e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e everybody ready looks ready you give me a tough time on the score board I could even see you K me is crazy that is and I can't get but I can't get a school board2 yep okay good evening everyone so we're going to go right into the uh city manager report M all right thank you mayor uh up first is a presentation uh 2024 Main Street business Alliance budget I'll ask that uh executive director John Peters come up please good evening evening John is that on good evening yep yes mayor city council thank you very much I just thought I'd run through the budget which frankly looks uh not too different than it did last year so the uh go from top to bottom uh just starting out with the administration uh and systems there's the the management fees the uh annual audit actually the audit price did go up a bit uh but it hadn't been I checked into it hadn't been raised in quite some time uh the everything from the rent and the utilities is pretty much the same as last year the CPA bookkeeping uh same as last year except there was a slight increase because we put a a process in place where we uh have have now a forecast so we're no longer just on on a Cash basis so we can see what's going on ahead of time uh Insurance the that's all the same the uh miscellaneous uh the t& and the system so before I got here there wasn't a whole lot of systems work going on and as a team of one I I use quite a bit of uh U so different various different software so that's all included in this uh the uh the the furniture and fixtures we reduced dramatically because we had made some purchases last year and then there's the Placer system which allows us to track uh foot traffic car traffic uh and everything uh all throughout Main Street going down on the clean and green uh really nothing has changed there we so we kept the maintenance the sanitation is the same um the landscaping and watering even though it's listed as that it's also includes picking up all the garbage from the beds and things to that effect uh clo picking up all the garbage that blows up and down Main Street um so that's the the weeding and the and the bed cleanup as far as visual improvements those were slightly reduced I think if you take a walk up and down Main Street you'll you'll happily see some beautiful new facades and storefronts that were done so we are going to uh continue uh with that our latest one uh there's two that just went up very recently the Columbia Bakery Factory which really did a phenomenal job at at the exterior and uh Sahara uh jewelry another uh place that especially him nice young kid really has this is a second jewelry store so he really knows what he's doing uh has done a phenomenal job not only on the outside but he's made everything match and he's put in some beautiful shelving and some lighting inside really really nicely done well thought out and that's exactly the kind of uh investment that we're looking to uh patronize the um way finding signage uh that's something that I'm going to take on much more closely this year uh that's uh in Partnership uh with the uh hospital and with the city too and some of those signs whenever any any one of the blue signs needs repair we jump right on that so there's nothing they've all been checked nothing's loose nothing's everything but there's um a couple of things that may have to look at some placement uh changes uh when you go down even further the beautification and things like that those are all remain the same frankly lower what we did I don't know if you all had a chance to see uh some of the artwork the sculptures that were placed in Atlantic Park uh we've already gotten uh I I put a QR code next to each one of them there's already in the first few days a couple of hundred scans and you can't scan those from the street that means somebody walked up and scanned it to find out some more information so it's really really nice and this one doesn't look like the lady laying on the ground that had a bik accident like last year um I like that one so did I actually I really did I like that one so we're just hoping that that kind of thing brings a little more uh some fun things to look at and you recall as I started out early was want to make sure that we can look back at some point and try and get some awards and things like that for Main Street uh make everybody proud uh the marketing and events uh we only kept the hackin October Fest event um in order just to keep the budget and everything in place the other events uh were removed entirely you know pending some fundraising I might be able to do here and there uh with sponsors to try and make and make some of those happen the but the marketing the maintenance of the hosting and the website and the pr and everything so uh we're calling this year the Year of the member so it's no longer about telling people who the msba is but we're promoting all the small businesses I don't know if you had a chance to see uh some really great press that we received a few days ago in on North jersey.com and we try and feature every one of the businesses we walk the journalists up and down introduce them to the owners and you're going to see a lot more of that this year uh all to stimulate business going into uh the local businesses and that's pretty much about it it really does look very much like last year happy to answer any questions um I'll just say that um I worked with John and Albert is the city's liaison to the alliance so he worked very closely with John on this and you know I I think the alliance understands just like we're going through a tough year so you know we have to all be cognizant of that and the only issue that you know I spoke with you about and the rest of the council just to be aware we we have nothing in our budget for the October Fest cuz we had to be lean and mean this year so I think either we're going to have to scale it way back to what you have or we're going to have to get you're going to have to get some sponsors got it yeah okay so I think that's that you know we all love the October Fest and it's a great event but this was a a lean and mean year for the city so um we're going to you know we'll do what we can and however we can help we will but that's the only thing that you know may be a little bit iffy okay appreciate that but otherwise I think it's a good budget I would recommend us to approve it folks Leo doing a good job all right thank you good job and the statues look great I was down there actually last night thank you thank you very much and you're doing a great job too thank you thank you so much can we appreciate you thank you very much thank you okay next up VIN uh next up uh discussion regarding there's a ordinance on tonight uh regarding filming permits this is uh another step in the process of becoming a film city um third uh I have a Teterboro Airport update uh I'll turn it over to deputy mayor krino for that yes um we had our quarterly meeting of the Tek committee which I'm a member that represents the city wasn't you can't hear me now it's on green light on tap on it no no hey Frank Frank FR get out it's on yeah Kathy's mic's on but it's not responding so you purposely shut me off is yours working stuff Hello I'll just I'll just just slide just turn it this way I think don't be able to hear me won't make it work and they're going to give you a microphone I can give this one oh we were going to share [Music] turn okay we'll start again can you hear me now yes I hear myself um all right so again I usually attend the meetings at the airport as the liais on from the city to cheeter Bro airport so we have quarterly meetings and i' like to give everyone a little rundown of what happened at the meeting um at this time so I attended oh a CP a week or so ago um wasn't one of my favorite meetings you know we've been trying as a city to get the alternate flight path to be used it took a lot of work to get an alternate flight path designed to kind of avoid larger parts of hackin saac namely Summit Avenue Prospect Avenue flies right over the hospital um not at a very high elevation and um you know the noise and the the pollution not only noise but air pollution Etc is troubling to many of our residents that are in the flight path so we're really not seeing a lot of use of that flight path and we continue to not see a lot of use of it um I will say Teterboro Airport is doing a good job at trying to promote it they're working harder than they ever have been so I'm quite pleased that that relationship in this regard has gotten much better um we're getting a lot of push back from the FAA so I continue to work with them and uh try to understand what their issues are uh we're not giving up on this uh some folks are saying we should give up on this but th those of you that know me know I'll never give up on things I believe in so we're going to continue to try to support that actually I spoke to the airport today before the meeting and we are they are looking at perhaps doing a couple of tweaks to the flight path um mainly around where that there's a there's a radio station Tower there and um you know some of the lighting sometimes in the evening hours could be a little detrimental to the pilots so they're looking at a couple of maybe tweaks to this that that may give us a little bit more success the thing that we're asking the FAA to do is is to uh allow the uh alternate flight path to be the the um proposed route at least a couple of hours a week during the day they are using it a little bit at night but we need to have them flying it during the day so they get accustomed to that and actually some of the pilots have asked for that because they said you know they're letting them fly it at night because there's less air traffic but at at night there's so many lights like searching and looking you know for the land uh uh elements is very difficult so actually flying it during the day where they really have much better visibility would make the initial try at using this flight path better for them so we're going to continue to pursue that uh noise wise uh we're up from last year uh this time last year you our monitor is on Prospect EV uh pretty much on the roof of the hospital we were averaging 59.5 DB it's up to 62.6 DB so that's a significant increase when you think about the fact that this is average throughout the day so this includes you know downtime is being averaged in there at zero are very low so the noise levels have increased again since last year um I asked for some additional data which I found interesting um they if you if we looked over uh the last year's worth of data I asked to see what the average number of movements or flights on just on on our particular um Runway 19 were so the worst case believe believe it or not is at 4:00 when they're seeing the most traffic at 4:00 in the afternoons and the most they saw which is 39 an hour so you're talking less than a minute apart um you and it's just a barrage of noise to folks that are flying or living under that flight path and even looking at averages like the worst the worst time for numbers of flights is 2 to 6:00 p.m. and even on average over the Year we're seeing 18 to 20 per hour on average for each of those hours from 2 to six so we're seeing a tremendous amount of volume continuing there without the the supplement of the alternate flight path so continue to submit your noise complaints we talk about this all the time we're a little down because I know in numbers it's you know we're not outside as much during the winter months but now the weather's getting better so you know the squeaky wheel gets the grease so we have to continue to submit those reports I appreciate everyone's help in filing those reports and I'll continue to be your Advocate as as long as I'm able to anybody have any questions on the council no thank good job you're welcome thank you thank you deputy mayor uh next up is uh change of use hearing uh forini Park I'll call up uh Ryan Westra our project manager good evening uh we we did this hearing once already but uh we found out after the fact that the newspaper canel the not noce by mistake so another town called the cancel theirs and they canceled ours so just as uh um to make sure we're on the up and up we're doing it again nothing has changed parkwise but um Green Acres change and use uh regulations uh construction of buildings on unfunded Parkland use of buildings on unfunded