend uh please join me in welcoming these businesses and wishing them many more years of success here in Garwood uh I also have a quick update tonight on paid parking and Resident permits uh the police committee met last week and Mr Arthur and chief stoer updated us on the progress of the paid parking program signage is in progress along South Avenue uh an enforcement along Center Street has begun additional paid spaces will be coming online after we hopefully adopt the uh parking related ordinances on tonight's agenda uh the surprising news in this meeting was that the amount of Revenue collected from payments was nearly double double with the uh previous burrow administrator Mr Harris had projected to us uh this is something we will keep an eye on moving forward uh the police committee discussed and was unanimous on moving forward with the next phase of the paid parking overlay which would involve parts of North Avenue and JFK Plaza uh Chief stiler will be working on this over the summer uh mayor blumenstock and I have spoken to several businesses in in the area of JFK Plaza and we've gotten uh mostly positive feedback but we will continue these conversations through the Small Business Association and over the summer and bring it back to police committee for a recommendation uh the police committee also discussed the concerns of the 300 block of Myrtle Avenue uh the committee remains deadlocked at 2 to one against taking immediate action um as we know it was a split vote in the straw poll at the last council meeting uh and since we're missing more than a few council members tonight uh I'd like to address this block of Myrtle issue again in August when we have uh hopefully the full councel or most of us in attendance uh I'd also like to straw poll again as I'd really prefer not to introduce an ordinance out of committee that's going to fail on the floor uh we are also looking at some other tweaks in the parking ordinances as we mentioned last month such as the 15minute spaces so uh if the council does decide to move forward with any changes to the 300 block I'd like to try and consolidate those Chang es with the others into as few ordinances as possible because as we can see from tonight's agenda even making one relatively minor change is requiring multiple ordinances to remove language in other parts of the code it all kind of Builds on each other uh so that is all for me uh minutes are next Mr Arthur minutes of the regular meeting of the mayor and Council held on June 27th 24 minutes of the executive session of the mayor and Council held on June 27th 2024 can I have a motion to accept the minutes of the regular and executive session minutes as presented so moved second all in favor I opposed okay hearing none we will move to Communications uh Mr Arthur could you please read the communications New Jersey state League of municipalities received and filed gwood planning board received and filed hey everybody buckle up we have reached the ordinance uh part of the agenda we have a number on for adoption and then a few also on for introduction so just as a reminder the adoption ordinances that's a second reading that comes with a public hearing on each one so we will uh open up for hearing on ordinances as we go U Mr Arthur could you please read ordinance 24-18 by title only ordinance number 24-18 and ordinance amending the burough code of the burough of Garwood by amending chapter 106 entitled land use article X entitled storm water control have we received any correspondence concerning ordinance 24-18 no does anyone present wish to be heard concerning ordinance number 24-18 uh Mr Patterson and as you know five minutes please uh good evening is it on yes it is okay uh good evening mayor PM ladies and gentlemen of the council this Orin yeah unfortunately uh probably uh engineer disco would be able to clarify it but on the bottom of page one there's the two revisions uh item three and four under paragraph 106 d134 I'm I'm just wondering could you clarify or could somebody please explain what these revisions are about that's it thank you all right thank you Mr Patterson does anyone else wish to be heard uh concerning ordinance 24-18 okay hearing none can I have a motion to close public hearing on ordinance number 24-18 so moved second all in favor I any Council discussion all right um Mr Patterson in in reference to the specifics of the changes uh this is a state required uh change and update that every municipality was directed uh am I correct Cor in that Mr abson yeah but I think you're referring to the bottom to front page right yeah I think that's just referring to um the changes who it's going to affect um so if there's something pending it wouldn't be affected and anything that gets submitted after would be that's what I think this is referring to applications that are grandfathered in that wouldn't be subject to the new law and or the new code and applications thereafter would be I think that's what that is okay that sounds correct um Mr neat was here but he has since stepped out um I do know that the planning board had uh reviewed this um ordinance and recommended it back to council for adoption and that's why it's on tonight's agenda um I will Mr near said I don't know if you heard the question or not um just that the the two revisions at the bottom of the first page of the code setting forth the different dates in an application just that those um are for purposes of who the new storm waterer management requirements are going to affect depending on when your application is entered so if you have something submitted prior to June 27th it will be subject to the those that were in effect June 26 2024 and if you have something submitted honor after what is it March 21st but prior to June 27th it would be submitted to those in effect on June 26 2024 that's what it's meaning yeah the the question was what those underlined sections were setting forth so um so it's essentially housekeeping for planning board applications depending on when they were submitted yes and and which of the storm water code affects them new or the old thank you that's what I thought but you explained it a lot better than I could um all right may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 24-18 so moved second uh roll call please Mr Arthur councilwoman Bodo I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon hi council president Carney I uh Mr Arthur can you read ordinance 24-19 by title only ordinance number 24-19 an ordinance of the burough code of the burough of Garwood by amending chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic Article 1 traffic and parking section 21- 8.8 paid parking zones thank you have we received any correspondence concerning ordinance 24-19 no does anyone present wish to be heard concerning ordinance 24-19 okay seeing none can I have a motion to close public hearing hearing on ordinance 24-19 second uh all in favor I I Council discussion okay motion to adopt ordinance 24-19 so moved second roll call please Mr Arthur councilwoman Bodo I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I Mr Arthur can you read ordinance 24-20 by title only okay ordinance number 24-20 an ordinance amending the burough code of the burough of Garwood by amending chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic Article 1 traffic and parking section 21-42 parking prohibited between 12 am and 11:59 p.m. have we received any correspondence concerning ordinance 24-20 no does anyone present wish to be heard concerning ordinance number 24-20 okay hearing none can I have a motion to close the public hearing on ordinance 24-20 so moved second all in favor I I any Council discussion okay may I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 24-20 so moved second roll call please Mr Arthur councilwoman bro I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I uh Mr Arthur can you read ordinance number 24-21 by title only ordinance number 24-21 an ordinance of the burrow code of the burrow of Garwood by amending chapter to 21 entitled vehicles and traffic Article 1 traffic and parking section 21-1 parking prohibited have we received any correspondence concerning ordinance number 24-21 no does anyone present wish to be heard concerning ordinance number 24-21 okay hearing none can I have a motion to close the public hearing on ordinance 24-21 so moved second all in favor I look guys we're not going to beat the record tonight okay uh any Council discussion all right can I have a motion to adopt ordinance 24-21 so moved second uh roll call please Mr Arthur councilwoman Bodo I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I okay moving on that was the uh end of our ordinances on for second reading or adoption we will move to introduction so uh these are the first reading Mr Arthur can you please read ordinance 24-22 by title only ordinance number 24-22 an ordinance of the burough code of the burough of Garwood by amending chapter 21 entitled vehicles and traffic article one traffic and parking section 21- 8.8 paid parking zones okay I'm going to pull a move I saw Council councilman Graham do last year I will make a motion to introduce this Ordinance do I have a second second uh roll call please Mr Arthur councilwoman Bodo I councilwoman ndi councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I uh Mr Arthur can you read ordinance number 24-23 by title only ordinance number 24 4-23 an ordinance amending the burrow code of the burough of Garwood by amending chapter 5 Administration article 8B entitled burrow administrator and assistant burrow administrator subsection 5- 51. 