welcome everybody my welcome everybody fix yep go it's unmuted now it was on M remember when it was the I unmuted it now all right roll call of staff and [Music] professional here here here with our B engineer Mr dis good evening everybody have five bullet points on the agenda first two were based upon discussions with Council M Harney West Street trage which we discussed on at least two occasions uh which was a impact from a water company repaving of a main so on West Street and there was complaints about water ponding when weather permitted with in early 2023 we had water company Bing contract would come out and do infrared bathing where they manipulated gring the edge of the street or the gutter L and that seemed to make an improvement to the problem but apparently the residents at Gold are not pleased with the result of the way the stre uh they produced the video during snow event and slush event uh so what I did is I recap and resubmitted the plan that we did uh back in April of 2023 showing the grating of the Cur line and then also of the driveway so essentially you look at that plan profile sheet there's arrows that docs in how the pavement pitches how the conrete driveway actually pitched in the opposite direction nonetheless there's water that have pools on the corner of the driveway and I'm I'm committed to meeting that tomorrow at 9 I will be happy to discuss options with them the options that we discussed in T were uh we could redo a portion of the concrete apron and pitch that um to the same direction as the street and create a lift in the driveway so water wouldn't come into the concrete since we're having Midwest Construction through the sidewalks acrosser Street presumably beginning of of spring we'll have a Contractor on the street and I looked at the unit prices um based upon their concrete driveway aprons and it would cost about $1,000 so I'll cut that the other options we can um again manipulate the street gr by Excavating dropping the pavement level down but we would have to carry that through the next adjoining driveway in order to maintain the pitch so both driveways are going to have more of a lid per se and that's a way to eliminate or to improve the situation whenever we get a heavy rain or we get snow or slush impacts that prevent free flow of drainage we're always going to have some water in so this is probably um a situation that we had hundreds of locations in the B if not upwards of the F so but I'm not diminishing it um they feel that it's a change condition I did put in Google map historical mapping from about four previous years so you can look at what the condition of the road pavement was the lip of the concrete driveway and then even had one picture before you put the concrete Drive the burrow has done none of this work on so the the paving of the street was a freebie by the water company the infrared treatment was a freey by the water company contractor and the driveway apron concrete apron was installed by the homeowners themselves we we've had no culpability of it but we can I think improve the situation for phenomenal amount of money it's totally up to the council it's it's in our right away and we'll have a contractor there presumably ailish doing the sidewalks across the street so I'm I'm happy to get feedback or questions on that how we I don't know how else to correct or improve the problem other than to um suggest to them do nothing which probably is not going to be I I I look for guidance does anybody have any questions on this particular item is what I would say is um we just ask the committee to discuss it at the committee me the next committee meeting um come back with the recommendation to the Council on it and then we will give you that and again I'm meeting with them tomorrow so maybe there's something different that can be worked out one of the pictures show the West spot historically on the left side again I'm not here to cast this verion or to make the burrow landess um but I I think we can help the situation but needs a little bit of of money I don't think the Water Company's going to come out for a third time now when we when they pay the street for us for free and they look at it they probably going to say what is your problem so uh if I if I find out anything new on that I'll certainly distribute it and then it could change perhaps with the street committee the second bullet point was again in discussion with Council mcney about the potential to add uh what I'll call a bump out or where you take an existing corner and you increase the curb encroachment into the street and I tried to explain the the the positive of that it's often used where you've got a heavy pedestrian area or you're looking to have traffic comies and it is an accepted traffing cing technique much like speed HPS are or additional signage or as we have the rumble strips and those types of things so um it does have the benefit of reducing pedestrian Crossing length which is always a good thing it minimizes the time for a pedestrian to cross a street if You' got bumped out from both Corners it does tend to slow the traffic down for vehicles because they see a narrow Street cartway as opposed to a wider cartway and barwood has some substantial cartway that's much wider than any ajon towns uh several of our streets that we paid were 36 38 streets live when other municipalities may have standard 30 foot WID so it it makes the de have to gross longer that increases that potential vehicular pedestrian conflict we've certainly had two incidents that I'm aware of which may not have been a driver error at all may have been pedestrian error I don't really know but in reaction to that I also then took some Google Earth images of the downtown in Cranford which I was familiar with we did the whole downtown near the 80s and 90s granford and we did bump out there and if you know that intersection and um B Olden um that's a downtown area where they were looking to congregate people and to encourage the outdoor um pedestrian activities of Street bears and that type of thing so that's an example there where the curves from those views you can see that the curves encroach into where the parking or the lane would be so the disadvantages are you interrupt the free flow of drainage along a gut or a c when you put the bump out most streets have a crown so as you bump out the curb you are going against the grve and you create a low point on one of the corners of the bump most way very rare that a corner is the high point the W water drains all the way away in all directions so you don't have a storm sword there you've got to have the cost of bringing in storm SW important V the other thing is obviously for snow plowing the Public Works issue but instead of going right along the curve line now they would have to manipulate the of it and back in out it not the end of the world but it's it's obviously an obstacle biggest thing of course's course and I I put in there in reference because we did get that uh planning grant for the bicycle and which I think you know Center Street is an excellent candidate for bicycle facilities because you got such a lde road 9 you can accommodate but if you do a bump out you obviously would interrupt potentially where the flight plan would be so it's just something to think about when you're ticking and choosing where you want to do bup out you would probably want to do it on a street that it's not going to have a bicycle s so I hope that a good reaction to what you had asked me to do I don't know if there's specific intersection i' happy to look at specific ones tell you whether there's the drainage course involved or not if you don't have to do drainage you could probably do four corners at an intersection for 20K or below if you have to obviously bring drainage to it it would be depending on how far you have to dra what I have seen is some people put the pipe underneath the bump out and you relying on this small diameter pip the funnel water from curve line Beyond to where we went that's not a great solution for that's when to 10 CL or be hit by flows just the maintenance P so I would rely on that as a cheap way to anybody have any question ack question about the bum do they have to be symmetrical or can you have one bum on one side of the road and then another side of the road has a different sure yeah there there's no requirement of the shape or the geometry of so for example on Center Street you could have a bump out on one side with parking on one side of the street the other side of the street may you have a bik lane you could running instead of parking yeah for example yeah the bump out again it's just a mechanism to get The Pedestrian closer to wherever the destination Point Crossing Lally cross the wider Street Main Street or the second [Music] so just GNA originally about some North Side intersection just because we do know that while Center Street could be a good spot for it that bik lane could cl to it so some of the intersections on the North side which have been a little problematic froming my thought process on that and why I engaged Mr disco was more on North side streets because that's where we've had numers complaints the last few years I mean Center Street is is wide it is kind of what it is um and I was also thinking about the uh the the bike lane situation there um it was more of a we discussed it in the police committee and I wanted to speak to Mr disco about the feasibility of it because there's a bunch of stuff that I don't know about you trage and things like that and is it gwood or not he feels that could be you know again depending on inter section so um I was going to ask the mayor if you know we did discuss it in the police committee but if we could refer it tow committee to look at a little further and come up with a short list of intersections and maybe in one spot do the the streets committee uh sorry Public Works got the Public Works committee um and let's narrow down a few intersections that Mr disco can take a look at at some point and then look at the drainage situation so that we would know what was truly feasible um and then at that point we can have a further discussion on it um there's always things like grants and things like that but possibly fight into it um so let's let's take that first step now section that we really want to look at and without stepping on anybody's toes you do have two potential north side streets that's the Congressional ramp streets third an oak intersection for instance if that was one of them could obviously accommodate that would do the curs anywhere anyway on 30 so just question of pumping that out there's no course difference no course difference on the curb really and as long as the drainage works and from my recollection uh the drainage goes away from towards Dallas Hill Center the street so there would be no implication for that so that would be one where you can do it without a drainage complication you've already got the built-in contractor in quantities if you want to do a demonstration of it you could do it there just really be one side of that intersection both you wanted to add it the other side was paid but it would be a nominal disturbance of that so that's who For Thought okay okay third F point was uh each Avenue which here Pro C Street stre so you had asked me to look at that and then I had full money from public works and he basically after Bing behind the Mobile station alongside the train tracks which apparently is doesn't drain well and there's a pipe that conect the North Avenue and that seems to be blocked or par not be flown and so that may result in overflow of that system into the Center Street under the under which became problematic so I did um enclose the tax map and our stormor map that bar L deck had done in 2008 it does show that that's uh situated on a property so I've already contacted dot I didn't get a response back that that imp possible we get a quick turn around but I'll certainly pursue with them what they can do whether they can come in at it C they may obviously just ignore you but it may be a a burrow a storm pipe that is actually one so we'll have to we could certainly Happ to talk to LY a little further on that but at least according to the mapping there a barrow property due to the Meandering of Center Street from north to south Barrow does seem to have that property next to the mobile where the storm s seem to be the issue where it's um fed could be ours or someone else's if it's I see in the map it kind of goes through lot eight but then it goes through lot one are those both or that lot eight is our okay this seven is the mobile yeah seven is the mobile eight is ours then um there's an arrow there one which is on the other side of sent also so again um behind the Mobile station is an area rather extensive actually of a I'll call it Baron probably a paav parking area but is underutilized and uh probably uh there no snow plowing having G on there because it doesn't seem to have great utilization or certainly critical utilization so it could just be that um a lack of Maintenance the rear of their parking lot maybe the great against the clog from the mobile in activity certainly I'll pursue with do um if they can do anything look at their catch Bas North Center make sure that's function har that right we should make sure that's function then we have to so then the next course of actions can figure out it's raining from mobile the mobile property or is it simply and happy the next time it's raining heavy go look at it yeah this is um something that didn't seem to be a problem until around that year or at least not like bad I would say and it's obviously continuing getting worse so something's getting worse as we go on anybody have any questions and the last two both point to really quick you have South Avenue on and remind we got obviously send that to count so they can mirror the resolution and then we're continuing the design work I mentioned this the last time I was here um we've been actively designing Beach and a touch onto hlac and we'll be gravitating into the time