Parkland a local government shall not construct a building on unfunded Parkland unless the building directly supports the use of Park land for recreation and conservation purposes or is to be used for public indoor Recreation as Devine as defined as njac 73621 in local government unit compliance with the change in use procedures uh the existing conditions out at fishi Park uh the the park is 30.8 3 acres uh it includes nine ball fields batting cages picnic tables and benches playgrounds uh Fieldhouse Building Maintenance building paved access roads and parking spaces and gravel parking area uh the proposed site plan as you could see uh the size Remains the Same it includes the nine ball fields the addition of one multi-purpose field batting cages picnic tables and benches playgrounds existing Fieldhouse building new Maintenance building new concession stand with restrooms uh paved access roads and paved parking lots uh here is the elevation of the proposed Maintenance building uh it is pre-fabricated metal uh wall panels and a stone accent along the bottom it's two garage bay doors and uh three man doors uh the FL the proposed floor plan just to open uh storage garage area uh the proposed concession stand uh it will be a concession stand with restrooms on the bottom and then a Press Box on top um here's uh the plan view uh the Press Box is uh open floor plan and then there's uh men's and women's bathroom utility Chase and then the concession stand on the right uh the change in purpose or use of funded or unfunded Parkland procedures uh the change in use change in purpose or use for unfunded Parkland a local government unit or nonprofit may change the recreation and conservation purposes or use for which funded or unfunded Parkland is being used to another Recreation or conservation purpose to use including but not limited to development of the lands for public outdoor wreck or construction by a local government unit of a building or other structure on unfunded Parkland for public indoor recreation in accordance with the following procedure procedures uh the local government shall hold at least one public hearing on the proposed change in purpose or use which we did uh end of February at least 30 days prior to the hearing the local government unit shall publish legal notice in the hearing of the official newspaper of the municipality which we did uh post the notice of the hearing in its official website which we did uh provide written notice of hearing to Green Acres uh which was completed um the change in purpose or use continued uh post to maintain uh legible condition until the public comment period is concluded a sign on the Parkland we have two uh one's along Salem and one is uh near the ENT or inside the park on the entrance on the Camden side uh that's completed at least 15 days prior the hearing the local government unit or nonprofit shall publish and display an ad in official newspaper which is uh completed and then these next two are ongoing within 60 days of the close of the public comment period for any public hearing to be held under the above the local government unit of nonprofit shall provide the department with proof of publication of the notices of public hearing required uh under and above proof of publication of the display ad required under the above and a date uh copy of the posting required uh copies of proof of mailing of notices required um and the proof of posting and maintenance of the sign and once that period's over we'll do that within 90 days after approving the proposed change in purpose um or use the local government unit or nonprofit shall provide the department with written proof that one or more public hearings were held uh which we will do once the 90 days is up and within 90 days after changing the purpose or use of the funded or underfunded Parkland or commencing construction of a structure or building for public indoor Recreation on unfunded Parkland the government unit or nonprofit shall provide the department with written notice of the change in purpose or use of the commencement of construction so once that's done we'll be we'll complete that as well any questions step Leo no mayor you need to open it up to the public too all right need a motion to open to the public offer second all in favor I I None opposed anybody from the public would like to speak about this presentation please come forward seeing no members of the public motion to close to the public offer all in favor I I okay just one quick question I know we have the eagle situation going on yes at fishen um I thought Chris might be here tonight so I'm going to need some information from you guys because I'm going to be have talking to somebody from uh from uh the D or whoever's who was that Steve which organization for the Eagles it's probably d d so yeah we need to reach out to them so I absolutely to just go over some details with no not a problem thanks all right uh last on the agenda is the CSO and stormw Parks update Ryan's uh our project manager is doing it today instead of Chris weaton and you're up okay um the first slide has the uh durations contract status I don't believe anything has changed since the last meeting uh we'll go right into the separation uh this the overall separation projects as you can see the different colors and uh as of now with the ongoing Anderson project we're right around 101 Acres of drainage area that will be removed uh from the combined system Sy and discharged to the river storm water only uh which is good uh individual the CSO separation project the Anderson Street project that's ongoing uh we're still ongoing with uh coordination with the other utilities they're working with us so it's very good uh the sanitary Mains have been completed on clay berdan and Berry half the sanitary Mains have been completed on James and Stanley and they're partially complete on railroad uh we have installed a small section uh storm covert on bdan and then uh the contractor is going to return next week and we're going to start on Stanley uh the utilities relocation violia is working on Clay Street I believe they're they're the main has been Rel relocated and they're doing the services right now and psng is relocating gas on Barry and Stanley that's Ono uh little update on the The Pump Station second get back to that um yesterday the city met with the relatively new superintendent of schools okay do we still have interest in going under the fields the school remember at one point we were looking to do I guess box CS going under the school field I think it was in storage over by the grass fields yeah and then we were going to tur field as well correct we're we're I think we're going to arrange a meeting to discuss yes because the new superintend does seem to be interested in this so that something that is that in the existing plan or did we removed it uh it hasn't been removed it's just outside of this where we're working right now okay all right so yeah yeah all right so we're going to set up a meeting and we're going to talk to them because they do seem interested absolutely it would definitely be to the city's benefit and the school's benefit if if they wound up you know those fields really give you some work too and this way we can get both of it and Jim tells me we might have some good funding options right Jim to to to help everybody get through that okay I just didn't want to look that nope we're still uh I think we at our last monthly what when we brought that up yep uh okay uh Vorhees Pump Station uh we worked out a lot of The Kinks uh we had to do some adjustments on the pumps uh we had a little issue today but we were able to rectify it with a minor adjustment on uh on the station itself uh but it's it's ongoing we also reached out to bcua because as you could see the amount of wipes and everything else that's that's in the system that that were pulling out of the trash basket on the pump station itself uh we reached out to bcua cuz there's uh some industrial laundromats and cleaners Upstream of that station so we're having them investigate them as well just to make sure that they're their pre-treatment is functional and they're maintaining it um and the the site restoration is really the only thing left there and just to if you could you probably can't see it on the screen but the screen that has all the pumps on it that picture was taken uh last Thursday and we were at like 18 million gallons through there so far and as of today we're up to 21 million so it does working oh yeah it receives CL it's about uh amen 5 to 600,000 gallons a day goes through there been a long haul yeah we've been we've been operational for about a month and a half so nice we're good it's like I said it's a new station so we're working at The Kinks but it's it's it's going good okay the uh FEMA post Ida flood Hazard mitigation Grant project is still ongoing uh and just a recap that is affects some of the low line lowest lying areas in the city and that will add roughly 80 acres to the combin the SE separation improvements that we're doing uh that includes the large uh proposed pumping station near Costco uh that's going to have about a 5year imp implementation period and uh the current contract is the CCTV which we're we're nearing completion um as of Friday or or 53 I think that was Friday they're uh 99% complete with the amount of footage that they're doing they've televised and heavily cleaned uh grass is starting to come in uh the cameras in conduit we're still working on that to be installed the furniture is supposed to arrive uh next week within the next two weeks hopefully um and then the final punch list and that's uh we're working with a little issue with uh some pollen from a neighboring tree that we're looking into and hopefully we'll have a resolution on that tomorrow and then the next one is John Park I believe we've come to a consensus on the field layout uh which is as you depicted on the screen the alternating light and dark colors uh football lines on the side the long side lines and then the baseball delineation in the corners there with the bases any questions on that no we got that out of the way well I I just have a question there yes seem like those um alternating colors are five yards apart instead of 10 is there any particular reason why five yards instead of 10 I I wasn't involved in those conversations so I'll I'm not sure why but usually it's 10 yards you're going to do a field usually it's 10 yards out of clip that if you're going to do a field Alterna yes yes I think because they go 10 20 30 40 50 so it's 10 you're saying it should be dark green until 10 and then light green there should change every 10 yard I'm sure that could yard I don't see an issue with it anybody have an issue with that and the center markings there for these who can I speak uh speak with this um you know I I'll callot for these office back I so Jerry so this what I understand the way it is now the beginning of each dark line is a 10 yard apart right no from the beginning of one dark going to the beginning of the next dark it's five yards the beginning of the next that's why there's 20 right in other words when you when I look at his stripes right if I say each stripe is five jards so from there should be 10 so the beginning of each dark line is 10 yards apart to the next dark line so you want oh the beginning to the next you're talking about yes yes so you would know that the beginning of each dark line is 10 yards apart so you you don't want that you want no no it should be 10 it is no it's not 10 yard 10 yards of Darker green than 10 yards that's what I'm saying right now the way it's depicted is the beginning of each dark line to the beginning of the next dark line is 10 yards you want 10 yard of dark yard right I understand what you're saying and that was done I think we picked that up from the way another field was done that yeah there was another field that was done this way someplace else and that was picked up so that everyone knew the beginning of each dark line was the 10 so you still could measure the five yards should you want to but if you don't want that then I don't think there there's no need for five yards you measure five yards and and I copied it from somebody else so they were saying that the beginning of each dark way was explained to me the beginning of each dark yard dark line was 10 yards apart and the same thing over the beginning of each light