you okay Tom you ready to go in if she can [Music] good evening everybody Madam CLK this meeting is being held in accordance with the open public meetings act and JSA 10 46 notice of which was done to the record in the star lger and was posted on the municipal buing board roll call please council member V rber herey mayor Kino here council member tag here Carol here here could everybody please rise for the flag flag the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all there are no proclamations or presentations this evening I need a motion to approve the minutes of the December 19th 2023 regular C and executive session is everyone here everybody okay mayc Carol hi I hope your voice makes it said I hope your voice makes it all right with that I'll turn it over to the city manager thank you mayor uh my report the health department along with the Red Cross is sponsoring a blood drive on Monday January 29th from 1: to 6:00 p.m. at the Civic Center all are welcome to attend the hackin sack video tour has launched on hack.org please take a moment to view the excellent display of our city and all that it has to offer at this time I'd like to introduce the Police director Mr retti for a presentation concerning the ha [Music] second thank you city manager mayor and Council citizens of hackin saac and the men and women of the police department that are here today and thank you for Alig me to update you on the status of the PD two weeks ago it was my intent to provide you a status update on the department but we were snowed out we've since published that brief to the city's website I encourage you all if you haven't seen it please visit the city's website however with the increased tempo of misinformation that's been circulating around the city about the department captain and and myself I thought it best to come here tonight to brief you the fine men in women of the department who have so much to offer the citizens of hackensac continually face a culture that underpinned by fear and intimidation and favoritism now breaking that culture starts with understanding the problem and then addressing it this weekend when thinking through this brief I struggled with how much to bring about regarding this misinformation but after learning that there was a concerted effort by some to inscite many of our community members claiming that the police department under my direction in Captain ati's direction to Target males un uh African-American and Hispanic males it compelled me to give you more of an in-depth understanding of what we're facing within the department and to be clear I've reported this hateful information to both the Bergen County prosecutor's office and the New Jersey attorney general because I believe it may violate our state's Bish crime laws like you I believe in the hack and attack police department and I'm confident the vision to restore this department to Premier status is in the future yet there are still still entrenched interests who have chosen to resist change and Foster internal dissension their actions and methods seem to reflect that they have put their personal interests ahead of organizational progress and I'm excited that we're being joined by Pat Culligan president of the state PBA who will give me the opportunity to explain the challenge we are facing here to the write this ship and hopefully gain his support and insight Frank last year about this time I provided you a status report regarding the reforms recommended by the R3 strategy report and yes I do have copies of them the report to the mayor and Council was entitled The Good the Bad the Ugly it seems today that I need to again provide you a similar brief when I accepted the job of Police director I went into a truly believ that my experiences in a very large police department and the private sector could substantially Aid in the reform efforts that you the governing body sought following the R3 strategies report and that report was published in June of 2022 June or July well before my arrival it was clear that the recommendations needed to restore the department back to the leadership of Chief was evident but but that required significant reforms aimed at restoring command accountability reforms as to how overtime and extra Duty details were scheduled and the reorganization of the department to become much more effective and efficient however in October of 2022 less than two months after I arrived at the PD the council for PBA 9A communicated directly to our City's labor Council that the superior Officers Association would conduct an allout War to resist me force me out and return the department to the way things were now in the months that followed it has become increasingly apparent that no matter who the city decides to run the PD whether a police chief or a director they will be met with resistance if they choose to Institute reforms and demand command accountability those nameless and faceless persons who operate in the shadows I call the Old Guard favor the way things were when they were in charge of the best assignments who received overtime and extra Duty details and unfortunately who receive discipline right I still believe that I could Aid substantially in reforming the PD to meet the expectations of the governing body members of the PD and the public but I must tell you that the road ahead is still rought with challenges because of the desperate and increasing resistance of the Old Guard were very much concerned they're losing control yet today I'm proud to say that the men and women of this department have been successful in implementing many of the necessary reforms to meet best practices with our recent hiring and thank you for that and the department should be thankful for that we are at our highest personnel number since 2017 thank you we continue to bolster technological capabilities to assist with to assist with managing our Workforce analy analyzing our crime and providing better tools to protect the community and that also includes gaining a true understanding of the stats that are related to work performance I must say I was shocked to learn that none of that was in place upon my arrival and while we're making inroads to better understand our data and we're not there yet I actually find it quite interesting that my detractors captain atista detractors believe they can use this same data against us now despite these efforts I must tell you that I find myself in the middle of two Waring factions one that wants to return to the way things were and one that believes in the vision of change These two factions are the most outspoken and continue to compete for the influence of a much larger group those that aren't here tonight that exists within the PD this group is caught in the middle of a war and afraid to pick aide out of Express fears of retaliation to include the weaponization of internal affairs it's widely known throughout the department that if any officer supports the progressive direction of this department they will find themselves in the crosshairs of those who resist change do the minimum don't make the department the director or the captain look good I ask you to please remember that when you hear detractors boast about low productivity in the department as if me or the captain are on the road and rank doesn't matter as we learned when just recently the superior officers unit held a vote of no confidence against one of their own for doing his job for carrying out the progressive reforms of the PD now behind closed doors I have so many who aspire to be future commanders who Express their support but I got to tell you they fear being vocal because of concerns over retaliation now while we've made tremendous inroads in increasing our partnership with the Board of Ed the community the Main Street Alliance it's all overshadowed by a culture that favors fear intimidation and harassment over civility right I've witnessed this prevailing Force aimed at our members these bullying and intimidation tactics have increased throughout the department the tempo of officers lodging complaints against one another is at an all-time high there's a palpable fear that if you're support if you support the forward progress of this department you will find yourself targeted and I got to tell you these these tactics are not limited to the rank and file I have finded myself in those cross hairs you've probably heard rumors that I don't spend much time in the office but what you probably haven't heard is that we found the wiretap device in my office my US mail that was addressed to me was removed from my office open read and shared security systems in the department were suspiciously accessed and the information presumably shared some of that information may be twisted here tonight I am constantly reminded by my staff that this has always been the way of the hack sa police department and in the past even city managers were concerned about having meetings in their own offices they had a meet out in the parking lot or down the block outside the city to guard against those dastardly tactics I've been followed both on and off duty forcing me to change my patterns of what cars I drive where I park and where I frequent I received Anonymous letters at home and all sorts of messages designed to intimidate my family and me the city manager legal counsel and the Burton County prosecutor's office and the Attorney General's office are all well aware of these experiences now incidentally and I said this numerous times I spent years investigating organized crime and never experienced this type of aggressive behavior friend I know this is not the first time you've been told this guys if you're not going to keep it quiet you going stop this meeting for a while to guarantee you're going to stay quiet I can guarantee you when you guys are talking no one up here is going to be tackling and laughing at me all right so either give him the respect he has a dep Podium and shut up or leave right or I'm if you're going to keep it up you're going to get three chances after that we close the meeting get three shots so keep it up now there's no doubt that these measages are all designed to squelch the progress we are making in favor of returning to a time when an ingroup ruled ruled a department and not rules and regulations now the results of which have been revealed in the second audit that detailed the aant behavior that this department can never return to and hopefully you've been looking at the screen about that behavior we get more into it in our video Frank yet nothing not not everything is bad we've made substantial progress the department exceeded its expectations in 2023 in terms of increasing its organizational capabilities and at the risk of minimizing these accomplishments against any accomplishment against one another I want to highlight some and as dis mainly as discussed earlier we are at the highest numbers since 2017 in Personnel for years it seems that there was no attention directed at hiring Personnel it's not easy again thank you for that secondly we created a school threat assessment and crime reduction Bureau to address a nationwide threat against schools and recently thank you we received an account accounting from the commander of how this Bureau is doing and the highlights of its accomplishments and last week we sat down with the um the superintendent of Board of Education and the school safety coordinator and there is no Light Between Us in terms of standing shoulder-to-shoulder it's a great partnership thank you for that we have established an office of community outreach and engagement to address the needs of our communities from what I've been told this department has not had an organiz organized effort aimed at this important subject for many years we've enhanced our body warn camera capabilities to meet best practices in order to better trans uh uh demonstrate transparency to our community and we've implemented a drone as a first responder and Emergency Services Unit to bolster our response efforts now each of these accomplish accomplishments listed here are at the result of dedicated and determined men and women in this department that saw the need to correct the problem or bolster capab ability but fortunately you've heard rumors about us doing away with the juvenile Bureau the narcotics Bureau and the slowdown in in uh activity and Captain antista will speak about that shortly now it's important to recognize these rumors are all designed to forer dissension both inside and outside the department I can assure you that the organizational changes made within the department upon my arrival were all Guided by the anzel report shaped by best practices and informed by the needs of this growing city which requires us to rethink the way things were later again I will call Captain antista up to speak to that Frank regrettably as we push forward there are still forces at work that refuse to adopt reform and best practices being implemented in the department instead their goal seems to be returned to be to return to a time when a count accountability was absent and favoritism guided all departmental decisions in particular extra Duty details and overtime the city can never return to those days now both audits both the anzel report and the followup one the pre- both of which I have here revealed The Irregular practice of commanders and supervisors splitting their shifts to work extra Duty details this practice ran contrary to contractual agreements for members members are contractually are supposed to be working eight consecutive hours those audence demonstrate that didn't happen imagine if the city would split the shifts of its Workforce how disruptive that would be to the lives of its Personnel yet this practice was being conducted and condoned by commanders and supervisors which most importantly removed them from their core function during the time of day when they were needed the most the work day in many cases over 200 times in 2 and 1/2 years over a small group of audit principles this split shifting practice would actually lead to overlapping shifts and that's commonly called double dipping because commanders and supervisors were being paid by the city for the same amount of time twice additionally these ranking officers who made substantially more than their junior counterparts could in effect skip the line whenever they wanted details here are two highlights that the audits revealed in terms of misuse and abuse of extra Duty details