uh we're dating everything for February we hoping to get it to do in February so their review and if they bless it be goinging out the bid I don't want to optimistically say end of February so hopefully March and we'll get some get a project out and hopefully favorable B results and that question re anybody have any F questions okay thank you very much and we will get back to you on the couple of items that need to be discuss need to head out of course um we move to our report from our yes good evening May Council have a few things tonight an update on rental property registrations in 2023 we registered 305 properties comprising of 1,11 individual units the total registration fees collected in 2023 were $65,500 this is $54,000 more than 12,500 that anticipated in the budget uh the rental property administrator has been very bu with turnover inspections as well uh prior to this uh meeting we had a Comm meeting with the Community Development Committee discussing the annual registration fee for landlords um in we prepared the award this last year and didn't include a late to that so here we are almost three weeks into the year we haven't received a single registration yet so we're going to be chasing uh the came out a committee uh that want to pursue a late fee um for these registrations it's $25 annual fee that we have to submit their insurance documents as well um we were thinking you know a March 1st deadline to submit these with a$ 25 monthly late Fe for anyone that doesn't submit so it really gives the landlord month to you know provide the burrow with paperwork as required by state law but it gives them in to you know pay in a timely fashion but every time we you know we'll we'll spend a lot more than 25 hours in time with material chasing these landlords down that hav submit their you know registra registration or insurance so the hope is the the fee would in incentivize them to uh you know pay in the first two months of the year and if the ccil as the whole is in favor of this I to pushes ahead for introduction uh the revise the orders next so open it up the discussion I have to recuse myself on this topic I did not vot on the registration Fe because of my job um I am happy to speak about this um we just discussed as a committee and you know one of the things that we um you know felt is was important is obviously making sure that um that residents are communicated clearly with what the actual fee structure is but you know we also want to make sure that we do incentivize then to you know make sure that they are pending we don't have to have our employees chasing after them sending letter after letter after letter um without any teeth so um we felt that this was a a good opportunity for us to make sure that the uh landl registration ordinance is effective and does actually follow through with what we intended to do of last year anybody else anything want to add to it are we moving forward then right thank you I will review this with our St attorney make sure everything proed as we just discussed and don't get just ready for intruction in this Mee uh on to I got two topics for parking now uh business employee parking permits will go on sale this Monday the council recalls uh late last year we entered up used do ordinance uh dedicating 13 parking spots for the businesses in central business district to be able to purchase a permit for those locations um to guarantee that their employees have part uh so business buers in Central Business can purchase permits at the clerk's office starting 9:00 a.m. Monday morning per prices are as followed $60 per month1 175 per quarter 325 per half year or 600 per year um and the permit will allow business owners to be guaranteed a sign parking spot Monday through Saturday from 8: a.m. to 6 p.m each of those days we will be uh the parking enforcement officer Monday will'll be putting notices on all vehicles that are parking the SP to for them that part there with depart perfect I've actually already had a couple of business owners reach out that they are very excited and looking forward to registering for that and have been waiting for them so I'm glad it'll at least provide a little bit of um secure parking for for some of these businesses which is been an issue that we've come up over the years a lot so yeah I I also talk disciplers and it'll really help their business model even they had guaranteed parking clst to done uh lastly I met with the police committee and a parking vendor in the last week we discussed the paid parking in the central business district this is we talked about repeatedly last year I would like the council to move forward with an ordinance next month as well to implement PID parking discussions with the committee you have to agreement on an hour rate of 50 cents per hour for the willow parking lot that's uh parking out the corner of Willow and Center I believe there's 19 parking spots there be 50 cents per hour up to the maximum but 10 hour limit there parking forc would be 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m in that lot and we've also looked at uh two models for street parking um as we discussed last year parking will be paid parking on in central business district on Center Street between South Avenue and Willow um some parking spots between on South Avenue between East and West as well as seven parking spots on West between Willow and South um so we're really looking at two two models there the first one is to do a 50 cents per hour parking with a 2hour limit uh really that was our first came up with to encourage turnover those spots you well in our parking committee meetings that we held last year a lot of the feedback we're getting is that the parking is always filled by the same vehicle all day long so would to encourage turn over there but in my conversation with arton vendor this past week they've been seeing an increase in a uh escalating fee program so you know under that model our first two hours would be 50 cents per hour then the third hour would be $1 for for that hour and the fourth hour more was mov $250 an hour so it's really you know you could park there if you want to all day long but you're going to pay you know a significant amount to park there all day we we want to encourage people that if they're going to be parking for you know six seven hours if they move over to the bill parking lot uh not stay in front of a business on Center Street that relies on you know open parking spots so that they can have their customers put in for five minutes or 10 minutes so I wanted to get the council's feedback on that and uh you know like I said I like to also get disorder ready for an adoption uh the first meeting feary as well um I you know I have talked with you about this you us today and you know I do agree I can see where you know it's it's twoh Hour part um and where a a customer would park there for you know pay for the two hours or maybe it's not a customer um and then they just keep refilling and refilling and refilling and and um stay there for the whole time and they paid you know' be55 is that what we said for the whole day and I can see someone saying A5 um and I do know we have instances where we have cars that literally we stay there the whole day um it's parking andfor if we don't have that kind of enforcement so I do like the idea of with parking uh I'm not sure about the the specific um cost of the chair parking so I just want to open that up to the council and see a if they agree with the chair parking and then get some numbers from them anybody want to go first mean I like your parking idea I I think it's always um I think it's incentivizes people to to move more they know that it's going to increase in cost over the course of time um I I would I would I guess I would kind of lean in on you know to what are other towns doing as far as TI if there areti tier parking going on what is their rates comparable to what we're talking about here and uh you know because I I don't have any basis for conar so for me for me to even give a number I wouldn't even be able to know but I would say that I like the idea better than two-hour margin for sense I can answer the council's question regarding other towns um when I looked into this you know few months back uh we you know I believe Westfield and franford I they were around the rate of 75 cents to a dollar an hour they did not have a tier schedule at that time it was just a higher hour rate from the GetGo they also have significantly more you know public parking lots that we have so know that's that's a big big difference as well and one of the reasons that this was even brought to light was we you know or you know one of the reasons that that we were looking to implement this was business owners did come to us to ask for help with the turnover so I agree that that really was one of the main Fus get call from Lincoln School I know Lincoln School's early dismiss early up tomorrow if you're watching um we've discussed this for a while in in the committee meeting and we had a little follow up on it when Mr har some supplemental to us um I I think the price points are are reasonable in committee what the vendor had recommended was a lot higher than that to the point that my eyes big so we we dialed it back a little bit but the one of the primary purpos is doing this on Center Street in the first place was to create bover in the spots and I I've heard this repeatedly on the small business group about um you know parking especially in that area and then businesses in other parts of the town are going to be watching this as well to see if it's successful or not because there may be one or two other spots that we can implement this um with the idea of creating a way you know the the new Ever bow that opened up across the street is actually good example of it where you know you may not be aware that there's a big partner out behind the building but if you see those spaces open on South you're going to hop in real quick but that's that's the goal see that there's at least some on street parking some at a time to get more fo traffic in businesses um so I I do think 50 cents an hour we lean towards trying to make sure we reasonable rate we weren't pricing that that we aren't charging a lot more than the surrounding pounds but um that does translate to $5 the stay for the day and then are we going to get the F so that's when Mr Harris brought up the tier that's kind of I'm leading and then you know their specific dollar amount whatever's gate that can you just tell us where the boot would actually be I understand lot to but that wouldn't be for tier parking that would just be a flat yes C an hour and then on Center Street how far up would it go it would go between Willow and south from Cent Street very small area prob had I believe it's 11 parking spots there I think there's five parking spots heading you know if you uh heading East on South Avenue towards franford I think there's five right there and there's I want to say it's eight spots eight or nine in front of Vera and then the seven spot West and there be a time minimum instead of the whole day six hours like that I'm not sure what so I I think in Cranford there's like a twoh hour maximum right and uh it goes up with each hour um and then you have to redo it again is there like a minimum amount of time so if it's $5 a day the day would be considered six hours and you can't extend it further than that uh the minimum would be we doing an hour we pay so it would be you know 50 cents an hour that the minimum time would be at one hour could we kind of is there like a maximum time we can do that so some there's a car there at 12 they paid for 5 hours and then we do it again is there a way to regulate that Speak oh yeah we could have it so they can't you know R in that zone for a period of 10 minutes or something like that so we could definitely whatever parameters we want to put in the ordinance they can pass on through that there's a one more question L it is the actual implementation of this when we get to that point so um what is the plan for implementation and you know as far as signage is concerned and enforcement yes they'll uh they'll provide us with all the signage necessary for each of the uh areas so every you know each area that this parking boot will be assigned there um enforcement will be done through the police department we have parking enforcement officer and most likely a second parking enforcement officer down the road um it should be a budget neutral bring in revenue from this to offset the cost of parking enforcement but the parking enforcement officers not only do the paid parking spots they also enforce you know both sides of town where we have you know restrictions in terms of you know resal parking so and also as far as the signage is concerned on the sign itself would specify the actual like amount at that tiered rate as well that will be specified on the sign whatever we decide yeah they yeah we can put whatever theate own I would encourage the council not to put it on the sign because if we change the rates a year or two from now you got to replace all the signs which like uh the vendor will provide us up with a lot of signs but maybe we have a few you know couple cou signs posted in different locations that just show what the rates are that we had made you know just lettering on there you know I think the well parking lot's a perfect example like it's you know 50 cents per hour an hour maximum parking we put a sign there and then on our street you know maybe on our streets we have two signs on you know Central business district just out outlying the rates but when you use the app like as we talked about last year you can pay by app you can pay by uh web browser you can pay by text you can pay by phone and even the businesses I mentioned they will assist their clients that you know they pay for paring if you know somebody is unable to pay for I I think we just need some more conversation then I mean about what they think about the on the committee were at least starting with this type of cheering and