23b duties and responsibilities of burrow administrator can I have a motion to introduce ordinance 24-23 so mov second roll call please Mr Arthur councilwoman Bodo I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I okay one more Mr Arthur can you please read ordinance 24-24 by title only ordinance number 24-24 an ordinance to establish a restricted parking Zone pursuant to njsa 39 4- 1997. 6 in front of 90 53rd Avenue in the burrow of Garwood can I have a motion to introduce ordinance 24-24 so moved second okay roll call please Mr Arthur councilwoman Bodo I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I all right right we made it okay up next we have uh Council standing committee reports and other reports uh first up is finance and personnel which uh I do not have anything from councilman Foley do you okay uh fire and OEM which is councilman Lazaro um I actually do have a report from him would you like me to uh if you don't mind reading because I have a lot oh I'll happily read it I'm just letting you know that I have it okay uh F report in the month of June there were a total of 25 incidents 14 day calls and 11 Night Calls 14 hours were utilized for Mutual Aid calls a total of 252 firefighter hours were utilized for the following drills basic hydraulics pump operation and hose deployments at Washington School um 21 Men sl42 total firefighter hours were utilized for the following General cleanup and inspection and refurbishment of engine number three and ancillary equipment including the above 776 total hours were logged in-house for house duties cleanups and extra Duty that's it for fire report all right thank you Mr Arthur up next is Community Development councilwoman sammon thank you council president so just an update popey's is moving along and cleared the planning Board review and they will be be they will begin building shortly so something everybody's been looking forward to and that is all for my report uh thank you Council salmon uh hopefully we'll have another grand opening before the end of the year uh Public Works councilwoman boto thank you council president before I read my report I would like to share a couple of updates as you know we have some DPW employees out on workers compensation as it looked fairly temporary with at least two of those employees having an estimated returned to in July the plan was to boost the number of seasonal workers for the few weeks the department was in need however the timeline for one of those employees has drastically changed and it is now looking to be a much longer window than originally told to us at this point with this updated information I am not recommending the hiring of a full-time employee the Public Works committee is in full agreement and I am hopeful we will be able to put a hire on the agenda in August we will continue using seasonal employees as needed and we provide updates as they become available I am very grateful to the bar administrator and the CFO for working together to make this happen I would also like to extend my thanks to the DPW Foreman for going above and beyond this summer to keep services in place without disruption I am also happy to report the dump truck was finally delivered on Wednesday we are now waiting for the snow plow and hopefully delivery for that will be in October now to the dpw's duties in addition to the reoccurring activities the DPW cleaned up the common areas around barro Hall and the fire department drag the infield perform street sweeping operations water flower pods and remove weeds as needed watered newly planted shade trees in various areas of the burrow prun the shade trees around the East Washington school and at 202 Willow Avenue provided support for the contractual air conditioning unit inspections at the fire department and Municipal Building coordinated the pum prepares with a contractor for the irrigation and water system at the sports complex and assisted the recreation director with a new table delivery that is all for my report thank you thank you councilwoman I apologize for the coughing fit uh no I trying not to choke uh police and Public Safety that's me um I have the activity report for the Garwood Police Department for the month of June uh they recorded 1,9 62 CAD entes uh these calls include 128 motor vehicle stops 35 parking complaints 79 fixed traffic posts which is radar stop sign and distracted driving uh 18 motor vehicle crash investigations 248 building and property checks 37 medical assists 90 community policing posts 26 walking posts 35 uh investigated suspicious person or vehicle complaints and 23 criminal investigations uh with temperatures this hot the Garwood Police Department would like to remind everyone that heat related deaths in vehicles are entirely preventable never leave children pets or anyone vulnerable unattended in vehicles even briefly the inside of a car can reach deadly temperatures within minutes posing an immediate threat to their lives if you happen to see a situation where this may be the case dial 911 and report it uh also thunderstorms during the summer often cause flooding and it is important to be extremely aware and cautious in flooded areas more than 50% of all flood related fatalities are vehicle related you never know how deep the water is or if the road has been compromised beneath the water don't risk driving into flood waters try to find an alternate rout or wait for the water to recede uh also I want to take uh just a moment to highlight some excellent police work by three of our officers uh who responded to a shoplifting in progress this past Sunday evening uh officer Klein sgon sergeant pridey and Lieutenant parda responded to a uh report of a shoplifting at the CVS and witnessed a man running from the store who uh then entered a nearby vehicle the vehicle then attempted to flee but our officers were able to stop it in the area of Second Avenue our officers recovered items that were stolen from rcvs and multiple other suspected stolen items from other CVS locations in the area the approximate total of the recovered items is $8,000 and the three individuals arrested are likely associated with a more extensive ongoing illegal shoplifting operation in North Jersey uh again this is outstanding Street police work and we commend the officers for their quick reaction and the great follow-up work uh next I have Community engagement Council wdi thank you president um Carney uh the recreation committee met on July 8th to discuss the recreation offerings for the fall details will be forthcoming on the following programs adult soccer adult and kids basketball science programs for kids adult kickball Ceramics and a music program for young children the summer camp is in full swing uh with kids enjoying crafts wacky water Wednesdays a big thank you to the Garwood fire department a visit from the lizard guy and a magic show please follow Garwood Recreation on Facebook and Instagram to see some of the great action shots of all of the activities Garwood is a proud member of the trian collaboration a program that provides recreational opportunities to children with special needs these programs help teach Sports and life skills while focusing on building individ ual skills teamwork and fun it's not too late to register for their summer programs including Taekwondo tennis Pilates multisport and the dinner and a concert social club for teens uh I can say personally my daughter loves that program it's a it's amazing they uh they go out to dinner and then they watch the