and overtime acral and what you're looking at is actually pull from the audits the names of the supervisors are removed but for context purposes look at the base salary the overtime acral in dollars and extra Duty acral dollars as I mentioned before Junior officers who make far less money than their senior counterparts also need extra Duty income Frank while the application of overtime is fundamental to the function of a police department extra Duty details on the other hand are not and thank you for allowing us to do that however we have now instituted policy and command oversight guidance to ensure both overtime and extra Duty details are utilized without undermining the core mission of the police department and done so in a way that makes physical sense and this has happened around the state even in Franklin Township where the state PBA president Colligan hails from they simil to us adopted jobs for blue a neutral third-party vendor to allow us to schedule details in a fair and transparent matter right while some of these changes may be unpopular to some they're fundamental for carrying out the mission our mission in effective and efficient manner and and interestingly enough our current extra Duty detail program is extremely vibrant we have a lot of officers working them in fact out of the 110 officers working them there's only 14 commanders that are precluded from working extra Duty details right like all policy decisions it's foolish to think that everyone will be happy with the direct of change as I mentioned earlier about entrenched interests they really want to return to the way it was and I really hope it's clear now to everyone in this brief that this is all squarely focused on one thing the ability to generate extra income in a way they want it how they want it and when they want it the measures put in place to curve this problematic Behavior do not allow anyone more particularly commanders to now or to Advocate their primary responsibility of command supervision at the most fundamental level I have boiled down what this resistance is about to both the captain and myself and the direction of the police department it's important to note that the city is working through perk a perk mediator with the unions in fact we had a meeting yesterday to address these issues listed here Frank city manager mayor counsel the department members that are here regardless of the intimidation and bullying tactics we cannot return to a time when commanders were not held accountable for their duties and responsibilities that they are charged with based on their rank to do so would be disastrous every day I come to work I receive accolade from the community the Board of Education the city the county for the appreciation of the tremendous work being done by the men and women of our department and also what they're doing to professionalize this organization just as important are the conversations I have with officers who appreciate the work that is being done to better the workplace for them Unfortunately they also tell me about the intimidation that they experience if they are deemed to be part of the Department's Progressive move movement now I recognize that changing your Department's culture will not happen overnight to allow for Innovation and Leadership but I incited I am excited by those that I do see risking their unpopularity of themselves to better the department that in itself is what I see what true leadership is as they're looking towards the future and and to uh the Departments tomorrow I believe the way forward is on the path that we find ourselves and that is ensuring command accountability implementing best practices making sure they're evaluated so we can continue to cultivate tomorrow's leaders and return his Department back to a chief which we all want and in doing so meet the expectations of the governing body the public and the officers himself the head of this department regardless of the if it's a director or future Chief cannot be held hostage by the agendas of a few who would rather return to a time when they personally benefit because of lack of accountability with your continued support I believe the way forward is to continue to expect accountability and Leadership from the Department changing of culture is not going to happen overnight but every day we move the needle in a way that we could stay the course I want to thank you for the opportunity to brief but I know I went longwinded but there's a lot of things that have come up if I could just ask Captain Attis to come up for a couple of minutes so we can talk to you about some of the issues that are related to the juvenile Bureau the uh narcotics crime suppression and also the Strategic plan that was just in place Mike Captain thank you city manager Caruso mayor Le Bros Deputy Mayor Keno members of the city council I'm here as a representative of the hackensac police department to introduce the Strategic plan for 2024 2024 marks a significant milestone for the hackensac police department as we aim to build upon our existing successes of the 2023 strategic plan our strategic plan encompasses a wide range of priorities all designed with a focus to enhance the safety for our officers and security and quality of life for every resident and visitor in our city first and foremost community engagement lies at the heart of our strategic plan we firmly believe that fostering positive relationships between law enforcement and community in the community is crucial in establishing trust and cooperation to achieve this we will be implementing several initiatives and increase Outreach efforts to ensure that every voice is heard and every concern is addressed secondly the 2024 strategic plan places a strong emphasis on enhancing our our techn technological infrastructure and equip our officers with the most advanced tools available we will be continuing our department wide implementation of state-ofthe-art crime and Alys software expanding our use of surveillance cers and implementing data driven data driven approaches to crime prevention investigation by leveraging these resources we aim to enhance our ability to DET detect and deter criminal activities ultimately making hackensac a safer place to live and work last but not least in 2020 24 strategic plan places a strong EMP emphasis on collaboration and Partnerships we firmly believe that addressing the challenges we faces a community requires a collective effort we'll be actively engaging with local businesses schools faith-based organizations and Community leaders to forge alliances and work collaborative towards share goals in conclusion the hackensac police department's strategic plan is a testament to our unwavering equipment and protecting and serving our community I prepare a copy of the hackin sack police strategic plan for all you to read at your leisure includes our mission statement vision statement value statement with intent it at lounds our our five goals which are to invest in our Workforce and tools needed to be successful optimize info sharing crime reduction control response and investigative capabilities maintain accountability also partnership initiatives with the community the schools and outside law enforcement part assess and optimize equipment infrastructure radio and Technology capabilities within these goals are strategic objectives project implementation plans are currently being completed by our division Bureau and unit commanders based upon these objectives I'm just going to provide a brief overview of some implementation plans that are already uh being worked on for 224 thanks to the division Bureau and unit commanders in the Patrol Division we're acting working on training seven new officers with the fto program we're enhancing our front desk operations to include CCTV crime mapping and drone monitoring by swarm personnel and dispatch new coil types have been implemented to capture better data and crime mapping will be on boarded to patrol supervisors and command commanders for data driven patrolling and identification of crime Trends throughout the city our traffic Bureau plans on putting our parking enforcement officers to a full compliment and getting out timely information to the public regarding some road closures our detective Bureau continues sending detectiv for additional training and utilizing crime mapping to oversee investigation they also producing fraud presentations for our community continuing with juvenile operations in our Bureau they are in line with the agent guidelines for Juvenile Justice Reform and we be giving continued juvenile education to all our detective Bureau members while our 20 23 while in 2023 our crime suppression Bureau was temporarily disbanded due to prioritizing our allotment of personnel and control we do plan on reinstituting Specialized BR in the future Administration we're installing and utilizing new video technology for our interview rooms and Patrol vehicles and and installing additional CCTV and license plate readers throughout our city it should be noted that the first allotment of CCTV and LPR installed in 2023 has already assisted in the successful apprehension of two shooting suspects our special operations are continuing with our ESU program 7 days a week with 12-hour coverage and our drone is a first responder Monday through Friday with 8 Hour coverage weather permitting and finally our school threat Bureau they're working to accommodate requests for additional Personnel in the school and to expand our lead program to the fifth grade we're close to 100 students will receive instruction thank you again for the opportunity to introduce this plan and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions thank you all right that start our uh business no all right Mo business you ready de resolution 0-24 say resolution for f adoption of ordinance number 51- 2023 and ordinance amending chapter 52 the code of the city pist animals to require multiple dwellings to maintain a registry of license DWS kept on the property ordinance has been published according to law now public here need a motion to open to the public okay roll call council member vber hi mayor I counc member I CC member Carol I I anyone from the public would like to speak to this ordinance and this ordinance only please come forward seeing no members of the audience motion to close second roll call member V rberg hi mayor Kino hi Council membera hi council member Carol hi May I need a motion to adopt the ordinance second call CC member vber mayor Kino hi counc member hi council member Carol hi May hi resolved by the city council of the city of P County of Bergen in state of New Jersey that ordinance number 51223 pass pass his second to final reading and is hereby adopted thank you resolution 0224 this is a resolution for the introduction of ordinance number 1- 2024 and ordinance amending chapter 1488 of the code of the city of parades regarding procedures for approval of parade applications and related requirements need a motion please off second roll counc member venberg hi Mayo HIC hi counc member Carol hi May hi resolve that the above ordinance being ordinance 1 d224 as introduced is now pass on first reading this said ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on February 6th 2024 at 8:00 p.m. or soon thereafter as the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place of the city council and at such time and place all person's interested be given an opportunity to be heard concerning set ordinance that city clerk being she is hereby authorized and directed to publish set War according to law with the notice of its introduction and passage on first reading and have the time in place one and will be further considered for final B thank you resolution 3-2 this is a resolution for the introduction of ordinance number 22024 an ordinance to amend chapter 170 of the code of the city of haac vehicles and traffic to add a new handicap parking space in section 49.2 parking for the handicap on Washington a motion please roll call council member venberg I Mayo I counc member taga hi member Carol hi May hi res the above being ordinance 22024 as introduced is now passed on first reading and the said ordinance shall be considered final passage at a meeting to be held on February 6 2024 at 8:00 p.m. or as soon therea as the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place of the city council and at such time and place all persons interested to be given an opportunity to be heard concerning set ordinance and that the city clerk being and she is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance according to law with the notice of its introduction passage on first reading and of the time and place when and where said ordance we further considered final passage thank you resolution was that resolution four resolution 5-24 resolution 4-24 my bad sorry that's okay this is a ordinance of 3224 an ordinance establishing a creative team for the city of P support of sustainable Jersey effs you a motion please second roll call council member vber I mayor K hi council member T hi council member Carol hi be resolved that the above ordinance being ordinance 3- 2024 has introduced is now pass on first reading and the set ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on February 6 2024 at 8:00 p.m. for soon therea the matter can be reached regular meeting place the city council and at such time and place all person is interested given an opportunity to be heard concerning set ordinance and that the city clerk being and she is hereby authorized and directed to set ordinance according to la for the notice of its introduction and passage on first reading have the time and place one and where set ordinance will be further considered for final passage thank you resolution 5-24 say resolution for the introduction of ordinance number 42024 a capital ordinance of the city of hackin authorizing certain Capital Improvements and Acquisitions and appropriating 355,000 and providing that such sum so appr so appropriated shall be raised from the fund balance of the general Capital fund of the city of hak motion please off fa roll call counc member vber hio hi counc T hi council member Carol hi M hi we resolved at the above ordinance being ordinance 4224 as introduced this pass on first reading and the said ORD shall be considered final passage at a meeting to be held on February 6 2024 at 8:00 p.m. for soon their after the matter to be reached at the regular meeting