thenie time we'll have data it's working and if it's not working if it's not achieving the desired results of the turnover then we would review and and Rive needed so it's not set in stone and I think like not putting it on the sign decide to change but I'm uncomfortable with these with these numbers yeah we were good with this in in committee not in commit all [Music] right anything else that's it all right moving on to uh mayor's report um so a quick look at the agenda tonight I am very happy to see ordinance 24 gu viewers to uction tonight Mr mentioned it uh it's an ordinance changing the speed limit along South Avenue between East Street and West Street from 35 miles hour to 25 miles hour uh we chel and are always working to do whatever we can to increase safety with both pedestrians and drivers so we know there's been some incidents in surrounding towns recently and of course Garwood isn't immune to these sort of things either so we will always be on the look out for ways to mitigate these sort of accidents um but I do urge everyone whether you are walking or driving to stay alert especially during the winter months when it's so dark much so much earlier um um and as Mr disco noted this ordinance will not be on for second reading at the next meeting it does have to go to the county but back so just so you don't expect to see it at the next meeting yet it'll come back around hopefully um also on the consent agenda you'll see two resolutions uh 24-37 and 24-42 uh these are resolutions the council has passed before actually and they are part of our work to get gar certified in sustainable Jersey for our sustainability efforts um this certification is something each town can elect to do every three years to maintain its St these resolutions reaffirm the B commitment to supporting the reestablishment of the Green Team uh and to supporting sustainable land use which is a crucial uh element of sustainability I will be working with green team chair Bill newa uh to complete the recertification process which if you go to sustainable jersey.com you will see as a comprehensive data Gathering of the various actions we do in barwood we Tak in gwood to keep our borrow sustainable uh these actions vary from a number of different topics from health and wellness to public information to waste management um the certification process is very challenging and work intensive uh and it's a yearlong process but not only does it afford US the opportunity to apply for Grants is the one we received to create the ring Garden at the rec center uh but it provides validation that our burrow is creating a sustainable environment for our residents which is of course one of my top priorities so um moving on there's been some movement in the New Jersey legislature on Hot Topics that affect each municipality uh something I've spoken about several times before the liiz laws there was new legislation signed by Governor ly this week that will make some changes to the laws for the first time since they were established after prohibition so this new law will ease restrictions on breweries and distilleries uh eliminating the mandatory tour allowing them to sell food and non-alcoholic beverages uh and allow them to hold unlimited on-site private events uh it also increases the number of barrels allowed for manufacturer and allows them to directly sell product to customers for off new sites other changes to the legislation include new provisions for pocket licenses or inactive licenses under the new law license holders will no longer be able to indefinitely retain a retail consumption license without using it uh if a license has remained inactive for two consecutive license terms a total of two years the license Holder will now be required to either use the license or sell it um if neither option is exercised the license can be transferred uh from one municipality to a contiguous municipality as well um this change will not increase the number of liquor licenses issued in New Jersey but it could bring more than 1300 inactive licenses back into circulation uh increasing the state's stock of active licenses by roughly 15% so this was a a step in a good direction uh I feel so on another front um with afford on the affordable housing actually I met with other Mayors and the Le municipalities we discussed a bill that is still under section in the legislature the next round of affordable housing is of course liming for July 2025 so there is pressure for this um there is pressure for the elements of this bill to resolve themselves quickly the bill as it stands now would officially eliminate COA which exists only a name at this point it would replace it with two separate entities a regional group of special masters from the administration office of Courts and an office of Appeals and Auditors which would review any challenges from municipalities over the obligation number um for those of you who want to go into the Weeds on this topic you can look up the Jacob Jacobson opinion uh which is cited as the methodology that would be used to determine a municipality's obligation number so the this bill was speeding through the lame duck session of the legislature but it has been slow down um so that municipalities and their Advocates have more time to work with the legislators on it so that they can ensure it has at the very least a better balance um between providing much needed housing in New Jersey and the needs of individual municipalities which obviously vary great greatly um I will continue to keep you posted on this bill and before I end I just want to thank the recreation director uh and the committee for helping make MLK Day of Service another great Community event we had so many great volunteers show up with a lot of really great energy um and not to take away from councilman M's report but uh I'm just so proud of the day it we made hundreds of sandwiches which were delivered to St Joe's and Elizabeth as well as hundreds of cards that will be mailed out to Colors smile.org where they will be distributed to Veterans and active military around the world as well as seniors around the US uh we also created garwood's very own Unity link which um kids where kids and adults created people of all different colors and types that will be linked together and hung up for everyone to see and I brought a couple of fun examples for everybody you take a look at to the meeting they turn out really cuge so we'll be gluing them together I'm getting my hot glue done ready so that we can link them all up and hang them um and it was really great to see the kids come up with all different a lot of them did their different uniforms um different hair color you know it it was it was a lot of fun to see so thank you to to um also five lives food pantry at St ANS for their generous donations and then again thank you to everyone who came out for help it was a great that is all for me so we will move on to comments from the council Council woman voto thank you councilman Foley you councilman labra um I just wanted to also echo my thanks um to the recreation committee and department and kka for putting together at Day of Service so thank you help councilwoman nby no comments tonight councilwoman salmon no comments council president coming thank you mayor and it's still a little weird to hear that but uh I want to thank my colleagues here again for supporting me for the position this year I promise to be councilman Lazaro's record given the opport uh but GL this night isn't going to be that attempt based on what time it is now and the amount of stuff we have to do so uh we do have a lot of things going on even by the standards of January on the council uh which is always a busy month with the Committees new council members Etc and of course the budget um but there's one big item that I'd like to leave with in this meeting and I wanted to use this time for Council discussion after I speak about it um it's something that will move to resolve an issue that has not only persisted but worsened through my entire first term on the council which is Public Safety radio communications uh between 2021 and 2023 prior council did take some steps on this uh including two consecutive years of applying for the Jersey local efficiency achievement program or beep grants however to receive those Grant monies we were required to establish a shared service for emergency dispatch with Union County uh prior Council we not interested in doing that so uh we are now in 2024 and this is no longer a can that can be kicked uh we're experiencing regular issues with radio communications between police and file personnel and dispatch and we're utilizing a legacy analog with heater based system which is over 25 years old uh someone who work in law enforcement and who's worked with radio equipment throughout my entire career I know that once established these systems should be examined and generally upgraded on a 10year cycle we're now approaching triple that time BR uh with that in mind as well as the fact that we are discussing uh especially critical equipment and systems uh I've been working with first the fire chief now the police chief and my new committee assignment this year uh on what needed to bring dispatch and radio assist into the year 2024 um we've discussed some preliminary numbers as an police committee on estimates for equipment which were provided by both police and fire uh and discuss the issue with Mr haris as well uh we will need between $350 to $400,000 in capital funding to provide for upgrades to the dispatch consults and new Communications equipment for produced fire to use in the field all of this equipment with au on the New Jersey Public Safety interoperability radio system or PC uh which will releve the burrow of future cost of maintaining the underlying system infrastructure 19 of the 21 municipalities in the county as well as the County government itself use this system for public radio Public Safety radio communications so the reason I'm bringing this up now and at the front of council meeting is uh due to supply chain issues isues there can be some significant delays in receiving this type of radio equipment um where we're looking at a delivery time frame of from 12 to 24 weeks or possibly more from the date of purchase orders issued by the burrow we're all familiar with the timelines with bonding and everything else so um we do need to have this equipment in place for our First Responders sooner rather than later that really needs to happen this year uh so I'd like to have a little bit of council discussion on the topic uh and if there's consensus uh we would need to move a bond ordinance uh quickly in February if we intend to get this done in 2024 so let's open this up for discussion um know Finance had a meeting but I don't know if this is discuss at all so okay so let's open it up um thoughts something we've been talking about for a while obviously um it happens it's got to happen at some point and we're going continue with this are so it's it's a huge head nobody's denying that but Public Safety has know priori anybody want to take aab at for discuss um I'll just say this I mean you know I think obviously you know having Communications reliable Communications for our First Responders is essential so I'll just start it there but um you know I guess my question is you know I I never you know obviously it's a big number but um and so I don't necessarily want to be like 100% committing to anything until I see all of our Capital items on the table before I think it's a definitely of a high priority a hunt I do and I think it's likely to to gain my support but um I guess my other question is what are the Alternatives so is is my other question so is there all Alternatives that exist is this are these radios the only option for us to go board with um and are there any other you know Alternatives that you know would be less expensive I'm just asking the question and you know just so that we have these convers because I think it's our due diligence do our very very best to not obviously make sure our First Responders have the best equipment but also that we are you know being careful with with spending so I will tell you um that's what I know on my that of course you know people know a lot more than but um in terms of the radios and I know we talked uh Council m talked about the leap brand um obvious obviously that that's so we're not able to apply for that and get any money from that unless we go into an agreement with Union County we this time even if we wanted to at this time Union County is not accepting any new um municipalities and it doesn't look like they're going to be anytime soon um so that is one possibility that's kind up off the table right now so then it becomes how long do you wait and if are we you know the risk of of life as as much as I don't want to sound dramatic the risk of life during that weight is what bothers me if we don't anybody else Prof totally fair questions um I know someone has to play the part of councilman gr so I appreciate that but uh to speak to the mayor's Point uh in the last uh structure fire that we had in the burrow um the firefighters were unable to contact The Incident Commander from inside the building 20 ft away um you know there's there's been communication issues I I've heard police officers have difficulty being received by Dispatch while they're in the field um there's some minor tweaks that both Chiefs and I have discussed with the existing radio repeater and relocating it but it's like it's putting a Band-Aid over a b hole La lack of a better term it is technology that nobody needs to be for um you know there's there's a couple of options radio vendor wise but which I mean you're talking about again R dollar counts but you're talking about lowering the price tag from 350 to 400 to 325 to 350 and then your equipment is not 100% compatible with what the other 19 municipalities are using you can't get quick support for for programming or connectivity issues because the county and the state are both using one particular style of equipment one