##VIDEO ID:slPsgtL_qjs## you all right we're going Live on YouTube momentarily one that be I was thinking a little bit closer to your own oh almost didn't get them back good evening everybody and uh welcome we will uh start off tonight with a uh moment of silence and salute to the flag uh tonight's moment of silence is dedicated to the memory of Barbara scal Adana the mother of fire chief John scal Adana and Congressman Bill pascarell Jr I pled flag uned States indivisible adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the Union County Hawk advertised on January 4th 2024 notification was sent to the star and is posted on the municipal website the municipal public bulletin board and filed in the office of the municipal clerk informing the public of the time and place according to the provisions of the open public meeting Law chapter 231 PL 1975 uh miss Cameron roll call please may she is excused councilwoman Bodo here councilman Foley here councilman Lazaro here councilwoman ndi here counc woman salmon here council president Carney here miss Cameron could we have a roll call of staff and professionals please John Arthur borrow administrator here Victoria Holmes borrow attorney here B stoer chief of police here Mike disco burrow engineer here thank you and uh welcome Miss Holmes happy to see you again and I'm always happy to see Mr disco and uh we will start off with the report of the burrow engineer so take it away sir thank you and good evening I prepared an agenda I will be brief um tomorrow morning we're having a preconstruction meeting for our Municipal Aid 2023 Grant project which is resurfacing of sections of Beach Avenue Hemlock Avenue and Myrtle Avenue um this project will in effect um finish the missing link of of Hickory uh excuse me hamlock the missing link of Beach and the missing leak on the west side of uh Center Street of Myrtle Avenue so we will complete some streets which will be nice all three Street sections will get new granite block curbs and milling and resurfacing the grant amount is 463,000 total bid price was 591 which was slightly under the estimates and the bond so we awarded Dot finally blessed our uh Improvement I know Miss Cameron had a lot of interaction with do they send reminders every two days about certain things have to be a certain way but um we got there and so we're going to um begin construction the contractor is Riverview they're a very experienced contractor they haven't worked in town before uh but I'm hopeful that they'll do a good job um so that's first bullet point um and I based upon conversations I think they'll be looking to start up fairly quickly and we get this project in this fall um we're working on the design and fieldwork for our Municipal a24 Grant project which was East Street two blocks New Street the completion of New Street and um Walnut Street um jent uh to the school by and North Avenue there that um project cost is approximate cost is 376,000 we requested 350,000 do gave us 346,000 so not a big gap there between ultimate construction cost and Grant award um I did add that there is at the request of um a resident of Garwood on East Street the only piece missing from uh really end to end good condition would be the intersection of locust and East and so with the permission of the um Council I will do fieldwork for that intersection incorporate that into the design of that as an alternate and if funding permits we can U Mill and overlay that one intersection that will remain um rather than have that one blemish on a on a relatively new street so with with your permission I'll do that there's no charge to that we basically we'll see what the pricing is and if it's we can afford it um we'll we'll do it we do have to uh make sure that the funding gets in place for this project this is something that we normally would be designing in the fall go out to bid in late winter early spring and have a construction period of next summer would be the goal especially for the Walnut section which is adjacent to the school I think it would be we would probably want to right into the specification that that work would be limited to a you know a late June to late August time period so that we're we don't have the conflicts and the confusion that would come with that being right next to the school the third thing I gave Miss um Cameron a change order uh for West Street and Center Street drainage work this was incorporated into Midwest two contracts that we completed this uh past um spring um these were at the request of council uh there was a drainage problem on West Street that we solved by adding catch Basin and piping some roof trins into the that uh catch Basin we also um retrofitted a couple catch BAC and grates that were paved by the gas company that are mandated by D to do that and we also then dislodged the tree route the cut tree route that was in the Center Street right away drainage I don't know how it got in there again but all that work added up to about $ 122,000 which was still very affordable but it was over and above our contract which was only 97,000 so I can't obviously pay money over the contract without the blessing of the change order and then the last bullet point was that uh as many of you are aware Elizabeth Town Gas recently performed their last block of Paving for gas main restoration work or gas main replacement work that was done starting the previous 19 2023 fall and then resumed again in the spring and so those um sections were Hickory Avenue the entire length uh East Street dead end adjacent to Hickory uh Center Street The Missing Link of Center Street a Hemlock to the park yunami park and then the west side of beach Avenue from Westfield to Center Street which had been done now three times by water and gas and and the burrow over the last probably 10 12 years but we had didn't pay for any of those treats and as luck would have it all of the Elizabeth Town Gas uh gas main disturbance work of this project got paved which was all all the things I just mentioned and then the two blocks of Beach Avenue and Myrtle that we we absorb through uh planning for the dot uh do Grant work so all of that work basically got