##VIDEO ID:JmskiH3tE2s## 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 e e e e e e e e are we live yeah okay Lisa we're ready okay it's 7:03 I call tonight's council meeting to order roll call [Music] councilman Bruce Bennett here councilman Frank Matthews here councilwoman Anna Marie Sasso here councilwoman Raina leosa here councilman Dominic mey here councilman Mike skara here councilman Joe oty here please rise and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible liy andice for all adequate notice of this meeting's been provided by the angel schedule of regular meetings here adopted and posted on the public bulletin board at the municipal building emailed to the horor Press well not really the the Harold News the record and The Gazette and all persons who requested the mailing a such schedule and a copy of said schedules remained in file on the office of the borough clerk from and since December 19 18 2024 at this point I'd like to bring Pastor hoe forward for invocation yeah right on there thank you very much thank you for the honor of being here tonight at the start of New Year I'm I'm honored to be one of your pastors here in town and to have the distinct privilege of praying as we open this meeting so will you please join me in prayer dear God we thank you for this uh special occasion we thank you for this night in the cold and the wind that we can gather um under your guidance and under your view and we can dedicate ourselves again to you we thank you for your care over us this past year 2024 we thank you for looking out for the burrow and and all the things that took place and now Lord here we stand at the beginning of a new year and we just want to ask for your continued care for us we pray for our our mayor and our councel we pray for all those gathered here tonight we pray for our First Responders um we thank you for them we thank you for their service we thank you for all the hard work that goes into these Council meetings and I pray that you would just help our leaders to continue to be men and women of uh Great Character and great morals and great ethics uh as they lead our town here at Hawthorne we pray that as things come up during the course of the year that you would give them lots and lots of wisdom uh even as Solomon prayed for wisdom and they you'd give them lots of discernment too as they try to figure out uh what's the best decision what's the right decision uh what's best for the town of Hawthorne so we thank you for them uh and all the folks here in in the burrow Hall who work so hard every day behind the scenes we we're grateful for them too and their good work to keep our town running and and uh we just want to rededicate ourselves to you here at the beginning of the year we pray for your blessing on the town of Hawthorne we thank you for your blessing in the past we look forward to your blessing in the future pray all these things in your great name amen amen thank you Pastor well I appreciate everyone joining us tonight normally get about three or four people so this is a treat before we begin I'd like to introduce some members of the audience that are with us tonight so we have Senator Kristen Cado assemblyman Chris the philli assemblyman Al barles Board of Ed president Marco Toro and Board of Ed vice president Alex caveo and anyone else I didn't mention you're all [Applause] special at this point I'll turn the meeting over to the clerk oh boy clerk thank you um want to say good evening to everybody thank you for joining us as well and um best wishes for a great 2025 to you and your families at this time um our next order of business is the nomination of council president uh the names will be called in the order by which were drawn by Lots so I will now ask for nominations for council president councilman mey do you have a nomination I nominate Frank Matthews okay councilman Kiera do you have a nomination I second that nomination okay councilwoman leosa uh nothing councilman Bennett I do not councilman Wy I do not councilwoman Sasso I do not councilman Matthews I do not okay so a nomination in a second has been uh stated for Frank Matthews as council president I will call the role councilman mey yes councilman skara yes councilwoman leosa yes councilman Bennett yes councilman wki yes councilwoman Sasso yes councilman Matthews obain motion carries congratulations Frank Matthews who will remain the council president and mayor Lane would you like to administer the oath of office to Frank yes thank you great thank you you we have the clap for you guess you want to hold the Bible want to look at the camera oh yeah your other left Frank your other left there you go that that's that's better makeing sure you're on your toes okay I state your name I Frank Matthews do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution that I'll support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance that I'll bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments and to the governments established in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and will perform the duties of I will perform the duties of 2025 council president 2025 council president of the burrow of hathorne of the bur of forth Faithfully faithfully and partially partially and justly and justly to the best of your ability to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God [Applause] congratulations good race congratulations welcome to the crew great again after weex three our next order of business is the nomination and election of council vice president I'll now now ask for nominations councilman Mee do you have a nomination uh I nominate Bruce Bennett for vice president Council Miss Kiara do you have a nomination I second that nomination councilwoman leosa I do not have anything okay councilman bed no nomination councilman wki nothing at this time councilwoman saso no