particular vendor which is motorol Solutions which is kind of like the the name land um there are other vendors and I know the chief does have a couple of competing quotes uh but I don't I don't know that nickel and diamond10 to $20,000 was going to do us much good I don't see it going much below that that 350 that's why I kind of put that range out there and then there's also design elements that you're not going to think of up front when they come and they they do a site survey and they look at dispatch and they look at how they're going to tie this new equipment into the existing uh infrastructure there there could be expenses that we didn't anticipate which just again black kind of gable range and a hard figure we do have floats I can certainly send them over to the finance chair and can be kicked around on that committee but the other reason why I hit the gas on this is that if we wait for the normal budget and bonding cycle we're not issuing a purchase order until July or August if we don't issue a purchase order sooner rather than later you don't know where this is going to be in July and August and is it 12 go from 12 to 24 weeks to 36 weeks 48 weeks um I don't think it's an issue that can hold anymore uh especially with what happened at the last no I mean I'm on the police committee discuss this um I took a tour when I first you know when I was first joined and I also agree that there something that has to be done this should do that as um as effectively as possible but I def um I tend to agree with Mark I think we just kind of I mean Vinnie I know that you're very well ver on this I don't know if it's possibility I know we can't all meet but maybe we could have a conversation where you review with Finance did have a finance meeting and this was not talked about at all I was actually what I was going to do once we were done talking was I believe you do have another Finance meeting next week in two weeks in two weeks um if um Mr Harris you could get over the various quotes to finance and they could have that discussion um you know at that time and then you can can bring it to back to the council have Kyle have you met with every department head regarding your budget yes we have so then why can't we have something send to finance that says what is the capital purchase request for every Department before we make a decision on such a big purch and I guess we literally just we had the meetings afternoon and that and that can be part I think that was going to be part of the next I mean I understand where you're coming from so I'm not opposed to moving it up but I think we should at least be able to look at all the information from everybody else first and go from there so um and what I would suggest is if um the two chiefs are aable um to it to come to go to that Finance meeting so they can have explain a little bit more about I mean I've seen the quotes myself I don't know what some of those things mean you have to ask uh you know those who who who have that sort of knowledge so they can explain the various items in the cles a little bit better um because I I hatched that and talk to to the Chiefs but I think it's important for the uh finance committee to do that so Chief if you're amable to that and Mr would have to I think that would be very very helpful I think they could also help uh narrow down their Capital refest outside of the radios for 2024 off top of my head I think we a little over a million dollars in capital requests not including any works so obviously we be scaling that back but um mayor if I may what what I was looking for was a consensus to direct Mr Harris to put this on for an introduction we obviously have several weeks before the next meeting if for whatever reason the council is not feeling it after all this information goes back and forth between the Committees um you don't have to move forward on the introduction the table but if we don't put it on the agenda it's every meeting we delay sets the timeline back between first reading second reading the stole period and getting a purchase order out and it can affect the pricing you do these quotes have [Music] um a um expiration on on that we have so far I think was 30 G um Thoughts by yeah I mean I I really I understand where you're coming from Council president um I it makes me feel a little uncomfortable move forward right away um not even having had the conversations I'm happy to move forward if we as you know Comm come out and say we look at everything and let's put it on for introduction I mean I I you know because almost you put it on for introduction it sort of creates a a feeling that it's going to happen regardless and you know I'm not saying that obviously people could vote against it but you know I I just feel like I wouldn't be doing a good builds if I didn't look at all of the items on the capital purchase funds and then um we can come back in the next meeting and share that that's just how I I feel I'm more than happy to potentially move the fin our next Finance meeting up till next week If instead of two weeks but I will I do not want it to be just put on I'm not going to support that you can get yeah I I agree I would be open to having the finance meeting next week to the two weeks um in the end it really wouldn't matter because you would have to come back to the council to discuss it in the full CC going to move forward with it so I don't know if it really matters whether it's next that um it might help just to further you know narrow down the HST so to get some f now some some of those things down so that's up to you um the purpose of having two readings on ordinances understand specifically for this so right um it's a two week you're looking at you're looking at an extra two weeks so it would still go up in February so um I think we we have your Finance meeting come back to the next meeting with your recommendations um Nar narrowing down which vendors and and whatnot let the Chiefs talk of finance and then and then we we put it on if if everybody's come to after that good okay I do think it's like I said a necessary thing um let's get everybody comfortable who hasn't looked at it um we've had the opportunity to look at it already everybody we do have a walk with coming up next week most as well so can I just ask how long have we been working on this we have a step of walk through with the vend like how long when did we set that up Mr Harris and the Chiefs can set that up I got the email from the vendor yesterday okay but when did you ask to set it up I did not ask to set it up who has to set it up they just I don't know I'm just curious we just met why didn't we even talk about it I mean you're talking about a half a million dollarars almost coun said I as a previously stated we had budget meeting in departments on Tuesday afternoon I did not have time between the last meeting ending at 4:30 to compile all that information and put into a spreadsheet for a 5 o'l meeting we do it just it wasn't mentioned that's all but now you have plenty of time to look it over so let's move on minutes H please miss Cameron the mayor and Council held on December 21st 2023 M of the reorganization of the mayor can I have a motion to accept the regular second all in favor I sorry uh anybody oppos okay uh Communications Miss pamon okay can you read ordinance number 2401 by title only code the by amending chapter 21 can I have a motion to introduce this ordinance make that motion second second call please M Cameron can you read ordinance 24.02 by title only provided the compation police [Music] offic can I have a motion to introduce this ordinance [Music] second Council standing committee reports uh Finance councilman thank you mayor the finance committee met to discuss the upcoming 22 2024 budget and one of the things we spent significant time discussing was garwood's sewer infrastructure we continue to see Rising rvsa charges and this year is no exception as the 2024 budget we will see $123,000 increase over last year we obvious we also obviously need to continue to invest in our sewer systems in mitigate potential financial and infrastructural talent that are inedible as it ages particularly we have instances on North and South AB where our sewer system encounters blockages often and requires outside contractors to come in to remove them obviously adding significant cost to the Bur the finance committee which includes myself councilman Lazo and Council salmon discussed how direct these Rising costs in the 2024 budget and also how to protect our finances against these challenges in the future we don't want to continue to burn the tax Fair unnecessarily when issues do arise as we have been doing the committee discussed and unanimously agreed to discuss a separate flat super residential fee that can go to both offset rising rvsa cost as well as well as be designated to Future repairs in addition we discussed the ability to start a sewer maintenance and cleaning program that would be added as a line item in our operating budget that some of the money received could go towards we received an estimate that for approximately 23,000 we dollars we could have 10% of our sewers cleaned and telescoped this would allow us to complete a full clean of the entire burrow over 10 years while limiting the financial impact of a sewer fee as an aside business and industry in Garwood already subsidized would it be investing in our sew system now will also reduce the possibility of having to do a bond or do emergency bonds to a large situation with the sewer system of many towns have implemented such a program many years ago and while Garwood has considered it the council did not move forward however had this program been implemented there would have been designated funds to pay for the many reers and costs we've incurred since all three committee members concurred that they don't want to continue to kick the cam at the expense of the residents the committee acknowledged the need for further detailed discussions and Analysis at this time the committee is moving forward with directing the ba to fill the position of super clerk this will not be an additional position but rather would be a part of the duties of the position currently held by Kathleen binsky who will be retiring at the end of February the final decision on the amount will be discussed in February this meeting served as a as a starting point for the budget process our next steps include more comprehensive discussions and data Gathering thank you thank you coun uh fire and OEM councilman Laz thank you the fire department in the month of December had a total of 14 incidents with seven daytime calls and seven nighttime calls those calls consisted of four alarm activations One D wires at incident two motor vehicle accidents one assist for the for the uh gar police department and two EV in addition the department responded to Mutual Aid calls in planfield and Westfield for a total of 23 hours over four incidents total firefighter hours for the Department was 114 uh I was unable to attend the first fire department meeting but I look forward to meeting the entire department as their new commissioner at their first meeting in February I will provide a full report of activities and training for January in my first report in February that's all for my report Council Public Works Council on thank you mayor in addition I miss I'm sorry I could hold on and go to Community Development Council woman Sam thank you mayor starting off this new committee with mayor BL and staff we met with various professionals to get brought up to the speed regarding the project and various topics of development in Garwood I met with our new development attorney Joe DeMarco and our property maintenance officer Chris Zumba I'm looking forward to to meeting over the again over the next month and we'll report back with the progress of the paper board project thank you public C thank you may in addition to the regular garbage pickup the BPW assisted a recreation director with B monthly inspections at Hartland Park on displ complex setting up and taking down tables and chairs for numerous recreation activities and events also at the sports complex continue to perform preventative maintenance and missan public work trucks and Equipment cleaned out the common areas around the municipal complex completed a weekly bag L up for the North and South sides and dispose of bag leaves at a family recycling center began the annual residential Christmas tree pickup program and dispose of the Trees of the pilot recycling center removed interior and exterior holiday decorations at the municipal complex They removed Street side decorations from utility Falls along South and North Avenues and cental Street using found with bucket truck assisted the police department moving and disposing various materials installed signs and painted the parkall numbers along the 300 and 400 blocks of Willow Avenue prair Department's non removal equipment for potentials non removal operations DW employees worked 16 hours of overtime during January 99th nor Eastern they continues inspected all strong water inlets cleaned up PO and branches and inspected areas historic subjected to localized flooding a total of 87 hours of overtime will work and after GL winter snow events of January 6 and January 16th on January 6 they the all the bar Street sidewalks and parking lots on January 16 they plowed all Municipal streets and B own sidewalks and parking lots additionally they removed pedestrian Crossing exensions and replac them once the storm was over they also traveled to uny Public Works facility and loaded each with theing materials before and after this is needed we are extremely grateful and appreciative of the work that you performs daily especially thank you mayor the police committee met last week is discussed uh I thank you to the mayor who sat in for Council po of my request to schedule conflict uh we covered number of topics to start the new year uh including the radio system upgrad we've already spoken about uh and updates to our dispatch computer systems and protocols