place at the city council and at such time and place all person interested be given an opportunity we heard concerning set ordinance the city cler shees hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance according to law with the not of its introduction passage on first reading and of the time of place one where ordinance will be further considered the final passage resolution 6-24 this is a resolution for the introduction of ordinance number five years 2024 and ordinance amending Chapter 93 the code of the city of hackin garbage R to formalize a rubbish garbage pick up schedule need a motion please second call CC mber I mayor k i member HIC member Carol all we resolve that the above ordinance being ordinance 5 2024 is introduced is now passed on first reading that that ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on February 6th 2024 at 8:00 p.m. for as soon there Afters the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place city council and at such time place all persons interested be given an opportunity to be heard concerning set ordinance and that the city clerk being she's hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance according to all the notice of it's introduction and passage on first reading and of the time of place onew set ordinance will further considered final passage thank you resolution 7-24 say a resolution authoring tax refunds for state board judgments duplicate payments and Veterans exemptions need a motion for off second council member V hi Mayo hi council member tag council member Carol hi May resolution 8-24 a resolution authorizing tax refunds for over payments and duplicate payments a motion second call counc member hi mayor hi councila hi counc M Carol all may resolution 9-24 a resolution authorizing transfer of the 2023 budget Appropriations need a motion second roll call council member venberg hi Mayo hi counc member taga hi council member Carol hi May Le hi resolution 10-24 say resolution adopting the city of hackin surplus policy for fiscal 2024 motion second call counc member I mayor hi member HIC member Carol May Ross hi resolution 11-24 authorization for the adoption of a cash management plan including designation of approved depositories need a motion please roll call member HIC hi council member Carol I may R resolution 12-24 say resolution authorizing approval of petty cash fund a motion roll call mber hi mayor HIC M hi council member Carol hi hi resolution 13-24 a resolution authorizing 2024 temporary budget need a motion please roll call council member V renberg hi mayor K hi council member hi council member Carol I resolution 14-24 a resolution awarding contract for Engineering Services to Suburban engineering for C2 licensed waste operator need a motion please a council member venberg hi mayor hi counc hi council member Carol hi May resolution 15-24 a resolution warning contract to Suburban engineering for njpd permit compliance 2024 need a motion call mber hi mayor hi member pag hi member Carol I I resolution 16-24 a resolution awarding contract for the lsrp Engineering Services to Suburban engineering fire headquarters remediation NJ technical requirements need a motion please call mber I mayor I council member tag hi council member Carol I hi resolution 18-24 no 17 I'm sorry 17-24 okay resolution awarding change order number one to Suburban engineering for Engineering Services fire headquarters remediation construction phase call counc member venberg hi mayor Cina hi counc member taga hi counc member Carol hi I resolution 18-24 resolution warning change order number five to Suburban engineering for Engineering Services War Lane SE Lift Station construction management need a motion please second roll call member vber hi mayor C hi member T hi member Carol hi mail I resolution 19-24 the resolution of the city council of the city of Pak authorizing legal legal fee reimbursement pursuant to chapter 14 a-3 of the code of city PCT second motion roll call council member vber hi mayor hi counc member hi member Carol I resolution 20-24 resolution authorizing an Accelerated Tax lean a motion roll call member vber hi mayor Cano hi council member tag hi council member Carol hi May hi resolution 21-24 a resolution authorizing the city of P St to fix the rate of interest to re charge for non payment of taxes assessment or any other Municipal charges need a motion please mber hiy mayor Kino hia HIC member Carol I I resolution 22-24 a resolution authorizing tax collector cancel small balances a motion call mber I the American Council T hi council member Carol hi Ross hi resolution 23-24 a resolution authorizing 100% veteran tax exemption from 21 coolage Place need a motion second roll call council member Von rberg hi Deputy Mayor Kino hi counc member Pia I council member Carol I I resolution 24-24 say resolution authorizing payment of bills for January 9th 2024 a motion open council member vber hi mayor HIC hi member Carol Iain resolution 25-24 resolution authorizing payment of bills for January 23rd 2024 motion please hi tag hi council member Carol I stand okay anybody have any conflict of interest on the consent agenda none want you take a drink of water good right all right so right before I start this resolution number 30-24 was pulled before the meeting but we already had everything on on the agenda so I and numbered so we didn't pull all right so the following items are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted in one motion any items requiring expenditure are supported by a certification of availability of funds any item requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda and consent agenda items will be reflected in full in the minutes including any exceptions Andor additions consent agenda consists of resolution 26-24 resolution authorizing endorsement of proposed buram County Community Development grants resolution 27-24 the resolution authorizing the participation of the city of hackensac in the interlocal agreement for Mutual Aid plan and repy fors within beron County resolution 28-24 resolution authorizing raffle licenses resolution 29-24 the resolution calling for review and reform of Oprah resolution 31-24 is the resolution authorizing acrw time payout of 12 $ 7,245 59 to firefighter John Davis and resolution 32-24 which is a resolution authorizing leave of absence for L junor sanation work W December 29th 2023 through February 28 2024 council member V rber mayor coun hi counc Carol May okay before be open to the public I just want to make some things clear we're going to have a civil meeting here not going to tolerate yelling from the audience from either let's call it either side whatever you want to call it um we're here to listen to you everybody because the amount of people we have we it's a pre- minute limit that's what we stay to uh we're going to keep it very strict tonight on that 3 minute minutes because obviously a lot of people are going to talk so with that I need a motion to open to the public please call counc car all right so first member of the public please when the three minutes is when a minute is up let's uh keep your eye is your reading on your time someone finish mayor council I guess I have a new name I guess I'm the Old Guard uh I can assure you that none of the officers here behind me were bullied to being here they're all here on their own free will um the city has recently disseminated articles containing misleading information the aaz police foran has been without a chief since 2013 and in the past 11 years the mayor and Council have appointed three civilian police directors and seven different officers in charge despite insurances from this governing body that each director was tasked with grooming and coaching the next chief of police not one has done this when director gadet was hired he made the following quote to the Bergen Record we definitely aspire to have a chief from within the ranks it's the right thing to do and it gives younger officers the opportunity to walk in the door knowing someday they can be running this organization I'm here to steer that process after 17 months has he found that person is he ready to publicly name him contrary to the perception of turmoil presented to the city and its residents I've served in this Police Department for over 18 years and ATT test to our commitment to integrity and community service in response for the one-sided assessments I aim to provide an alternative perspective the 60,000 assessment touted as a road map by the current Police director is a sham the company spent only approximately 21 hours in our Police Department far less than promised four to 5 hours daily over the six-month contract that assessment claims the aaz police for approved $925,000 been paid overtime with Sim similar figures in 22 and 23 since the hiring of a civilian the third civilian director at $195,000 a year salary the expected savings and overtime cost have not materialized unscheduled the other claims unscheduled overtime hours were authorized for training High School graduations other various events but they could have been better planned the fact is on occasion officers are now being paid in city tax dollars to fill extra Duty details normally paid by outside vendor because our third party vendor still has problems getting it right Community engagement details such as Shop with a cop handing out Christmas gifts and other community meetings are acre paid overtime some things have not changed the assessment alleged that abuse and misuse scheduling overtime and extra Duty details as the Director went into the one-sided assessment was investigated by the buron County prosecutor's office and all officers were exonerated however the city and the Police director continue to push the false Narrative of abuse to the public the activities that he claimed his wrongdoing continue to happen in many departments across Bergen County without claims of impropriety there's a reported decline in arrestance 2014 I'm happy to announce that director gadet in 2023 owns the privilege of the second lowest number of arrestant 2014 with the first lowest being 2021 near Co the assessment criticizes duplication of services and recommends that our proactive narcotics unit be eliminated the record did eliminate the narcotics unit which was named the top unit in the state 2021 this comes at a time when overdoses continue to rise he created an emergency services unit which I believe is a duplication of service part of their responsibilities are to patrol the mall hospital and houses of worship the county has two SWAT trucks on the road seven days a week for emergencies hand off I'm Tina kidana I'm a lieutenant with the Hack and Sack Police Department I've been there 22 years I'm going to continue the statement instead of focusing on narcotics activity that sees over 300 lound of Narcotics and 1.4 million in 2021 we now have a duplication of services removing officers from other imperative positions at a 2023 council meeting director gadet told the mayor that there are more Personnel handling juvenile matters despite the abolishment of the juvenile Bureau there are now fewer detectives investigating juvenile delinquency and the work is between two different bureaus we to know our juveniles the assessment speaks of sworn officers including supervisors working communication over time and that is not finan fiscally responsible unfortunately no one explored why the city struggles to retain these dispatchers which is really the root of the problem sworn officers and supervisors to still work in communication overtime 17 months after the directors arrival the assessment called for weekly command meeting citing to include Bureau commanders stating they provide a forum for leadership development as officers throughout the department can be called to brief on initiatives and projects that support the growth of our department the daily meetings which were implemented they've been eliminated because of Supervisors differing opinions the city has hired and promoted officers we agree with that statement but the thing is is the police department currently has 26 supervisors table of organization calls for up to 33 we only have two captains we don't have a deputy chief or two Deputy Chiefs as we had when I started or a chief it's the lowest number of captains in decades and significantly less than comparable municipalities of the same size Patrol which is the heart and soul of any police department is short two sergeants at this time with the hiring of our new officer super Vision needs to be Paramount at the the September 5th 2023 council meeting the city reduced the number of police officers in the Department's table of organization from 115 full-time officers to 113 despite the city's revitalization and growth this Administration apparently believes that lowering Manpower in the police department is in the best interest of the city despite the overwhelming apartments and growth that the city is facing the director speaks of increased morale unfortunately not only is the morale in all time low both unions have had to have a vote of no confidence in his leadership director Gad faces five lawsuits in the city recently being weed aware that there's four more being filed he refuses to meet with unions necessitating inquiries through the city's labor attorney which incurs additional taxpayer expenses thank you Sean bggs transparent communication is vital and open lines of communication must be reated I do not know of any successful organization that has no line communication to its Administration in addition to the lawsuits both unions currently have a total of seven disagreements or grievances that have escalated to the point of involving attorneys and park hearing officers it is regrettable that these issues have reached such a level of severity considering the taxpayers pay $400,000 a year in salaries to the Police director and the captain in charge the inability to resolve these matters and the resulting expenditure of a taxpayer money raises the question of their ability to problem solve despite the city spending $124,000 on Police Department assessments there is no unwillingness to survey the police officers to gauge director's productivity is there a reluctance to acknowledge the insights from those on the front lines when the director first came here he wrote your unit will only rise the level of your leaders we desperately need leadership which we do not have within Dana me excuse my pration our