concert at the park please follow the QR code on the gar Recreation social media post or the Bureau of Garwood website under quick links look for Summit Community program to register for classes the ice cream social is July 22nd at 7 p.m. join us for ice cream cheats treats for the whole family during the fire department's uh pump drill that's on 500 East Street uh the recreation committee is looking for new volunteers the time commitment is one meeting per month and helping out at townwide events as you as a as your availability allows uh this committee provides input and ideas for the recreation programs and townwide events throughout the year I encourage um anyone who's interested to please contact our Recreation director katcha LIC about that thank you and that's all for my report thank you councilwoman uh Library mayor's representative which is councilman Lazaro and I see Mr Arthur has his report yes um on July 20th and 23rd um virtual kids craft pick up supplies for crafts then follow the instructions or watch The Craft tutorial on the library's Facebook page at 3: p.m. the video video will be available for viewing thereafter registration required limit 15 July 20th and 23rd at 2 pm um musical Adventures actually I'm not sure if this is written um I would check the library's website for these times because this is written in a way that I'm not exactly sure but it says July 23rd and 20th at 2 p.m musical Adventures join us for a celebration of music from around the world each session will explore a different genre of music from countries including Australia Mexico Africa and Russia July 24th and 31st artist passport participants will use various art techniques and Crayola products to create art from around the world for children in second grade and older registration required limit 12 August 1st at 1 p.m. adventures in science throughout this activity volunteers from the audience help us conduct exciting experiments and explore concepts of surface tension physical versus chemical changes air pressure the changing states of matter inertia scientific variables and more get ready to experience the powerful Fusion of Science and storytelling August 6th at 2 p.m. closing party um the scream truck will be back for our closing party prizes and certificates will be awarded registration required August 13th at 7M financial planning strategies Gail L Abrams Esquire will address many aspects of financial planning including exploring strategies to help seniors lower taxes on Social security and interest income on investment accounts she will examine ways to protect Investments and present retirement strategies that could lower the impact of inflation and Market risk on current retirement savings registration required and August 28th from 10: a.m. to noon Aging Services kiosk uh Union County division of Aging staff will be on hand to assist seniors age 60 plus or their caregivers with information on services such as meal delivery respit care adult daycare and support services for caregivers that's it for the library report uh thank you Mr Arthur uh School Board liaison that is me uh the Carwood Board of Education met on Thursday June 20th after moving their usual Tuesday meeting to Thursday because it conflicted with graduation uh superintendent Kenny presented the district's long range facilities plan uh along with his customary superintendence report which can be found online by going to his page on Garwood schools.org uh noteworthy items from this meeting the board voted to adopt the long- range facilities plan uh and also adopted the collective negotiations agreement with the Garwood Education Association for a three-year term the percentage increases involved in that agreement are 3.125 3.5 and 3.5% respectively were each year covered uh mayor blumenstock and I have been keeping in touch with the board president and superintendent over the summer break uh we will resume our in-person meetings after everyone returns from their respective summer vacations uh I also want to thank the district for allowing uh use of the school for the rec summer camp during inclement weather uh and I also want to assure all the campers that if Camp is relocated to the school this does not in fact mean you are going to school for the day quote unquote because that was quite the conversation with my sons the other morning uh the next uh regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Tuesday August 20th uh they do not meet in the month of July uh that will be at 7M and that's all for this report and then because I'm not struggling enough I have the next report as well on behalf of mayor blumenstock for the Garwood senior citizens excuse me um at the last senior meeting on the 11th uh the club enjoyed lunch and bingo of course uh and also welcomed a few new members to the club the next meeting will be on July 25th at 12 pm at the Nights of Columbus and me again small business advisory uh no report our next Small Business Association meeting is scheduled for next week Board of Health liaison councilman Foley do we have anything from him no and last but not least uh planning board liaison councilwoman salmon thank you the next meeting of the planning board was going to be held on July 24th that meeting has been cancelled and the next meeting will be held on August 28th and that's all for my report thank you councilwoman uh we'll move on to officer reports Mr Arthur zoning Enforcement Officers report for for June 2024 Property Maintenance officers report for June 2024 chief of police monthly report for June 2024 CFO tax collector report for second quarter 2024 uh do I have a motion to accept the officers reports so moved second all in favor I I okay hearing none opposed we will move to public comment uh if there's anyone in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and Council please step to the microphone State your full name and address for the record and please limit your comments to 5 minutes and uh good evening Mr Pritchard thank you uh Johnny perard 41 Z's Pro sa Garwood I believe that we must back our police officers firefighters and rescue squad Personnel they're out there for us 24 hours a day seven days a week they even though the the fire department Rescue Squad volunteer outfits they're out there 24 hours a day seven days a week when when called upon to to Save a Life to fight fires and our officers are there to fight and prevent crime abolishing police departments abolishing fire departments and abolishing rescue squads or first aid squads is not the answer and Mark well what I to say ladies and gentlem gentlemen should never be the answer we must P them up every they're they're the people you can count on they're the people who have the attitude of I'll be there never you fear as I said before they're out for their 24 hours a day seven days a week I think we also must back our military personnel we failed to do so during the war in Vietnam guard would lost three of its Sons during that war we must back them up and especially with the Border crisis that is going on and if some Soldier sailor marine or Coast Guardsman or Airmen HS uh handles an illegal alien roughly if they TransPass on Military proper they are doing their Duty they're doing their duty to defend America they're doing their duty to protect all of us we must back them up in every way we failed to do so during war in Vietnam they loved us so every day in aund ways they told us so and 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 Liberty they loved us so and we should know for we love them so and lastly ladies and gentlemen we need to pressure the state legislature in Trenton to force the reopening of some closed hospitals such as mburg what if another 911 attack occurs we'll need those hospitals very very badly and I repeat we need those hospitals very very badly the sooner we activate meberg and other closed hospitals the better off we all will be don't make myself clear thank you thank you Mr P Richard and uh may I say you're an excellent Voice tonight anybody else uh wish to address the mayor and Council good evening Miss Paul have a voice we'll see um Jill Paul 54 Third Avenue um so the first thing is Gallow hill we were talking about that outside that's something I've been talking to Cranford about for three years to no avail so to find out that it's going to take probably another 18 months to two years is really disheartening because I've had to get my car realigned um which costs a lot of money each year because of that street um so I do my best to not go down there but