all right in accordance with Section Five of the open public meetings act chapter 231 PL 1975 notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board designed for that purpose a notice was transmitted to the official newspapers provided by resolution adopted January 6 2024 meeting notice has also been continuously posted on the bar website may I have a roll call yes mayam council president Morgan here councilwoman Phillips here councilman oison here councilwoman Russo here councilman Pagan here councilwoman Haren here and mayor thank you thank you please rise for the flag salute ALG to the flag the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible liy and justice for all please remain standing for a moment of silence thank you please be seated I'll now open it for public comment on agenda items only that's public comment on agenda items only please step up to the microphone state your name and address for the record not seeing a public comment on the agenda items we'll close that portion we'll move into the caucus work session not seeing any CAU Fus work session items we'll move into a proclamation declaring the first Friday in June to be a national gun violence Awareness Day fortunately no one is here tonight oh you are okay someone is here that's wonderful okay would you like to join me at the microphone right here I'll present the proclamation to you you are I'm Kathy rimza Kathy pleasure so the Proclamation declares that first Friday in June to be National Gun Violence Awareness Day in Haden Heights to honor and remember all victims and survivors of gun violence and to declare that we are a country we as a country must do more to this end this Public Health crisis whereas every day 120 Americans are killed by gun violence and more than 200 are shot and wounded with an average of nearly 1,00 gun homicides every year and whereas Americans are 26 times more likely to die by gun homicide than people in other high inome countries and whereas New Jersey has 427 gun deaths every year with a rate of 4.8 deaths per 100,000 people a crisis that cost the state 5.3 billion each year of which 168.5 million is paid in taxpayers is paid by the taxpayers New Jersey has the fifth lowest rate of gun deaths in the US and whereas gun homicides and assaults are concentrated in cities with more than half of all firearm related gun deaths in the nation occurring in 120 Seven Cities and whereas cities Across the Nation including in Haden Heights are working to end the senseless violence with evidence-based Solutions and whereas protecting and Public Safety in the communities they serve is mayor's highest responsibility and whereas support for the Second Amendment rights of law- abiding citizens goes hand inand with keeping guns away from people with dangerous histories and whereas Mayors and law enforcement officers in partnership with local violence intervention activists and resources know their communities best and are the most familiar and local criminal activity and how to address it in the best position to understand how to keep their citizens safe and whereas gun violence prevention is more important than ever as we see an increase in firearm homicides and non-fatal shootings across the country increase calls to domestic violence hotlines and increases in City gun violence whereas in January 2013 Hada Pendleton was tragically shot and killed at age 15 on June 7th 2024 to recognize the 27th birthday of Miss Pendleton born June 2nd 1997 people across the United States will recognize National Gun Violence awareness day and wear orange in tribute to miss Pendleton and other victims of gun violence and loved ones of those victims whereas the idea was inspired by a group of her friends who asked their classmates to commemorate her life by wearing orange they chose this color because Hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other Hunters when out of the woods and orange is a color that symbolizes the value of human life and whereas anyone can join this campaign by pledging to wear orange on June 7th this first Friday in June in 2024 to help raise awareness about gun violence and whereas by wearing orange on June 7th 2024 Americans will raise awareness about gun violence and honor the lives of gun violence victims and survivors and whereas we renew our commitment to reduce gun violence and pledge to do all we can to keep Farms out of the hands of people who should not have access to them and encourage responsible gun ownership to keep to help keep our families and our communities safe now therefore be a resolve the Haden Heights New Jersey declares June 7th 2024 to be National Gun Violence Awareness Day the mayor and Barrow Council encourage all citizens to support their local communities efforts to prevent the tragic effects of gun violence and to honor the value of human lives thank you for attending tonight and bringing this to our attention and again as a community that has unfortunately in the course of uh the last several decades experienced gun violence um and we we uh we lost two tra