uh we also had extensive discussion on the PID parking plan and the ordinance required to set the time limits need and funds uh the status of the signage for the permit parking uh last year's Council expanded and pedestrian and traffic safety um we also discussed a cleanup ordinance for the police department chapter of the burrow code uh which will modify Staffing at the ranks of officers sergeant and Lieutenant to provide more flexibility in Recruitment and hiring going forward uh we have a number of senior Personnel who either are or will be retirement eligible within the next few years there may be situations where we need to carry an additional patrol officer or two during a transition period where interviews and or Police Academy training is ongoing or while itions are moving through the process as always all positions require Council action both the fund the associated budget line and to Appo candidate uh with that in mind a workup of the code is in progress it will be circulated to the full Council prior to the next meeting um and that expect we'd be able to moving forward for introduction um in addition to our discussion regarding the curve B bouts we touched on additional portable speed limit signs and pedestrian flashing Crossing signals you been working on all this and you will follow up with us in our future committee meetings uh the police department has also begun working with our OEM coordinator to organize a citizen volunteer team similar to the federal Community Emergency Response Team or the uh C concept which would be provided with some basic training and resources to serve in an assisting role in serious emergency situations such as widespread flooding from Hurricane Ida we'll have more that and future reports uh I would like to call the council's attention to Reg 24- 041 it's agenda that is the appointment of any police officer and i' like to officially welcome officer Eric Melendez to the gar Police Department uh he will be formally sworn in on next meeting in February finally I have the gar Police Department's most recent activity report farwood Police Department have received 1,61 calls for service since January 1st 2024 these calls include 51 motor vehicle stops 15 parking complaints 50 fixed traffic posts which could be radar stop sign distracted driving details Etc 132 building property checks 30 medical assists 51 community policing posts 21 walking posts and 13 Criminal inves two messages from the police department uh during these colder months uh we would like to caution residents not to warm up your car and leave it unattended or leave it running in the lot of a business while you go in uh if you do make sure you lock the door and take the keyop car thieves are on the lookout for these vehicles the gwood police department would also like to remind residents to make sure that the sidewalks are cleared by your home or business after the snow is stopped and keep your snow on your own property not on your neighbor's property or back into the street that's all my look for Community Eng Community engagement Council woman thank you mayor uh for Community engagement I'll start with Recreation the recreation committee by on January 8 upcoming pring for spring planning for spring spring townwide events Martin Luther King Day of Service and reviewed feedback and suggest December's events the recreation committee is still seeking energetic volunteers to assist in planning and preparing uh townwide events here is what K and the committee have planned for wiard dis Sprint uh we have very special uh event that's coming up in March please mark your calendars for Garwood family skate night on March 16th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Warren inco Sports Center this event is free and open to Garwood residents free registration is required to sign up for this free event visit Garwood w.com skates are available for rent on site at $4 a pair youth programs youth basketball program is in full Swim games began the first week of January and will run until the end of February uh kidy junior robotics is a program run by Kitty colidis Scopes and is open to prek through third graders registration is now open for this program that begins on February 12th and takes place for four Mondays from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. science exploration this program is also run by kitties kaleidoscopes and is open to prek through third graders registration is now open for this program that begins on Wednesday February 14th and takes place on Wednesdays four Wednesdays in a row from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. this program will incorporate new projects and experiments that are different from the fall program programs that beginning April will be stem beginner you python coding program and soccer program parent assisted soccer and soccer sports for adult programs we have adult Ceramics um again on Wednesday February 10th from 7 to 9: and Wednesday March 6th April 10th and May 8th registration is now open self-defense for adults this one time three 45 minute class is provided by USA Karate fitment it will take place on Saturday February 10th at 2:30 p.m. registration is now open we are also doing a walking challenge in March and stay tuned for more information on that uh TR can Garwood is a try uh is a proud member of the trian collaboration please uh visit um contact David Gua at the city of summit um or by checking the um quick links on our website no report for historical next meeting of the historical committee will be January 22nd uh the gwood partment and culture met on January 8th to review all the art submissions for New Beginnings Art Show 14 artists are featured in seven different locations around fam the art and display is the collection that explores the idea of new beginnings please visit the bar B website and social media to find a complete guide to locations and artists in the exhibit our can be found at the following location posy Corner beastro everal Crossroads the garc public library Alonzo's Cafe Elegance Barber Lounge and Al Deli and I hope everyone will go out and check out the Art thank you very much we had a lot of fun checking it out uh Library councilman Library thank you mayor just uh some updating on the events and um programming at the library on January 25th February 6 13th 20th and 27th at 6:30 p.m there will be an adult chess for informal chess games for adults there's no registration required but there's a limit of 12 on January 31st February 14th and 28th at 3M the Lego Club will be taking place be inspired by the month's theme or bill whatever comes to mind some will be displayed in the library showcase registration is required 12 on February 1st 8 15 and 22nd at 3m. there's a new program called Crayola World design take a journey to the farthest reaches of the imagination while learning about the Arctic the rars and bars and use design teing to solve real problem world problems while experimenting with art techniques such as sculpting storyboarding collage andx media this is for children in second through sixth grade registration is required and there's a limit of 15 February 2nd from 10:00 a.m. to noon the ask ask Aging Services will be available this is the Union County division of Aging staff uh will be on hand to assist seniors ages 6 over or their caregivers with information on services such as nail delivery rest care adult daycare and support services for caregivers and finally on February 6th at 3m. there'll be the virtual kids craft and February 13th at 3 p.m. there'll be the virtual adult craft you can pick up your craft supplies from the library and watch it on the Facebook tutorial at 3 p.m. registration is required for craft kids and is limited to 15 for kids and P adults that's all for my report you school le council president thank you may the Garwood Board of Education held their annual reorganization meeting on Wednesday January 3rd 2024 thank you to council Bodo for cover this meeting for me returning board memb Christine guerrerio and H County along with new board member Kristen Mesa were sworn in for threee terms uh congratulations to all and welcome to Mrs Mesa uh in Split votes the board selected April Farrell to serve a second year as president and Moran Crawford to serve as vice president I'm pleased to report that may lck and I have already held one meeting with superintendent Kenny over the last week board president April Farrell was unable to attend at the last minute so the mayor and I have a meeting scheduled with her next week uh in this first meeting we touched on cooperation and discussed an updated policy regarding rental of the school gym which the board will have up for a first reading this month we also established a regular monthly meeting schedule with the super and the board president for 2024 to continue to discuss areas of mutual concern I'm very excited about this as this year's Council eaon I plan to work hard to Foster an improved environment between the burrow and the school district uh one with more substance and less distraction as all of our elected members and professionals serve the exact same people people of Garwood um Mr Kenny has requested assistance from the mayor and Council to recruit volunteers for a new program called Mustang Mentor the concept is to put keep on our community who have a skill trade or talent in front of our students to S share knowledge experience and perhaps Inspire future career or hobby choices uh these can be oneoff talks or something uh with multiple sessions if the volunteer is willing and there's an interest from the students uh I've requested this to go out on the burrow social media and I've also reached out to a few folks in town and I see multiple people sitting in this audience that are been getting asked for me as soon as this meeting's over um for more information uh or to sign up as a Mustang Mentor uh please email Mr at c k i n NE y gar schools.org uh finally the board's regular January meeting which was originally scheduled on the 16th this past Tuesday was cancelled due to the inclin weather earlier this week the meeting has been rescheduled to next Tuesday the 23rd at the usual time of 7M so I'll have a report on both that meeting and our followup meetings with the board president and the super on this meting February um I have our senior report senior citizen report however unfortunately our meeting was canell this week due to weather um so we're just hoping for some warmer temperatures so we can meet again uh on February 1st at 1200m at the Nights of Columbus um small business advisory councilman council president Carney I you should get bre um the garard Small Business Association executive board uh held our first ever industry specific networking event on Wednesday January 3rd which was generally generously hosted by CrossRoads future blto as our special guest uh this was an event for wellness related businesses and we had about six business owners present along with a number of the board members uh there were some good discussions in this meeting and a lot of interest in an upcoming Wellness month event which I'll have more on in a minute uh the executive board also held our first 2024 meeting on Tuesday January 9th uh the board did its required annual reorganization at this meeting so congratulations or perhaps condolences are in order to the new board president Eric Weiss vice president Frankle and the returning secretary this is what happen when you aren't there Stephanie s uh following other topics were covered of the meeting first up is Wellness month which uh is officially happening uh the dates will be January 27th through February 2th fourth uh keep an eyee on the th of social media for details uh we have a total of f Wellness type businesses signed up so far and there's still time to sign up uh the participating businesses will be offering an incentive or a discount uh our public information officer is going to design a banner and poster which will be used for social media and also to create a physical Banner which Crossroads is going to work to get donated house at no cost as they did uh for the taste of garment event last year uh posters will go out to the participating businesses and also for board members to display uh and cross promotion by all of our participating businesses and the board members and the bur of social media will be key to this uh we also covered a discussion on an ordinance to the Burrow's update to the Burrow's sign LS uh the gsba board has requested a review of the Burrows code relating to commercial signage uh as this falls under land use I've referred the new board president to the mayor for a followup and eventual discussion with the planning board I am in favor of giving this part of the code a look as it was a bolder section and many of our business owners have commented to me on how restrictive it currently is uh skip the stuff is a uh initiative we discussed with the board uh this is from a group called clean water action uh who are looking to advance state level legislation to limit plastic waste waste by having uh Food Service businesses only provide single use plastic plastic utensils and condiments to customers upon request uh there was a bill up in the legislature last session that did not move uh it will be reintroduced in the new session which started this week uh a lot of places are already doing this voluntarily on delivery orders uh and for orders that are placed through apps like Uber Eats or Dash um Cranford passed an ordinance on this pack in 2020 and I know a bunch of other towns in our area are looking at this this year uh so the board was in favor of an ordinance enacting this in Garwood uh so I will provide the M code to miss Cameron to circulate for Council review and we can discuss it at a future meeting you follow with a change the mayor wants to direct that uh my favorite topic also came up which is the taste of Garwood uh dates this year will be May 18th through May 25th uh we want to have the advertising for this ready to go by April 1st to get the banners