retired Vietnam veteran wrote leadership may be difficult to Define but we know that we cannot succeed without it and that we will certainly recognize it by the exceptional results it produces we have yet to see exceptional results I await the leadership from within and know there are many capable leaders in ex police department everyone is entitled to their own opinions but you're not entitled to your own facts thank you good evening uh Reverend Carolyn Davis citizen of haac for 75 years every organization has its issues but tonight I stand in support of the office of the hackin saac police department there were a great support to me and my husband during the hardest years of my life they understood he had a medical problem after a serious job injury and promised they would make sure they would look after him they gave me a great sense of peace I will always be grateful to them for that I'll never forget the day of my husband's death the police officer who kneeled beside me quietly gave me words of comfort and offer to drive to the hospital following the ambulance I'll will never forget him for that and so much support during the day of his funeral I've watched some of them talk a mentally Disturbed person down who was using all types of foul language and five officers quietly and patiently spoke to him and diffused the situation until he willingly walked to an ambulance with one of them was outside of my church this is real policing connecting with the community and not just making arrests but building Community relationships every chief of police we have had that I wanted to have a conversation with as a taxpaying private citizen and representative of my church I was able to not one of them had a problem with that they took 30 minutes out of their time director GTI I have tried on many occasions to have a meeting with him but he's tried everything possible not to have that meeting sending someone in his place the New Jersey State Police the New Jersey State Police of which he was a part of and held or hiking high rank has a long history of racism against black and brown citizens and even black officers in their own Department the Attorney General's office formed a panel to review the promotional process in the State Police directed D co-wrote an article in 2000 in which he argued that blacks and Hispanics dominated the cocaine market and Drug in Tradition to take race and ethnicity into account this article came just two years after 1998 State troop was shot more than 11 times and seriously wounded a group of young unarmed Black and Hispanic men on a traffic stop in the new New Jersey turnpik I personally know the gut-wrenching feeling of having your son being arrested not here in hackson at in a neighboring town and what like to see them CED off to jail for nonsense that's a gut muching feeling at one time I asked you mayor boss about you're not appointing someone to a committee your reply to me was why would I point someone who does not share my vision for this town we had that conversation cuz somebody wanted to be in a committee and they didn't agree with your views that's what you said to me this is not a Witch Hunt I'm really really frightened by this this is a city where the police are making efforts to build relationships with the people of their Community a city with this large population of black and brown citizens does not need to be led by someone who believes racial profiling is okay MLK said there comes a time when silence is betrayal I cannot be silent about this so my question to you tonight mayor as a citizen of this community do you agree with his beliefs good evening frankal President also resident of hackin 50 years my goal tonight is to Open the Eyes of the residents you Mr Leos and your Council to what is transpired within the haak police department director gadet speaks of big changes made to the operations of the police department unfortunately his changes did not include the community or its leaders nor did it include the quality of life of the city residents the forward progress the director talks about must include the members of the community or it will fail this concept is something new to the director he was a trooper he comes from a different method of policing recently I have come to learn that members of the community have reached out to the director and apparently he has not made himself accessible to them sadly I'm not surprised he is not one of us he is not familiar with the different types of residents who make up our wonderful City and most people are not comfortable associating with those people who are different from them the director has implemented new technologies in the efforts to create the police department of the future most most of these Technologies do not fall in line with the needs of our city he has ignored the criminal element that currently exists within our city the narcotics Bureau was dismantled and although we may not like to admit it narcotics do exist in our city if left ignored it would lead to more crime also if ignored it would only leave our children Su susceptible to problems that accompany narcotics speaking of our children the director has also dismantled its youth division I cannot begin to start to tell you how they may negatively affect our children the director continuously brings up studies that were conducted that accuses officers of partaking in criminal acts to work extra details but never once as you mentioned the accused were all exonerated of all charges this is just one example of how he used his misleading information to make himself look good it appears that every decision the director makes is done only so he can paint himself in a higher light regardless those changes were actually beneficial to the city I could stand here and take apart every misleading statement that the director has put out since he's come to our department but I am limited 3 minutes and that's not nearly enough time mayor Le Bros I hope you take some of this information and reach out to us the officers of the department the administration and when you're ready to hear the truth about the director you can come talk to us also the meeting that we had yesterday was not a productive productive one with the city you know he is also trying to mislead everyone seeing that was that he was working with us once again that was a meeting that was necessary not voluntarily uh made that's all I got good evening thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight my name is Pat hollan I am the president of New Jersey state PBA represent over 32,000 members in all 21 counties representing almost 400 different law enforcement agencies in my travels around the state over the last 10 years as PBA president it's very rare to see a high morale uh department when it's under the opes of a director yes as the Director pointed out my own agency right now has a director we know it's an interim uh spot for some issues that we had but there's a clear path to having a chief there which I don't see here uh the other difference is are lines of Communications with our director are extraordinary and all I heard about tonight and and saw in the past uh from from the legal briefs that we're handling is that there seems to be a Chasm of uh communication between the director and the pbas here um you've not had a chief in over 10 years as was already discussed your officers as I said deserve a clear path a clear direction that a chief will be eventually be put in charge here three civilian directors in 10 years is certainly not a clear path I've learned over 31 years in law enforcement and 10 years representing again over 32,000 members is that good morale cannot be ordered it is earned Chief you spent over 26 years in law enforcement I hope it when you go into executive session tonight I hope the uh Council and mayor takes the the time to question you on the importance of a chief in an agency and uh and what that does to morale again this has gone on too long third time not a charm uh it's time to to to work on getting a chief here in hackin sack thank you for your time anyone else from the public Jus and Y president hackin local firefighters 281 I do stand before you guys in support of the brothers and sisters of the Hackensack fire department but tonight I'm going to stay in my lane and discuss issues at the fire department has with the council not one person sitting on the city council before us here tonight can claim that they were not aare of any of the information I have before you tonight all this information that I'm about to give you is coming from the Rogers Group report from 2022 as you were choosing to weaponize a report against the police department I find it ironic that you have omitted our report and any type of growth for our department this report took $62,000 from the fire department's operating budget to conduct being comprised of professionals and subject subject matter experts the Rogers group did not pull their numbers and findings out of thin air Rogers Group preface and I quote they came to these conclusions using nationally recognized standards and best practices that represents our best expert opinion the NFPA is a national gold standard for regulating the fire service Nationwide as it is the primary source for the Rogers group's findings we have 24 Personnel assigned to most shifts one at 23 but we operate as low as 18 this is everyone from our tour Commander down to the last nman on a shift the NFPA Manning for almost all structure fires is 27 firefighters something we never come close to on a good to day nfba says that a high-rise fire requires 43 firefighters which would be a fire in one of the 4,351 units spread over the 28 highrises in the city we protect in fact we only meet the NFPA response Manning for a 2,000t house with no basement and no exposures meaning there is no neighboring homes not one structure in the city of hackensac meets these terms these numbers may seem extreme but for example on November 21st of 2023 our first platoon responded to a structure fire at a single family residence where it took seven firefighters 28% of the firefighters on duty that night working furiously and heroically to remove an immobilized victim who was located in a rear bedroom and who ultimately did survive because of our members actions we do not stop and reference the NFPA Manning standards when we pull up to a structure fire we get out and we get the job done regardless of what shortcomings we are dealt with including poor Manning the city incurred a 7% increase in its population from 2010 to 2020 which predominately does not account for the 5,467 new residential units that have been added since then in 2020 as you Champion the population and revenue growth during the city's revitalization it's apparent I must State the obvious to you tonight that Public Safety in this city cannot keep up with these increasing demands if they do not grow in the lock step with the city we work and live out of a glorified garage as we know our Firehouse is not to be considered a Four Seasons but the Four Seasons that do exist in our Firehouse is our problem we work 24 hours a day exposed to continuous leaks of rain and snow that only further the mold and rot inside these fire stations mechanical systems so unreliable that a plugin heaters are required to keep the apparatus floor warm so that the water in the fire engines does not freeze two firehouses have required significant structural attention due to the floors above buckling and crumbling into the basement as they are supported by rusted and rotted out structural beams two of the four houses are deemed functionally Obsolete and headquarters has an oil byproducts pumped out from under the apparatus floor for the past several years and accounting the city sat on the D's requirement to mitigate this condition for 20 years and only addressed it when the deadline hit 2 years ago we have lived in work on top of this environmental Calamity for four decades you could hand off to another fir if you want Angelo Castronovo secretary local 2081 nfba says an apparatus that is 15 years old should be placed in reserve an apparatus that is 20 years should be taken out of service altogether tonight the city of hackensac has a 33-year-old engine riding out of engine 1's quarters and a 25-year-old engine Runing at of headquarters our everyday engine one which is to No Surprise is mechanically at a service tonight is 23 years old out of the nine pieces of apparatus that com comprise our Fleet two out of the nine that's only 22% of our Fleet meets the NFPA Reserve replacement dates I'll leave you with one last Rogers Group quote from page four it's good so I'll wait for the guys to pass which we feel accurately represents the resolve and professionalism of our fire department members while we made many recommendations they should not detract from the overall excellent service that is being delivered by members of the hackensac fire department next member from the public please good evening I'm Paul Nichols Happy New yeary New Year uh I'm on the stigma free committee and um Burton County's professional advisory committee and some other committees and throughout the years um mental health has become grown to be more and more important as you know and from what I'm seeing is you know we've always had um the police chief or director come and and um sit in with us and uh get involved with uh some of our our things that we did and um well it just seems like things are getting really uh really I know things are stressful all over and um you know you you built up the sewers and you're building up everything else but you got to build up fire departments police departments and everything like that because I JY and I hate this term but unfortunately it's true Jersey is becoming very woke and I say that from a mental health perspective because um you know helping people get help doesn't always mean watching them die on the streets or doing this and doing that and the cops and the fire department and uh uh ambulance all that has to be has to be up there I would say higher than the sewers you know more than the sewers and all that kind of stuff because I mean uh it's it's a necessity you the hospital um since the site Bo's been opened up I I've heard that it's been uh um used a lot more lately and mental health I mean people do not have time to sit on the phone with 262 help or when there's we have a lot of homeless in town because this is the Hub and we don't