nomination council president Matthews no nomination okay thank you I have a motion in a second for Bruce Bennett as our vice president I will take the roll call councilman mey yes he was thinking about it councilman skara yes councilwoman leosa yes yes councilman Bennett abstain councilman motki yes councilwoman saso yes council president Matthews yes great motion carries and mayor Lan if we will now administer the O the office to council vice president Bennett right here congratulations I is that your name iuce do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution support the Constitution of the United States United States and the Constitution the constitution of the state of New Jersey state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments to the governments established in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and will perform the duties of and will perform the duties of 2025 Council vice president 2025 Council vice president of the burrow of foror the bur of foror faithfully faithfully and partially partially and justly justly to the best of your ability to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God [Applause] congratulations conratulations congratulations glad you happy to turn the meeting back over to you council president Matthews thank you remarks well thank you all for joining us tonight I'd like to thank my colleagues for voted confidence and my family for allowing me to spend the time doing the job that we do last year we addressed a number of unfunded or underfunded largescale capital projects we completed the installation of the burrow wide water filtration system we're up and running and meet all the current federal and state requirements our multi-year water main replacement project is ongoing it will take years to complete all the locations but we are on schedule both of our mandated water Rel at ated projects will have a financial impact on our water users we have a 9% increase scheduled for this year and anticipate the same for next year we're also proceeding to implement another state unfunded mandate that will require all rental units to be inspected for lead paint the brow will engage a lead inspector or Reta rental property owners will need to hire them or another vendor and it will all be at their expense the state also released another total uh affordable housing in obligation that each town is required to provide while receiving a totally unattainable value every city in the state has no obligation fair is fair but the release formula is not this is a requirement that will need to be challenged last year we completed a total overhaul of our EMS communication systems almost all the pieces are in place and would started out as a simple upgrade turned into a total replacement decades old equipment and safety was the driving that project our Athletic Field Improvement projects will continue and as scheduled in both for accessibility and modernization of our facilities now last year we worked with our Police Department to address their staffing needs this year we will work with them addressing their spatial needs based on size of the force and requirements of the configuration of spaces based on certificate certification requirements improvements will continue in our Gateway area due to another year of funding through the neighborhood preservation grant program the committee is working on programs both physical enhancements and potential Redevelopment of our downtown facades based on last year's announced initiative lastly we look forward to Preparing a budget that comes in as low as possible uh but unfortunately I anticipate there will be an increase we again have a high number of capital projects on our plan so this year's budget theme may be frugal it'll be a challenge balancing the capital and yearly items but please remember that the state mandated projects will have an impact on our budget that are out of our control the above mentioned items are not a complete list but rather an overview of what we're going to address this year we look forward to the year ahead and working with the administration and our residents to keep horor in the place that we love and call home thank you again for joining us and have a hey have a hey and healthy 2025 thank you [Applause] Mr Vice President thank you Mr President I'd like to thank my colleagues up here for putting their faith and trust in me and making me their vice president as you know the primary responsibility of vice president is to step up in the unlikely event that the president becomes incapacitated for some reason so my top priority this year will be keeping Frank healthy and trust me that's not easy given all the political functions we have to attend I'd uh like to start out by reassuring our residents that there's absolutely no truth to the rumors floating around that we are planning to implement congestion pricing in Hawthorne Central business district so Celtic corner and blackjacks can rest easy what we do plan to do is continue working together as a team all of us one cohesive unit to improve the quality of life here in Hawthorne that includes maintaining and wherever possible updating our aging infrastructure you want healthy drinking water whenever you turn on your Taps you want the waste to disappear when you flush your toilets you want to drive down streets that aren't full of potholes it's stuff you don't normally want to think about but we do every day we think about it it also includes making sure our emergency responders the police fire department and ambulance Corps have the support and resources they need to protect you and your Lov ones regardless of what might come your way a perfect example of that was the we had a gas M break on Hawthorne Avenue today and the police and all four fire departments turned out in forc to make sure that the people in that area were