there's a lot of times when that's sort of inevitable um and it's just it's not okay I know that it's not this town's responsibility but what also wasn't known um by Mike is that that mayor there is not voted in that mayor there is appointed and that will change again in November because we've been trying to get that town that we want to donate an AED to and they don't want well he does not want it so just in terms of getting stuff done there it's really dependent on who's appointed which is really crappy um but yeah so it looks like I have two more years at least of paying for realignment or um the one time my my uh on one of the potholes going about 12 miles an hour shredded my tire so um that was a nice Bill too and because nobody had reported that pothole apparently that's my burden you know so all good um so the trees um we were talking about this outside thank you so much for getting that going him um because we have been having deer and stuff in our yards again and the babies and we hadn't had that um since all that crazy construction was happening so that was awesome to see um this past week um so a couple of things um in terms of the Aliva Foundation um some things that are kind of funny and I actually saw the police chief um when I was there so Tuesday was my birthday in a true fashion for me I spent it at um Union County Police Department not in trouble but all good things so um Marty who's the police chief and a dear friend he was a captain who responded to my cardiac arrest is Chief now and he's retiring um his walk out is on Friday and so they were all talking about Garwood and how Garwood has two of these aads in the County still has zero in County Parks or anything so really thumbs up to Garwood for getting that done and they're just like how do you have two and I'm like because they got things done here um because yeah so that's awesome um CPR classes for the first aid Squad they are August 18th and September 15th they are at the rec center um they need six people each uh class to run the class and so I just wanted to know I know she's over there um but if this is going to be in the rec portal or if it already is and then also if I go home tonight and make a graphic for them if that can be posted on the burough site um on social and also on Rec's site so I can do that I just need to go-ahead I don't want to spend my time doing it if nothing's going to happen with it um next Tuesday I'm sorry next Wednesday the 24th at the pop warner field in Lyon we are dedicating um for the aliver foundation a another outdoor AED to that um we just had a board meeting and so we decided um I'm going to go in there on the way home but to the bowling alley we're going to donate an AED in memory of our friend Chris um we thought it was silly to put an AED across the street from the police department so we're not doing it at the station we're going to do it there um and then the next done that we um I had three really or actually two really tough losses within um three weeks with Chris and then my friend Mark if you follow the Mets you've seen Mark con everywhere they did a huge tribute to him during all of the games um he died heart related as well um on the 4th of July and so the next one that we do outdoor enclosure is going to be at a little leak field um dedicated to him so those are the things um that we have coming up and yeah just props to Garwood for doing the right thing and getting things done here so thank you thank you Miss Paul good evening Mr net rnie how are you how's everyone tonight good sir good to see I apologize because I'm GNA be all over the place so uh I'll try to try to do it as quick as I can um first have a couple of items on the council agenda resolution 24128 I think I'm very disappointed that it's on the agenda as you may recall I was instrumento when I was on Council to uh get the burrow to stop spraying the brook okay um I did receive at that time a letter from uh a word company's name has changed over the years I'm going to call United Water I think it's Suez water now um that does go into drinking water supply for the residence of the city of RA I don't care what we're spraying out there maybe it's not Roundup okay but whatever we're spraying isn't beneficial and I would encourage the council not to approve resolution 24-1 128 so that we're not spraying pesticides um into uh water that other people drink um resolution 24 d123 Mr Arthur I was wondering if he could if we know at the end of this how much money we will actually have for tree planting um for this for the fall that would be great um third one is just to comment I used to do this in planfield all the time resolution 24141 which is the Clos session all it says is Clos session resolution authorizing executive session with purpose of cing contract negotiations with whom members of the public have no idea what you're doing I understand you can't say you know what exactly what you're going to be doing but if it's police negotiations or Municipal Employee negotiations or you know whatever it'd be appreciated if the if the administrator could put in contract negotiations with whom okay um the questions were raised tonight regarding Hickory Avenue payment I am very thank ful and grateful to everyone to be able to say yes it's all done what that means is that now we can install The Pedestrian bicycle lane on Center Street Chief former Chief Wright said to me numerous times that um as soon as the Center Street is completed that uh bicycle lane on each side of the street can be fully completed now I know you'll hear people say and I'm a member of Union County connects and you know we want to get um separated bike lanes and all that hey I'm happy if we can get painted bike Lanes on Center Street so I don't know if a resolution is required I don't know exactly what the next step is but now at its done we greatly appreciate the installation of uh the bike L sticking with that subject just for a second if anybody goes on Westfield Avenue towards uh past Cranford on the parkway if you look on your left- hand side you'll see a brand new mural um Union County connects was instrumental in getting a mural painted there of the rowy valley um rail line we are the county received the $1.5 million for conversion of that rail to a trail so it's in the planning design stage right now it's a beautiful mural that's where the roadway value line started when it existed and uh just encourage you to take a look at it okay um shade tree stuff yes was mentioned earlier 120 trees were planted as the council members are aware okay yes you received complaints from residents um but that was actually less than double figures no double digits I should say weren't that many people who with whom I spoke who didn't want a tree so I was grateful that the majority of the trees were able to get planted right now they are still alive uh we have not uh paid everything on that yet give a little more time and hopefully that they will be able to make it uh just in case anybody mentions to you that there is a two-year guarantee on those trees if you see one of those trees dying in the next uh term short term uh let me know and we can get and replaced at the loss of the contractor um sticking with Shay Tre for a second there will be uh sha Tre ordinance amendments coming your way uh Mr Arthur and I are going back and forth right now on uh ordinance that we have to adopt regarding um uh shade tree removal ordinance I've asked a couple questions of him I'd appreciate Council input uh on those changes before we get them back to you um and I think have actually done it oh last comment the long range facility plans and Board of Education I want to thank Mr Kenny for getting that done that has not been done I don't think in 20 years at least uh now uh the board of education has a little little concerned they adopted it already because it has to come before the planning board also so um I hope to see that in September that the Board of Ed submits it to the planning board for the review as part of our master plan Community facilities element and um very glad to see that because that's a long-term planning that the that GAR has not done before and hopefully we can work together to uh you know get that all coordinated thank you and that's it and under five minutes uh uh Mr Patterson have many items uh good evening uh mayor proam ladies and gentlemen of the council chamber Bruce Patterson 325 Willow Avenue and I have to thank bill for bringing up about the executive session not clearly being worded uh that's been bugging me for