you know officers tragically to gun violence here in our own toown so this is a really important initiative and we are so thankful that you brought it to our attention um you and your group and we are happy to honor her yeah on behalf of Mom's demand action and everybody you everywhere I appreciate and and say thanks to do for you doing this of course yeah thank you so much for you thank you so much y of course could you get with my camera too in a little bit right next to you I will try okay I'll just get gra it yeah anybody else picture with the mayor all right I'll get only if there's AI involved yeah thank you so much thank you so much it sorry all right so moving on to the approval of the minutes of the May 7th 2024 business meeting May I have a motion to approve the minutes the May 7th 2024 business meeting Pagan so moved motion by councilman Pagan may have a second Russo second seconded by councilwoman Russo all those in favor I I any opposed or abstained abstain an abstention by councilwoman Phillips next we'll look for the approval of the executive session minutes the April 16th 2024 business meeting and the May 7th 2024 work session may I have a let me ask for a motion for the approval of the executive session minutes of the April 16th 2024 business meeting moot motion by councilman Anison may have a second second seconded by councilman Pagan all those in favor I any extensions yeah abstain councilman Russo and councilman Phillips abstained next I look for the approval of the executive session minutes for the May 7th 2024 work session I have a motion for those motion by councilman Haron may I have a second second second by councilman Pagan all those in favor I any opposed or obstain abstain exension by councilman Phillips all right next we'll move into council member reports starting at the end councilman Heron um so we have the DCA uh Grant hofs Park um has accessible equipment schematics under review um with the parks and rec committee and once those are approved we can um work with the bach Associates team to place the order and schedule the installation um we want to formally thank the new director uh Scott trainer deputy director away down more right up next to it yeah um deputy director Ashley Pagan as well as assistant County engineer Anthony oul from the county department of Parks and Recreation for repainting the cannons in time for our Memorial Day ceremonies I know it makes a big difference um they look fantastic and we really thank them and you Kelly for pushing for that too um to get done in time um we are um getting prepared for Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday and they will kick off um 10 10 o'clock 10 o'clock um at the Suns of Italy and um followed by the parade 10 10:30 it's a little earlier than that oh it's it's 10 10 it's 10 and then 11 there you go okay at the Cannons right um so we're looking forward to everyone uh joining us there the sons of Italy and uh following with the parade and then the ceremonies at the Cannons at 11: um and July 4th celebration planning is well underway we have quite a few um bands dance groups Community groups attendees and are looking for more so if anybody has any other groups Community groups are interested in joining um sign them up um that's uh that's all I have for now wonderful thank you councilwoman Haron uh councilwoman Russo thanks mayor quick report so the engineers committee met at the end of April we were talking through the um design plans that Bach Associates had developed for Garden Street from first to Second Avenue um which is right outside the the high school so we're uh the game plan is to hopefully have those ready um for construction immediately after the end of school so that way um that can happen while school is out of session so not to be so disruptive and other than that um I think that's it for right now in terms of the um bigger news thanks thank you councilman councilman odison okay [Music] on sh tree DPW theyed we had 50 trees they got 40 ground some really didn't anywhere and then last night that nice I got a nice thank you card we had planted two trees1 on the commission um dve working hard to get the bronze um gr did the trade [Music] out on the issue of the F we brought that up last time there's a movement away from do a plan and keeping so I think what we're going to do is keep the [Music] one then all right thank you councilman council president Morgan thank you mayor um just briefly uh few weeks ago uh the mayor and I met down at Devon Avenue Fields the soccer fields uh with uh members of the soccer club and uh the Board of Education or not the board themselves but the the school the school district uh to discuss the conditions of the field um and uh issues as far as maintenance uh were discussed and addressed and uh you there was concerns about uh the condition of the fields um at this point so uh we've got a plan for ongoing maintenance and hopefully uh to keep the fields in better shape than they've been in the past uh years which which was the impetus for going into the trip