have a lot of you know they don't have a lot of time to sit with um 211 for the homeless and I know the building Report with a shelter but I mean time they they they don't have that kind of time nobody does so I think that um more focus and you know what I'm just going to skip around here but one thing I noticed right away was the website got confusing and we used to have a community uh engagement division we had officers that used to house homeless and I'm not going to mention their name because I don't want to embarrass them but um you know people were able to take their time and do do things and I'm not saying they're not doing their job now but it makes it a lot harder so it's it's um very imperative that um uh we take care of the First Responders and by the way I hate to end on a back bad note but I just heard that uh the sheriff of say passed away um committed suicide so I don't know if that was confirmed or what but we need to focus on Mental Health good evening mayor and Council Community my name is Simeon Cumberbatch I'm a resident of this community since 1989 I'm a retired police captain from Hoboken I've worked for Port Authority also and also worked as a Personnel director for this city and I'm standing here in support of my Police Department I stand with them I stand beside them we need a chief I understand the reasons why we selected a director for these years but we need a police chief to direct and Lead this city as well as lead our officers to another position they reach captain and they have no place else to go so we're being told that there's nobody in the captain's ranks that can accept a Chief's position in this city I have a problem with that after all these years we still don't have a police chief I see suggest mayor and councel that we do a little soul searching it can't be found on director steps all the times all the time we have to seek from our own who take care of our own who know our own thank [Music] you anyone else in the good evening Deborah keing gettis hackin saac I read somewhere uh during the week that the access to the surveillance cameras in the police department has been limited by the director to only a certain few officers as a taxpayer I would like to know if this is true because in this crazy day and age this seems very counterproductive to the safety of everyone can someone please corroborate or dispel what I heard true true is the council aware of this I'm not in the police department sorry okay all right well if you can look into this I'd appreciate it thank you you're letting us know and then we thank you and did you want to speak good evening everybody and happy New Year my name is p Seno is the island Transportation the owner only over here in HK is I'm coming over here for first time in the meeting because my petition is uh the the cover the insurance is very very expensive in hkas it's three town 300,000 because it's no business now it's it's too much uh clandestino taxi and then Uber and Lea is too much expens than my insurance as please is possibly the city the hin is put the down the cover the insurance thank you thank you could you uh just real quick B what type of insurance are you talking about um health insurance car insurance uh the insurance is too much expense three 3 ta ta insurance insurance insurance car insurance ta for tax Li tax so insurance for taxes is that UB or or [Music] [Music] taxes all right thank you anyone else from the public motion to close hi hi y good evening everyone thanks for coming out um and we hear your concerns and we we appreciate your concerns um as a governing body we have an obligation to review processes um and when we do that there's decisions involved that are not always easy decisions and and involve change and um things that are not always um the easy route and to make those decisions we rely on professionals and and the way we get those that information is through reports and listening to professionals we we do not um claim to be police officers or firefighters or anything like that up here um I'm a former teacher I'm a mom I don't have that background so what we do is rely on reports um and the easiest way to you know I always try to put it in someone else's um you know to relate to that so I I see some former board members here school board members and parents even if you weren't a board member here um if you had someone you know you're responsible on a board or you're a parent of kids in school and you have a report in front of you and it's showing you things that you feel um and they're saying that the things in this report would make things better for your your child the students in the school that they would be safer that their academic day would they would get more academic instruction out of the day um that it would you know incur a little bit of change but you know these are things that we strive for as students in the school it would be a no-brainer you would say yes of course you know I support these changes um if some of those changes that were going to occur might cause you know some teachers to get upset or changes in shifts or changes in times and things like that you would think about it again but you wouldn't stop and say no we're not doing this right because as a board member as a parent your ultimate goal is the safety of your students to make sure that they're you know getting academic gains um and that's what as a governing body what we're given that this information we're giving those are decisions that we have to make the same way we have to think of you know what's the safest thing for safety always comes first um and when we're told these things and again we're not I'm not pretending to be a professional I'm telling you that we rely on professionals to tell us these things um if the citizens are going to be safe it's going to make a difference and those are things that we base our decisions on um I know the juvenile um department and the changes with the school were a big um topic of discussion and I know for me that was one of the first things when I heard that change that was a that was a concern for me and I asked questions cuz I have three students in the public schools um and I have to be honest that you know in the years I've been here my son's in e8th grade they've never had Outreach from the Department my son didn't know what uh Fen all was up until this year till I spoke to him so to me a change in that was a positive thing because all I knew was no Outreach to the schools there was no you know when I was younger I had dare there was nothing in the schools so and I'm not saying blaming or or saying that's anyone's fault there was just none of that so to me a change with that is a good thing um and maybe that's you know maybe that's not the right thing as some people are saying here but to me as a parent I take what I see from my child home um and I make decisions based on that um I know Mr Nichols you know mentioned the unimportance of sewer work but there are many people here that would beg the um that have sit here and and lived through um years and years of flooding due to problems with their sewers so we are trying to do the right thing we're trying to make the right choices um and we want that open DI dialogue we want that Community involvement um we live here um you know I know a lot of our police officers and firefighters live here and I many don't so when you're not and I understand that you've been here and you've been working here and I respect that and I appreciate that and something you know has to be set for that long relationship but if you're not here every day and you get to go home to your town it's a little bit different than being here and having your kids in the school and being here every day um so you know again I appreciate you being here I think there is you know room for dialogue and discussion and you know I I our goal again is safety and making sure things are going well um but we also want our Police Department our fire department all of our employees to be happy um but you know there has to be a balance and again that's a dialogue that we should continue going forward but we appreciate you being here um and again moving forward we'll definitely you know look at some things all right thank you again good evening everyone we thank you for being here as a council we all found the results of these audits to be extremely troubling and it's our responsibility to you folks to the folks that live here the folks that are in our Police Department to the folks that work and live in our city change even with change is a positive thing change can cause anxiety change can be difficult to accept change can be very difficult to implement but we must take responsibility for initiating change when it is when it is brought to the attention of the city when it is done by an independent organization and when there are things pointed out with data to support what was some of the activities that were going on within the city one of the major findings in the report was lack of adequate supervision at many times now thanks to uh director gdet for giving a report it may have been at a level where we said okay I'm not 100% sure of what he was discussing is what this problem was and let's talk about Su Superior officers and supervision these are the role models of the department right these are the folks that our Patrol officers look up to these are the these are the folks that manage and direct and supervised and it's our it's our check and control yes they go out and they make sure that investigations are done properly things are followed up on and that the city remains as it always has safe and secure I still have a firm belief that the majority of the members of our Police Department are outstanding and that we do the very and they do the very best that they can to provide the service to the city I just want to explain for a minute what what director GTI was talking about by super supervisors or Superior offices splitting shifts to work off-duty jobs right now off duty jobs are you've seen you know when you have Verizon here when you have public service here doing work these are the where the police officer is required to stand there and guard the activity this is what we're talking about all right our supervisors and our Superior officers are working on schedules that are designed for Max maximum efficiency they're designed to work hours with the most needed to to to uh assist in the in the in the investigations and to provide support and backup for our our by splitting shifts which is what he was talking about the choices were to change schedule not that and that is something that we as a council were committed to under the direction of direct accusations you must look at first you must look at what is really driving the ability to manage and direct Police Department eff I think by making the small changes that director has done help Captain officer in charge we're moving in the right direction and as a deputy mayor of the city I continue to that I I think everyone here on the council looks forward to seeing a police chief rise to we are ready to have that happen and I hope it's in the short term to just answer one other question that was brought up tonight past year or so we have added five fire parties to the fire department and 12 police officers to the police department so we are addressing the needs or the increase as they asked for thank thank you again for attending and I hope you understood both sides of what happened hired 12 well as a resent of the city for over 45 years and being the city ccil for 10 year I went to many administrations before you know chief of police officers and fire to me the changes that Police director is me and the right thing to do and the result they're going to be maybe accomplish in the next few months but the changes that implementing and the right changes and for me a of the city for so many years I think he doing the right thing he got my full support including the city Mal I think they are doing the good job this is going to be in favor us the residents of the city thank you have a good night thank you Mr first of all I like to uh wish the people are watching video a happy New Year and uh and the people that are here I like to also wish you a happy New Year as of going with the um the tree um the shade tree committee are hoping that we can get to a understanding with the uh chry committee with a budget that's seable so that we can continue the progress that you have been making especially through the South part of uh of our city as for the permit situation I think that you know with um proper planning that might be an Avenue that we can U look into but that's going to take further discussion that the John Earl building I'm glad we're going to um almost be able to move in I believe it's what March or April pretty soon so that we can have the rec center fully um open to our Recreation programs for not only for rec activities but also for our senior citizens as well and for all the statements and comments that were made at the microphone today I just want to ensure that I listen carefully I do understand um everything has been stated that being said I wish everyone a great night get home safe and God bless all right so and I do want to wish everybody a Happy New Year as you know we had a cancel 1 January meeting so this is our only meeting in the month of January is a little bit longer than usual um a little bit of a tense night um I want to make the statement uh and I think that walk out we just saw really uh confirmed some of what was reported in both audits there's a problem we know there's a problem I give break wetti a lot of uh respect and also Mike antista Captain antista for getting up in front of what I would call 80 of the enemy all right it's not easy to do not easy to do it's obvious uh show of force I understand that I have about five or six pages of note you always see me writing when I'm up here L go over everything I will have a conversation with the city manager on each and everything that's discussed and also with the Police director um what I did notice is at that Podium nobody spoke to the uh extra Duty details from that side nobody and when it was brought up by our Deputy Mayor it proceeded to stand up and leave so what that all comes down to is this is all about extra Duty details and how they we being misused used constantly when you look at the double dipping and the stuff was going on it's our job and that's