yard to the next voice but you want you want a 10 yard dark and a 10 yard light is that what you want yeah that's that's standard and sports that's does everybody else know John Steph doesn't matter that doesn't matter to me as long as there a long as it alternates and it's 10 more okay I'll make no yeah that's that shouldn't be that shouldn't be that shouldn't be a problem no uh next ply Park drainage um we're doing some drainage over at Poly Park um the the water kind of bleeds out of the hill and affects the Gazebo and the the basketball court uh the contractor mobilized this week and he's probably going to get uh shipment of materials by the end of the week so that project has started and we'll be ongoing for the next couple months will it affect the opening or the use of the park no it's um it's drainage so there's just small trenches going through they're going only going to open up as much as they can do in a day and um the the they're mobilized their storage down in the in the lower entrance Corner what about the splash pad no problem uh it goes up the walkway in between the playground and the splash pad so it won't have an effect and hopefully if they get their materials will be out of there before that opens so and they're going to restore as they go so as they go up the hill and this should fix the problem you think yes yeah and we're going to do some uh Curbing and and pipe the the up at this top of the hill by the school so that's that's where majority of it comes from all right and we're going to have the scoreboard and the and the basketball court right uh there was no scoreboards in that project yeah there's going to be we'll figure it out okay yeah we have outlets for the scoreboards to be used but and um Prospect AV um that project was awarded um and that uh pedestrian improvements from Beach to Essex including new crosswalk and a new aligned intersection with Atlantic Street Ada ramps uh pedestrian Hawk signals at Atlantic and the uh rapid beacons at Thompson um we're just uh waiting to schedule the precon and the slide's not on here but the um pedestrian improvements for first and Central those pedestrian heads were uh in installed this afternoon so real quick Ryan that overhead the is at Atlantic or is that at Thompson that's at Atlantic and at Thompson's going to have the the push button rapid beacons not the constant Flash and there's definitely enough clearance for tractor trailers oh yeah yeah okay how high is it 14t whatever 7 I guess it just doesn't look it in the picture no yeah in that picture that's from somewhere else that's the same thing there's a hawk system right out here by the firehouse along the rail and then the one on Demis and Main that yeah in Demis and Main is a HW system as well that's just for illustrative purposes that uh johal buildings moving along nicely um the lighting has been installed the ceiling tile where has been installed they got their above ceiling inspection so that's done interior finishing and painting they're just about up to punch list items right now carpet's done bathrooms are done uh like I said we're wrapping that up shortly uh we actually have a punch list meeting this week on Thursday uh the the new seal has been installed at the entrance there uh looks real nice the counter is flooring so Dr it up no changes to the windows right I'm hearing rumors about Windows we're not changing any of the windows in the genre building right with this project yes no no no there's film on the ones that like the big wind picture windows we put film halfway up just so talking we should talk them but I don't think no leaks in the last rain right no I think we had that's mostly wind driven I think those leaks that we had last time there's some whisperings about new windows so we don't want to you want to get this project done yes yeah no it's it's uh we're nearing nearing completion and just uh a little public uh PSA here about do not flush wipes baby wipes any kind of wipes cuz they're not flushable uh prevent costly and harmful damage blockages uh just causes a lot of problems that's it all right questions anybody no question all right thank you Ron all right thank you that's all I have there motion to open to the public offer second all in favor I I None oppose anybody from the public who' like to speak please come forward we have 3 minutes seeing no m MERS of the public motion to call go ahead sir yes yes here no Podium please give your name to the clerk okay my name is Carlo moral resident of hackin saac three years now I like it here it's uh what my inquiry is this since I've moved here I see constantly in the local papers about all the new development going on that's a beautiful thing beautiful growth for the city you all be proud of yourselves for that and then there's always a little mention about affordable housing I know typically when the developers make uh a new uh new housing they'll allocate a certain amount as affordable percentage 10% what have my understanding here in hackin saac is that those developers made an agreement to set aside funds instead of integrating into there correct so I imagine with all this development there must be a nice little kitty of fund somewhere for this affordable housing I don't hear about it I don't see it in development uh I've made some inquiries calling offices and whatnot no one knows anything so I just like a little more transparency and maybe something to be um put out there so that uh those interested in in affordable housing could find out more about it thank you that's all real quick we could give you a quick overall um do you want to speak to what's in the mill sure um the city ordinance the city ordinance has has been that the options are that you could build 10% affordable or you could contribute 1 and a half% of the assessed value into a trust fund which we have I see our CFO sitting there what do we have in there Jim about four million 4.9 almost five million all right so we have almost $5 million that that is in this trust fund right now that can only be used for affordable houses there's a few things that we have obligations to do one is we were very close we have an agreement with fair share the city worked on this for about five years in the state to see how close we were to meeting Our obligation that the state decides what the obligation is town to town so we were only 60 I think we were 60 short um and so we had over 500 units that are already alive and well in the city of affordable housing so some of that funds will go to doing rehabing of some of the existing that's the requirement of the state state that when you have some you have to continually rehab them so some of that money will go there and the additional monies we will use to support new projects that are going to build affordable housing okay for example um one thing that's already been approved if you look next to the fire department we have a a large parking lot city- owned that's called latte so a development is going to go in there and it going to be built there with the same amount even a little bit more parking than the city has now and in addition to that they are going to supply the 60 units that we were short so just having that one we actually didn't even have to give them trust fund money we were able to manage that deal to get to where we we needed to be but we're not stopping there we're continuing to pursue this so in addition to that our agreement with fair share was we would create with what they call overlay zones so surrounding the downtown okay because the downtown's our money maker we needed to bring money into the city to offset taxes and that's what we're using that for but now development will spread beyond that in the surrounding areas those particular what they call overlay zones they cannot buy out of it they must do the 10% to build so we're we actually have a project right now that's under discussion that's right on the edge there that will be providing that 10% as part of their development once it's approved we're also in negotiation with um another developer for uh a property on Essex Street that they're proposing to build 100% affordable and then we have a third project up near Mount Olive Church that is going to build about 28 all affordable housing so the the the all affordable ones we will take monies from that trust fund to help them develop and build this because of course their return is a lot less when building affordable housing so the deal you make with the state is you collect this money and then you find developers who want to build it for the city and then we work together with them and allocate certain types of Monies to enable them I mean they'll go get tax credits from the state and federal tax credits to help them as well those those monies are available but we will also support those initiatives so we continue to have affordable housing and um actually the City Housing Authority is looking to build some senior affordable housing um on uh is it fair or Kansas Fair Street Kansas Street right what's right behind that is that fa or Kansas Kansas is perpendicular okay so it would be Kansas Street right behind there they're looking they have enough land that they could build some senior affordable housing and we're also going to support them in that initiative so those are the things that we have right on our plate right now so we're in pretty good shape but we could always you know encourage to do more and we we certainly have that in our plan and I hope I answer your question certainly did thank you very much appreciate it you're welcome thank you anyone else from the public like to speak seeing no members of the public motion to close to the public offer all in favor I None opposed so we we will be back out at 8:00 we've got a big night tonight so we'll see everybody shortly you need to you might as well adjourn we can motion to close the executive session offer all in favor I I just you can mention your case yeah we did talk in close session as usual about uh various litigation including the um prince versus I's case and um the ongoing the fire department excuse me okay and to close the council the H offer second all in favor I I okay so we'll be back at 8:00 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e yes thank you D just like they show my mic off sounds like it's working now he he said he'll use this one to give the proclamation you might want this whoever you have to give it to where I'm guessing he's coming here he comes okay it's almost you're still almost there folks ahead shoot shoot one minute get it over all right I think we're good mhm [Music] good evening everyone Madame clerk this meeting is being held in with the open public meeting Act njsa 10 col 4-6 SEC notice of which was sent to the record and star ler and was posted on the municipal bulletin board okay roll call please council member Von renberg here Deputy Mayor krino here council member Paglia here council member Carol here mayor Le Russ here would everybody please rise for the flag salute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you all righty well we got a busy night tonight so glad to see a good crowd here so if our new Chief would please come forward please have your wife come forward as well how are you see you ready I'm ready so please repeat after me I state your name I Anthony P do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the government's established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state Under The Authority Under the authority of the people of the people and that I will faithfully and that I will Faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of fire chief all the duties of fire chief according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations sir thank [Applause] [Applause] you so my biggest maral blunder is he did not have the hand on the Bible so we're going to do it again thought doing something that's a that's a first and that's on me that was just that was just practice guys we were just practicing all right your right hand raise your right hand this this one's for real I state your name I Anthony P do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support that I will support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state Under The Authority Under the authority of the people of the people and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of Fire Chief Fire Chief