restored so those are the bullet points that I have and I'm happy to answer questions take abuse whatever needs to be done well thank you Mr disco we'll try to keep the abuse to a minimum tonight um before uh I dig in just real quick um do you you have an estimated cost on the uh intersection of East and Locust I would think that I I would think that that cost is probably going to be 10 to $20,000 okay um I'll just pose this to the council before we open it up to them for uh questions um Mr disco is uh asking if we have interest in moving forward with that at least in so far as him doing the field work to be able to give us a uh more solid estimate and uh timelines and everything else uh so yeah I'm I'm for it given the grant amount that we received is pretty close to the actual cost so this is know make sense to complete the road okay everybody okay Mr disco it looks like the council is uh feeling you can move forward with that so thank you for it um thank you and we will bid it as an alternate so the the cost would be identified specifically just for that work outstanding uh does anyone on the council have a question for Mr disco okay hearing none I only have one after your report that's a two-parter though um do you have any updates on the uh Ada curb cuts at South and West for the upcoming pedestrian signal yes okay um so uh that work was passed on to me um a month or so ago um the mayor had asked me to reach out to Gabe Balor who works for Harbor Consultants I spoke to Gabe twice last week ultimately he asked me to reach out to Victor of Harbor who worked who conversed directly Ricardo the Union County engineer and I I did speak to um uh Victor so I I am clear on what has to be done on the west side of the intersection of West Street and South Avenue they're going to put curb cuts on both sides of South Avenue with the the the crosswalk marking and then a um an advanced warning light system the cost of of various elements I'm told by Victor is being split by Russo brothers or vermella whatever that development name is and then there might be some cost borne by the contractor so I'm clear on what I have to do I ask Victor if there's a plan that's been prepared he said not to his knowledge so I will prepare a plan and I will get quotes now I will get quotes from Riverview who we are having the pre-construction meeting with tomorrow I've also got confirmation from DLS who did the our our Municipal a22 grant that we're going to we're under contract on that they're interested and I will get them a quote as well the only thing I wasn't clear with my conversation with Victor is if I'm doing just the physical curbs curb ramps and the curb cuts and the marking or if I'm doing the electrical too doesn't really matter on my part it's just that obviously one contractor is going to do the electrical component of it whether that's a solar or or electrical hookup and another contractor is going to do the physical construction of curbs depressed curbs restoration of concrete and then striping regardless I'm I I will move forward for it um Victor said one alternative is Russo could do it and then they would ask the burrow for a cost for the handicap ramp portion of it doesn't matter to me whether whether they take the lead on it and then we reimburse them a portion or we take the lead and capture money from them so I'm prepared to go out and do the field work for that which is minimal get the quote prepared because quote thresholds 44,000 the curb ramps and the striping is minimal in the grant scheme um those or whatever they call them those flashing light systems cost about 10 grand as I understand them I'm not sure if there's anything fancy with this intersection I certainly would discuss it with Union County engineering you know before we actually put a shovel in the ground to confirm but based upon my conversations with Harbor who's your planning board engineer and planner who has worked with vermella and Russo this is what I'm being told has to be done so I have had those conversations and I will um in in haste do field work and get that quote out hope that an satisfies the question I was uh very thorough thank you I look forward to the update next month uh did anyone have anything for Mr disco do you want to uh hang out with us tonight and I would love to leave thank you all and the summer's coming to an in yes we know thank you thank you Mr disco I'll see you people tomorrow all right moving on next up is the report of our burrow attorney good evening um I don't have a report tonight so I'll be really quick that's it well thank thank you that's basically what Adam does so thank you uh report of the burrow administrator Mr Arthur hello everyone so on tonight's agenda you'll see some changes to the municipal clerk position due to our retirement um we've been seeking a new municipal clerk to begin October 1st we've done a search um we've not found the right full-time candidate to fill the position so we decided to think outside the box for the short term so we're recommending that uh miss Patricia Vasquez our Administrative Assistant be named Deputy clerk on a full-time basis um taking over Miss Cameron's other stipended duties such as registar and Board of Health secretary as well um however ever you know by Statute we do have to have a municipal clerk not just a deputy clerk so we've reached out to some surrounding municipalities to see if any of their clerks would want to fill in on a part-time basis uh right now it looks like we are close to finalizing that for September and we'll be making another recommendation at at the September meeting regarding that um moving in this direction has the added benefit of being a cost savings for the burrow uh at least in the short term while we evaluate the situation and maybe revisit the search uh for permanent clerk at a later time so just wanted to clarify there's been a lot of questions about that so uh the security camera project at the Athletic Field Complex is underway work started this Monday continued so far through today um and I'm hoping it'll be completed suit I'll check back with them tomorrow to see how progress is going and we are planning to use