brought to our attention by an outside agency to look into it all right um hire the blue was was hired or brought in as a vendor and uh they take care of the daytoday scheduling of our police officers and if our police officers are not available because there is nobody we go to an outside town to do it and that happens across the state of New Jersey um still not happy with the walk out but that's their prerogative to do it um we wouldn't turn our back on that I will tell you that right now uh the sewer work Paul you still here Paul leave yeah good think about the sewer work and I think I still have some people here that were affected by the flooding um upwards of $40 million already has been spent to correct flooding in uh the Railroad Avenue area it's been a uh problem for years um we're finally underneath the road um but I stood I've been sitting here when there's room full of people who came here who lost a lot of possessions lost their whole basement through the flooding um I understand what Falls coming from with this the stigma thing and yes we need to pay attention to everything but flooding is the most important in this city we're we're at the tidle River City uh and we get flooded and the EPA and the D mandated that we take care of our uh combin sewers and that they had to be separated and we spent a lot of time and money doing that and we've had great results so far so you just wanted to make it clear that you flooding is of the utmost importance in the city and uh we will keep onward with that um I want to talk real quick about uh Josh Cohen's presentation did a great job I agree with the with councilman car to try to get some money and increase that budget up see if we get some more grant money in there so it doesn't fall on the citizen lap but uh we will move forward with that and uh with that I wish everybody a safe Tri home thanks for staying course us here tonight we appreciate it thanks for anybody who's spoke I appreciate your comments thank you motion to close the meeting all in favor all meeting is closed --------- this it doesn't okay ni meet a is that you are be [Music] to good evening everybody so we're going to start I guess with the uh a work session executive session V you're up thank you mayor uh first up we have a presentation from our shade tree shade tree committee uh about the tree planting budget and uh TD Bank Green Space Grant update so I ask Mr call come up please good evening good evening Josh Cohen chairperson of hack SE committee tonight I'm presenting on the TD Grant uh which we just wrapped up recently it was a $20,000 award to 10 organizations Nationwide um we could use half of that for planting trees and the other half had to go an educational component can you hear me better now yes thank you hear what I said or should I start all right good um right so priority was given to projects in areas that primarily serve lto moderate income uh residents um or take place in UND underserved communities uh that meant that our best shot of getting this grant was focusing on the Jackson area which is um surprisingly the only area in the city that that qualified as low to moderate income um so uh these are the other cities that were awarded it I thought this was pretty prestigious to see hackin sack up there with um such big cities uh the Bronx Washington DC Miami um Brooklyn I'm I'm not going to read everything but I thought it was you know it's nice to see us up there and getting some recognition for this program EXC thank you so this is the project need the Jackson app Elementary School they serve a community with both the lowest income and the lowest tree canopy coverage uh in the city there are few suitable locations for planting trees in that area because there's a lot of Na roads there's a lot of overhead wires you have very little grass medians that can fit trees so there's just not a lot of options there um but what we noticed looking at the map is you have this huge Green Space which was mostly treeless of four plus acres covering um the the school grounds and the neighboring pity Park so that set up this project really nicely we thought we could uh um really make some transformative improvements there so this is what what we were able to um accomplish it's a little small for me to read but um we got a uh 52 trees planted uh we purchased uh a shed with it for an outdoor classroom we purchased school supplies uh we planted um the school supplies such as like binoculars uh uh bird feeders uh shovels um everything so that the kids could enjoy their their new outdoor space we planted a pollinator Garden in front of the school to help beautify it uh we planted a rain Garden which is at the bottom there um in palaski park um and uh we have had a community engagement event that was well attended by over a 100 people so it it was really great to see that it was attended by all different School groups like the cheerleaders we had um School leadership there the superintendent the trustees we had TD Bank representatives there so it it was a real Community event it was nice to see TD Bank send members to help plant the trees and get them installed and do the planting and and it just turned out really nice and then we were also able to get uh some coverage in north jersey.com and we had a nice article that talked about this project in in good detail um so we got some really nice coverage um for for the city so nice publicity there on good news for hacken sack which it's always nice to see uh next next slide please uh so these these were the trees we were able to plant we we split them evenly between palaski and the school uh the circles are the trees obviously um there was basically there was really not not much there other than grass when we started um so so um Ryan westro was awesome as soon as he heard about this project he pulled in a uh landscape architect from um suburban and they gave us this great little uh schematic here which really pulled this project together otherwise it would have I don't think it would have come out quite quite the same way um yeah so we were able to get 52 trees planted here the rain Garden shade uh shade for seating at palaski Park native Native species for you know ease of maintenance and Wildlife support um we had 100% survival rate of these trees so far which is pretty awesome I think um a couple of them might have lost a few branches but overall we we did really well with this uh we purchased uh Gator bags for each of the trees with part of that grant money and uh even though we planted in what was you know somewhat of a dry period we we had really good success with uh with that a gator bag is a bag that attaches to the tree I've seen them on Main Street now I think they purchased them too and you can pour water in it and releases water over time to help them uh survive yep so these just a couple pictures um on the left was before on the right was after with with my son in there showing up um the bottom one you know is looking the opposite direction but I think I think you get get the impression of of what's going on there and in a few years this this is going to make a big difference um part of how we came came up with this too uh we we really just listened to the community's needs we went down to the school we talked to the school about what they needed the school they already had an outdoor program um that they were starting and so $10,000 like we were able to use on getting them supplies which just really like sets them up nicely to do a lot more with this outdoor space um while we were looking at at the park uh we we had people approach us talk to us about what we were doing there they mentioned they used to be trees there used to be a lot of shade there wasn't anything there anymore um so those are some of the areas that we really try to focus on with this um and then H having that Community event having people come out to plant the trees get them involved in their Community you know we we we had some concerns that there would be vandalism to the trees or something like that and and we we just haven't seen that yet I think that you know potentially is partly due to the community um engagement on that so next slide please thanks these are just some more photos we have some pictures of the kids um that one in the middle is is the uh pollinator Garden we planted we also did our Arbor Day tree plant there in in the middle so all of that was previously grass um and uh now now they have like a really nice nicely planted native species with you know the teachers were telling me they have monarch butterflies coming now and stuff which is cool um have DBW on the top right there helping to bring in some um um uh wood chips uh the bottom left we're planting and can't see it too well but I think that middle one is uh um the shed that we planted and and some close-ups uh oh and we also purchased uh like $1,000 of books for them so that it has lessons activities um for the teachers they can just go in and now photocopy a lesson if they want to use it with their kids for um you know looking for bugs or looking for tree species or or just learn learning about their outdoor environment um yes next slide I just want to thank everyone this was really big effort from a lot of people involved in this and it was really awesome to see how uh people would just jump right in to help the community I used Ryan as an example of that and and just their efforts to do that um were you know really helped make make this happen so uh top of the list um you know we have the Shay Tre committee myself Dana uh trip and Margot are on that uh principal is Moran he he he's been an awesome partner everything we asked of him was just yes yes yes let's do it um I I can't say enough about principal Moran with this uh superintendent Sanchez uh was was awesome partner too he really helped us get get things through and get things approved uh we had the Garden Club of hackin sack with Jenny line brown involved they they designed that pollinator Garden they picked out the species that we planted they organized the kids planting that Garden which is really cool to see um and really got them involved we had Vicky Cohen from the fdu school of education she helped me pick out the books and the equipment to really make their Outdoor Classroom more useful um Fred and Joe can't say enough a lot of what we did was um not typical I think of what we normally do we we don't normally plant on school property um we don't usually plant 52 trees at once um they they were really great Partners helped us get them in the ground we we did it um even the night before it rained it filled up one of the uh um rainard uh holes that we had dug Joe had to go back to dvw I think and got a pump to drain it out so they were they were really helpful and uh can't say enough about that Ryan I already mentioned Allison thank you I sent you a ton of emails about this so appreciate it same with Jacqueline um Deanna also she helped us uh um organize everything and and get everything ordered along with Monica and finance um we had two new vendors approved with this one of them was uh Amish mikees for the shed we got a much better deal at Amish mics than we did would have gotten at Home Depot I think that shed was like $2,000 or $2,500 and Home Depot would have been like twice as much so we got that approved if the city needs a shed you know can't recommend I I can't I can highly recommend doish miks if you want to do that go that route we also had Amazon approved as a vendor um which I think again was something we're not we're not used to doing but Monica worked for months on this um so thank you very much uh Edith was involved in the beginning Edith Tano um she really pushed me to get this through and came up with the idea and came up to early meetings with with me on this so thank you Matt Smith was the landscape architect Carly oconnell uh was our grant writer so thank you very much um and it's it's just awesome having these resources available too through the city I wasn't aware of this from the beginning but but having them available helped us get this project helped us make a have a a really amazing outcome of it so so that was awesome um Victoria's Nursery gave us a really great discount on these trees we got very large you know trees that were retail $600 he gave us everything for $150 each um which you know um Kathy I don't know if you remember when I first presented on this you said you think we'll be able to to do everything and I said I don't know but because of Victoria we were able to do everything and even a little more than that um and so uh that that was pretty exciting too that we we got that and then DS donated um uh like a full dumpster load of wood mulch um that that uh was challenging for us to even use there was so much of it so thank you to both of them uh I think that's it for this one thank you good job thank you job thank you job thank you I hav't happy to answer any questions about that I just roll into the next one also this is separate separate presentation continue what I really enjoy about it same with the trees on Main Street you already see a big difference from year to year how big the trees get how much it improves like in the first year you're like oh boy for but when they start filling in and growing it's really really impressive the original tour in October 2022 and such a difference now so you guys have a a vision and you follow through with it and it looks great thank you thank you we appreciate it thank you thank you yeah what we noticed too is it's NE if you look at Google Maps um you can see the trees now on there they're they're just like little holes but you know the next five years or something it should look a lot different years be a lot different yeah all right so this this is a separate presentation um just so happen in that the timing worked out to do them both at the same time we're going to talk about some of this street tree funding uh in hackin SEC right so so our goal here is hackensac should plant a tree a street tree for for each one that is removed and funding should reflect our goals so I've heard you know this said a few times that um every time a street tree is removed we we plant one in it in its place um if we could go to the the next slide please so this talks about the responsibilities and and this Council has uh worked hard to help delineate these responsibilities recently you've recently passed some ordinances to make this clear on who's responsible for what