a long time and I have been mentioning that and the Board of Ed you should hear what the Board of Ed attorneys says but anyway moving forward uh the the parking program I'm just wondering how many parking tickets have been given out so far if that's possible and you mentioned revenues doubled is there a dollar amount for the public can you share that uh the vermella uh engineer disco yeah he was talking about the vermel I and I and possibly there's a a wrong connection you know to tell the truth I with the pilot that was given I bet you verela can just say so what you know you can't do anything about it anyway but to tell you truth they have a u during the application they talked about a 12in sanitary line coming off of vermella and there's a long run going down to a a sanitary Main and normally in long runs they do have a manhole so possibly if you could reach out to disco engineer disco and ask him if he could get some kind of flow meter to actually test the uh the bod I think there's three parts to sewage you know if he could if he could have some kind of test done just to see about whether all that uh water infiltration is happening from vermella and I guess I guess vermella too must be connected there too I'm not sure about that um at the at the senior club meeting uh mayor blumock did talk about the possibility that there are also free parking spots if if you could elaborate uh on that for the public so they're aware that they not not only you know have to pay for spots but there are spots nearby that are free so possibly you can help the public out on that um yeah I was at the I was at the Union County Commissioner meeting last night and they had a a memorandum of agreement on the agenda and it talked about the West Street South Avenue intersection and I did ask them about what the agreement was about and they said that it's for flashing light crosswalks and strike in and I mean something needs to be done that's true because the amenities in verela one are allowed for the residents of vermel 2 to use and of course there's going to be some crossing of the street and that is a dangerous Street 100% capacity uh you know something needs to be done LED probably creates a safety issue in and of itself but something needs to be done on the consent agenda couple questions 24127 is the gap ows Hill Road uh resurfacing is that still valid since it's actually all Cranford so should this be tabled or or dismissed uh 138 no 138 yeah this is about the residential sewer billing program I'm not a happy camper on that only because nothing was discussed I mean yes the idea was roached uh back in the budget cycle but nothing was disgusting now and now we're moving forward with with paying somebody to perform the billing I'll tell you the the residents once they hear about this are going to be up in uh arms and the actual question that I've asked back when it was broached is vermella one and two how is the billing going to be happening with that uh the mayor actually when she was sitting here when I asked that question because I asked that already twice and this is a third time but I did ask and and she said oh yeah will be able to participate in paying their bills but I I'm still wondering how are they going to be built only because the pilot program encompasses the rvsa billing so that's that's a question that everybody should be uh wondering about uh resolution 24139 is the home investment part partnership program and I just want to point out again at the commissioner meeting last night uh there was a $7 million uh resolution on their agenda and what it was it was for raway uh estherbrook Housing Development or something like that and there's 58 units and 35 of them are going to be affordable housing and Ru cost I mean works out that probably the project is around $14 million and and raway is going to get a free7 million Grant comes I think it comes down from the state anyway to pay for of that building we're facing of course affordable housing obligations also and I'm just wondering uh keep that in mind that hopefully we can get some money for whatever obligations are Downstream or Upstream coming at us they're lucky we're always very lucky to get $7 million I did mention if I got a moment I did mention it them I said you know being that that $7 million goes through the county and and it's all and the county money is basically all the town's money that we should get a little piece of that that 35 affordable housing units over there in raway to offset our obligations but that's going to be a long road to hold legally anyway thank you very much uh thank you Mr Patterson and you were also under Time by three seconds does anyone else uh here wish to address the mayor and councel okay hearing none Mr Arthur do we have any uh comments that were emailed on the public we do have one um Colleen grey ha 516 4th Avenue she wrote please read into the record of tonight's meeting I noticed on the agenda a $5,000 increase to the salary of the employee who will be sending out/ preparing the sewer bills retroactive to July 1st 2024 my first question is when do you plan on officially notifying the residents that this change is occurring as from what I understand it was only in discussion my next question is why do we need to increase the salary for this position will each household receive the same billable amount for sewer usage will taxes decrease now that the sewer fees will be passed on individually if not what will the additional Revenue be spent on uh in most positions job descriptions include the term and all other duties as assigned will this position require additional hours to complete this task or will this task be done during regular business hours okay thank you Mr Arthur that was the only one yes okay can I have a motion to close public comment some moved second all in favor I uh okay so uh first Miss Paul uh thank you for uh for all your comments and thank you for your work with uh with Al liver um if you see me after the meeting um I'll see if I can get you in touch with somebody from County Parks if you're not getting anywhere um also I was going to uh I was going to mention the uh the walk out for chief mogenson I've known him for my entire career uh he's uh long longtime uh member of uh Union County SWAT so uh really really a great guy and uh I'm sorry to see him go but it's definitely a well- earned retirement um I don't imagine there would be any issue with uh Miss lysc uh passing along information regarding the CPR classes um are are Mr Arthur are you okay if Miss Paul emails in some uh graphics for yeah they're free and open to the public these classes right there's a charge [Music] um um we will uh we'll talk about that offline and see if there's a way we if we can facilitate it directly through Iraq or if we'll have to make a referral but we'll we'll do something to get the information out there yeah um in reference to uh Gallows Hill Road um I'm again disappointed at things moving at the the speed of government um in reference to the mayor over there so Cranford uses a different form of government than us uh their mayor is elected from within the uh committee so they use I guess the township form of government there um we will uh we will get some followup going with them um I don't know may Andrews well but I I do know several of the other committee members uh I will make a couple of calls in reference to that AED because that just doesn't sound like it makes sense to me um and I will get back to you on that um sorry I took a lot of notes Here I think that was everything for Miss Paul uh for Mr nearad and also Mr Patterson posed this question uh regarding the uh the closed session um we're not actually doing that tonight we I I'm just we removed it from the agenda just so people aren't expecting us to do it later um but in general I believe our notices meet the legal requirement um Mr Abramson um do you want to speak to that further uh it's regarding the DPW okay um if it happens at the next [Laughter] meeting all right thank you um regarding the uh bike Lanes Mr nearad um I'm going to bring that back over to the public works committee um we had done some preliminary discussion on uh doing the bike Lanes on Center Street I think you were on the one Zoom call with me um with the Staffing um challenges we had going on in public works we just kind of uh back bured it for a minute but it hasn't left the uh agenda of the Public Works committee uh so I will advance that and see if we can get uh some forward motion on it um the Westfield mural I've seen it it's