according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God that we got it down now remember that one now we're going to be extra good got [Applause] so on this special night I'm ask some of you to stay uh we have some proclamations to read and some of them or who are people in the room room so i' appreciate if you could stay for a few minutes uh won't take long thank you Cy congratulations again okay so it's a special night we just have a new fire chief congratulations great job uh great showing we appreciate it um we're also going to honor our clerks tonight and we're as the office of the municipal clerk a time honored inv vital part of local government exists throughout the world and whereas the office of the municipal clerk is the oldest among public servants and whereas the office of municipal clerk provides the professional link between citizens local governing bodies and agencies of government at other levels and whereas Municipal clerks have pledged to be ever mindful of their neutrality impartiality rendering equal service to all and whereas the municipal clerk serves as the information center on functions of local government and community and whereas Municipal clerks continually strive to improve the administration of the Affairs of the office of the municipal clerk through participation in education programs seminars workshops annual meetings of their state provincial and County and international profession organizations and whereas in honor of Municipal Clerk's week May 5th through May 11th 2024 the city council of the city of hackin saac wishes to recognize its municipal clerk and her staff for the vital services and exemplary dedication to the community now therefore I John P Bross Jr mayor of the city of hackensac along with members of the city council do hereby recognize the importance of the role and functions of the clerk's office and the impact it has on the public and salute our municipal clerk Deborah Carlson Deputy clerk Alison saai and support staff Del Stefano and Taylor O'Brien for their dedication and commitment to the city of hackin citizens and its local government thank you ladies appreciate [Applause] it congratulations if you folks only half of what these ladies what they have to do open request and all the different government agencies have to do with our clerks do a wonderful job with the with the city hack thank you next if Peter marus would please step forward he too so I have known personally known this young couple for quite a long time and long timeck res uh hack res what they do theity is it working thank you like I was saying about this young couple um I've known him quite a long time uh through church here at Holy Trinity in hackin saac um they've been uh great community members great citizens and uh Peter's receiving a a proclamation tonight from the city of hackin saac and it reads whereas Peter marcusan a longtime resident of hackensac for over 60 years has contributed to hackensac by volunteering his time and energy and whereas Peter in his early years and his involvement in the Boy Scouts and baseball of hackin saac and whereas Peter was the project manager in ' 84 with the construction of the ada8 handicap in Holy Trinity Parish that served hackensak andic family for years when the ramp needed to be reconstructed Peter once again donated his time and energy to it whereas most recently beginning in 2019 Mr marcusan has had a major role in the construction of the hackas community garden where helped to orchestrate the many phases of expansion with resident volunteers to where our city garden has been re recognized by anjac association of New Jersey environmental commissions the hackas Rotary Club is awarded a grant to the Garden to help with expansion because of the reputation of volunteerism by Peter as one of the leaders and the positive results whereas Mr marazan also has been instrumental in keeping our city clean by participating in Slam Dunk the junk by annual City Event now therefore I John P lebros Jr mayor of the city of haac along with members of the city council do hereby thank Peter marcusan for all his years of community service to the well-being of the city of Haack and all its residents thank you Peter [Music] you you like to say can I say something I I won't keep the department long because our city won't be safe as long as they stay up here but uh when I first was told about this thing I said you know what did I do I thought I thought maybe I had a terminal illness or something but I checked it out and and I'm still alive and well so I'm grateful for that but this really this Proclamation from what I can tell has more to do with the community garden than anything else and there's so many people that have been involved in it starting with Gary Tano and his wife Edith and Jenny Lyn Brown and uh uh and so many others uh that have worked on it the Scouts have been involved Eagle projects and building a wheelchair accessible uh garden and uh and the Girl Scouts with the butterfly garden and the uh other plantings that they've done so it's a commitment on the part of the city to Green Space you know the ecological you know mission is really clear and I I salute the city for everything they've done in that regard and look forward to to moving forward so salute I'll take this Proclamation on behalf of all of the volunteers that do so much for the city and I do I put two pieces of wood together I mean that that's about it thank you and chief congratulations this is your night [Applause] okay so whereas the benevolent protective Board of the Elks has designated May 1st through 7th as youth week to honor America's youth for their accomplishments and to give recognition of their services to community uh so we have some young people here from the AL Lodge yes can you guys come on up come on up bring them up here the antlers ANL all right so I was actually an officer in the yks when I was a young man my and my son's in the yks now you fit don't be shy so whereas no event could be more deserving of our support and participation and one dedicated to these young people who represent the nation's greatest resource and and who in the years ahead will assume the responsibility for the advancement of our free society and whereas our youth need the guidance inspiration and encouragement which we can give them in order to help them develop those qualities of character essential for future leadership and whereas to achieve this worthy objective we would we should demonstrate our partnership with youth our understanding of their hopes and aspirations and the S sincere willingness to help prepare them in every way for the responsibilities and opportunities of citizenship now therefore I John P Le Bross Jr mayor of the city of hackensac along with members of the city council do hereby Proclaim May 1st through 7th at youth week congratulations guys thank [Applause] you quick picture behind good deal thank you so much thank you [Applause] I'm just going to read it through whereas May 18th 2024 is the 14th kids the parks day organized and launched by the national park trust held annually on the third Saturday of May and whereas kids dep Parks day empowers kids and encourage enes families to get outdoors and visit local parks public lands and Waters and whereas we should encourage children to lead a more active lifestyle to combat the issues of childhood obesity diabetes hypertension and high cholesterol and whereas kids the parks day will broaden children's appreciation for nature and the outdoors and where as kids dep par day will recognize the importance of uh re recreating respon reacting I'm sorry recreating responsibly while enjoying the benefits of the outdoors now therefore be it resolved that I John P lebros Jr mayor of the city of hackin saac along with members of the city council do hereby Proclaim kids to par day we urge residents of hackensac to make time in May to take their children to a park so I'm just going to say this and a lot of us I coached for years a lot of you guys coach you have young kids it's important for your kids to get outside it's important for them to to you know be out in the Fresh Air instead of sitting behind TV screen or on a computer or on playing uh what what's the new game they all play now fortnite all right whatever uh we didn't have that when I was younger you didn't get to come back in the house till the street lights came on that's the way it worked when I was young so you were outside a lot of times so um very important for our youth to spend time outside in our parks next Proclamation is whereas Child Care aware of American and other organizations Nationwide and recognizing child care providers on May 10th 2024 and whereas Child Care provides a safe nurturing place for the enrichment and development of millions of children Nationwide and is a vital force in our economy and whereas the pandemic illuminated how indispensable child care providers are for the well-being and economic security of young children families and communities and whereas New Jersey recognizes that child care has been a Lifeline for families communities and the economy and whereas our future depends on the quality of Early Childhood experiences provided to young children today support for our high quality Child Care represents a worthy commitment to our children's future now therefore I John P Bros Jr mayor of the city of hackin saac alone with members of the city council to hereby Proclaim May 10th 2024 as Provider Appreciation Day in hackin saac New Jersey and urge all citizens to recognize child care providers for their important work and last but not least and I really appreciate you guys sticking around for this any teachers in the room there we go whereas teachers are vital in building my wife was a teacher as well so um whereas teachers are vital in building the future through their dedicated efforts to ensure our children learn that Knowledge and Skills needed to be successful in higher education careers and life and whereas teachers spend countless hours preparing lessons evaluating progress counseling and coaching students and Performing community service and whereas teachers keep American democracy Alive by laying the foundation for good citiz citizenship and mold future citizens through guidance and education and whereas our country's future depends upon providing quality education to all students and whereas the city of hackensac recognizes and supports its teachers and educating the children of this community now therefore be it resolved that I John P Bros Jr mayor of the city of hackensac along with members of the council do hereby Proclaim May 6th through May 10th as teacher appreciation week and encourage all citizens of back and Sack to join in by personally expressing appreciation to all teachers at public private and home schools for their dedication and dedication and Devotion to their work so thank you for staying for these guys we appreciate it again Chief sorry about the Bible mishap but uh that's something we could talk about for years to come but uh you got you got sworn in twice tonight that's a good thing uh yeah but the one counted was right here so best of luck to you uh stay safe may all our firefighters and police stay safe as we always amen we wish that nothing but safety um and we know you're going to do a great job with the force so we appreciate it all right thank you guys thanks everybody appreciate [Applause] it okay so we're take a 5 minute recess all will not be out of thank you all for coming e e e e e e e e e e e okay back to business we thank everybody for being patient um Leo come on back here I needed approval of the minutes of the April 2nd 2024 regular count executive session offer all in favor I I None opposed are you and with that we're going to go right to the uh City manager's report thank you mayor the city splash pads are scheduled to reopen on May 25th for weekends from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. until June 23rd after that they will be open 7 days per week the hackin sack health department will be hosting a health fair on May 18th from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m at Atlantic Street Park please join us for a day of fun for the whole family to include health information food music exercise demos and more the Recreation summer camp registration is still open please contact our Recreation Department for application information as soon as possible