and posters up at least a month before uh this is all in progress with the pi and uh we also want to try to get the participation level back to what we had in 2021 which was our first year where we had just about a replacing p uh so I'm going to be asking all of our volunteer groups and Council to help get the war out in addition to the uh Small Business Association and finally our next board Mee is scheduled for Monday February 26th at 700 p.m. followup that I've already discussed but we will all be working offline and by email uh to get everything I've discussed and also that sign for moving and that's all my report um at the recent meeting of the Garwood Board of Health uh that took place yesterday on January 17th 2024 we bid farewell to Kathleen warzinski who has been an invaluable member for many years her expertise and dedication have greatly benefited the board and her contributions are deeply appreciated by all at this time I am excited to welcome leino as the new Board of Health president with her extensive experience as a clinical psychologist we are confident that we will bring significant positive changes to both the board and the gwood Comm Community there were many topics discussed at this meeting which include the higher rate of respiratory infections uh that we have seen an increase uh but we've also seen a decrease in hospitalizations uh there has been recent approval of RSV vaccines for both adults and children uh currently we have moderate levels of fluid Co activity um there's currently a measles outbreak in Philadelphia and we are seeing some cases spread through sou Jersey uh the discovery uh lately of lead and applesauce has prompted a public health advisory the FDA continues to investigate high lead levels in cinnamon apples sace pouches that were sold in the United States uh right now there have at least 69 reported of illnesses all in children under six link to pouches sold under wabana wise and schnuck Brands and those products have been recalled if anyone here anyone listening if you have any of these products please dispose them uh we also discussed providing fluent Co vaccinations to homebound residents through Board of Health nurses uh the board emphasized the importance of community engagement suggesting the Board of Health participate in events such as Garwood rocks the board also deal into issues such as mental health um and also cover discussions on Tobacco Sals uh we currently focus on the board focused on a product called Zin uh it's a new nicotine pouch it's highly concentrated that is often promoted through social media influencers and algorithms and it poses significant risks yet remains largely unnoticed by the communities and parents so please be on the uh these topics among others will be Revisited in our next meeting for further discussion and action planning and the next meeting is on March 20th at 6 P thank you planning board Le Council thank you mayor the planning board's reorganization meeting was on January 10th congratulations to Stephen greet for being elected chair of the planning board as well as Kathy bagio for being elected bik's chair I would like to welcome David berer to the planning board he is new this year and looking forward to another term on the board as well the January 24th meeting of the planning board has been cancelled and the next meeting will be held on February 28th thank you councilwoman moving along to officer reports uh Miss camon police for November and December can I have a motion to accept the officer reports so both second second all in favor I iOS we will move along to public comment if there is anyone in the audience who wishes to address the May Council please step for a microphone State your full name and address and please limit your comments to five minutes hi it's Jo Paul 54 Third Avenue so first of all there but um paa you have done such a fantastic job as direct director and I believe as there so many people in this town that that is a just fantastic excellent excellent investment so I know that there had been a lot of conversations about really paying somebody a fair wage and giving them benefits but I have been so impressed as somebody who handles major major events um with what she's done and what direct committee has done so yay for hiring her and yay over there yay so I'm really happy about that so tonight I actually wanted to thank the mayor and Council because nobody ever does right we've all been talking about this but they volunteer their time right so I always come up here talk about the fire department for State Squad whatever and yes that's a different sort of volunteerism that is so so appreciated but like I cannot even imagine even though Russell told me a lot but um how many hours you actually put in what you do here and I just want to let you know that I truly appreciate that um and then I don't know who's there too so the biggest thank you goes to Chief stoer and the Garwood PD for doing what they did on our corner so quickly obviously it's sort of like a duct tape kind of thing at this point but there he went and got the um the van that's parked there which is a commercial van doesn't have commercial plates but not going there um but to get them to actually back up a little bit put all the cones out we have the crazy sign which was going bonkers over the weekends my friends and I were actually going to run to see if it you know how they show that virally to see if it actually recorded our our speed but there was an issue with the weather and the battery but but he went and he fixed that and they've been patrolling they've been giving tickets and it is so so appreciated so thank you um and then Garwood first aid Squad so listening to you talk about these radios right and so you talk about $350 to $400,000 for upgrades and this psic whatever 19 of 21 municipalities are using this what I would like to know is how many actually exclude the ambulance companies from those Communications because obviously we know that you know First Responders that comes and how crucial it is but you know it just doesn't make any sense why you wouldn't also include the president of the G first AG Squad in these conversations because they need to be looped into that system their radios are horrible and they're not communicating with the two other First Responders so when we talk about First Responders we seem to forget about them I know that you guys don't pay for their operations um but they need to be loed in and I would think that you would know that in your position you know as you know where you were um but anyway so that's just something that sort of like angered me when that was being talked about because I know for a fact that your ambulance company is not being included in that so would sort of like that's be looked into a little bit um you know I'm I've been adamant about that $22,000 Insurance line item for the first aid Squad which really comes out to little over $4 a resident investment in the course of a year or little 1466 per household right and so you know all of the obvious things that the first aid Squad um does but I also don't think that all of you know what an asset they are to the community and what they provide so like last week they had all the ambulances here as part of um or being selected to host the EMS Council of New Jersey second district ambulance inspections so those are stat expense inspections they were selected for that but what they do is you know I've talked about it before they will take residents to appointments to hospitals H them up from hospitals for free during transports medical equipment they lend out you have somebody coming at needs a wheelchair you break your leg in you need a wheelchair of punches oh crap right um you know but like all of that stuff they provide the um entc trainings for their volunteers you know they do the cadet program and then so there's all that but then last I just wanted to let you guys know I'll speak like the micro machine I am putting on the paperwork to start my foundation called the Aliva foundation so I'll talk about that next time but focused on those all weather outdoor um aeds in public rec spaces um and also providing educational opportunities for the community and resources for survivors and their families so I'll talk about that next time but I'm so excited about that so that's it thanks here's a lot going on B said 38 great Avenue G um I have a few things but I like to com a couple things on tonight first the bum apps uh Vinnie i' recommend contact your City Planning division they on numerous awards for installing temporary bum apps um and so they very very good program so you it's obviously you temporary because they're not installed their phones and everything else and see how good they are um also counil party um I have't be on the board of the action so there is a woman on staff Mar Young Who boing stuff so that hasn't been mentioned to you already to you um and last well last as far as com tonight um you know as you know parking I'm not going to comment on paying for parking because you know I don't pay for parking and so um I just want to say there was a book called The High Cost of free partment it was actually written in 2005 by Donald sh that's one Lous planing Awards and basically tell that the worst thing municipality can have is free par and when it came out it was just revolutionary and it remains revolutionary and so um it said parking parking should be built and allocated was fair market value and the reason you know I don't pay a parking is because I do that strange thing Tak in a bike and I didn't hear anything about charge the parking but install some parking bike racks I would greatly encourage the counc to think about putting some bike rocks around town as people have paper parking so they learn how all right I don't try to make where I was going to say quick um I was very disappointed at the vi two things and I'm also very tired of reading negative comments on Facebook and the backstabbing and old negativity that was on on that so discuss two things if I can and um I had to go to a it was a freeold with meeting at times I had to say to them listen this is going to start negative we going to think this a negative um discussion here tonight but it's not going to start out negative but hopefully you you'll see where it's going and in posi so two things I disappointed about uh councilwoman s and I get along great we've worked on things we will continue to work on things together but I was very disappointed when we got to the council president vote I know you're the lone member of a party but I don't believe that the way that a lone member of a party can get things done is by antagonizing on the very first vote so I just want you to think if you can perhaps that maybe it pays every once allow to go along get along to go along is that good expression so I know I know you're better than that I do and I'm not just saying accm up here I know you are you're smarter than that you're better than that so I would just ask you you know if you want to advance things from your side of the aisle maybe every once in a while they have to be compromised by everybody reason can't done down comprom so I disappointed to see that 51 vote I don't think a 60 vote would have hurt you and it might have shown some hey I'll work together when I second P patter patteron that night made a very com the comment I'm sure some of you remember was someone rais their it will be alert right there close enough I didn't want to show Mr P knows that um he and I we will talk we will discuss things but we always have animosity between us because um I feel that you could PR Bor a school building having a new school building years ago and I will always hold that I also went to a commission Commissioners meeting where he had a hering against one of the Commissioners wives who happened to be a at night I was embarrassed to be from the same town as him and somebody asked me if I knew him I said yes I'm fortunate that I did so why am I bringing those up I'm bringing those up because I don't want us to Contin that I always go back 30 seconds I wi back to Rodney King can't all Al and I would look to this Council and the public okay to maybe our 2024 resolution would be try to get one more stop the backstab stop all these things you read something on Facebook and you know it's there you know what's going on why don't we just talk about this stuff why don't we come to meetings um and that's really it why don't we all can't we all just get thank you very much anybody else I have I have a small comment on the ti parking um tier parking is going to beour from South to Willow where you have three maybe four hair salons which would potentially impact their clients that are inside their stores getting their hair D just as a point of I don't think there's an issue with PID parking I just beened parking specifically on that spot when you have three or four businesses specifically that that two hour might not be enough their own clients might um I actually coming here just to talk about a program that that is a an advantage for police fire and EMS it's it kind of T in with health and wellness it's a free program that First Responders fire departments and police squads can use to have health assessments and it's called um the Trap box free gift of help and a have solution that I can the council that can be shared with the polities fire M um CH still mentioned that Police Department already uses it but I thought it was an interesting program to bring to council share thank you to say thank you for taking care of appreciate it 90% 10% ER thank you very much appreciate good Tool uh one more thing about the I guess the SE fees and all the stuff you need to be a little bit more specific as far as how you're going to implement it who's going to be paying and what they going to be paying Vera or any other rent of rent of building okay because I can't be supplementing a million doll company speaking what of money okay so this not fair to AR it got to be something the ordinances to change change