safe and they were there until Public Service capped the broken Main in The Frigid cold and uh those people I don't know why they do what they do but I am so thankful that they do it and we're going to give them all the support they need to keep doing it it also includes maintaining and improving Hawthorne's recreational facilities and ensuring that they are always accessible to the people whose hard-earned tax dollars fund them as you can imagine it's a big job it's too big for one person which is why there are seven of us up here all working together to make these things happen we may all come from different backgrounds with different political ideologies and different Visions for what the future may hold we may not always agree on how best to handle every issue that comes before us but when it comes to doing what's best for this community rest assured we will always find a way to come together and wind up on the same page we've done it countless times before and we will do it again that said I'd like to wish all of our friends neighbors and constituents a very happy healthy and prosperous New Year and may God bless the burough of forth [Applause] any other comments Dominic uh I'd like to wish everybody a happy and healthy New Year's I want to congratulate Frank Matthews and our president Bruce our vice president and look forward to working this year with our Council because we have a few big projects coming up thank you very much and Marie yes I first would like to thank uh my fellow council members and mayor and Eric for their patience this past year as I uh typically ask too many questions it is my honor to serve alongside each one of you and our burrow this year was a transformative year with many changes in a progressive Direction have having been implemented from our streetscape to our Recreation areas and very importantly our infrastructure I am very excited to announce that the burrow website is under a reconstruction for ease of use autofill forums firsthand information and language options being first in mind for our residents this is a lengthy project so please be patient with our team however rest assured it is happening for you this past year having have been able to attend the needs of our volunteer ambulance Corps with donations for needed equipment um as Council leison I'm always in awe of their dedication personally as the mom of a young man who at 16 was very excited to put that uniform on he got the extraordinary training offered and honestly being mentored by the PowerHouse senior members was a gift I will forever be grateful for I cons I will continue to strive to ensure that they have the equipment that is lifes saving along with all of our First Responders in our fire department and our Police Department many towns don't have what we have we are such a special special town I'm equally impressed by our library its ability to attend to every single resident in terms of our interests for free or very very nominal um it's another gem that we have that again most towns don't have what we have um there are more exciting changes happening on the horizon for the exterior of the library so stay tuned I'm very proud to say that your Administration is always looking out for your best interest especially when it comes to your safety helmets on any E Bike e anything that is not a car are necessary and we will be implementing such we won't wait for anyone to get hurt you matter to us I encourage economic development in our town please support your local shops and businesses your Administration is working hard to assist each one in every way possible but without your patronage we cannot be our best selves I know our mayor and Council will continue to have the residents at heart when making all decisions some decisions are more challenging than others but we always have each one of you in mind when making those difficult decisions both fiscally and quality of life in nature I look forward to continuing to work with everyone this coming year I look forward to working for each and every one of you this coming year I wish you all a very happy healthy and prosperous new year thank you thank you Michael [Applause] thank you council president uh first I'd like to congratulate our council president Frank Matthews um and also congratulate our new vice president uh Bruce Bennett um I don't have any prepared remarks but I want to make a statement um as all of you might remember a few months ago we had some fires here out uh out in New Jersey and we all smelt the smoke well you think about what you saw in the news the last few days out in California uh you you need to pray for these people their homes are gone some of their lives have been lost uh all their belongings are gone it's devastating so I hope everybody can uh just think about them in their thoughts and pray for them uh for whatever God has in their hands um with that I wish everybody a happy and healthy 2025 and we will do the best we can for you guys thank you [Applause] thank you um 2025 is here and it's continuing I just want to thanks and appreciation that I serve the buau of um horon as Council representing you um the people of this great Community um as I entered into my six year as councilwoman I commit to continuing my work with the current Administration and serving all the residents of the horon to make us stronger um as I continue to serve the community I have and will continue to listen to your concerns and ideas and how we can make hathorne better for everyone my promise to you is that I will do everything in my power to sustain and continuous improve our community in 2025 and Beyond and ensure your voice voice is heard on Council in addition I'd like to extend a huge thank you to our fire police ambulance and domestic violence response teams they're always dedicated and therefore the call of duty to protect our residents