Shakespeare and the park along with sunset yoga are back at Atlantic Street Park remember to check out the upcoming events at our hackpack for the summer months friendly reminder to our residents please curb your dogs we are experiencing a higher than normal rate of complaints we will be closely monitoring our parks and res residential areas for enforcement the city of hackin sack's 30th annual golf outing is scheduled for June 18th at Crystal Springs gold Resort please refer to our website for more information lastly I'd like to personally welcome and congratulate our new fire chief Anthony reel I'm looking forward to collaborating with him and uh for improvement and enhance several aspects of the fire department going forward uh we now have have uh several public hearings that we need to go into so I'll turn it over to the clerk uh the first one is Bergen County open space Municipal Park Improvement Grant hearing for po of High Park okay I go yep okay uh the Bergen County open space trust fund uh the 2024 Municipal program Park Improvement application uh the city uh would like to improve the basketball court at pfly Park uh a brief description of the project uh city of hackin saac is requesting a grant in the amount of $195,000 from the county of Bergen to replace the basketball court at Poly Park the existing Court will be demolished and replaced with a post tension concrete playing surface with colorized coating and striping which will be approximately 40 ft by 60 ft long additionally the surface area of the Court will be slightly enlarged to improve to provide a runout area for individuals uh utilizing the facility which will improve overall Court safety improvements will also include two new backboards rims pole padding replacement of two existing team benches and the addition of five spectator benches uh the construction costs are estimated at $4,634.00 81.9 with a total project cost of $390,000 okay any questions from the council second hopefully we get it yes to the public okay need a motion to open to the public offer Che all in favor I I anyone from the public who like to speak about this possible Grant from Bergen County for this basketball court please come forward seeing no members of the public motion to close offer second all in favor I I okay okay thank you R thank you have a good night what else you got budget uh next is the msab uh the Main Street business Alliance budget no sorry our budget oh I have it as two okay he did it earlier never mind only bad information you're up Jim call up Jim Jim for uh the two 2024 Municipal budget hearing okay so just talk for a second about the uh about the process uh tonight uh we'll be holding the public hearing on the 2024 Municipal budget budget was introduced um at the April 2nd meeting uh by Statute the public hearing can't be uh less than 28 Days Later so that's why we're here tonight uh at the last meeting uh was the um budget presentation the PowerPoint presentation U and that's uh uh that's done to answer any questions on it um I said at the last meeting that we would hold the public hearing tonight we would amend the budget if we have to um and then hopefully we would adopt assuming that we got State approval uh we got State approval uh last Friday but contingent on a budget amendment which is on the which is on the agenda for later um the agenda the the amendment is very minor we have a roughly $96 million tax levy I did a rounding error and I was off by $266 so um so the amendment adjusts that number by $266 it also uh moves a portion of our health benefits from outside of cap to inside of cap uh no change in any dollar amounts just a a moving of funds from one area to the other okay um so tonight um we have the public hearing uh following the public hearing during the course of the agenda you'll be voting to amend the budget and upon amending the budget then you'll be voting to adopt the budget okay okay okay thank you good deal thank you Jim now do you guys have any questions for Jim any questions for Jim no good job as always Jim thank you can't believe they busted your over $266 so okay need I'm motion open to the public offer exactly uh all in favor I I okay anybody from the public would like to speak about the budget and only the budget please come forward seeing no members of the public motion to close offer second all in favor I I okay so now we can move forward what else we got are we doing uh do we have to do anything with with the ministry business L okay it'll be in here you're good John that's all I have mayor that's it yep okay um I see some people here with some young children did you have uh public comments you might want to make or you here for some is it right if I open to the public yes in this case we're okay with that you have every right to change wish otherwise those kids are going to bed at 10:00 10:30 so um need a motion to open to the public offer second all in favor I I okay you can come forward let them come and then you can come good evening how are you good evening my name is crystala Jau I've been um a Hack and Sack resident for about 10 or 11 years and in the past two years my son has been a member of the hackin sack Junior outdoor track team um we just have something that we wanted to read on behalf of on behalf of some of the mothers and other parents we didn't have a great experience this past week like two weeks ago um at our home meet which was held at hackin sack um High School um I'm going to be reading um a note from one of the mothers good evening thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak for just a few minutes um I'm Karen Thomas I have been a resident of this great City for 26 years and I'm a product of hackin sack Public School District my nieces and nephews are products of hackin sack School District but here I am at the hackin sack Junior track program and we are watching our children and we're seeing that the city is not investing into their future on April 28th 2024 the Hackensack Junior track program hosted the only track me of the Season here at hackin saac high school as the mother the mothers and the fathers of the children who hackin saac claims is their future we're trying to raise funds for our children to attend Nationals which will be held in College Station Texas this year we had a little hiccup if you may call it that um we were told that the fifth hour that we could not have a food truck on the premises of hackin high school but we do we continuously see that fi park on Fourth of July Festival and during summer right outside the courthouse during lunch hours you can always find food trucks um I feel we I feel we need to do better in supporting our our children um during the meet uh an ice cream truck was allowed to come on property but um our we had a volunteer one of our parents her brother has a food truck he was not allowed and that really really hurt us in trying to fund um that track program uh so am we good so I'd like to elaborate um could you just give your name to the clerk hi my name is Sher Watson and I'm a Hack and Sack parent of 26 years and I my three children have attended the school district I currently have a 8-year-old son who is in track right now so um what we noticed as parents is that every time we try to come together for the community for the children we have a lot of op obstacles for example um hackas High School had an incident where they uh I think they didn't pass inspection for their concession section of where you know where they do the food and everything and then they did pass and um we were told that once they passed we'd be able to use that area for the track meet um the day the day of we were told a few days before that we were told that we were not able to use it we never got any answers about it they did pass pass inspection and the day of the track meet we were running from different streets trying to carry food a lot of the parents weren't able to watch their children to perform and we as parents we all get together we do fundraisers we try to fund this program but we never can get the help that we need um and um you know it's it's very difficult a lot of the times when we do go we when a track is shut down because of repair we we have a hard time trying to find an place for our kids to practice you know to get ready I mean they don't want to no one wants to help us and we're just wondering where are the fundings where's the funds going and how come we can't you know accomplish these these simple goals this is for our kids in the community and all parents that are involved are trying to help and be as helpful as possible and it's really discouraging for our children you know they be they're disappointed they cry you know a lot of the kids say they don't want to participate in hack and secac anymore and throughout my years of living here I've seen that many times we've had some great athletes great students and they leave our they leave our community because of you know all the door being shut okay the only thing I'm going to respond to was the Food Truck Part food trucks it's mandatory that food trucks have to be licensed and they have to be inspected prior to so in order for that in order to have a food truck you'd have to notify the Board of Health who issues a license and the fire department who inp if they're cooking on the truck for instance yeah like an ice cream truck is fine because everything's preone but if there's cooking with with propane or any type of fuel they the fire department comes and inspects it and the Board of Health inspects it and then they're good for Hack and Sack for the year I believe once they do that so I don't know if that was probably what caused the problem well we were to see the person who actually was participating and helping with everything food truck he was liced he just didn't receive the physical license he had all proof with him that it had been um authorized and you know everything was ready to go but the inspector or the help someone didn't want to accept that yeah and i' I'd have to go because I wasn't there I'd have to back go back and check on on how this transpired but cuz we want to see you make money believe me and we've been making it to the Nationals no I know I've had your kids here and uh have given their Awards here taken us a long way he's actually been awarded through the mayor for doing such awesome job in our community yep you know and it's just disheartening that you know we get excited about a lot of things and we're trying to call together as a community but the doors always shut we we get you know we're certainly not trying to to shut any doors that's for sure because we want to see all of our students and our children do well we want to see all of our our Recreation programs do well I mean and most of our Recreation programs are very successful track is uh I asked my my grandson runs track so I I went first time this year I went to my first track meet for him I've been in hack track meets but up in lawa and there were a lot of people there but one of the one of the questions I answered I don't know if anybody does it and that's maybe why we don't do it for instance Junior wrestling has one tournament big tournament a year but it's their regional tournament and that's their fundraiser that's how they make their money but they charge it to get in and the one track meet I was at hackin there had to be between 2 and 3,000 people there easily all right so I fig if you charged a dollar ahead for Grandma Grandpa to come in that gate everybody's going to pay that dollar all right that's just my mentality but you know raising money today is not easy and you especially in track it's it's you know it's usually in an open area where it's may not you may not be able to to charge and I don't know you know that's one one way you might be able to to create some funds but um the year I was by you there was a snack stand under the stands there I remember having that there um but I would reach out to uh to Recreation to a younger Mr Carol and uh SCH tell the situation and to the school some of that for you you know like why if they were licensed why was why wasn't the rec able to use it yeah I mean that's that's not in our perview because that's the board of aded but we can certainly get answers to you if you leave your contact information with the city manager right Vinnie we could look into some of this and my name is Nicole hunt and my brother's the