it they're not going to go anywhere they already build it so got to leave with it everyone got a of share as far as the radios and allu it seems like everything is like snowballing for one little thing and it's everything's falling apart you know so I don't understand like why it coming out first thing in January that we have radius issues so why why didn't we plan for we knew that it's going to be an issue why didn't we prioritize certain things in terms of did we really need a f Insurance personation equipment training where this money could have being allocated towards more serious thing like radios medication it would be cheaper to buy a Barcade to block the road than buy all that all so when you're making the decision please have discussion not thank you joh 231 Hemlock avue uh I wanted to follow up uh at the December meeting I made a few comments about the sore fees and course get a chance to respond responses wasn't quite prepared for a 10 lecture on why we didn't complain about these sorts of things so let me come back those of you who know me know I'm not a tea party person upcoming line tax dollar point of tax increase I fully support upgrading our Communications equipment for our First Responders I fully support the ordinance on the uh agenda tonight to pay our police officers appropriate wage I'll make the Investments I've ched to you in some cases for not investing in certain things and I've complained about certain things that I thought were unwise what I object to is being treated the way Live Nation and Ticket Master and Comcast and Verizon treat their customers we're going to hold certain things but we're to sneak fees or outside it's a tax can't opt out can't opt in everybody pays the same thing it's a tax so if we have a need think the tax it's not start allocating buckets of income for your mark for different uh it was stated in a response that I and other people made that you're all just taxpayers just like us no you're not not just like us you pay taxes many of but you have an additional consideration you work really really really hard to get seats yourselves parties par causes things like trying to keep perceive tax increase down by throwing fees around the side last year the re recommendations about raising the fees on our dogs and our cats nothing is s the uh if the Spector of politics didn't this you wouldn't wait till 14 days after the election to suddenly bring these topics up and even the administrator had to say between the candidat uh licensing and the other options were considered there wasn't enough time to do the due diligence necessary for uh 2024 budget and we hear former counc gr say I want a year ago our times are coming and we had uh councilman wro say I told everybody in April decisions coming down with seven months married 14 days after the election 11 and a half months before the next election suddenly this is an issue that needs to be addressed so uh I do uh object to uh the way this is is put together I understand our sours need to be maintained in fact if you'll remember I was the one who recommended when we had infrastructure grants let's not just reflexively spend it on Paving about other things like sanatary SS and uh yeah so it's not that I'm against it but this we just got through my God the sky is falling we got to save the libraries now I'm afraid we're going to start to hear oh my God the sky is falling we got to save the sewers when I remember when this topic came up about we need to find ways to increase revenue or decrease cost cannabis sewers and Outsourcing trash pickup have nothing in common other the fact their ways of raising revenue and decreasing spending pick the least painful one let's not try to create a scenario where oh my God we have to do this stop playing games with it you have to increase you the taxes in order to deal with increases from raway valy stage Authority or other things we've got do it the right way and and do it transparently unless there is some other thing that I'm missing that I'm always willing to learn but the the push that I heard from the last time and even but I'm hearing tonight the scenario that we're setting up to God to do something to save our sewers um just keep it on an honest friend love friend I'll be your biggest support that's the case thanks evening mayor ladies and gentlemen of the council P 325 Willow Avenue and what I did say after the reor was tonight we dance tomorrow the battle begins a new and I'll tell Mr Bary I think basically put it all in a nutshell what the big picture was that I metant so anyway so it always turns out that it seems to be the residents versus government and that's what the issue is and Mr barle said it a nutshell I guess I really won't go any further on that um yeah 24035 is the rbsa commissioner being reappointed I'm not really going to say anything on that I tried five years ago it didn't work but what we haven't really seen what was ongoing for years was that the rvsa came in and did a little little presentation maybe twice a year at least once a year haven't seen that in a couple of years I mean you know for $123,000 I'm starting to understand yes for know but before that I mean the costs were exploding I I don't know the numbers what top my head but it was just amazing so I think we should bring back the RVs and the commissioner and the engineers just for further explanation of why we just keep looking at these cost going up and up and up and up finally verela is is impacting but before that nothing we're building at all and their budget was stay at the same that's what really is yeah regarding the radio I just have a question presently you can't you can't send receive within 20 feet but prior to that I guess for 15 years you could send receive within 20 ft so I'm just wondering what is the difference where is that demarcation that all a sudden it just doesn't reach 20 ft one of the building Vera and the S fees uh I did ask at other meeting I said is Bella going to be also paying these sore fees if it's broken out and the mayor did say yes they will just could you explain exactly where who would you talk to Mr NS or Mr Boo or whoever it was that actually assured you that you can build them uh the EXT [Music] uh yeah yeah and I the reor like the agenda it appears you made a very irrational decision putting an unqualified counselor I know that in a high position as chair of the finance committee which is the most powerful Committee of the bur in my I'm not critici live person but the issues are that he has only living bar for years and does not know how gwi operates he's not aware of the dynamic of the burrow and the school district also there are two high level Administration positions opening up soon leaving Gap in and normally we have Finance shares that have skin and gain that is taxation impact but where he lives the project is actually tax Abad and thus is immune to any tax increases other residents have this is not really the time to make the proper decision of putting of of the Oddball decision putting all right my suggestion is to a point one of the two others of the members to be the chair and just have him step down and he can be in St commit and have a learning I don't think you be what I have all right I'll continue thank you hello I can you say your name hi this is Michelle capoano at 404 Myrtle okay thank you um I have a few items tonight um the first thing that I wanted to uh comment on is uh when will residents be able to get parking stickers that don't say the burrow of Garwood on them I know this has been talked about for a very long time and uh a bunch of us are concerned for you know safety reasons to have the ones that we have that say burrow of Garwood on them uh taken off and getting new ones that don't say that the second thing I wanted to talk about was the issue that came up tonight uh regarding the police and fire radios um you know I know that leap grants are only for shared services but have all the other grant opportunities been exhausted like has somebody really looked into to see if there are any other grants out there for police and fire radios including reaching out to um our Congress our congressional representative Donald Payne to see if there's anything federally that would be able to help in something like this situation because I think that first needs to be taking a look at before anything moves forward um the third thing I wanted to speak about was the sewer fees um you know with all due respect the big increases the past few years in the rvsa sewer fees I mean in the rvsa fees are directly linked to the large increase in usage by verela 1 and two coming online and this is something that should have been planned for and expected and no one on the council has has ever mentioned that and any Resident can go and look at the rvsa seore reports seore usage reports and I did and the usage and the dollar amounts are way up because of the extra usage so I think you know in order to be transparent that needs to be brought forward as well um and that's all I have for tonight thank you anybody else online no can I have a motion to close public comment second second all in favor all right here we go um um uh council president Carney um kind of think of who I should be this too we will be discussing obviously the finance comme um will be discussing radios further but in terms of looping in the first aid perhaps it's something that uh council president con could do along with Chief ster just to let them know exactly what's going on um obviously um right we do not pay for you know the first day of private organization um but let's make sure that what they have work alongside what we have um and whatever we need to do to facilitate that they would be able to access our dispatch through their existing okay okay so anything else we don't provide their equipment so it wasn't a point of conversation with us in in committee we were focused on what we needed to equip but you know in so far as what the specifications are I mean it's about 5050 in the county um some squads have it some squads don't some Town paid services and equipment we [Music] certainly um and just to let uh Miss Paul know um that the police department is still working on the second outdoor a I haven't forgotten of course and we still working on getting that grant for that for Harman Park um Mr nearad looking for your questions don't have any um but actually we can talk we have an appointment to talk Green Team tomorrow we can talk about downtown bik racks if we get recertified hey let's go for a grant we did talk about the different ones that are in Westfield that that are interesting they have all sorts of tools on them and everything solar power um so I actually had been thinking in terms of that so we're on the same waveline um this again um thank you for your comments um and for bringing that um Health Service we will distribute that to the fire department I appreciate that um Mr chenko um I'll let council president um Carney talked a little bit about the radios um but it it's not something that hasn't come up before in fact it's been talked about over many years because that was part of the discussion when we were talking about going to a shared dispatch possibly doing a shared dispatch was one of the reasons was because our videos were so old and they are so costly could we maneuver shared uh a grant with the shared service um so this isn't something that hasn't come up before um but I will let council president Carney take it and I know there was a bunch of other other questions about radios I don't know if you wrote them down and you want to take them but I'll let you know I I I had a few notes but okay you together it would probably be better because you're better at taking notes comments and I my um just on the topic in in general and it's just a little ironic because we had one resident up here um specifically decrying the um Facebook environment and uh the next it comes up and then rolls out Facebook's greatest kits about boats and water rescue deer and topics that we've discussed at AUM um we can agree to disagree but it's an apples and orous situation um this is something that I've discussed since my first of office in 2021 uh I put a lot of work in on those Le grants and uh to speak to Mr Bartle exp Point uh those things did not move forward due to politics so I did not have enough report on this Council even with my party being in the majority the entire time I've been up here to get that done and a major sticking point was the shared service with dispatch this town has a very distinct identity the police department did not want an investigator shareed dispatch the police chief didn't the mayor at the time did not support it didn't go anywhere but the problem didn't go away I've alluded to that a number of times over the last couple of years including in my comments in the last December council meeting where I said this would be my number one priority so it shouldn't come as a surprise to any of colleagues up here what I'm doing or why I'm pushing for this now to speak to Mr Patterson Point PL it's not a sudden thing it is a gradual degradation of equipment that gets used every day 24 hours a day seven days a week by First Responders in all elements all temperatures all conditions we're actually very lucky that everything still works as well as it does and look the there there's no golden bullet solutions for any of this stuff County dispatch has minuses as there keeping dispatch in Garland Radio Systems have pluses and minuses but the the system that I'm discussing it is kind of the only game in now it was designed for 565 mpali to use it has the infrastructure to support that so that's why it's in the conversation there's certainly other things that we can discuss the reason why I pushed on this relatively hard right now to move it want to lock in that pricing so that we're not looking at an even more expensive Bond sting on so one other point is that um in 2022 and 23 I did work with Mr Harris both the communications committee which we had that one year and also as the