and our businesses let us not forget our burrow employees working at the municipal building our burrow and Deputy Clerk and our Finance Tax health building Recycling and DPW departments which tiously continue to serve our residents they do not miss a beat we are truly fortunate to have dedicated and caring employees who make hathorn special and it's all of us together working together especially the projects that Frank has um mentioned and Bruce and all the projects that the mayor will be talking in his speech it's collectively working together and it's working hand in hand to close it is truly honored to serve the residents of horor have a happy safe and healthy New Year and I look forward to getting 2025 off to a great start thank [Applause] you not much to say after that and I did promise mayor Lane that he could have some of my time so I'd like to congratulate Frank Bruce I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and pray for a safe [Applause] 2025 okay can I have approval of the minutes for regular meeting of December 18th 2024 sove second motion by wki second by leosa any discussion roll call W yes SK yes Sasso yes mey yes leosa yes Bennett yes Matthews yes motion carries public comment I'll now open the meeting to the public anyone desires to be heard come on forward to the microphone state your name seeing no one I recognize that we uh close the public portion of the meeting can have a motion so moved second motion by Bennett second by wki all in favor I motion carries I'll turn to the administrative agenda presented by mayor lean thank you Mr President and congratulations to you as president and to Bruce as vice president uh looking forward to working uh hand inand with uh you two and the entire Council for the year 2025 good evening friends residents and neighbors to those of you here this evening and to those of you watching Viva TV or live streaming my very best wishes for a happy healthy and safe New Year our printed Barrel calendar was mailed out in mid December and at this point you should all have received it please read through it as there is a lot of information in it and also our website has a wealth of information and I encourage you to sign up for nixel messaging you can find details on page eight in the calendar I would like to update you tonight on several important topics the first being those affecting our hathorne water utility and our infrastructure the Burrow's new state-of-the-art mandated posos treatment system for water utility construction saw complete this past spring and has been operational since April all tests that have been dated have non detect results not just for current regulated posos chemicals but also ones proposed for regulation by the EPA and still others not yet proposed for regulation as a participant in CL in a class action suit against multiple posos manufacturers the burrow expects to receive in excess of $2 million a settlement money to apply towards the7 million construction cost that the project has cost us the balance of the cost will be financed by low interest loans to the New Jersey infrastructure bank and to be repaid over the next 25 years there will be an additional operating cost for our utility for periodic replacement of the treatment media in the P system a cost that over time will likely average as much as the loan payment in the project our other state mandate Water Project is also progressing phase two of the water service line replacement program has been completed and construction on phase three has begun phase four should be out to bid by spring and and phase five to follow in the fall putting us on schedule to be completed this 10-year project by 6:30 2031 although this project is mandated under the state regulation targeted at lead service lines the the ones in hathorne are actually not lead but they are rather galvanized steel annual testing in hathorne has not revealed lead problems the 10e cost for this program which is also being financed through the low interest loans through the New Jersey infrastructure bank will actually be roughly twice the cost of the posos treatment system totaling as much as $15 million the two enormous costs of these two projects coupled with normal increases in operating costs and Debt Service for smaller capital projects is driving sufficient water rates increase for customers after major increase in 2023 and 2024 there will be a 9% rate increase in 2025 followed by a 9% increase on 2026 mayor Goldberg appointed a committee to upgrade our athletic fields and we are in the final stages of upgrading everything we are now installing new bleachers at the Franklin Field along with new Press Box and the only other item left to do is wag one and wag two bleachers we plan to make those bleachers ADA Compliant and we are in the process of completing an application for additional grants for this project the burrow received a grant for $70,000 to assist with the installation of these projects as I reported last year our communication system was over 40 years old last year we completed the replacement of our emergency service Communications equipment in our Dispatch Center and then rescue 5 backup all of the portable radios for police fire and ambulance have been purchased programmed and given to all three emergency services for their members to communicate with our Dispatch Center the buau has seen a significant increase in the total volume of calls for our Emergency Services police fire and ambulance the horor police department had 46,656 CAD entries in 2024 this allows the department to be effectively store data for all emergency service calls within the burrow in 2023 the police responded to 33,44 calls in 2024 they responded to 33,000 071 calls for service they issued 6,738 motor vehicle summonses they responded to 690 motor vehicle crashes and 292 arrests in 2023 the fire department