party agreement in the first place um so it was a progress it was a was a productive meeting and uh I think the parties are intending to be more frequently in the future so as to avoid any um uncertainties or you know any issues in the future um other than that I just wanted to uh say thanks for all those who pushed the proclamation for the gun violence awareness uh month in height it's a very important issue and I hope that all the residents uh take note of it and continue to take the issue seriously so thank you thank you council president councilwoman Phillips yes thank you mayor I have the um fire report for March 2024 there were 13 calls in Haden Heights 16 calls in barington five calls to Mutual Aid 12 calls to the highways for a total of 46 calls an average of five firefighters per call um so we thank the fire department for their continued good work um at Rhythm and Bruise this past weekend on Saturday uh I had the opportunity to meet our K9 Luna um who's a beautiful dog and it's my understanding Luna's doing amazing uh with her training and should be done in just a couple weeks um Sergeant Selby is doing a wonderful job with Luna um I also collected all of the trading cards that are now available for every single one of our officers so that's exciting Chief yours is great um I won't I won't put it on the screen but everyone should get them I think be handed out um at different events throughout the summer um and thank you to hip for a great job on Rhythm and Bruise thank you for our Police Department thank you to the DPW for their efforts with the event um unfortunately it was raining but there was still a very good turnout um and because councilwoman Heron mentioned it um a little bit with respect to the cannon painting the county is has a huge initiative called Parks alive this year and they're doing a ton of work um to the parks in town uh I don't know if anyone's seen the new pedestrian Bridges um that are beautiful um they're accessible um my son who's in a wheelchair used to have to be helped over the bridges um and now he can go on them himself so he's thrilled um there's also some work being done at the Dell I think they're putting in restrooms they're putting in a picnic Pavilion um they're doing Trail and drainage improvements so all of these Investments by the county really improve our town for all of our residents so I'm thrilled to see them um it looks beautiful and uh last but not least I want to thank my fellow council members and the mayor for picking up my slack the last seven weeks while I was on maternity leave so I appreciate you all worked hard thanks Howard especially you thank [Laughter] you oh and the staff appreciate you thank you councilwoman Phillips uh councilman Pagan nothing in report mayor okay nothing um mayor's report um I want to um Echo the uh the accolades I think regarding hip and their Rhythm and Bruise Festival this weekend which was a huge hit I also do want to highlight Chief and I don't know if this got to your attention uh a resident reached out there was a small I think somebody somebody was injured at the event and they expressed gratitude to your officers their timely response and handling the uh the medical incident out there so um huge accolades for those officers that were out there s Graham and um Teddy Hagen Bush and I believe I'm sure you had more on the street out there as well but um always good to hear positive report um with that I look forward to Memorial Day um it's always it's a great event to honor our veterans We Do sons of Italy host a lovely event up at the VFW or the um the American Legion Post where the World War I Memorial is uh followed by our VFW hosting the event at the Cannons I encourage everybody to come out and attend it's a great day um and it's a great tradition to honor our veterans we have so many here in Haden Heights um and I want to thank the county for all of the hard work that they're doing here in Haden Heights specifically with the cannons in a timely fashion getting them painted the work in the Parks um I encourage to ask people to be patient with the work as always I know it can be disruptive or people may be confused on why um per perhaps the Cannons were painted brown but again there's always a there's a method to their Madness and why it was a primer yep yeah no no no so of course but like I said it's just they're gray already yep yeah Facebook couldn't keep up so that was all um and obviously you hear the First Responders out there responding to a reported fire in barington but I know today our fire department was down in Gloucester City uh lending a hand to the boort emergency so accolades to our fire department once again for uh the mutual Aid that they lend to our neighboring towns with that I have nothing else in the mayor's report uh unfinished business we have public hearing and final adoption of ordinance 2024 1547 an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget cost of living allowance and to establish a cap bank and JSA 4A colon 4- 45 uh4 may have a motion to open the public hearing