which which is awesome um DPW City city manager are responsible for uh planting maintenance removal and best practices of Street trees shade tree committee we're we're really only responsible for advising um and and and part of that advising is I apply to um njf certification which is the New Jersey urban community forestry certification um along with Tree City USA certification um and part of that uh uh reporting that I do is is saying how many trees we plant uh how many we remove so I was looking at these numbers and they don't seem to reflect um the goal that we want to remove that we want to plant the tree for for everyone that that we remove if we go to the the next slide I think that demonstrates it right so just some some quick benefits here I pulled these um pictures off of our developers um you know developments that are happening in hackin sack um the top one I think goes by the bus stop if I remember I think that's lot seven or something like that it's called and uh I love their Vision they packed the streets with trees um definitely doesn't look like that now but but um you know i' like to work with them to make make that happen uh some benefits economics um property values um will increase with with trees they offer shade and cooling studies show health and well-being are associated with being around trees they improve our air quality uh they improve biodiversity because uh bugs will eat the the plants and birds will eat the bees and birds will eat the bugs that are eating the plants and so on and they can also help with storm water management so a lot of a lot of benefits I don't want to harp on this too much uh so this is it the current funding so we're we're currently budgeting $6,000 annually um for replacement trees in the in the ENT entire city um and I'm just pausing for a dramatic effect there cuz $6,000 for for the entire city um gives us enough funding for about 30 trees maybe a little more if we go really small and we do only you know lower quality trees that that aren't great for Street trees um and that also means that we can only buy the same type because there's not many varieties available at that price point so we're really limited with what we're planting because of the budget and because they're trying to stretch it as far as it can go which even 30 uh isn't enough um because we're removing 70 trees annually um each year so we have a pretty big gap there um we also require new buildings to plant trees um I wasn't able to get exact numbers on how many buildings or how many trees are planted by these buildings um but that that seems to be the justification right now for saying that we are planting trees for everyone that is removed uh and that residents can also request to purchase a tree I think last year we did four so it's not well advertised or at least well utilized right now um and doesn't really contribute really to that number so so summary $6,000 for the total budget we're removing 70 and you know that gives us a budget to plant you know 30 35 maybe if we go all all low quality trees um so amazingly the engineering department has been working on a tree inventory report um we've done south of pic street so far this is just a great tool amazingly useful tool to help us understand where we're at and I have another slide on that which we'll get to a minute on the right is where they've done the tree inventory to date south of pic Street each of those dots is a tree um that that image to the left of it is the tree Equity score so there there's a website tree equity.com and it uses uh geospatial I don't know these satellite images to determine how many trees are in an area um and and then correlate that with um socioeconomic and racial statistics um and you can see like you know we're pretty orange there and the dots are pretty orange also on the right uh which which is is not good objectively um so we have currently South the pic Street uh 800 trees in poor condition and close to 39 um that that are currently dead um the the you know best practice we wouldn't want to see more than 10% of a single species we have 25% or Maples um this is what I was talking about in the previous slide you know silver Maples known to grow really fast it's an attractive tree that's great um but that fast growth leads to brittle branches they they will crack and die in storms they fall on cars and that leads to heavy pruning which also kills the tree even quicker so um and then 15% of them are calor pairs which which last year the council passed an ordinance to band planting those also they they're really not good Street trees um they were originally sold in like the' 60s as as the future of Street trees and and they're known to spawn trees with large spikes thorns on them and and they also will break very easily in storms so so not not good quality Street trees um objectively this this is this is not not a not a good uh um summary of of quality of trees south south of Bic Street um so here are some of the results of of looking at this data more trees are being removed from areas of lowest income and our lowest tree canopy coverage in the city right we saw that they have worse tree coverage in in in the south side of of hacken sack we've seen that they have um lower tree canopy coverage lower quality in that side of the city most trees because we're underfunding this and relying on um the development to plant this most trees are being planted where development and gentrification are occurring so the result of that is our neighborhoods are losing trees while our new developments are gaining canopy coverage and it's great to see I would never say let's not plant trees you know in these downtown areas um but it it shouldn't come at the expense of of our neighborhoods next slide please so really great we have this tree survey now we can answer some of these questions which which we W weren't able to uh I believe we'll have the north side of town of the city um this year I think um but I have to check with Ryan on that um so what is the current state of our of Happ tax canopy how many trees should we be prepared to remove and replace uh what percent of trees are we removing each year where should we focus efforts on canopy restoration what species of trees do we have what what should we plant where should we plant trees for flood mitigation uh the these are all questions that and the answers that fall on the responsibility of of DPW and and the city manager and we're happy to offer advice on it um but we have this this tree inventory now that's giving us these answers and helps us answer these questions uh which to me is super exciting uh next slide please so these are some funding options right we have what I call like supplemental funding how we've been relying on on on this program uh we could do grants like what I just talked about um you know that's great I don't think it's reliable the the 50 trees we planted are are awesome that should be an you know nice to have on top of whatever program we're running if you're relying on us to pull in Grants or hackin sack High School to pull in Grants to plant Street trees uh you know we're not funding this appropriately it's it's not going to be um consistent and and frankly it's not our responsibility to to do that based on the ordinance you guys have have set up um we can rely on building developments which which I've talked about a little but again I see that as more supplemental that means that every year we have to keep having new buildings coming in or or we're just going to be losing you know canopy coverage over the whole city so we could do sustainable funding and and I see two options for that one increase the budget line item um that's you know the most obvious the probably the easiest to do there um we can also have uh permanent funding like the tree removal permit fee where we charge a uh we we require people who remove trees on private property to plant a tree somewhere else in town uh we presented on this in May I I haven't heard anything back on that from from Steve yet um but you know that that would be an option also for for funding this and and I think would go a long ways to to to doing this um you know and that that would apply also to uh even developments like like there's a feud near where I live um on Clinton I can think there there they just CLE clear cut um a couple Lots on Anderson for two tow houses that are going in and you know that would have been like just a few trees four or five but um considering the Dire Straits of our existing budget like that's that's significant that one right there thank you so this is our this is our budget request um which which we're suggesting it' be 140 trees um uh at 285 a tree which is 39,900 annually we're moving 70 trees for each of the last three years I've seen mention of 70 trees even in the 2016 uh forestry plan that we put together men we're moving 79 so that seems to be a magic number but we also have to take into consideration you know we have 40 dead trees um standing right now and 800 poor conditions south of pic Street we could assume you know let's say those are going to come down in the next 10 years so you have a lot of trees that need need to come down and and be replaced over the next few years um next slide thank you so what's what's the long-term solution here it's it's it's being proactive versus reactive um and and this I'm quoting this from our community forestry management plan which was put together in 2016 and and Mar BR I think I think you signed signed this one uh most work is completed in response to service requests and complaints versus as part of a systematic programmed maintenance rotations so when I was putting this together you know I I asked how many trees do we expect to cut down next year that's pretty com you know I think that's a good place to start when you're working on a budget but but the response was we don't we don't work that way right we we get phone calls that come in we reply to those phone calls or respond to phone calls and there's not you know we're not we're not running a future looking program to be honest um that's one way of being proactive another way you know just what's our maintenance rotation I've anecdotally noticed the same trees in front of um Prospect streets seem to get trimmed every year which isn't necessary and uh you know it's interesting that we have 40 dead trees but you know we're not focused on that instead we're trimming the same trees every year so I think there's a lot here I'm happy to work with everyone on on developing a proactive plan but but objectively this this is this not what we have right now we have a reactive plan to this so why is this important healthy trees require less maintenance um the right tree in the right place healthy right putting more efforts into maintaining healthy trees is less expensive than constantly planting trees cutting them down and repeating the cycle every every 10 years when when we have trees planted um underneath overhead wires limited curve space um we want to have diverse stock um another example of ProActive Management would be you know we have 800 um forward conditioned trees I'd love to understand like what led to that why why are they there in the wrong place were they the wrong species what was it PS and like I I don't know and I don't think anyone's really really going you know right now looking into that um similar similarly we have uh you know I've asked a few times about Emerald ashore which is a a contagious bug that's destroyed all the ash trees um I asked if we had ash trees in town we the response was no we don't we got the tree survey we have 30 ash trees in town you know I don't think we we should be proactively looking at what what kind of treatments do we do the trees that we have so that we don't have to keep cutting them down and replacing them um and then also just following best practice which which again falls under uh DPW and city manager um these are standards American National standards Institute for standards of tree care and Tree Care best management practices um this is one thing we we were talking to to Fred about uh we're required as part of our ngf certification to earn continuing education credits and it it would be possible to to um have city workers do training that would qualify towards that uh those ceu credits so that's one thing that that we're we are looking into might help some of this and then so summary last slide uh you know this this this is a chance to Define how we want our city to look to feel to to serve the community having this tree inventory um survey done is is gives us a wealth of information and lets us react to this this is not like the end of the world we we can respond to this and and determine what how we want our city to to be right poor tree husbandry it's more expensive in the long term green spaces are highly desirable as our property developers are demonstrating in their conceptual plans uh we are currently relying on developers to plant trees which is not sustainable uh or uh Equitable management plan and uh increasing the funding available to plant Street trees is is a priority it should be so that's that's it thank you [Applause] have to sit with with you and the committee and and go over the budget and see how we can uh accomplish the best we can do on that so I recommend that we get together and have [Music] thank you appreciate itone thank you and I like the idea you brought up the new buildings and what I like to see is maybe know as an advisory uh board um we set something up so developers have to plant the right tree in the right place well they are I mean we do plan they are you yeah but we don't specify exactly what we got two different yeah talking's oner iting them to a meeting or two of yours and see if there's a way job here maybe we could you know here's an area that's right with you and into your development that really beautiful that so of I would love that that would be great and you know these these are not big budgetary items I think when you're talking about multi-million dollar development you know the tree is you know a couple hundred bucks so so I think it's worth discussion lot seven I'd like to talk to them with their conceptual picture that's 15017 City no that I think that was the one that's going by the the bus station was yeah I'm looking because the one thing where they show the most treeses is the county probation site which has been an empty lot for how long 10 15 years yeah that's just