fire Comm here um the fire department has applied for numerous PLS pretty much anything and everything you can they have two of their volunteers that sit around the firehouse all night right brance and between everything they the town and working with Mr haris we put in uh Congressional Grant requests both with malanowski also with pay and also with both United States senators both years um there's only so much of that to go around I don't know if we're renewing those this year or not I had I didn't get there yet to me that's part of budget talks but I'm certain Mr Harris is on yeah once those grant opportunities become available we'll put in for him for sure I do recall last year one of the first questions on the Grant application is have you received Congressional funding in the last 10 years and we did receive it in 2021 with the uh caving on the North side so I would imagine that's probably an Eliminator question right there for gar but we we will continue to apply for these grants and you know I applied last year through Senator Booker's office never heard a world yeah I was hoping that the Senate side would come through because I'm sure there's some sort of a moratorium we get compression but we also changed districts it publishment so to to take the position that we had anything everything we haveo would be a part of this as as you said um ver nobody from verela tells the borrow what they can legislate so it's not that I've had a conversation where they've assured me that they can be a part of it there's a law um and Mr Abramson can even speak to it that any sort of Fe that is imposed it has to be completely Equitable throughout the town so they would be included in it as a part of the law so it's not that they get to choose whether or not um to be a part of it or whether we even decide whether we want to make them a part of it if we go forward with something like this it's it's uh Equitable throughout so um Mr bartl you know I appreciate you being um fully supportive of everything about Public Safety um and I I hear what you're saying about why don't we just put it into the into the into the budget well we do have restrictions in terms of the cap and so as we are going through and having these huge increases like rvsa and we have to offset it by raising taxes which we had to do to a large extent last year which it was a as we all talked about a very tough year there becomes a point where we can't raise it in the budget anymore so doing something like this where it takes it out of the budget I understand we can call a fee you want to call it a tax if that's you know it's semantic I understand that in a way but it does help us fund this offset and fund maintenance in a way that eventually we won't be able to do in the budget because there are other costs so we can kind of get into the leads with that but there is a a method to the madness um to that Mr chenko we will be going into um more detail as Finance the speci as to how it's implemented and um the specific cost but they're not the finance committee is not there yet but that that will uh be put out there and I don't think anybody was saying that the world is falling and suddenly we have to cover this now or we didn't this was disu as as as we talked about back in 2008 and many other towns kind of saw the writing on the wall and decided to do it now the council at the time didn't in my opinion because of those political reasons that that you did talk about it's hard to do and raise more taxes or put a fe in whatever it happens to be it's hard to do politically but if we didn't do our I'm not I don't subscribe to that theory I I understand every everybody thinks of it at different times but we can't keep kicking the can down and I can't keep saying let the future councils deal with it um it would be really nice to do that but I don't think it's responsible um and I don't think I've acted in that way during my tenure and I don't want to start now so I I it's not that the world is falling suddenly that the stores are falling apart no but we do need to start figuring this out we do need to start creating a program where we can maintain them should it have been done years ago sure but I mean listen we all have our opinions on on all of what should or shouldn't have done but we're here now and we need to do that and we're going to um now I I don't know if counc fully or um let me just TR for one second so I I do understand what you're saying and I did think about this we're still talking about it on finance the reality is if we just went and raised money through taxation rmel wouldn't be paying anything if we come through with a sewer fee then verela does have to pack so that was a positive in my opinion I agree with what Michelle capano saying and I do see that some of those costs are up I personally requested a meeting with rvsa so I can understand why we're seeing such an increase but if a sewer fee is a way for us to share this tax impact with them because we can't raise their taxes then I would tend to lean that way instead of putting everything on the tax because I do think that in some way they need to fund some of their impact for our town and not just the taxpayer I just want to let everybody know before we go down this Rabbit Hole um our VSA will be coming February 8th already taking care of this they will be coming to uh talk with us a little bit about this but I do also want to say that I have been working with Steve greet and rvsa and mik disco over over the past couple of months they've been putting in a Mike dtill and St GRE have been putting in a lot of hours trying to figure out and go over every detail of our bill to see why the increase is so much more so than even last year and the year before um there are various reasons I know rvsa will come in on February 8th and and and give you theirs and a lot of it will be that they had some substantial cost to their infrastructure that had broken in various areas and they had to raage their own cost just to fix various items down there um there is also I it's very difficult when you look at the actual numbers to say it's it's just from vermella because ver verm had there had been while it wasn't full for the past two years you don't sort of see this increase ex except for this four month Peri period and that is what uh Mr disco and Mr GRE have been really working on trying to narrow down with rvsa what happened during this period and maybe they'll they'll have a better answer for you um than what what we think so far it's just that it might some of it might actually come from what's going on at paper board after they did some of the removal on February we can have a better and bigger discussion about this it's not just Vera coming online that is caused this um there's some other a lot of other factors there that being said one of the aspects of doing a fade does mean that it's spread out in ter of everybody and not so yes that that along with the cap is is reasons why we chose or the finance committee was talking about going this way just really quick Point um I think we've been emphasizing the idea that we're doing this because of the increase on from rbsa and that is not the only reason it is one of many factors the other factor is is that as I've been on the finance committee it's been a discussion for many years that I have been very concerned you know a lot of people don't think of the sewer as an incredible asset for our town for functioning but just imagine for a second I'm not trying to obviously be like that the rain is falling or whatever everything's crashing but you know we rely on this as a infrastructure that we hope that is always going to work and when it doesn't work then it's a really big problem you know we see the roads so we can see that physically out on the exterior but you know this is utility that almost every other town has a fee on because they recognize how important it is to maintain this infrastructure and I think that we have to make sure that we look at the opportunity to make sure that we meet in this infrastructure on the long term which is why you know cman bu and his report talked about this idea of years that we um our administrator found a company that could provide sewer cleaning and you know um I asked Mr Harris uh when we had our meeting and I'm going to ask him again for the public purpose like how much on General do we actually pay year in and year out on sewer you know emergencies and Sewer fees Etc on a year and year out basis um over the last five years we've averaged about $112,000 a year but a lot of the expenses are not F you can't really put a number on because you know we have the agreement with Fanwood you know uh for their sewer jet truck they may become on a Sunday we have our overtime costs you know we're not tracking every overtime you know calling as to whether it's SU or other issues um the other thing you know as uh Council mentioned was trying to be proactive with our s system you know uh the plan field uh I think it's arsa I think is their abbreviation for them um it's they gave our DPW superintendent a proposal to clean 10% of our sewer each year for the next five years that's a $115,000 contract you know that goes in cleans the lines televises the lines if you recall back when we were discussing the infrastructure Grant uh back like un County infrastructure last May June uh the Bro engineer mentioned that you know we should put in to do uh repairs to our sewer system there was numerous repairs and we got the grant money for that but we ended up spending it on another project that we didn't need it's you know eventually we're going to have a sewer failure and it's it's going to have to be an emergency appropriation to make those repairs and then we're going to have to pay that back over a fiveyear period we're going to have to borrow money we're going to be calling a contractor to come in and do it immediately because you have blocks and blocks of residents that can't use their sewer that's going to be a big problem so you need to be proactive you need to start stockpiling some funding for some of these repairs because they're going to they're going to catch up to us one day um so I know we're going to have a lot of further talk about sorty I know and nobody sits here and goes since everybody's gonna go woohoo yay let's do this um it's it's not that everything's kind of coming to a head or falling apart this is the the workings of a burrow that needs to take care of itself there's always going to be different items that we're going to have to discuss that are not so fun and don't get the best reaction um but that sometimes we do have to decide is a priority so I look forward to more discussion I know um finance committee is going to come with with further details and um and I just I do think that us getting ahead of these things and putting some of these mechanisms in place that we've done over the past few years while I understand and it it's it always just seems like cost Rising the fact there's cost Rising outside of here too and so we need to get us in a good position um I'd like to feel like Garwood is in a good position years years from now to continue to be Gar so um let me see what else do I need to answer you know Mr Patterson uh in terms of councilman Foy being our chair I have no doubt in his ability to do this it is not the first time that a new council person was made a finance chair in fact mayor Ki made a former mayor and former councilwoman Sarah tadiso Finance chair of first year and I think you'll think that worked out pretty well so um I think uh it can it it will be fine he obviously has um some experience team with him and um I like the fact that who's new to be honest it gives a little bit of a fresh perspective so I find it really troubling that you would even come to that sort of conclusion that simply because somebody is a new council member that they couldn't take on a chair position it's finances excuse me please don't talk from the audience Finance is an extremely uh important committee with all of our committees aving for and we have some great um committee members and employees that help along the way councilman Foy I fully appreciate you taking us on if I may um uh you made you made the point that it pretty much if the idea that I make my decisions I'm based on my own experience and that's not how I've ever made decisions know I make decisions based on what families and households here in garet are exper exping no families they work hard they work hard to put food on the table to keep their kids safe um those are decisions those are things that I'm deciding on not my personal experience I'm deciding on how to ensure the safety of our person who respond police officers firefighters that's what I'm thinking so my decisions aren't based on what my experience is or what I'm you know living it's what's the experience of others and formul a plan and a budget based off of that I'm a hard worker I'll figure the numbers out and I can juggle all than that's what I can do but my decisions are based off the welfare safety protection of the people in this town thank you um and I believe there's one more question to be uh addressed um resident stickers without the went on I believe this was there was a conclusion made on this uh Mr Harris correct that if anybody ask for a sticker without it they could simply cut the top off and use that sticker our our parking enforcement officers will now would say garage sticker even without the the far Garwood name on top correct that is correct okay just making sure if I I thought that's what was being told to our residents and um so there's your answer for that we will move on at this [Music] point I have to move second okay under new business you'll see some new uh volunteers including our our moderator Amman Humphrey has volunteered with some so thank you thank you to all those up um payment of claims Cera do I have a motion all right okay the regular meeting of the mayor and Council will be hold on very safe atoun K information meetings posted on the viral website may I have inor