responded to 581 calls by the end of 2024 they the fire department responded to 769 calls in 2023 the Ambulance Corp responded to 1,281 calls and the completion of 2024 they had responded to 1,141 calls in 2024 the burrow initiated a program for leasing of Fleet Management we will be able to shrink the fleet reduce maintenance cost and increase the proceeds from disposable of old Vehicles while breaking even or slightly reducing our annual flea costs the primary goal to be achieved is improving the reliability of the vehicles in the fleet thereby enhancing the departmental efficiency the fire department is working with the administration for the purchase of a new Rescue vehicle for company 5 and 2024 the police department was accredited for 3 years by the New Jersey State Association of chiefs of police the police dep Department won its third motorcycle officers participated in a benefit motorcycle run charity event sponsored by a a l Restaurant in hallworth the owner held a raffle for a Harley-Davidson for all the police departments who had participated also the officers are continuing with the FBI leads Trilogy series series for dedication of law enforcement leadership this course is a three-year Course and there are only three other departments in the state of New Jersey that have been awarded this honor as I stated in my weekly letters Traffic Safety is a priority my Administration working with the council has limited this on several local streets to a 4ton weight limit we have also continued to work on lowering the speed limit on our on the balance of our streets to 25 mph some of the other accomplishments that we were performed by our traffic Bureau and our Police Department we receive grants totaling $115,000 for distracted driving and drive sober or get pulled over pedestrian safety enforcement through triaa the hathorne police department traffic Bureau is key to ensuring road safety and accessibility benefiting both residents and visitors through traffic safety initiative Ives collaboration with local agencies and enforcement uh efforts the bureau addressed crash uh prone areas promotes safety and manages traffic during community events essential services like school crossing guard management child safety seat installation and equipment maintenance further highlight its commitment to a safer burrow working with the police department administration and Barrow Council we have increased the traffic officers from 3 to six this investment reflects a unified effort to meet the Burrow's growing safety needs enhancing the bureau's ability to enforce laws address concerns and create safer roads for all overall we hired two additional police officers this year making the total number of hired officers at five within the last three years the neighborhood preservation program again is very busy in 2024 and I want to thank our our NPP coordinator Nancy Agnello for the entire stakeholders for the work that they have done so far this year the committee has made significant strides in enhancing the Gateway district with successful musical events ongoing beautification projects and continued support for our local businesses the facade signage project began seven storefronts are actively participating and it is expected to the remaining owners that will take advantage of the grant opportunity this project has been a potential to greatly enhance the overall appearance of our downtown area contributing to the revitalization and the appeal the the burrow continues to actively work with developers on land to bring about positive growth in our community and in our tax base at the same time we want to we want all to new development to be redeveloped and to smart to be smart development to fix our Interior commun Community and alongside the existing uses of structures we have used the Redevelopment process for such purposes however in some instances such as a former pyrox site for our efforts to have have been hampered by legal action by those who do not have the best interest of our community at heart we will be seeing we where we where we see this happening will depend on our community and where developers want to work with us for the good of our community we'll do what we can to help in the process we had 55 new businesses were approved by the planning board in 2024 the zoning ordinance that the council adopted last year is working out very well for our residents when doing additions or development in their property the rezoning of single family residences to make improvements without spending time and money appearing before the planning board or the board of adjustment is a good thing we are able to give approval to a vacant property on gel Road the Nissan dealership and the Fisher tile for a commercial business establishment to be developed both buildings will be fixed up and the entire property will be cleaned up we continue to encourage commercial growth as we move from heavy industrial users to clean more modern users we want our existing businesses to be able to grow and prosper recognizing changes that will help strengthen our tax base and our sense of community many of you have been inquiring about the Lial store status the corporate office in Germany has pulled the plans to build a store in the burrow and it has also stopped Construction in several other states the 2024 budget included a tax rate of 4.4% as the burrow continues to deal with inflationary pressure with the biggest culprate being the cost of employee health insurance through the New Jersey state health benefits fund plan which is higher than recent years unfortunately we expect this trend to continue in 2025 our DPW director has continued to work hard hard retrofitting our Fleet making our Fleet more efficient and saving us money some of the items noted are completion of the Pasa system overhaul the South wag we field and made