portion of ordinance 202 24547 R motion by councilman Russo and I heard a second by council president Morgan so all those in favor I I any opposed or abstain public hearing portion is now open for ordinance 2024 1547 if you'd like to make a comment on that ordinance please step up to the microphone state your name and address for the record not seeing any public comment may I have a motion to close the public comment portion ordinance 2445 or 1547 motion by councilman Pagan Pagan sorry second may have a second seconded by councilman Phillips all those in favor I I the oppos or abstain thank you and now may I have a motion for adoption of ordinance 2024 1547 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget cost of living allowance and to establish a c bank so moved motion by council president Morgan may have a second Russo second second by councilwoman Russo may have a roll call Vote Yes mayor council president Morgan yes councilwoman Phillips yes councilman oison yes councilwoman Russo yes councilman Pagan yes councilwoman Haron yes thank you thank you next we'll move into new business we have introduction of ordinance 2024 1548 an ordinance of the bar of hat Heights County of camon state of New Jersey establishing new new chapter 152 entitled lead based paint the the public hearing and final adoption is scheduled for Wednesday June 5th 2024 at approximately 7:00 p.m. here in the municipal building located at 6:25 station Aven Haden Heights New Jersey I have a motion to introduce ordinance 2024 1548 moved motion by councilman Pagan may I have a second second by councilman Haron may I have a roll call vote it's council president Morgan yes councilwoman Phillips yes councilman oton yesan Russo yes counc pagam yes councilwoman Haron yes thank you thank you and again public hearing and final adoption is at our next meeting scheduled for Wednesday June 5th 2024 at approximately 7 PM the Miss Wednesday June 5th is be oh primary day thank yes Wednesday June 5th 2024 approximately 7: PM in the municipal building located at 625 station AV Hadad hunt New Jersey next we have resolutions 2024 1110 resolution approving change order number one for the fiscal year 2023 Camden County open space improvements if Sherl Memorial Park resolution 2024 111 resolution authorizing the award of a contract for Haden Heights Library interior improvements to caby Construction LLC resolution 2024 1112 resolution authorizing payment of bills and claims for the second half of May resolution 2024 113 a resolution providing for a meeting not open to the public in accordance with the provisions of New Jersey open public meetings Act njsa 10 colon 4-12 a matter related to rental registration ordinance discussion is expected to be about a half hour under a formal action may be taken on the foregoing item following executive session finally resolution 2024 1114 a resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for a special solicitor for labor and employment matters I have a motion for those resolutions please motion by councilman oison may I have a second second seconded by councilman Pagan may I have a roll call vote please yes mayor council president Morgan yes councilwoman Phillips yes councilwoman oison yes councilwoman Russo yes councilwoman Bagan yes councilwoman Haron yes thank you thank you now open it for public comment that's public comment on anything at all you please step up to the microphone just state your name and address for the record how you doing man Brian shoot my address is 239 Richards Avenue I do live in barington uh I was born and raised here in Haden Heights I now reside in barington but Haden Heights is a huge part of my business I pride myself on safety and quality work at a fair price and I just want to continue working in Haden Heights without causing any issues and I'm hoping that you guys can help me find some answers um for anyone that doesn't uh know why I'm here I was working in the 200 block of 9th Avenue last week uh it was about 8:15 a.m. I was approached by a gentleman works for campon County and he advised me that he was there to shut my job site down because I did not apply for a road permit um I've been doing tree work in South Jersey since 1996 um I know nothing about a road permit um apparently if you work on a County Road you have to apply for a road permit I asked the gentleman what um the permit would cost if it was a free permit he's he had no idea how much it cost um so I did make some phone calls and was told that the permit is $1,200 for um the permit application fee and that is $200 an additional per day to park your truck on a County Road um and as all you guys know there's quite a few County roads in Hatton Heights I wanted to come to the council meeting tomorrow because I don't want any issues um with the county or the town or you know the police department here I try to you know always work in a safe Manner and have my road cones and safety signs out um I do a ton of work in Haden Heights and um I don't think it's fair to the residents at Haden Heights that