one who owns the truck it was the fth hour is his name ran by any chance no no okay no the fifth hour we were told first it was the week before we were good we were good it was private property didn't need health inspection my brother who does this for a living he's retired Merchant Seaman mhm does this for a living and he goes he has an Inglewood and a te- neck and he said find out what needs to be done in hackin sack we were told four or five different rules of what needed to be done up until Friday right which gave us no time so it's between the wreck and they kept saying the council members okay this is what was giving the information to us that you deny because you only send out inspectors for big events which I think track is a very big event because that's where like these young ladies said people the one I went to in hackensac so they men I'm sorry they said a council member they said that from the councils you guys are the ones who denied you again this is coming from the recck and my you this is coming from our Recreation Department yes ma'am ma'am all right that's a problem that's why I'm here today Vinnie that's a big problem because that nothing could be F the first we're hearing of this young lady in this town now I grew up in Inglewood I reside here in hackin saac for the last 20s something years I have three kids 30 27 now eight all going through the track program this is the first time I've ever had to go through it but I pay a lot of money to Mawa paramis because the wreck does nothing for our kids that are beneficial down to basketball and I'm being 100% honest with you the wreck does not have the concession stand open the way it should so that we could fund and make money and I am one of the parents that try my best to come up with ways to fund money for these kids to go on was open now the concession stand sells hot dogs you go to Teck and they have a chicken nuggets french fries chips we can't do but so much because we're told there's limits we what we can do you have a hot dog on a rolling uh little stand that's up there have but you could bring food in but you can't actually cook but again we're told that there's so many rules and I was so angry that I was saying that honestly if the council members want us to vote for them you have to help us to help our children because we have nothing we do more if you know and sir I I hear you and this is my my we have done more for recreation and kids sports in this town in the last eight years than I'll challenge any City in Bergen County town and Bergen County okay money new courts new facilities the courts are just com complaining about not having french fries but I'm not I'm complaining about everything to be honest with you sir and not not being disrespectful like I said do you remember the recreation building before we built this new one before this new one was built yes do you see the difference in that okay this is what we're trying to do to help our children was this let me ask you a question was this your only opportunity to raise money for track yes in this fashion yes I mean can we look Vinnie try and look and see if we can give them some opportunity of some kind of yeah I mean I go you didn't you weren't allowed to do it maybe we can help give them another chance I feel sorry I mean Miss hunt did do do you know who who said to you down at R who you spoke to I asked my husband who was informed okay that it was the council and they told us that we should come and speak to you guys and that's why I'm here today because again this is appalling that I have to go to other towns for my son to pay play sports because I'm very turned away from hackin saac and what they offer now okay all I know is we offer a lot of sports this is the first complaint I've had from a team from a from an organized Sports Group in town coming in saying we don't do anything for them um to blame the council for this who didn't even know there was a track meet is a little rough right that's a little rough coming and blaming us for something we weren't even aware was Happ happening all right it's easy to say mhm but you know it's like me accusing you of something you knew nothing about you robbed the bank I what so always three sides to a story that's why I'm here I know my side to hear your side I have a question for you are do you have like a parent organization like attract parent so I I we run um Junior wrestling we took over a couple of years ago and what we did was we have a different like parent organization a private you know account that where we raise fund so we buy all the food we sell the food like we handle all those things that might be the best way to do that that doesn't take care of the food truck situation because that's permitting that's that has nothing to do with us that's Department of Health that's that's fire but those are ways that you could really try to raise funds and then do what you need to with those funds such as Nationals and things like that well that's what we did all the parents did chiping and we bought everything and then we were told um that we can't have a charcoal grill because that was the the other question can we use a char gr as most towns because I understand the propane the safety yeah no I don't think our health department allows those I mean you can bring food in but I think cooking is something that with our health department there's rules and regulations of what we can and can't do but if the if the concession stand was fixed at the high school right so that's the next problem because then where does that come from because it's not functional even the high school can't use it but it's fixed it's been already passed so why isn't it functional if it's if it passed know if it's fixed I I heard it didn't pass code I mean that's a high school question but if if it's passed on our end I don't know why they can't use it I don't think it passed code okay okay so now who do we talk to in regards to getting that up to code for future cuz my son plays football also that would be the high school that would be have somebody from from the public schools probably doing whoever you deal with for the fields would be the person to ask on that the same same people but if we could find out about the food truck cuz if it was permitted and allowed what do has a rule that they don't like food trucks in in the town you have to have a you have to pass inspection to be given a license offer in the town and there are a number of processes and this is the state regulations this is what the state requires the city to do it's not like we're imposing things that's not required these are required things for health and safety Unfortunately they have to go through that process but I think Vinnie can you know our city manager can look into this for us and if and maybe we can talk to um you know Gerard and see if we can come up with some way for you to have some type of fundraiser to just give yourselves a little kick off because you weren't able to do that let's see if we can come up with something to help you we're certainly willing to look into that if you guys are willing to do that too how much money they looking for how much money are you looking to raise send their kids to Nationals it's not cheap you know know children them there because a lot of the times the kids actually are eligible to go to Nationals they it and like the facility in the HAC High School um we we didn't want to use it once we realized it was a lot of issues but they wouldn't even allow us to store the food there so we were working on cars on the were running back had been about 15 20 maybe more just running up and down the street with fans of food it was just it was horrible unfortunately we can't we have no input into the school that but we can certainly reach out to them and find out what really happened for you but maybe there's some way we can help out what do you guys think do you charge a mission at the at the meets no none of the track even in other towns they charge to get they B their money they Bas their money the concessions in would be in in in our case some other towns where you know it would be very beneficial to have a small admission fee to get in for you guys because it's found money for you um Junior wrestling Char they have a captive audience for for one day one day and they do pretty well and uh and they do their own concession you guys do your own yeah yeah and we don't cook anything we just no they they buy everything hot they keep it on sternos they buy p a lot of pizzas stuff like that they took the war they took the warmer out of the concession stand at the high school to keep the pizza warm we don't have we we borrowed from the rack the um the hot dog thing and the war because it's not up to C inside the they have the warm was in the back let the city manager make his phone calls information we go from there curious about who said what from Recreation yeah I'm very upset about that um cuz that shouldn't be happening and yeah we want we want programs I mean that's a huge that's a huge you know I do you work with W as far as schedules and stuff like that because I know your schedules are a lot different than any other sports because you guys are all over the place right track travels a lot um you might want to make sure you keep close contact with the new recreation director all right and when you're having your events let him know way ahead of time so he gives him plenty of time to anything he may need to do for you he can get it done all right that will help tremendously um because you guys only have like you said one match one big meet a year here right we usually do two you have your second one yet or no we're not second we're not having a second one because of the the problem well maybe we can still have the second one figure it out we get you some help yeah so you know I know it's hard depending on on scheduling in on schedule I think we only have two more yeah all right is the high school not allowing you to use the track what's the scheduling problem no we they they pick the dates yeah so um pisack has their track meets going on as well another thing sometimes when we're schap SCH can a lot of kids yeah yeah understand this season it happened a few times practices and we only practice three days a week primarily because we really don't have our own place to to you know to practice that so try to do the best that we can let leave your contact information with the clerk Deb can you just get the contact thank you ladies appreciate bring I'm sorry for what happened to you folks I'm sorry just me your names and address your phone number from them do I wait until this is like logged out um if it's quick yeah we got all this business to take care of um as I said I'm a resident I live on Stanley place my husband is a staple here in hackin saac um how do we go about parking I feel like sat hackin sack is becoming saturated with all the apartment buildings and people are now from Hamilton Place Pake Street Second Street First Street parking on Stanley place and and our residents those aren those aren't from the apartment to no no no but it's around the area from just everyone's houses from that's people getting off and and walk into the train especially run Hamilton and stuff we we have a um a lot of people that leave their car on our blocks for the weekend all right and I have pictures because I don't know who to talk to I would like to make the other end of Stanley place or permit parking as the other half by the railroad tracks have permit because per parking have to go through traffic with that traffic through the city manager or traffic department will look at that um what I highly recommend if you get license plates for car sitting there for days get it to him we we call the police they leave it for the weekend okay you have called the police yeah we've called the police they've ticketed but they'll switch cars up they leave uh commercial trucks on the Block it's just it's really bad on Stanley place right now commercial truck is it the entire Stanley or is it between two blocks in specific it's um Stanley and second because the other half of Stanley has permit parking okay so it's not as bad and we're closer to the bus stop um off of Street that's what you're I would find out from like your neighbors if they feel the same way because we've gone through this with other situations where some people want the permits and