that South Feld Southfield wellwater system operational again ordered a new jet vac combination truck that will be delivered in early 2025 purchased and received a new John Deere front loader with a leaf grapple attachment for collection of leaves and with the equipment we are able to do to be more productive and to have the record year on our leaf collection we upgraded 650 water meters in the burrow we purchased and received five one 500 5,500 galon salt brine storage tank as required by D and the lighting and bleachers at the upgrade of Franklin Field I promised that our Fields would be in shape early last year but unfortunately the contractor had problems with the installation of the new lights on the Franklin Field we did get them ready for the baseball season I've been working with psng to have our street lights changed to LED versus highpressure sodium this change will also save the burrow money I had worked with public service to H have them install new LED lighting at the New Jersey transit station and platform for the Safety and Security of our commuters I also met with New Jersey Transit and they will be very they were very amable to working with us to clear up the lot and make it safer for our commuters I've been working with the county for the last 2 and 1/2 years to prohibit the left turn lane where traveling down Ray have extension onto North watchong Drive on specific morning hours and evening hours we are also working to have a lead lead green on Ray Avenue Extension at gel Road when turning North on gel Road this past year the burrow applied for and received 1,371 417 in Grants for the burel projects some of the notable grants are the NPP was 125,000 for three years a total of 375,000 and we will receive 125,000 this year in year four and in 26 for year five firefighter foam suit grant for 75,000 and a washer and dryer grant for 20,000 grants for prep Paving Westervelt Avenue North Wong drive and Grand View Avenue for $468,900 American Rescue plan grant for $26,000 clean communities grant for $ 42,2 and the municipal Alliance grant for $827 as you know I am in my office full-time every day and I welcome your input your suggestions and your ideas I also want to hear from your from you for your concerns please don't hesitate to call my office I want to continue to work together to make horor the best that it can be on Fridays I send out a newsletter to keep you all up to date please sign up for nixel to receive it or go to the burrow website if you have any information that you would like to have on that you would like to have included in the newsletter please reach out to me thank you to the burrow administrator Eric Mau our burough attorney Michael Pasqual and my Administration staff for the great job that you do for all the residents of the burrow of for Thorne thank you to the burough Council the burough Clerk CL the deputy clerk for all the hard work that you do and commitment for our residents to our Police Department our fire department and our ambulance Corps thank you for your commitment because you are the best of the best to our outstanding DPW thank you for all that you do especially behind the scenes to make the burrow well work well with each and every day 247 your hard work and dedication are very much appreciated to the very dedicated and professional employees in burrow Hall thank you for the great job that you do each and every day to make hathorne run smoothly thank you to the thank you too to the members and volunteers who selfishly give their time all year long serving on boards commissions and committees and to Residents who just step up when asked to provide their experience on projects to support and serve the burrow you all are the heart of this community and I am especially grateful that you volunteer to serve and to the residents I want to thank you for caring so much about one another and your investment in hathorne hathorne has a reputation of caring about one another we take action when needed because because of you hathorne is a very special place to live and work I want to thank my wife Margo and my family for for you and for the unwavering support that I that you have served I it is an honor for for me to be your mayor and I am looking forward to 2025 best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year to everyone thank [Applause] you I'd like now to uh go on to my uh Administration un like my my attorney Mr Michael Pasqual to give his report oh thank you mayor I wasn't actually prepared for a report but I simply want to wish everybody a very happy healthy New Year I look forward to continuing the good work that we do in this town and uh very happy to be part of your team to the council I love working with you as well and uh Frank Bruce congratulations let's have a great 2025 thank you thank you Michael Joe do you have a report I do mayor thank you uh just before I begin though congratulations to uh Frank and Bruce um and uh wish everyone here a happy 2025 it's always a pleasure to continue working with the burough of Hawthorne uh the galvanized water service line replacement project uh phase three work began on Hawthorne Avenue on Monday January 6th and is uh continuing along uh the 2024 roadway improvements uh Road program in local blade project uh the Ada Rams have been completed and the punch list items are currently being addressed uh the Franklin Field bleacher improvements project uh zenth construction is uh currently awaiting delivery of the Press Box to the site uh which they expect sometime uh mid to late January uh the 2023 roadway improvements uh Road program and local Aid uh the final assessments are currently being compiled and a memo drafted uh with the intent to present an approving resolution at the uh January 22nd meeting and uh the Lafayette Avenue streetscape phase 3 project a uh preconstruction meeting is currently