some of our remaining Greening Union County funds for a fall planting uh with the match coming from funds that were already approved in the operating budget so we have the grant funds in place we have the operating budget funds in place so we are uh you'll see a resolution probably on September 12th to award that to a contractor to do the planting for this fall and that's it for my report okay and just following on that the uh resolution 24-15 is another piece of that right is PR planting from the uh that is actually for next year so that is um this the grants due August 30th for what would then be a planting probably in the spring or even the fall of next year okay okay thank you y there will be 3,000 left at the end of this year that we can hopefully roll over combine with the 5,000 we're asking for and then do essentially 8,000 Grant funded and we'll have to match 8,000 some of it may go into a road project some of it may go into the operating budget we're going to have to figure that out when we do the finance and when we look at the road projects okay does anyone on the council have a question for Mr Arthur okay moving on I have a quick mayor's report uh mayor blumenstock apologizes for being absent tonight uh she is under the weather uh the mayor also asked me to read a proclamation into the record which uh was also read at the Garwood senior club meeting earlier um so uh whereas on October 28th 2024 Miss Katherine Kitty Madera will celebrate her 100th birthday and whereas Miss Madera was born in Pottsville Pennsylvania and graduated from Branch Township High School in Pennsylvania where she was one of the few female graduates and whereas Miss Madera moved to Garwood in 1946 follow following her marriage to Irvin and raised her two sons John and Bob here in Garwood whereas Miss Madera remains a Garwood resident living with her son and her beloved cat Mr Boots uh and whereas Miss Madera loves to talk about the many jobs she's held throughout her life particularly her work at the Pennsylvania Railroad where she was employed prior of moving to Garwood and whereas Miss Madera cherishes the time she spent as a Sunday school teacher at St Paul's here in Garwood and whereas Miss Madera held many positions on the VFW Through The Years including president Treasurer and secretary and Miss madira sorry whereas Miss madera's kind and generous Spirit was never more obvious than in the work she did over the years fundraising for cancer cures now therefore be it resolved that the mayor and Council of the burrow of Garwood do hereby extend sincere congratulations and best wishes to Miss Katherine Kitty madira on her 100th birthday so uh again congratulations and uh the mayor will be uh bringing a uh signed copy of this uh proclamation to uh Miss Madera once she is feeling better okay uh moving on to comments from the council we'll start with councilwoman boto thank you um I'll just have a quick update on the veterans banners officer campar reached out to me last week and expressed an interest in the PBA sponsoring them so I would like to thank Chief ster officer camparelli and the Garwood PBA local 117 for their efforts um I look forward to working together to get those banners up that's uh outstanding uh thank you to uh the Garwood PBA for that uh councilman Foley you're up uh no comments tonight thank you councilman Lazaro no comments councilwoman NY no comments for me councilwoman salmon no comments today okay and I just have something very brief uh again I'm offering my condolences to the family and friends of Congressman Bill pascarell Jr who unfortunately passed away at 87 yesterday uh congressman asell who previously served as the mayor of Patterson and as a New Jersey state assemblyman is legendary for his Fierce advocacy for all of New Jersey in the House of Representatives I don't think we'll see another member of Congress with such a unique blend of Personality character and Jersey grit uh he will be missed uh I would also again offer my condolences to fire chief John scal Adana and his family on the recent loss of Barbara his mother uh you in our thoughts tonight Chief okay moving on to the minutes miss Cameron minutes of the regular meeting of the mayor and Council held on August 8th 2024 minutes of the executive session meeting of the mayor and Council held on August 8th 2024 can I have a motion to accept the regular meeting minutes and executive session meeting minutes as presented so move second all in favor I abstain okay with one exstension we will move forward uh Communications please miss Cameron Bradway Valley sewage Authority regarding minutes received and filed town of Westfield regarding ordinance received and filed okay we have one ordinance on for adoption tonight uh miss Cameron could you read Bond ordinance number 24-25 by title only please Bond ordinance to authorize the making of various public improvements and the acquisition of new additional or replaced equipment and machinery and a new Automotive vehicle including original apparatus and equipment in buying for the burrow of Garwin in the county of union state of New Jersey to appropriate the sum of $440,000 to pay the cost thereof to make a down payment to authorize the issuance of bonds to finance such appropriation and to provide for the issuance of bond anticip anticipation notes in anticipation of the issuance of such bonds thank you miss Cameron did we receive any correspondence concerning Bond ordinance 24-25 we did not does anyone present wish to be heard concerning Bond ordinance 24-25 uh in reference to this comment period it is specific to this Bond ordinance and please keep your comments to five minutes Johnny Pritchard 4010 SC sa Garwood good evening I'm in favor of the uh Bond ordinance because we need to uh keep our fire apparatus operational and I'm inquiring about the ladder truck that was has it been returned to service if it has been fine because we need it and we need it badly as well as The Men Who man it we need to back our firefighters I'll talk about that later thank you uh thank you Mr Pritchard and I will uh forward your lad truck question to the uh other public comment period that's coming a