then other neighbors will say they don't want the permit so yeah we applied and they denied us oh you did through the city yeah we applied for getting permit parking how long ago um a couple months ago school and we would all right we'll look into that but when you get not numbers give it to him yes I just want to ask a question um how do we go about trying to get transportation for the hat to track you know the buses set the kids rid all these different because I noce some other towns have that and just just curious one of the reasons we don't have it is because we don't bus our school children we don't have bus right so it would be a matter of and then comes the fundraising because then you got to raise money to rent buses which is very expensive which is crazy expensive now but uh so like with wrestling every the parents yeah they wanted it too and we now football football is now renting renting junior football now rents bses to go to games we used to I coach junior football for a long time we used to just drive the kids yeah it's hard but uh yeah that's if we had if we had school buses we that would be easy to solve can I ask what's happening with with this Dome that everybody was talking about for so long that was going to be this multisport complex I think it was going to be put up it'ss actually it's started the compaction of the soil is started it's in Johnson Park yeah yeah yeah because I know that was some years back and we were what happened to no that's it's coming okay thank you so much you're welcome thank you for your take care have a good night have a good I'm going to leave it open for one more person all right oh what about Mr Ser Rich did you want to speak also during this session no no okay you're going to wait till you want to hear the rest okay I'll be quick all right go ahead quick you guys you remember me last time yes there three men yes hello councel um my name is Nan Bolton Jamaican organization New Jersey yes we met last year around this time or April but I come to you this time around not to ask but to donate we are we want to donate a bench to the city of hackin in honor of our our great men and women and uniform and um also our fallen heroes from uh the Caribbean who fought in many wars who are whose names got lost in history so you want to do a ceremony with donating the bench to we're looking at 187 I believe um that Veterans Park with the down by the bakery yeah that's exactly what I was thinking of said that so have bench we have everything situated Revolutionary War Cemetery exactly we want to give back cuz you guys helped us so much help us with the you know anything we need to do you want to get back to the community we do our Memorial Day service there every year too so that's a great place for that that might be a nice time to to do I know if you can do the Ben bench by then but that would be perfect so I have the bench if you guys could I could give it to you guys set it up and D Day on May May whatever Memorial Day is that's where they'll have service that day so if that doesn't since it's short notice I understand we could also choose um in July if you guys want to do it in July as well we're kind of flexible in that regard just make sure uh manager give me your contact okay and you have a lot of homework so just may schedule so this way I know it's going on to so I can get it on their schedule all right that sounds good and it's just us giving back to you guys we and we're going to be you know not keep taking taking taking but we want to do stuff to beautify our great city which flowers get the kids involved and do certain community service type of stuff right so appreciate it thank you again counil and have a good evening thank you Mr B okay motion to close public session does he want to speak all open he doesn't want to wait he wants the way motion to close offer second all in favor I okay back the business resolution 15724 hang on I got papers hang on this is a resolution for the final adoption of ordinance number 16- 2024 an ordinance to amend chapter 170 of the code of the city of hackensac parking to update monthly pricing for the use of certain off Street Municipal parking lots this ordinance has been published according to law and now calls for a public hearing need a motion to open to the public offer second all in favor I None opposed anybody from the public who' like to speak to this ordinance and this ordinance only please come forward seeing no members of the public motion to close to the public offer second all in favor I I None opposed motion to adopt the ordinance offer second all in favor I I be resolved by the city council of the city of hackin County of Bergen and state of New Jersey that ordinance number 16- 2024 has passed the second and final reading and is here by adoption thank you resolution 58-24 this is a resolution for the introduction of ordinance number 19224 an ordinance establishing a new chapter 85 of the code of the city of hackensac filming to establish regulations for motion picture and television production within the city need a motion please offer second all in favor favor I I None opposed be resolved that the above ordinance being ordinance 19- 2024 is introduced is now passed on first reading and that said ordinance shall be considered for a final passage at a meeting to be held on May 21st 2024 at 8:00 p.m. or 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 be given an opportunity to be heard concerning set ordinance and that the city clerk being she is hereby authorized and directed to publish that ordinance according to law with a notice of its introdu uction and passage on first reading of the time in place when and where said ordinance will be further considered for final passage thank you resolution 160-24 159 159 I'm sorry 15924 say resolution authorizing introduction of the Main Street business Alli Alliance Inc 2024 any a motion offer second all in favor I None opposed resolution 160-24 say resolution authorizing tax funds for state board judgments any a motion offering second all in favor I I None opposed resolution 161 d24 this is a resolution authorizing tax appeal attorney to settle the cases on the attached list dated April 29th 2024 that were scheduled for trial or settlement any a motion offer second all in favor I I I None opposed resolution 16224 it's a resolution of the city of hackensac authorizing the submission of a bur County open space Recreation flood plane protection farmland and historic preservation trust fund 2024 Grant application need a motion please offer second roll call I'm sorry all in favor I I I None opposed 163 d24 is a resolution authorizing to amend the calendar year 2024 approved budget motion second all in favor I I None opposed 16424 it's a resolution authorizing the 2024 Municipal budget adoption a motion all in favor I streamlining it tonight resolution 16524 it's a resolution authorizing Award of contract to Suburban engineering for licensed site remediation professional hang on a minute did I which one was I supposed to pull 169 I thought it was one I'm sorry I thought it was 165 but it was 169 again resolution authorizing Award of contract to Suburban engineering for licensed site remediation Professional Services for the Carver Park basketball court Improvement project offer all in favor I I None opposed 16624 it's a resolution authorizing Award of contract to Suburban Consulting Engineers for the Clay Street combined sewer overflow Community Project funding Grant submission need a motion offer sorry all in favor I I un oppose 16724 a resolution authorizing Award of contract for Engineering Services hackensac Avenue easement preparation to negly Engineering Associates offer second all in favor I N opposed 16824 it's a resolution authorizing Award of contract for Engineering Services City parking lot a and Atlantic Street Garage entrances need a motion offer second all in favor I all right we're going to pull yeah 169 going to pull so we're pulling 169 yep okay now you're up to 170 did we we did 168 yeah the garage okay 169 we're pulling 17-24 resolution authorizing the award of contract to Athletic Field Care LLC for field maintenance offer okay all in favor I I 17124 a resolution authorizing the W of contract to B&G aquatic Services LLC for Carver and ply park splash pad maintenance second all in favor I I then opposed 17224 a resolution authorizing acrw time payout of $222,300 66 to Deputy fire chief John Nyon offer second all in favor I I none none opposed resolution 17324 resolution authorizing the city of Pakistan tax collector to prepare and mail estimated tax bills in accordance with public law 1994 section 72 offer second all in favor I resolution 17424 resolution authorizing payment of bills motion to pay the bills offer second roll call council member Von rudenberg Deputy Mayor krino hi council member vaglia hi council member Carol hi mayor lebros I abstain okay any conflicts on the uh consent agenda got Recreation refunds grants okay everybody okay looks good following items are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted in one motion any item requiring expenditures 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 reflected in full in the minutes including any exceptions and or additions resolution 17524 is resolution authorizing Recreation refunds 17624 is resolution authorizing Bergen County grant for home American Rescue plan resolution 17724 the resolution authorizing Award of Co-op contract for the purchase of 1224 Chevy Tahoe SUV and two 2024 Chevy Blazer SUVs for the fire department resolution 78- 24 it's a resolution authorizing tax collector to convert below charges to property leans as per njsa 40 col 48- 2.14 17924 is a resolution concurring with planning board's Redevelopment investigation findings regarding block 66 Lots 26 27 28 29 30 38 41 43 45 and 48 which was 1 essic Street and designated it designating it as an area in need of Redevelopment for non-c condemnation purposes resolution 18024 is a resolution authorizing approval of corrective action plan for the 2022 annual audit resolution 18124 is a resolution conditionally designating 123 Anderson Street urban renewal LLC the redeveloper of block 425 Lot 1 123 Anderson Street within within the too many numbers I'm I I'm assuming it's 123 Anderson Street Redevelopment plan I think we have an extra three and resolution 18224 is a resolution authorizing the issuance of a request for proposals for the operation of a food concession at forini Park we need a motion need a motion need a second second all in favor I I None opposed okay need a motion to open to the public again offer second all in favor I I un opposed anybody would like to speak please come to the podium give your name to the clerk good evening Mr serbo how are you uh good Rich serbo Spring Valley AB hackin sack New Jersey okay look first of all the air conditioner was on all night who the heck is paying that bill you don't need it okay that's expensive we had it shut down a couple times you don't need it it's freezing in here okay that's number one number two two is um where were we going I I I lost my train of thought just falling asleep there with this this uh talk we had at the podium but uh what else oh the uh Aviation seems to be a concern with uh Kathy canestrino and let me tell you the the traffic on Spring Valley is much more uh bothersome than anything going above the homes or buildings in hackin it's true come and sit on Spring Valley Avenue during uh both rush hours and the rest of the day it's and it's very narrow in a couple spots where you can't even get through sometimes you have to wait until buses go by it's really bad okay and you're urbanizing the city more and more that's uh another uh you know piling on really of what's going on around uh the city with cars and traffic it's urbanization it's unnecessary you're overdoing it okay a couple other things uh uh walking I I told you once before on on Johnson Avenue behind this area where they're going to build a uh a religious uh something you said I don't even know a but it's just a mess it's it's it looks like it's a a slum okay so you're talking about the fencon area Rich what's that you're talking about the fencon area the yeah the fenced in area any fenced in area it looks slummy okay it's uh people seem to throw lots of trash and there's bottles around there's trash along we will have that cleaned up yeah so that that