being coordinated with the AA burms LLC and that concludes my report mayor thank you Joe [Music] and and now I'd like to ask uh my administrator Eric Mau thank you mayor congratulations to Bruce and to Frank um wish everybody a Happy New Year and all I can say is progress thank thank you the dress he's ging since he came here moly I now have the uh appointments uh for the different boards with advice and consent of council um for the Board of Health of Frank Cabell and or not and Laura macowski Laura siik and frankell Frank cell is not at not here for members of the environmental commission Raina leosa Mary Mahan Mike marani Charles sibling Holly Cohen and that's it you have a motion to approve motion by mey second by Bennett roll call and uh I have I thought you doing them separate okay I'll wait keep going zoning zoning I have the appointment of the zoning board uh elener winsky Marco Tara and Dan Ramirez and our Risk Management Consultant David vaza So motion by mey second by Bennett roll call Bennett yes leosa yes mey yes Sasso yes skara yes W yes Matthews yes motion carries I would like all those uh people that I uh I named to please come forward so I can swear you in go last time chance you're G to get to do this Eric's got the I state your name left uned stes unit States unes and in the St the authority some are approval some are [Applause] motion do whatever want congratulations don't know you do congratulations keep taking those amazing pictures congratulations I'm glad I'm glad someone's okay now I have uh mayor's appointments for the shade tree commission Lisa shacko Municipal Alliance committee members if anybody's here okay Lisa's here Lisa Lisa yeah I said that our coordinator's here chip Miller Board of recreation come on up Ryan if your names on the list come if your names on the list get over there Lor yeah Municipal Alliance Municipal Alliance yeah go the names mayor Pastor howy come on Pastor ho you have to read the names read all the names oh my God I'll read them if you want okay good all right reading the names for the mayor Nancy agell Lorie Fernandez Kyle Graham Thomas bushakis Captain Joe Carr Kelly Clifford Brian Cosgrove Jan Graziano mat corvo Captain Robert King police chief Neer The Honorable John Miola Helen Pasqual senior Shireen Schult officer Tim Vega Richard SPO Jr detective SP Sergeant Ian spone Pastor Hoy van djk and Lieutenant Ben Vena all of those who are present uh we also have for the Plenty board you want to do those now or wait we can do those now the mayor is nominating and appointing as a class two member Christopher J debella senior and as a class three member Mary l d Matia alternate one Robert Vena Eric Mau the public agency compliance officer Solid Waste advisory committee William haffler and Alternate rep Solid Waste advisory Council Eric Mau your board of recreation was Chip Miller and Donald Neer a motion to record second by get toass thank you Happy New Year throw me a bone Che your check in your mailx oh thank you I forgot all got one of two the same looked up of abil get a baby yeah sure whatever okay thank you thank you now now shake the shake the hand Lisa got to shake the council's hand come on come on that look Beau okay so we're done with the mayor okay Council appointments and oath of office we have ca1 appointment you have an O the office be quiet appointment of the 2025 Municipal orders Supple cloney and Company we have a represented with us this evening have a motion to approve so move second motion by withi second by skier all in favor oh well sorry clerk has to call that one I got you all to say it though go ahead roll call wki yes skara yes saso yes mey yes leosa yes Bennet yes he's the Good swisser Matthews yes motion carries mayor would you like to SAR them in he's got you do this one you got I'll take the Yankee you got your debut your mic's off though he didn't know he was going to be on there got upgade I know we had a choice what I didn't know we had a choice anybody can hold the Rival okay that's good thank you you can turn him down I state your name follow me swear you 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 the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same to the governments established to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in the state and in the state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and will perform the duties of and will perform the duties of auditor Faithfully faithfully and partially partially and justly justly to the best of my ability to the best of my ability so help me guide so help me guide and cut down the cost [Applause] to stay [Laughter] here we see his smoke as he leaves okay before you sit down mayor we have another one ca2 planning board class 3 member 2025 C Council representative Frank Matthews I have a motion to approve so move so second motion by wki seconded by Sasso any discussion well bit of a pain roll call Bennett yes leosa yes mey yes Sasso yes skiera yes wki yes Matthews oh certainly motion carries come on down we are encourageable right come on down okay now the camera's over there left turn around turn around I I state your name Frank Matthews do solemnly swear solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution I'll support the constition of the United States of the United States and the constitution theti of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith in Allegiance fa and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments and to the governments established in the United States established in the United States and in the state and in the state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and will perform the duties of perform the duties of class three planning board representative Faithfully faithfully and partially and justly justly to the best of your ability best of my ability to help me God