little later uh is anyone else present uh looking to be heard on the bond ordinance okay seeing none um can I have a motion to close the public hearing on bond ordinance number 24-25 so moved second all in favor I right Council discussion okay hearing none I will make a motion to adopt Bond Ordinance 24-25 do I have a second a second roll call please miss Cameron councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley councilman Lazaro I councilwoman ndi councilwoman salmon hi council president carner I okay moving on to council standing committee reports and other reports leading off is finance and Personnel councilman Foley thank you councilman Carney um just a really quick brief report the finance committee has recommended the appro uh the proposal to apply for The Greening Union County grant for $5,000 for 2025 this decision will allow us to effectively utilize the Grant in conjunction for future Road prod projects or separate plannings thank you thank you councilman uh fire and OEM councilman Lazaro no report thank you uh Community Development councilwoman salmon no report Public Works councilwoman botel thank you in addition to the re curring activities the DPW performed the following duties cleaned up the common areas around the municipal complex and the fire department performed street sweeping operations in in accordance with the public work schedule water the flowers in the street side pots throughout the burrow three to four times a week water planted and pruned sh trees in various areas of the burrow we did the Landscaping beds at the municipal complex sports complex kenned Plaza and within various burrow owned properties and rideway areas watched all vehicles within the department excavated and backfill the electrical line trench for the new AED at Hartman Park perform pothole repairs in the 100 block of Beach Avenue on Gallow Hill Road prepare for tropical storm debb by performing The Following prepare all large and small equipment and vehicles within the fleet remove the leaves and debris from the tops of the drainage inlets in various locations of the barrel lastly they installed the park mobile signs along West Street Willow South Avenue and Center Street nether station weed a concrete meeting along Center Street between North and South Avenues um I also have a quick update on um our labor attorney has reached to the teamsters to begin negotiations on their contract which expires at the end of the year he provided several days in August to begin those negotiations but has not heard back from the union at this point I will continue to update everyone once we receive a response that is all for me okay thank you councilwoman uh Community engagement councilwoman ndi welcome back oh I did Skip myself um okay my reports so brief brief I didn't see it on the screen uh so police and Public Safety is me um we will have a few ordinances regarding parking coming out of the police committee and moving forward for introduction in the September meetings uh the committee has recommended we move forward with a minor change to the no parking area on second adjacent to Hartman Park as requested by the chief of police and on the 15minute free parking spaces on and around Center Street that we have uh discussed over the last few meetings uh we will also have additional items for the paid parking overlay on and around parts of North Avenue uh those are a little further out but should be coming soon uh and I'm also pleased to report that our officers conducted active shooter training earlier this week uh which included live fire drills on the Range mass casualty mass casualty response instruction and practical exercises at the Lincoln School uh and now councilwoman all the uh Community engagement thank you so we have um an uh the fall schedule of activities for recreation um those are available now um for the for the community to find out about um if you visit Garwood rec.com there's a full description of each class for adults we will have the following programs Tai Chi adult kickball adult basketball Ceramics acrylic painting open play soccer and yoga we are really excited to announce that Garwood will be working in conjunction with the Summit Community Recreation program to present trian soccer for children with special needs right here in Garwood on Saturdays dates will be announced soon there will be two sections one for children ages 6 to 11 and one for children 13 and up we will also be hosting a peer mentor training for Garwood teens interested in becoming involved in assisting special needs children access Recreation programming uh the following programs uh will be available for children's uh children of Ages from starting at six months all the way to 12th grade soccer classes uh stem Odyssey Crayola world of design basketball clinics wreck basketball teen Friday Night Lights kickball games Rock Shop band these are new there's the four uh three sorry three um programs that are going to be offered by RMC Studios um and one is called Rock shot band for ages 8 to 12 uh parent and me music for ages 6 months to three years instrument making for ages 6 to n um so those are very interesting and new programming that we're going to be having there will also be dance the details are pending on that we're also doing two walking uh challenges one is for kids September we're calling it steptember walking challenge will start in late September and there will also be walking club for seniors on Wednesdays at 10:15 and that is free for historical I do not have a report this month the next meeting of the historical committee is September 23rd for gpac uh gpac remembers 911 the Garwood partnership for arts and culture would like to invite members of the community to share their remembrances of September 11th 2001 if you would like to participate please submit your original poems Pros or Memoirs of the events of 911 for consideration to myself uh CI garwood.nj woman uh Library mayor's representative councilman Lazaro thank you few uh update excuse me a few uh events coming up included on August 28th from 10: am. to noon we have the Aging service kiosk this is where Union County division of Aging staff