too okay a couple what what was I going to say like I say I'm I'm searching for the things I want to talk about now and uh uh well Spring Valley have of course uh the the the the sound above us nowhere near as as uh bothersome as as our road it's just awful and U so I guess that's it I uh I wanted to say a few more things but like I said I'm I guess I have early early Alzheimer's too so I you know I forget things and it's uh it's getting that way comes with our age sir yeah it does it definitely does um so thanks for your time thanks a lot Mets are up 53 just so you know okay anyone else from the public like to speak seeing none motion to close offer second all in favor Debbie andette Janowski has something for you for uh gentlemen they want to um oh yeah did she give that to you right um no we've talked about you talked about it with Alice I think right andette I'm just saying about the uh the certificate the certificate you wanted done through the city did you give it to to Allison oh okay okay you've got it okay motion to close oh no we have to speak sorry we did already right close the public right you guys have to oh yes okay your time I think it was think it was a pretty good night thre us off without let no track people come in but I didn't want to see those kids sitting here no that was a smart thing to do um it was a a pretty nice night all the proclamations in the beginning um want to congratulate griel again um thanks him for many years of service and looking forward to his leadership in the fire department um a special thank you to our wonderful clerks Allison and Debbie um we don't know what we would do without you it's a lot and the most important part is we laugh a lot together I think we make the our company and our late nights together a lot of fun so we appreciate it and we appreciate everything you guys do I know you deal with a a lot um thank you Mr Bolton for thinking of us and our veterans he's a great um partner with the city and he really um is someone that's that's you know proud to be involved and we're proud to have him involved and it's it's nice when when people come back and give back um Mr uh marusan same thing he's you know always always thinking of ways to try to help the city and and you know we appreciate his involvement um a lot um I'm I'm glad you know I wish that the moms from track um were you know I'm I always support them coming out and and and speaking with us and voicing their concerns but you know when things like that happen if they could you know try to get to us and see you know if there's some way to help um I think that you know U Mr Carol is doing a great job down at wreck and I think that we're trying to do as much as possible for our programs I think the fact that you know sometimes 50% of our agendas are involving parks and improving parks and prrams and things like that is a huge indication that we want you know our programs to do well um I do agree with them you know I think that a lot of times you know it it's it's hard when you go to other towns and you see their programs but we're we're trying to get there and I think for everyone that has been in Hack and Sack for a while you've seen how you know great the programs were and the parent involvement and we're trying to do that again um like I said I'm involved in wrestling and and softball and baseball and we're really trying to get participation rates up and parent involvement up and and that's a huge thing so you know whenever there's roadblocks like that whatever we could do to help support the programs we're we're going to we're going to try to do it and we just have to have um you know open communication um and to all our teachers out there you know thank you again for everything um you know it's not easy being a teacher nowadays but you know we appreciate everything you do for our kids and that's it for me have a good night everybody thanks Steph of course congratulations to our new fire chief and I think it was a wonderful showing that it looked like probably the whole fire department was here uh at least a majority of the fire department was here and showing such wonderful support for their Chief and I I think it was heartwarming and touching and something that it's really a good feeling that you get from the city when you see that type of thing and and of course our clerks where would we be without us who would keep us in line who would keep us fed who would make us smile sometimes even on a bad day um you know it's uh it's we would be lost without both of you and and notd and forgetting you know Del and Taylor in the office as well so we really appreciate everything you guys do and I won't go through the whole list I I I Echo the words that uh Stephanie said so graciously for all the other folks that were here tonight um I'm very concerned about the comments by the women that were here about the problems in Recreation and and Vinnie we have to get to the bottom of who this was that instead of directing them to our new head of recreation to help them told them you have to come to the Council of course they're the ones that are doing all this and I mean this we have this has to stop you know whoever this individual was that that did this this is extremely inappropriate and undermines the authority of the head of recreation as well as puts us in a very bad position so we can't we can't let that continue and and if anything we can do to help these folks that you know if really things got messed up with their only fundraiser you know maybe we can work some kind of a fair out for them to do something at the at the Eminem building and help them get started because it's all for the kids and we we can't let them down uh just a few things quick on on the agenda tonight uh we had two budgets on the alliance budget I mean they did a great job it was lean and mean just like the city budget was and um you know they're continuing to do very good work and it shows uh the new the new folks that they have cleaning up downtown and doing the garbage are doing a much better job um so they they hired some new folks last year and it seems to be going well the city budget of course Jim always does a wonderful job so you know kudos to him and his staff and it was a tough year for the city but we pulled together and we got through it and um looking for greener pastures next year let's hope let yes let's keep our fingers uh just a few little things on here that I usually talk about we're continuing to work on the Atlantic Street Garage you know that garage is an old garage needed a lot of work tonight on the agenda was uh designating some work for the entrance because it's confusing coming in and out of that garage so uh some work's going to be done there um one essic street was on for uh a dist for a designation as a Redevelopment area that's the corner of Essex and Hudson The Big Empty lots that there uh so they're really just getting designated so they can move forward with putting something appropriate in that location and similarly on Anderson Street uh there's a a new owner of that property so this is just a designation as him to be the redeveloper as he now owns that particular piece of property thanks any you folks that stuck with us through it all and those that are watching at TV Lander will watch tomorrow on on their computer um have a good night you're up but well thank you first to jila for all I think it was 27 year that he work for the fire department congratulations to the new Chief and we wish him that a lot uh thank you to Peter marani he was the baseball coach from my son Joan almost 45 years ago and thank you David and Alis for all the the good work and feeding us all the every week and car park is almost finished right and looking forward to get the scoreboard it's so sad we have to laugh right it's going I know it wasn't even I don't know what happened to it and we continue working to try to get the paper work from the city lawyer and the way we can finish the Johnson Park and thank you for coming having night okay there scoreboard no I'm not going with the scoreboard my buddy Vinnie can't handle the scoreboard anymore here well I like to congratulate our new Chief uh Fire Chief and um again I want to thank the greatest clerks in New Jersey what a fantastic job they do day in and day out you know I look they are that good I'm sorry they are good and uh thanks for everyone coming thank you all that's listening to us uh through the internet and TV and all God bless and have a great night thank you Jerry so as mentioned earlier by the city manager's report the splash pads will be opening soon uh for our children to use um we have the two splash pads going one in Carver Park one in uh poly um health fair upcoming check check out our website cuz all that stuff is on our website also pay attention cuz our summer concert series and Friday nights at Atlantic Street Park will all be up on there soon along with the Shakespeare in the park and the Zumba schedules they'll all be uh up to date soon on the uh on the website um as was mentioned June 18th is a city golf outing uh Frank was able to get us into Crystal Springs this year looking forward to that that should be fun um congrat ulations to our new fire chief Anthony real um did you know I'm sure he's going to do a great job he's born and raised in hacken sack he's a hackin sack graduate he's a comet everything everything you want in your your your your people right and uh he's going to relate well with everybody in our town which is and he already has he's been a deputy chief for years but looking forward to working with him and looking forward to see where he's going to take the department I'm sure it's going to be a good thing congratulations to Pete marcusan longtime friend welld deserved Pete's always there whenever whenever anybody needs help Pete maran's there um to our clerks wonderful job can't believe it's a year since we congratulated you last year went quick time flies when we're having fun right but uh no thanks for all you guys do you you know Feed Us you keep us going you remind us 4,000 times a month that something's do Allison and and it's all necessary and good um the track incident fundraisers are not easy right so but there's ways to do it um the biggest problem is Parental support and having volunteers and you know these but it seems like they had that John they were just thed at every Point well for an event like that when you have two three th000 people you need like 50 people to do it so I don't know where where they're at with that but you know something I think the biggest help that they could get from us is to show them how they can do it that's that's step Steph's volunteering so I saw I saw Stephie raise her hand so that thank you Stephie um all the proclamations we had tonight were special special to the teachers you know my wife's been a teacher for years stephie's a teacher Kathy talk coaches and teachers retired teacher retired teacher so uh it's a great trade and uh pays benefits on both ends you educate children and you feel good about yourself at the end of the day when you after you do that so um I got say downtown's looking good m i mean I've been going downtown a lot lately it's like it's such a change I drove Story the paper too yeah I drove three blocks the other day and said I'm going to count pedest rans I count 115 people in three blocks that's a lot of people you're seeing people on the street which is good 10 years ago that's more you see on Main Street in a week 100% so in a month yeah and uh it's it's changed so much and people I you know I hope people remember how bad it was because it really was bad other towns were dropping their unfortunate people homeless people they were picking them up in their towns up in northern part of Bergen County they would literally drive them down to Main Street in hackin sack and just dropped them off on the street 3:00 in the morning yeah it it was a regular thing and we had to talk to the police Chiefs Association to put it into it but uh that was happening there suppos God bless Julia Orlando because she really we worked closely together with her in the homeless shelter and we made a lot of progress and Mike m came up with that initiative and uh that those things all helped to change Main Street so everybody have a wonderful night it's 20 after 9 it's not too late enjoy see you in a couple weeks thank you motion to close offer all in favor I