live on a county road to endure some kind of fee because obviously if for instance the job we did on Friday was a$1 thousand job so if I got to pay $1,200 for a County permit and then $200 hour to park my truck it's not fair to the residents of the Town um and obviously I don't you know the guy basically told me that he wasn't going to find me that day but he pretty much was bragging that he just find another contractor or find another contractor two days prior and I said did that guy even know about anything about a road permit and he said no so I mean the guy seemed like he was taking joy in F you know Finding contractors working on County Roads and I got quite a few friends that are contractors and I'm couldn't be any more upset about the whole situation so uh Mr sh first and foremost you do do a lot of work and we see you in town you're one of the the few tree service companies that I know upholds our shade tree ordinance thoroughly you know the first thing you always ask is did you talk to shade tree before you before you touch any Tree on our on our curb shps in this case it was a a tree on the shade in the shade tree area but um I did follow up right away couple neighbors actually who I had ran into later that day told me about your uh the uh situation I reached out I spoke to Deputy County Administrator Dominic bper today he is unaware of situation where we would have had um where they would charge for a a tree vehicle parked on the roadway chipping chipping part of the tree and I explained to him the same logic that you just explained to us with the notion that um we would you would now have to pass that cost along to any Resident who lives on our County Roads and we have a number of County Roads I we I agree 100% and Dominic agreed as well so he's going to look into it he's going to speak with Bob Harris who oversees that general department and get to the bottom of this and then hopefully I'll have an answer but he first and foremost said don't pay anything he said don't pay anything and let him get to the bottom of it first mayor just to let you know uh Bob Harris and his wife Patty live on my street they live about eight eight houses from me on Richards Avenue um I did put a call in to uh speak with Mr Harris um on Friday um and my phone call was returned by a gentleman named Brian Eisen apologize if pronunciation is wrong e i s n and that's where I got all these um facts and figures from um the gentleman that stopped during the day on Friday um his name is Justin DeMarco and that's the gentleman that told me that he was going to shut the job site down and that I had to leave and that um he was the one that was kind of the way I took it bragging that he had just find another contractor $1,000 and he told me that's where to F start at too and and listen the challenge is too and we know this first day you worked on the shade tree and Tom I want to say but dealing with you deal from the DPW end is that our DPW is the one that has to handle most of the trees on our County Roads anyway because the county won't come out and cut them down so it's just it's illogical to it doesn't make sense so we will get to the bottom of this and again I appreciate all the good work you do do in head Heights and I assure you we will get to the bottom of this and we'll get it addressed as soon as possible just not only for you but for the residents mayor on my schedule for tomorrow I'm going to be on a county road so do you think I should reschedule that job or do you think I'll be okay let me I should have an answer for you tonight if not first thing tomorrow morning my phone's always on yeah if I need to reschedule or pull to plug just please let me know like I said I'm not looking here to cause any trouble and I don't want any problems in town we actually just did a job for the town I don't know if you guys had saw that it was over on New Jersey Avenue it was a problematic tree we to took care of that and all the residents were tickled pink with what we did over there so let me follow up with it but I I will I'll get an answer for you first tomorrow morning at the latest also wanted to add as a business owner to try to deal with the DPW Sean Logan is 110% Aces to deal with I've reached out to him on several different trees where we had calls and he's always responsive they just did a job on 10th Avenue at uh Tim dy's house yesterday Tim had reached out to me and it had damaged his house on and cars on quite a few occasions and yeah they got out there in a timely fashion and took care of that so just wanted to let you know real good yeah so Al righty I appreciate your time thank you thank you all right any other public comment all right not seeing any uh may I have a actually we'll recess into executive session I forgot we have one item so just ask everyone to vacate the chamber just so we can conduct our executive session it'll take about 10 minutes I'm thinking right tops at this and then we'll be back in here e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e mayor we're back on a record [Music] byoun