will be on hand to assist seniors age 60 and over or their caregivers with information on services such as meal delivery respit care adult daycare and support services for caregivers on September 17th at 700 p.m. there's a new program called music production workshop and book signing Gabrielle Costa Gomez Garwood resident and author of Four Horsemen of mixing and music production will discuss how to get an industry quality sound using what you already have registration is required and on September 26th October 2nd 10th and 17th at 3m. there will be a stem Odyssey program in this introductory stem program kids explore a variety of topics and learn the wonders of both life and physical sciences they explore themes and answer questions like what makes your hair stand up it is and other interesting questions this is for children uh in 2nd through sixth grade registration is required and that's all for my report uh thank you councilman uh School Board liaison is next which is me uh the Garwood Board of Education held its regular meeting on Tuesday August 20th the board heard presentations uh for the annual DMW assessment uh which measures learning progress for special education students and also had reviews of the 2023 to 2026 strategic plan and the 2024 to 2025 District goals uh superintendent Kenny also provided an update regarding the new Early Childhood Learning Center and office space at Washington school and his monthly report uh the superintendent's report can be viewed online by clicking the link under Mr Kenny's name in the administration section of the Garwood schools.org website uh also we haven't met with the uh board president and superintendent over the summer break uh but we are back on the schedule in September so I should have more to report at our next meeting and finally the next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for September 17th at 7 pm uh Garwood senior citizen leaon did uh the mayor give anything to you councilwoman Okay small business is me and I have no report uh Board of Health liaison councilman Foley no report at this time and planning board liaison councilwoman salmon thank you council president the August 28th planning board meeting has been cancelled the next meeting of the planning board will be held on September 25th thank you thank you councilwoman uh miss Cameron could we have the officer reports please Property Maintenance officers report for July 2024 chief of police monthly reports for July 2024 okay can I have a motion to accept the officer's reports some [Music] moved all in favor I opposed okay hearing none we will move move to public comment uh is there anyone in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and Council please step to the microphone State your full name and address for the record and please limit your comments to five minutes welcome back Mr Pritchard John E pit 410 spru gwood we need to back our police officers and firefighters and rescue squad personnel as they're out there every day serving us and protecting us they're the ones you can can on they have the attitude of Al be there NE fear which is helpful to them and to us too we need to back them up in every way especially we need to get that lad truck uh returned to service so that they can uh they can use it in fting fires we need to back our police officers and firefighters and RIS resue Squad Personnel in every way abolishing police departments abolishing fire departments and abolishing rescue squads is not the answer and markw what I just say ladies and gentlemen should never be the answer and also we need to back our military personnel we're out there every day defending our country both at home and abroad we need to back our soldiers Sailors Mar Marines Coast Guardsman Airmen and space Spacemen because they're they're in our investments in Freedom we me we must not short change them at all like we did during the war in Vietnam we lost three men during the war three men from Garwood lost their lives they loved us so every day in aund ways they told us so and honest and affection they told us so they loved us so every day in aund ways they showed us so with loyalty and bravery they showed us so they were our Defenders and they kept us free they took an oath God us and fought for Liberty they loved us so and we should know for we love them so and finally we need to pressure the state legislature in Trenton to re reopen some closed Hospital such as mberg what when the 911 attack occurs we're coming up to the anniversary of the 911 attacks on September 11 2001 in which nearly 3,000 of our countrymen and those of our those of our allies were slaughtered like hogs in a pin we need to reopen those hospitals and we need we need to back to uh have them ready in casee they are needed to to to to help those injured in the attack we need to open reopen those hospitals and the sooner we activate those hospitals the better off we all will be don't make myself clear thank you thank you Mr brard is there anyone else in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and Council hi Jill Paul 54 Third Avenue good evening really really close um so I just wanted to thank you um for the September 11th initiative and for recognizing the importance of holding the remembrance event not only on big anniversaries that's something as a family member that I've had great concern about you know oh it's a big anniversary like what does that even mean so the rest of the anniversaries mean zero um so thank you for reinstating that that was something that was really important to me um and that I was really trying to advocate for a couple of years ago so thank you for recognizing that I know that there's been some push back on some of the the different elements and I think it's absolutely ridiculous so thank you for everything that yall are doing to um you know to make that happen um I lost this hold on like sort of one-handed here um so yeah so thanks to the fire um Department the police department and the first aid squad for their quick response um to the gas smell at Stephanie Gardens that was like the day I got back from my surgery and of course everybody's blowing up my phone thinking