it's outstanding that was uh that was a great job by uh Mr dun and the whole organization there uh and I do want to thank you for your diligent work with the uh everything with the trees this year all the ordinance reviews and everything um I appreciate that you're spending your precious retirement hours on on the burrow still after all these years um and for the uh long range facilities plan um I will uh follow up with Mr Arthur and just see if we can uh make a request for it to get a a formal copy over here and that way all the processes can be file followed um in reference to how much we have for tree planting uh Mr Arthur do you want to speak to that yeah so you the resolution tonight is because the grant just needed to be appropriated um we're we have in our operating budget about $5,000 to match that Grant so that would bring us to we're we're hoping to do a planting of about $10,000 this fall that's all we have in the budget we yeah uh why don't you give me a call tomorrow we all right all right um we can have the rest of that discussion offline uh and then for Mr Patterson um hopefully I have my my notes all straight here uh we already addressed the executive session issue um Chief do you want to speak to the uh number of summonses issue okay thank you Chief and uh specific to the uh to the revenue Mr Arthur can probably give an exact number yeah I mean not to the penny but it was about $1,300 in June and um Mr Patterson just from the committee meetings last year when this was under discussion um that was a lot more than uh Mr Harris had spoken to us about at the time so um we are just one month into this so um it's something that the police committee is going to keep an eye on on we're working with the chief and again we don't have all of the paid parking spaces even online yet so South Avenue is just going to be coming online on the pieces that were previously authorized and then we had the ordinances that we adopted tonight that are going to add some more in um so in reference to free spaces uh I believe there's several in the burrow Hall lot for public business um is are there any any anywhere else Chief so uh Center Street after um so the 300 block of Center is uh has the resident permits so it would be the 400 block after that um so one of the things that we're looking to implement in a future is that uh 15 minute spaces for people that need to run in run out and do stuff and those would also be no charge um in reference to the verm inii um I'm going to ask Mr Arthur to follow up on that with uh Mr disco in reference to that uh 12in sanitary line um that definitely sounds like part of what they should be looking at um for the county MOA on West Street um we've spoken about that extensively uh at meetings here and what the burrow was proposing um an Mo MOA with the county was required because that's a County Road and um I would leave that up to the uh Engineers to explain exactly how they're going to design it but uh several of the steps we've taken on Council this year including the lowering of the speed limit and the implementation of those parking spaces designed to narrow or uh as they call diet in the road uh it's all designed just to slow the flow of traffic a little bit there because we have so many more pedestrians than we ever did before um and even pedestrians Crossing at Corners with that amount of traffic it's it's challenging uh never mind if anyone decides to jwalk so uh it's definitely something that's on the council's radar um you had a couple of resolution questions I will do my best or I will uh tag in the appropriate professional uh 24-17 this is just the Grant application um I believe Mr disco spoke to that earlier uh Mr Abramson do you have anything to add on if that's requires a change no I personally do not know 2417 since I was not the one who had drafted that resolution nor have I seen the application so we'd have to rely on what Mr disc told us okay from and count it's the questions that councilwoman Sam and AD asked him as well about um who was responsible and and who was paying there is some piece of it that we're responsible for so I'm comfortable with this resolution but we can from what I understood from Mr go and I I could be incorrect was the frontage of the I think it's two or three Garwood houses we would be responsible for the Curbing and that they were still discussing exactly what was happening with the street okay so I yeah I wouldn't see any need to do anything with this particular resolution other than adopt it um 24- 138 which uh also touches on what Miss hay uh had uh written into us about um so I apologize this is going to take me a minute um so in reference to the the first question from Miss hay um my understanding is the fin committee is still discussing the uh specifics of this uh anything uh involving that sort of a a fee assessment would need to be done by ordinance um what this resolution is addressing is that work has started on the data we need uh getting data into our computers to give the finance committee all the information they need to make the final decision on this so um if if it gets if it's going to get moved forward it would need to pass the full Council there would be a public hearing um Finance is still going to need to look at this data and then make a res recommendation to the full Council um and I we need to have that information before we can come back to the public and say definitively what the plan is the answer right now is we don't know what the plan is we're still working on it um I'm sorry go ahead no I was going to recommend that we can maybe table this I was a little surprised to see this on as well just because we haven't come to any agreements or a firm decision and to see the increase already as of July one was a little surprising to myself um I'm not saying that I don't support the increase for this person depending on what the decision is moving forward I just was considering maybe we could table it for now until Finance could potentially meet again because we really did leave it undecided and everybody kind of had a different opinion it wasn't even like a two to one Mr Arthur I don't know maybe you have some thoughts on that just for purposes of that position from speaking to the CFO there's going to be a significant amount of work that has to be performed for the Billing System to even be created and that's what it's that's what that position is currently working on so if you continue to table it you're giving duties and additional work to an employee who doesn't have this job and they're not getting paid for it so then realistically you should be then delaying this person from doing any additional work as well I'm fine with delaying them from starting anything until we make a decision of what we're doing I I think the issue there is that some of this leg work has to be done for you to be able to make the decision because the heavy lift is gathering everything to package it up for all of you to be able to make an informed decision that's how it was explained to me and the CFO said I think it was going to take like six months six to nine months to even start putting everything together yeah so that'll that'll touch on some of the other questions that were asked but this is the the preliminary work is the heavy lifting part because that's what it takes to make all the rest of the decisions so um you know we were we could talk I guess maybe after or something um or with the finance committee but the way it was presented to me was that um this was actually unanimously approved by the finance committee depending on the route that we went so okay I mean I'm going to I am going to pull it and then I mean we can just vote on it separate okay that's fair okay um just to continue with the questions that it's not a new position so everyone should know it's not a new position it's duties for um a sewer clerk that are being taken on by somebody else who currently works here who doesn't have to perform those duties as part of their job description so that's why there's obviously money associated with it you you actually stole my next answer Mr Aon uh because that was uh in response to the second part of what Miss Haye asked um this is a new work and responsibility and Mr Arthur has this work already started yes so there's been meetings with the company that we would be putting our finance system would be adding a a module and there's been meetings for that so the work has begun this is the Edmond system work that I I heard about right yes okay um so just following up