you know when they do these draw these renderings they want it to look pretty yeah oh yeah I get it those trees those trees aren't even there that's just a wish wish list yeah still us to make sure that they do what I mean there are planting requ thank you all right thank you very much app okay uh number two is a discussion regarding the New Jersey Department of Transportation bicycle and pedestrian planning assistance program Grant this was uh initiated by Mr dib um the grant does not commit the city to the expenditure sure of any funds at this time nor does it commit the city to build a comprehensive bik Lane program the grant will help us identify which streets if any may be good candidates for bike lanes and seek to establish a public route so that's what uh this was actually initiated by hackin University Medical two of their doctoral candidates actually reached out to me about them being very willing to do this and and take part in this initiative and work with this grant re us if the city was willing to work with them and again at no cost to the city um I I mean I think it's a great idea we've talked about bike Lings for a long time and you know they're going to do all the leg work and all the hard work and uh see what they come up with as something that seemed feasible for us that we can consider for like a first attempt at B and then again we'll bring it back to the public and talk about it whe it still makes sense this is a very early stage of that I I definitely think it's something we should engage in it you know it doesn't require any expenditure by us they're willing to do it as part of their doctor work so let's support them as well very good uh number three uh is on an ordinance tonight for uh excuse me hackin sack creative team uh establishing hack creative team War this is part of a requirement by Sustainable New Jersey so that is a technicality with that the that's the environmental committee we're trying to move forward into our bronze status and we really appreciate all their efforts and you know there's certain criteria by the state and you know this is something I think that would go a long way and I think it's a very positive for the city as well um you know we all know how important the Arts are and we all in having a not only a valuable downtown but you know a city that prospers as well and provides those things so I think it's a great idea and and I'll just add you know when we adopt this ordinance in two weeks um the the team consists of between six and 11 members so you're going to want to start thinking about you know who you're going to appoint because environmental already has they have six now they have six now perfect so so yeah I mean we should be able to at the next uh meeting have a resolution ready to go to make those appointments simultaneous with adopting the ordinance and again kudos to the environmental committee and those folks on the you know I think it's very positive thing for the city and certainly moving in the right direction so we appreciate your support too yeah uh number four is another ordinance regarding uh procession permits um this takes on the approval process changes and the fees I don't know if you have any comments on that St yeah I I I do think this is important to understand which is that the city has been receiving many requests for uh processions which are uh when you actually go along city streets and you potentially uh interfere with the normal movement of traffic so when that happens that does create some public safety issues it creates some uh some disruption to the city um so we're establishing a more formal process for you know if you want to have a parade or A procession that is going to go along city streets at not the usual traffic uh speed potentially going through red lights you're going to need appropriate Public Safety available to make sure that that's done in a in a safe and effective manner um so it just affects those sort of of of expressive activities it does not affect things like protests or or you know marches on a sidewalk or in front of city hall or anything like that it's a very limited ordinance but uh it is something that many municipalities have done particularly because the costs involved um that uh taxpayers shouldn't have to defay if someone wants to have a parade we will certainly work with them we will establish uh a clear and transparent application process that will go to use the city manager you will then um you know discuss it if there's any conditions in terms of timing or safety issues um you know you can work on that with the applicant and and hopefully you come to an accommodation that would allow this to occur without too much disruption to the municipality and making sure everybody is safe so that's the purpose behind it it is something as I said before that many municipalities have been taking a look at recently um uh given the increased number of requests for these sort of activities thank you Steve uh number five is another ordinance regarding Chapter 93 which is simply clarification of some verbiage verbiage regarding uh sanitation and rubbish um some clarification as far as the descriptions and types that for the potential for future cations if we have to issue them last but not least is our CSO and storm water update uh Parts update I'll ask our city engineer Chris Weeden if evening everybody uh just to uh bring your attention to a couple of our major projects on the list that uh schedules have changed the poly polyfly Park dange improvements have been extended from this month out to April uh as we're working through um consideration of changes that will have less um uh impact to the site uh to the park and uh uh and to the the the trees uh at at that Park so just a minor minor schedule extension there next slide please on Anderson drainage area uh we are continuing violia is continuing with their water service connection relocations on Stanley place psng is continuing their service relocations on Clay Street now now and uh and we'll be continuing there for another couple weeks before they move on uh to the side streets presently the prime contractor maano is uh has just completed the sanitary work on berdan and is moving to James Street on our flood mitigation uh Grant project we're continuing our work with the uh closed circuit television and base mapping of the sewers in this area uh as mentioned the scope has been extended and the contract time uh uh uh the associated contract time has been extended as well to April it's a little slow going in the winter time but we're we're now uh have completed about 22 miles of of sewer inspection and and mapping which is about 62% of the the total scope for the project on our Parks projects Carver Park is uh is has has made made uh great improvements uh we're just about complete there uh uh but the final surfacing of the courts will be done when the weather warms we can't get that coating down in the cold weather uh for forini Park uh as noted at our last couple meetings we have a public hearing that's planned change in use for facini Park to use those funds for a different portion of the park than than was originally granted so that's a minor change in use hearing that's planned for our next meeting and for Johnson Park Sports Complex I'm really getting excited about this project as we're coming to completion and the the plans uh and contract documents are coming together I do expect that uh bidding on that project is is imminent uh within the next week or so and um so looking forward to to seeing that um moving forward just an overview of the paving projects that have been completed in The Last 5 Years uh colorcoded it's a little hard to see but uh anybody who wants this can can contact our office and just to bring your attention to a project that uh will be bidding soon we have received approval uh from the county for the prospect D pedestrian improvements project which is from Beach Street to essic Street there will be new crosswalk and Ada ramps and uh as well as uh uh flashing beacons and high-intensity crosswalk beacons uh at uh at the crosswalks indicated the Thompson have Thompson Street and and Atlantic Street for our city hall offices renovation of John Ral building is going according to schedule uh everything is advancing continuing to advance and uh inwall building in wall inspections for have passed the building department uh uh inspection the roof replacement contract is complete except for a few punch list items on that project and that's everything today any questions any questions thanks getting there than all right thank you all right the last thing with that I need a motion to open to the public please roll call counc member V rudenberg hi mayor hi counc member hi council member Carol hi hi anybody from the public would like to speak please come forward we'll have three minutes good evening Marty Smith Prospect Avenue at the December meeting of the council we asked why they posted speed limit on Summit Avenue between paic and Spring Valley Avenue is posted as 35 miles an hour when city streets and according to the council Summit Avenue between those locations are City jurisdiction and it should be 25 mph Mr kusu said he would check on this further I wonder if we have any additional information I'm sorry Mr Smith no we do not I haven't heard back from the county yet but I did put a request in to find out to get some more research on that okay and secondly has the council decided whether to move forward on the upgrading of current pedestrian crossing signs on Prospect Avenue at Berry and GF Place replacing the current ones with flashing pedestrian signs um two intersections correct I will uh look into that further that would be for north and south bound traffic right okay thank you thank you next person please at Rich Sero Spring Valley Avenue hackin sack you know I was I was glad to hear um the presentation from the shade tree person uh Mr Cen I think is name was and I think it's a good opportunity to bring up the fact that homeowners need attention homeowners may need some help with with tree removal and tree uh plantings or whatever it's it's a good time to bring it up there's so much involved with uh trees in the city uh he said there's lots of dead trees there's lots of trees that have to come down why not give homeowners a hand with the uh um the tree Department what's the name of it the tree department is that what it's called the department in the city it's the tree sh but there's another department that that Services the trees okay so why not at this time add that to this shade tree discussion to have homeowners uh benefit uh when it come you're taxing our property uh four times a year we play our taxes we got to pay the next week again so why not give a hand to uh taxpayers your it's almost partially your property so why not give us a hand with trees that could use some uh pruning uh some uh trimming even trees that need to be uh taken down uh could uh benefit homeowners and homeowners need more attention anyway we never hear that word in here it's always a developers it's always something else homeowners need attention thank you thank you Rich next person please good evening council members John Kano Herman Street 40-year resident of hackin saac retired member of the hackin saac police department we have an outstanding group of men and women police officers serving our community they come to work every day risking their lives in all types of weather they spend a lot of time away from their families and loved ones especially on holidays I ask you as the council and the police administrative Department please treat them with the respect and fairness they deserve here in our community and appreciate what they do from experience the department was better off with a police chief appointed from the ranks than a director broing from the outside thank [Applause] you anyone else from the public okay we're going to motion to close hello I'm Robin Kino Herman Street hackin um as a taxpayer I think I would rather pay to pay these um men and women to work like they do give them their Fair pay and I would rather pay for that than to pay for lawsuits because of unfair labor practices and unfair treatment thank you anyone else G Gary Tano Fairman Avenue hackin sack hi everyone uh back to the tree ordinances and Josh had a slide up about permits few years back on the environmental that question came up about having residents and I'll tell you why uh pay a permit to have a tree taken down it seems like in the spring that's since I'm retired I'm home it seems like there's an onslaught of tree surgeons coming into the neighborhoods and you hear the buzz of chainsaws going and trees are coming down of all sizes granted a resident has a right to take a tree down on their private property but that if they're going to pay 2,000 3,000 4 or 5,000 in today's market they should be able to pay a permit that the City can benefit by it planting a tree somewhere else Josh is okay but there's ratables that could be obtained and cut down because people are just taking down trees sometimes for the wrong reason a neighbor of mine took a tree down two years ago he didn't want his wife stepping on the acorns $5,000 to take the tree down an old growth tree yes it's drug property if you have a house it's if it's if the tree is in danger in your property you have every right to to protect your property but I think you have to go by having a permit and it has to be sent out to tree surgeons and landscapers that you're not just going to commit to hackin sack and randomly cut down trees that there's nothing wrong with that tree get something out of it go go by the circumference diameter whatever and and have a permit process established accordingly and let's cut down on that and get some money out of it so we can plant more trees in areas that needed thank you thank next please motion to close call Council mber hi mayor hi counc hi counc member Carol hi all right we will be back in about five six minutes I need a motion to close the executive session oh yeah I guess um you know in the in the Clos session we did discuss um ongoing uh police um litigation pending public employment relations commission we also discussed the ongoing zesa litigation and I think that was it what's it motion to close the executive session counc member mayor counc council member Carol mayor I motion to close the council the hall loc call council member hi mayor KCC member Carol May hi meeting started