that they're there for me um not the case but that was a super quick response so thank you um the first aid Squad is is having CPR and a usage classes this month and next month at the rec center and then they'll be back at the Squad starting in um October and so I wanted to thank them for all of their help um preparing my home for a very quick turnaround for emergency shattered shoulder surgery um there was really no prep for this whatsoever and they just did what they did when I was having my heart surgery and my house is so or my apartment is so prepared and made me feel really comfortable being able to go back to living alone when my family left so um really really appreciate that and for anybody who doesn't know if you need any sort of medical equipment shower chairs um the wedge pillows um you know just basically anything that you could possibly need that you might not have the means to go like I didn't have the means to go to plan field and like really like go oh I need this and I need that luckily I have an adjustable bed um so I have that luxury but like they they will sign out equipment to people which is so beneficial wheelchairs if you have somebody visiting for the weekends and they need a wheelchair um and then also obviously the books and the clothing bins that are outside are Revenue generators for those um I wanted to talk about um the Aliva foundation for a minute so we added a few new board members um in the past couple of weeks including aen who is the person who saved my life with bystander CPR and if you saw the NBC piece this was actually her third save so something really really cool um and then Marty who um he's the Union County chief of police who retired last month so I'm officially able to say now that he no longer works for the county he is on our board so yay there um and for all the stuff that we spearheaded here I can't really turn but Chief ster you're in back on me yeah um so we um we obviously started everything with these outdoor enclosures here in Garwood um because because of the police department and everybody kind of mobilizing we had an unveiling for donated equipment in lynon um a couple of weeks ago we were the beneficiary of the Cranford rotaries golf outing and so that equipment is going to go in Hansen Park in um in Cranford so when I was at this golf outing it's all these men like almost 100 men and we were talking about like beforehand how everybody's like we have to learn how to use an AED this guy's like I would never go get the AED because I don't want to be responsible for using it so in my remarks there I was like youall know how to unzip your zipper right youall know how to press button right and youall know how to use listen to voice prompts right because anytime we make a phone call anywhere that's not to our family or friends that's what we have to do guess what you just learned how to use an AED right and we showed them and guess what that guy who was saying I will never be the one who does this is now one of those people who will do this so it's been really cool to see the most exciting news that I have is that um and I will thank Bruce p for actually acknowledging this after 3 years of advocacy and um just about a year of advocating for this model that I found and thought was so amazing the tamperproof the weatherproof climate controls you know heat sourced um enclosures that was the one that Union County actually included specific model the ctech 4000 in their bid for vendors to get 80 of these in 36 Parks between one and five Parks so we'll have it in the county parks here depending on the size of the park so they chose that vendor today and it's actually a Subs supplier of Team a which is hysterical because their logo like the one we have is going to be on all of these but there's going to be 80 in our County Parks which is amazing and it's something that I'm so proud of when we saw that bid go up I was like oh my gosh they actually listened so that was super cool um and then the last thing is sudden Cardiac Arrest month is October and October 16th is restart a heart um day and so basically we're going to be working with the school here with the Board of Education um hopefully you know with with all of you to activate some community events work with some local businesses and so um I think the two of you I'll be speaking with in terms of getting that to happen I've already spoken you know with the mayor um I spoke with um I don't know what her title is April farall about that we spoke with the superintendent and we really want to do um appropriate roll outs right so with the School eighth graders probably getting some training in there from them but for the other grades really just doing age appropriate activities so probably that like cheeseball little poster that we had with the the funny little um heart guy on it you know about like hey you know like way we're Heart Smart in this little town so we'll be doing age appropriate things you guys know like I am not about teaching little kids about death and dying and um CPR so really really exciting things coming along so thank you for all of your part in that thank you Miss Paul uh is there anyone else present in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and Council hi Colleen hey 516 4th Avenue good evening sorry I prepared this earlier today I was going to send it in but I missed the three o'clock deadline so here I am so I apologize if I'm going to be reading this off the phone I'd like to express my gratitude to Cathy County ceron and congratulate her on her retirement I'd also like to congratulate the new replacement that will take over for her best wishes that being said I would like to know how the hiring process works in Garwood the job was posted as legally required on the league of municipalities but remained open on the garw with.org webbsite for a while afterwards I did apply for the position and have six months of experience in the health department in Clark New Jersey I'm certified in gov pilot and processed all dog cat licenses retail establishment paperwork and obtain the CER certified Municipal registar certificate which includes marriage certificates