on the rest of Miss Hay's questions so I don't lose track um her her third question uh regarding resident notification is uh I'm going to say again we're not there yet uh Finance is obviously still working on this I can see that there's uh obviously some further discussion that needs to happen in finance and we only have one member here tonight so um I'm certain we'll get something out of the finance committee for this in in following meetings um and regarding um regarding number four about um taxes and tax impacts and lowering taxes so look this is still New Jersey so uh if we adopt this um it it is just one piece of a of a larger plan um the purpose of doing this if it is to be done would be to fund uh upgrades and uh maintenance and any future needed repairs uh Mr disco has spoken repeatedly over the last couple of years about the age of some of our lines uh this is a way to create um a funding source that is not property taxes to address this particular issue and it's one that I believe every other municipality in this County with the exception of Windfield which has its entire own ecosystem over there already has in place so um you know I would say that that if there's Revenue left over from those things it could be potentially used to offset increases but again we're way far ahead of where we are right now where the finance committee has not decided to do this in the first place um so with that being said my only concern in reference to this resolution um would be that there is some work that has already been performed so that's what's going to be at the front of my mind um I think oh um Mr Arthur do you want to speak to the um other work as uh required part of a job description yeah so um you know most job descriptions do have and all other duties as assigned Clause at the end um but there's other duties as assigned and then there's additional duties that are substantive enough that it goes beyond that and to me something like this goes well beyond just other duties as a sign it's those are smaller tasks maybe not permanent tasks um whereas when you're fundamentally changing someone's workflow and fundamentally changing just the level of responsibility I do think that some financial compensation is is more than justified in that situation okay and and were we to pass this tonight it is pro-rated correct because it's $5,000 would have been if it took effect on January 1st correct so um in the budget actually this has been included in the budget that was passed that it's 2500 because it was always planned to be effective July 1st so there is 2500 extra in the salary line because this was planned already by our CFO um in advance okay so this already appears in the budget and it's funded yes and pro pro rated for half the year for 2024 okay fair enough uh I think I got everything if I did not oh I'm sorry go ahead so I wanted to address uh Mr nad's question about um resolution 24-1 128 the spraying of the brook I know we discussed this at length uh probably a year ago around the same time um this is apparently our solution to the vegetation problem uh that on the brook do we have a timeline for uh when the spring will take place um and I my question is can we table it to um possibly discuss other options again they're waiting for us to approve and they they got the sense they are pretty ready to go whenever that happens um they were kind of under the impression that this would just kind of automatically renew um and then I said no it has to have some sort of approval first before it could be renewed so um so that's where we're at so I I'd have to go back to them for exact dates but you know they were kind of like once you get it approved just let us know and we'll we'll get you on the schedule type thing okay okay I don't know if there's I don't know how it works after my first year I don't know like if it has to be done by a certain date or it can't be done I I doubt that but um I imagine if it's tabled just till August 8th I I do know that this this comes up around this year every time and we literally have the same conversation every year at this time um I just don't believe that there is a better option and that's why this continues to appear I'm opening to actually hearing if there is a better option because I do feel like this is always a Hot Topic so I would support tabling it um Mr nearad maybe if you have some thoughts You' which I'm sure you do you'd like to share with any of us after the meeting I think that a few of us would be open to listening um all right so as anyone can delete this and we'll do a roll call vote and if uh or if we're deleting it and we're motioning to table it we'll run a vote on the motion and go from there um I apologize if I missed anything um did you have anything else no that was it okay uh I going to move on to the consent agenda and I already know the answer to this question uh are there any resolutions a member of council wishes to delete councilwoman salmon you want to go first um resolution 24-38 and resolution 24-1 128 okay 24-1 128 24 d138 you have those Mr Arthur 128 and 138 councilman ndi or Council was 128 was for you okay uh I will take a motion to adopt the consent agenda as amended so moved second uh roll call please Mr Arthur councilwoman Bodo I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon hi council president Carney I okay so resolutions deleted everyone wants to get their money's worth out of me uh in this chair tonight huh all right uh 24-1 28 uh I will uh entertain a motion on 24128 I suggest a motion to table do we have a second I'll second uh Mr Arthur could we have a roll call please councilwoman Bodo so motion motion to table if you vote I means that we're not going to do it tonight but we're going to discuss it in the future a no means that you do not want to table it and then we'll have to do something else with it it's kind of the opposite of how we vote um sure we can actually now that there's a motion in a second you should be able to disc I'm actually supposed to call for discussion I apologize so I just want to be clear I'm not a no vote I just feel like I would love a little bit more education on this because it is always such a Hot Topic so if we could just get the two weeks learn a little bit about it and then make a decision at the August 8th meeting is what I'm looking to do for myself that's the reason for the tabling okay that's that's fair uh did you have anything else yeah no so I mean I think that it's just really important to um look at maybe other options for accomplish ing the same the same goal right um and just so that we know that we've looked into other other avenues other ways of of controlling the problem Coto are there any repercussions as to not doing it in a certain time um if we don't do it at all and the vegetation is uncontrolled um the other hot top in town uh from some years past is rats so um but I don't yeah the general point of it I believe from my memory is that it's supposed to help control the rodent population on people's yards so what I would say is um if we're going to discuss this at the next meeting and I know councilman NOA you won't be here but I'm happy to bring your your comments forth uh if need be I don't know that there's an urgency to adopt this resolution tonight if we want to do a little more due diligence um but I would say as someone who's been attending these meetings long before I sat up here um I've heard this discussed literally for hours nobody has a better solution so I would prefer to adopt it tonight but I we're we're going to vote that's how this works so um with that being said is there any further discussion okay um we'll try a roll call again okay a roll call for tabling yeah this is a roll call on the motion to table 24128 correct councilwoman Bodo hi councilwoman Noy I councilwoman salmon I council president Carney uh no and that motion to table will carry three to one okay um can I have a motion for resolution 24-38 so moved so that's a motion to adopt um well I wanted to discuss oh well we have to motion something to have the discussion so um so I'm gonna make a motion to table okay do I have a second okay hearing none the motion fails do I have any other motions for 24138 I will make a motion to adopt do I have a second second all in favor discussion I'm sorry discussion um councilwoman salmon it's all you I just know that the finance committee hasn't really made a clear plan and I I do appreciate your comments Mr Arthur but I've also seen in recent days where we've added a lot of responsibilities to other