so help me God congratulations you're excuse welcome back welcome back yes [Music] yeah less than an hour all right get back to work Frank all right before we get the resolutions I know we have no committee reports but the Chamber of Commerce wanted me to announce that their company of the Year dinner will be held on Friday January 31st at Macaluso at 6:30 uh they'll be honoring armor product and Remax Corporation or executive group uh music will be by joea and friends and tickets are $85 per person please contact Meg at the chamber for tickets okay resolutions we have consent agenda R 1-25 through r 22-25 r 1-25 be quiet down there R 125 is the approval of the 2025 temporary budget R 2-25 is reestablished the petty cash fund r325 is designation of official depositories for 2025 R 4-25 is the designation of legal newspapers for 2025 R 5-25 is reaffirm while previously adopted procedural rules protocols and resolutions for 2025 R 6-25 is 2025 professional service contract for the bough engineer posal engineering R 7-25 20 25 Prof professional service contract for municipal planning consultant Burgess associat Inc R 8-25 is the 2025 professional service contract for special labor and employment Council the Chilla business conso LLC R 9-25 2025 professional service for contract for Bond councel McManaman Scotland and Balman LLC R 10-25 is 2025 professional service contract for burrow attorney Michael J Pasqual s Squire R 11-25 2025 Professional Services contract for the municipal auditor Supple Clooney and Company LLC our 12-25 is a 2025 professional service contract for risk management Consultants the Vasa agency R 13-25 2025 professional service contract for grant writers Capital Alternatives Corp R 14-25 is a 2025 professional service contract for Appraisal Services McNerney and Associates Inc are 15- 25s 2025 professional service contract for certified tree expert Alberta tree services our 16-25 is the 2025 public agency compliance officer Eric Mau our 17-25 is tax interest penalties or 18-25 is to renew the used car lot licenses for 202285 or 19-25 is the renew Amusement device licenses for 2025 and R 20-25 renew massage established licenses for 2025 R 21-25 is renew the leeso program for the police department and R 22-25 is authorized HPD to participate and acquire equipment in the federal 10333 program and that's all I have to say motion Move Motion by second second by withi any discussion anybody want to read that 10 fast not if if the only thing I was going to ask about is the newspapers I thought we were going to you made a comment that we were moving away from newspapers no no the the state changed the definition of legal newspaper like tapit toor is still is now a legal newspaper correct well the the state has put a temporary fix in place they're going to consider a more permanent fix as of that would as of right now you could yes but again everything's going to change come March so right now there's a temporary fix in place uh because some of the South Jersey newspapers in Central Jersey are out of business I was going to say they're closing they are now you can use an online if it was your newspaper before got it so stay tuned there's more to come thank you you you didn't read your league line just saying oh I read the one about Boswell though roll call wki oh yes skara yes especially on r10 d25 yes jeez wow little something there okie dokie Salo yes Mee yes leosa yes Bennett yes Matthews yes motion carries bills give a motion to approve the bills and forward them to the treasurer for payment so Move Motion by with tech second me I never motion skir sorry skir second by Mee yes okay roll call Bennett yes leosa yes M yes saso yes skara yes Wy abstain on the fire department yes on all others Matthews yes motion carries public comment I'll now open the meeting to the public if anyone desires to be heard please raise your hand to be recognized come forward to the podium and state your name I after I SW in they all left I I would just let the pastor come straight up okay no no it's uh it's past W I just said pastor yeah okay well seeing no one I entertain a motion to close the public comment don't move motion by second by skir all in favor hi now can we have a benediction from Pastor Wes Ean Ean how you pronounce his last name well ask use the you got to just turn it on on the bottom p we get a clarification of how you're an engineer you can work this out e e all right I guess so it's e Eon with an i good evening evening microphone but uh in the interest of time I'll make sure that we are uh expedient with this benediction we do have the on off button all right uh let us B our heads to the maker of heaven and Earth we give thanks for the opportunity to gather to learn and to understand the work of our Township council members our mayor and other public servants with every New Year comes new challenges but also New Opportunities we commit this entire body of public servants to the work which lies ahead in 2025 we pray that what was discussed here will inspire us all to act with purpose and integrity for the betterment of all citizens in this great town let us go forth with with an inspired hope and commitment to making a difference May the light of understanding shine brightly within us as we seek to love our neighbors as ourselves now God as we depart from one another but not your presence I pray that a spirit of unity invades this town with a renewal uh A Renewed focus on shared prosperity and Abundant Blessings guide us and sustain us as we all seek to become more and more like Christ in whose name we pray amen amen amen thank you sir thank you the next council meeting is January 22nd at 7 pm have a motion to adjourn so move second second motion by wki second by leosa give it to her all in favor hi hi we're adjourned a little more than an hour that wasn't too bad no you're right Eric