licenses death certificates Etc I was willing to pay my own way to complete the CMC if hired but was never given the opportunity to state that because I was never even contacted for an interview I had also asked at a council meeting why the taxpayers should pay an extra stien for CMR which I was willing to bypass because I could I care about saving money for our residents and as I stated this should fall under all other duties as assigned I never received a response and acknowledgement of my application um and I had never met the ba in person so hi I'm Colleen um um I reached out to him and asked how long the position would remain open and received a short response until the job is filled I then never received a follow-up reply that the job had been filled until I saw it on the agenda posted on Tuesday um what qualification s does a new hire have who will hold this certified Municipal registar certificate after October 1st given that there's only one exam between now and then um only a certified registar has the qualifications to issue certifications does Garwood have one in place as a backup does the Personnel committee on Council have access to everyone who applied for the position and were they involved in the process of selecting the most qualified person for the position thank you thank thank you Miss he is there anyone else in the audience who wishes to address the mayor and councel good tonight Mr Patterson okay oh uh miss Cameron did we receive any correspondence uh to be read into the record we have one um one comment to be read into the record um from Michelle Kappa biano um and it reads as follows in chapter 5-2 of the existing burrow code ours municipal offices are open as follows the burrow offices shall be open for business from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day except Saturdays Sundays and holidays and other days designated by the mayor and councel there have been multiple changes to garwood's office hours by the mayor and counsel in the past few years first for summer hours and then also and also the permanent change to a late night every Tuesday till 6:00 p.m. and then closing at 3: every Friday however there has not been an ordinance brought forward and voted on by the council to change the existing borrow code which clearly states that the office hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. my questions are number one why was there never an ordinance brought forward to change the burrow office hours ordinances are how the burrow code gets changed if not then the office hours should not have been changed multiple times number two why was there never a mention of this year's summer hours at a council meeting and through public notification on Facebook social media Etc this year's summer hours were only posted on the borrow website on the main page but are significantly different to Prior summer hours and the week is shortened from 37.5 hours to 37 hours communicating with residence is not optional I have been asking for better communication for several years and it's rating that it's still an issue just as there is time and effort for the borrow to post on facebooksocial media about ice cream socials or other fun events residents should be notified the exact same way about other important things in Garwood such as when there is spraying of chemicals in the brook or any changes in burrow office hours etc for transparency to Residents my second item for tonight has to do with the way garwood's ordinance are not available to the public after a short period of time I recently had to opener a bunch of ordinances mostly due to the fact that the blue hyperlinks listed in the agendas where the ordinance resided are then disabled moved or deleted by the burrow so the public cannot view the ordinance any longer viewing an ordinance is not the same as viewing the burrow code and the ordinances posted in council meeting agendas should really be available to the public without having to open them and pay for them it's a waste of borrow employees time to have to respond to open requests for ordinances that should be readily available to the public online it is also an insult to charge taxpaying residents more money for basic documents that they should be able to access online for free I suggest either creating online folders by year on the borrow website and putting the ordinances in those folders or scanning the ordinances as PDFs and attaching them at the end of each meeting agendas they are always available to the public many other towns use one of the above methods to access their ordinances thank you Michelle capab biano 404 mytle Avenue okay thank you miss Cameron uh can I have a motion to close public comment so moved second all in favor I okay hearing none opposed um all right taking it from the top uh Mr Pritchard uh inquired about the status of the ladder truck uh Mr Arthur do you want to uh feel that so it's it's currently being worked on it went out the day after our last council meeting okay outstanding I'm sure we'll get an update from uh fire once it's uh on its way back um bless you uh Miss Paul uh thank you for your comments um specific to uh aeds I was uh once an EMT myself and I'm glad that you were able to uh redirect the person who uh felt intimidated by the device uh I they've made a lot of advances in that technology over the years that I've been involved in uh you know law enforcement and and EMS and Public Safety in general and it's I mean if you can operate your phone you can operate an AED it's actually easier than your phone it tells you exactly what to do so uh I was glad to hear that and uh I look forward to some collabor ation uh along with uh April Farrell as the board president so uh I we should be meeting with her within the next couple of weeks so uh looking forward to that um Miss hay I am going to uh tag in Mr Arthur here and reference to the hiring process yeah I mean it was an open search I don't know how much we can really talk about our hiring processes um the the municipal clerk position um as I said in my report before uh we're anticipating that there's going to be a vote on that on September 12 so okay counselor