people with zero compensation so how can I wholeheartedly support this tonight when we don't even have a plan of what we're going to do moving forward so I do I would tend to lean towards supporting it if I knew what we were actually doing but I cannot answer to the public exactly what we're doing so I'm not going to pay somebody when I don't have an answer of what we're doing exactly so that's that's all I got was this not discussing Finance you said that it was discuss in finance so it was this predates me being here but um from what I heard from people who were involved at the time it was discussed it was planned it was obviously in the budget you know it was budgeted for um again that was how was presented to me based on discussions that occurred prior to me taking this position okay so you have this person already performing this job beginning to yes okay and then if we don't adopt it is the work going to stop because she's of whoever is not getting paid I mean I think that would probably be fair or delayed or um you know I think it would have to likely um so M Mr Arthur just I want to address what councilwoman salmon was speaking about regarding what the plan is um we just might need to break it back down to earlier on in the uh in the workflow here so if it's uh a year from now and this or some future Council has adopted this uh this sore feed by ordinance um all of this work would have had to be done prior to the council even being able to take that action correct yes if I'm understanding correctly yes and what we're doing now is through Edmonds which is our financial system which I believe most local government in New Jersey uses um is setting up this module and this data so that we would have an idea of what the billing how this how this would work what it would look like and what potential uh Revenue we would be seeing depending upon whatever factors we we apply yes I mean essentially we're asking someone to lay the foundation so that we can build a house on top of it potentially you can't expect us to be able to get to the point where we're just building the house without any foundation laid if that to use a metaphor I guess so I do understand that so then my question would be if that's what we're doing we're starting a foundation we're unsure of where we're going why would we do a salary increase and not a stien why would we make it permanent if we don't know where we're going when we could choose to do a stip in position and say okay we understand you're setting this up now we're going to reimburse you now for doing this extra work for year once mayor and Council decides which way they're going then we could either make it a salary increase when we know what we're doing or we can say okay we decided to not move forward it cost us $5,000 and we're not doing it or we're doing something different or we're adjusting your responsibilities this is a huge commitment when we don't know what we're doing I'm I asked to table it because I don't not support the position receiving the salary increase should we move in the direction that we might move but I don't know the answer so how can I say okay to a full salary increase with a lot of questions attached to it it's like I don't want to vote no I'm going to be honest but should we not table it I'm going to vote no so can I just real quick address something um absolutely because this is a non-union position it's actually the council could reverse this anytime they'd like um I know but that's definitely not the right thing to do well I know but hypothetically let's say in a year you decide you don't want to do it at all right then you have to reverse it at that point because the the the duties don't exist anymore I mean I feel like we should know what we're doing that's all no we can't say sorry we're taking back $5,000 because we didn't know what we were doing that's not that's not right people have families that of course but if you do if you do a stip in just know you have to pay it all at once otherwise if you pay over the bi-weekly period it's going to be deemed pensionable salary no different as if you paid her salary well I mean we don't you'd have to potentially prepay $5,000 for work that hasn't yet then been fully performed I understand but then we should know what we're doing before we make a decision that's and like I said I don't want to say no I just want to wait until everybody knows what they're doing and we don't that's all okay um I I understand your position and um I'm sorry did you have something else to add councilwoman okay I I don't have a problem Pat you know passing this I'm just not concerned for the person who's doing the job you know what I mean like I know you're saying we don't know what we're doing but this person is performing a duty this person is either working extra hours or you know it's extra work on top of whatever they're doing so that doesn't seem fair either I mean that's that's why it was added for and planned for for July 1 the this the plan was always start doing this work in July which is why they had their initial meeting with Edmonds already which is the first step of the process um so the work has begun and you know that's why this is on the agenda tonight so that they can be compensated for that and and this these are things that Mr Harris the prior administrator set in motion that were passed on to you correct these were set in motion from what I understand last year last calendar year okay um at least later in the year and then again plan for in the operating budget which you all passed including the $2,500 for this second half of the year for this position all right um how long I'm sorry how long have has this person been doing this I mean so far it's really just started because we're just you know the initial meeting with edmin started um you know they're kind of training and learning how to again lay the foundation so it's kind of like you can't it's like a catch22 we're talking about here you can't do step B without doing step a and you can't say we're we're waiting for step B to do step a no I I understand the process so yeah okay so let's say they've done it for two or three weeks can they be paid for that and then it just started it just started in July yeah okay yeah okay that's the easiest and simple answer people need to be compensated for their work so um that's right yeah I mean the heavier lifts will come soon it's not like fully right we're taking baby steps into it at this point but yeah okay um with that being said I think uh we' we've heard all sides of the discussion I'm comfortable with asking for a Woll call okay count oh yeah you need MO um no we had the motion to you did a motion and you did the first and the second then discussion yes yes so now uh councilwoman Bodo this is a motion to adopt it not to table it so this is Yes means they're getting it a motion to adopt the resolution so that the employee is paid the additional $5,000 in their salary for continuing to do these new duties that are not associated with their regular job I okay councilwoman NY i councilwoman sammon no council president Carney I okay motion passes okay motion passes [Music] 321 uh Mr Arthur did we have any other resolutions deleted from the consent agenda no okay uh as I noted at the top of the meeting uh the executive session resolution was removed from the agenda and will in theory be brought back uh at our next meeting in August um does anyone have new business okay hearing none we will move to payment of claims uh Mr Arthur could you please read the resolution one moment sorry let me get to the right page I'm jumping around here a little bit no worries we're all sitting in seats we don't normally sit yes I'm not used to this part be it resolved that the following claims as approved b b and the same are hereby ordered paid when properly signed and verified and the payment of payrolls as listed is hereby confirmed and ratified uh do I have a motion to adopt the payment of claims so moved second uh roll call please Mr Arthur councilwoman Bodo I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon I council president Carney I okay everybody congratulations we made it it is 2 hours and 2 minutes so I have not come anywhere close to the record uh the regular meeting of the mayor and Council will be held on Thursday August 8th 2024 at 7 pm in council chambers information for meetings is posted on the burrow website that is a h why does it have HTTP on here garwood.nj earn so moved second all in favor hi uh no one is opposed have a good night folks sorry for