we'll say we had a lot of applicants so I I do know some of that kind of delves into the uh Personnel matters area so uh the buau is not at Liberty to discuss Personnel matters as they're pending so once a decision has been made that'll be announced and it'll come before the council for a vote okay thank you um and then for uh Mrs Capa biano there was a few questions in there uh her first one was regarding um the need for an ordinance to be brought forward to change the Burrow's office hours uh Miss Holmes and I discussed this earlier do you want to uh elaborate so as it says in on um as miss Cameron read it says other days designated by the mayor and Council it gives the mayor and Council somewh of latitude on the office hours and what's designated there was a decision to amend the office hours for the summer it is posted outside and I know that it's announced on the website I believe okay thank you um yes that is in the uh the section of the burrow code uh 5-2 that was referenced um Mr Arthur in in reference to um where the summer hours were mentioned or post that I I don't recall if we discussed them specifically at a meeting or not this year but I know they were extensively discussed last year and they were voted on on October 23rd of last year um but I'll make a note you I'll happily make a note for next year to just make sure it's blasted on Facebook and um you know it was posted on the website physically posted here but I'll just note happy to post it everywhere so and as for the second part of that question um the difference of 37 and a half hours to 37 hours is just that there's no lunch break on Friday because it's such a shortened day that um doesn't make sense to take a lunch break so so the uh are the office staff are 35h hour employees yes 35 hour employees so scheduled for eight paid for seven with the on a normal working day it's more scheduled for it depends on the day but scheduled for depends on the day and depends on the time of year but in a normal 9 to 4 9 to 4:30 and then 9 to 6 on Tuesday it's scheduled for 7 and a half 3 days a week with a half an hour lunch scheduled for nine hours one day with a half an hour lunch and then scheduled for six hours one day with a half an hour lunch so it adds up to 35 okay and then during the summer obviously the shift we're talking about occurs and we get here at 8:30 instead of 900 still a half an hour lunch it all equals 35 regardless so outstanding thank you and then uh in reference to the ordinances I know there had been um some uh when one of the Committees I know this was being discussed I don't know which one uh the mayor probably does but um is something in the works for that yes um so with refer reference to the um there's a few questions here but with reference to the hyperlinks and things like that they remain posted on the Public Notices page um and a link of archive meeting dates can be uh created by year otherwise um so there's other part of the site where you can find those ordinances if you're talking about that you but then the second part the yeah the organization of it so I mean if she reaches out to me I'd be happy to show her where to find this stuff okay all right um and then I guess just we can take a look at maybe making it a little easier to to navigate I know there's some parts of our website are in in better shape than others yeah and I will say we just had a meeting yesterday about a website redesign with um a a contract a vendor that we already work with um so we're looking at actually we'll eventually probably come to all of you with pricing so we we're looking at reorganizing the whole website basically okay uh I think that covers everything that was uh sent directed to us so uh let us move on to the consent agenda uh are there any uh resolutions that any member of the council would like deleted yes can I delete 24-15 and 24-1 151 okay 24-15 Z and 151 you have those miss Cameron okay anyone else for a deletion okay uh can I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda as amended some moves second roll call please miss Cameron councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Lazaro I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon I council president starting I okay for Resolutions delete it from the consent agenda uh first I have 24-15 uh and I have a motion to adopt 24-15 so moved second okay discussion Council one we had our discussion in committee okay I have a motion in a second so miss Cameron roll call please councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Lazaro I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon no council president Carney I okay and our second deleted resolution is 24-1 151 uh can I have a motion to adopt 24-15 moved second okay discussion we discussed it at the last meeting okay thank you uh I have a motion and a second uh roll call please miss Cameron councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley no councilman Lazaro I councilwoman NY i councilwoman salmon no council president carner I miss Cameron did we have anything else that was deleted we did not uh thank you uh we'll move to new business uh there is one appointment from the mayor on the agenda uh Chris Neville being appointed to the historical committee for the uh balance of the year so uh welcome Mr Neville thank you for uh joining our volunteer teams and we will move forward to payment of claim uh miss Cameron could you please read the payment of claim resolution be it resolved that the following claims as approved being the same or hereby ordered paid when properly signed and verified and the payment of payrolls is listed is hereby confirmed and ratified can I have a motion to adopt the payment of claims resolution so moves second roll call please miss Cameron councilwoman Bodo I councilman Foley I councilman Lazaro I councilwoman ndi I councilwoman salmon council president car I okay one hour I tried guys the uh regular meeting of the mayor and Council will be held on Thursday September 12 2024 at 7M in council chambers uh information for meetings is posted on the burrow website that is garwood.nj earn so moves second all in favor hi okay good night everyone he