##VIDEO ID:cHYrBMsPipI## 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 call tonight's council meeting to order roll call sitting clerk Bennett here leosa here mey here sassa here skiera here wki absent Matthews here Matthew please rise and join us in the pledge of allegiance to the of the United States of America and to the Republic stands One Nation God indivisible liy and justice for all adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the annual schedule of regular meetings here adopted and posted on the public bulletin board at the municipal building emailed to The Herald News the record The Gazette and all persons who requested the mailing of such since December 7th 2023 approval of minutes approval of the minutes for the meeting of November 18th and the bid minutes for the downtown revitalization phase three and the lead service line Replacements phase three projects second motion by Scara second by leosa any discussion roll call Scara yes Sasso yes mey yes leosa yes Bennett yes Matthews yes motion carries public comment on open the meeting to the public anyone desires to be heard on agenda items come forward state your name for the record oh this is later I'll tell you seeing none I attain a motion to close public portion of the meeting so move so so second second baso all in favor I I motion carries adoption of ordinances we have zoning ordinance 23 53-24 ordinance to amend and supplement chapter 540 zoning and the B of P Thorne Pake County New Jersey regulating the gasoline service stations with convenience stores in certain zones I now open the meeting to the public if anyone desires be heard regarding this ordinance please raise your hand and be recognized come forward to the microphone state your name do we have a microphone [Music] okay Nino Gorga 326 Lincoln a um it's the Valero gas station on Lincoln a um anyway thank you Mike I got your response today but I just have some questions and I want to make some clarifications um all right at the time it the well the last year and a half it was our our plans to turn our garage gar into a convenience store um we started uh this year from April on met numerous times with the building department um the last time my wife came in with the plans sat down um discussed with Ed and uh he suggested to make some revisions to the plan never stated I needed a use variants whatsoever never was in the topic the prior times we met with him never stated that we needed a use variance for the use right now we're selling gas we're selling oil we are occupying a portion of the building which retail sales and accessories which is our current certificate of occupancy we can sell motor oil we can sell wisha wash of fluid we can sell cigarettes but we can't sell a we can't sell a cup of coffee it doesn't make sense to me I don't understand so that's why I wrote a letter previously on uh I wasn't aware of this ordinance being introduced on the 6th um but I wrote a letter on the 8th I don't know I sent it to um you know the building department to the mayor to the president of the council uh explaining my situation but but on November 5th the application was submitted the plans were submitted months months prior to this prop The Proposal of November 6th November 5 my wife calls the building department says oh hopefully by the end of the week we'll have an answer for you so I didn't know that this ordance was introduced on the 6th on November 8th we called the building department I wasn't told I needed a youth variance I was told oh no we have to seek guidance from the planning board attorney which was uh Daris darlis so that's I wasn't told on Friday the 8th I needed a use variants I was told that needed they needed to get clarification from darl CIS first I was told possibly that I needed to go to the planning board not it was an zoning issue following week then I I did speak to the mayor you know whatever you know but I was told you know orance has changed whatever you know the following week then I was told I needed I was a non-conforming use and I needed a use variance I stated and that's the letter that states clearly the non-conforming use in the B1 Zone which is the automotive repair hasn't existed over a year you lose the use if you know and it's been the the letter is self-explanatory Whoever has a copy of the letter so the non-conforming use out of the repair garages is is eliminated so that building right now a portion of that building is I have a certificate occupancy for retail sales and accessories with the gas is a freestanding use outside independent from my building now I lost the use I can't rent it to I can't do repairs I can't do because I lost the use it's been over a year clearly and it wasn't my intention you know to you a year and a half when we opened the gasoline I was $200,000 over budget that's why at that time I could not move forward to complete the project to convert the repair garages to a store we're struggling to keep the business a flow making 20 20 to 24 cents a gallon on gas you figure it out you can't make a living that way no way now our dream was to turn this into convenience store now I know Mike says this ordance and this adoption does not affect me whatsoever but when my wife met with the building department under the M B1 Zone M1 use allows motor fuels dispensing facilities and convenience stores which I'm zoned for I spoke to somebody else on the council oh no no uh you have to withdraw your application uh you we're we're changing it you need to be in a in an industrial Zone that's not the the two existing convenience stores and hor Thorns are both in a B1 Zone I don't know the there's only two other gas stations other than my gas stations in a B1 Zone that that this this orence is if if it's not going to allow it in a B1 it's either mine or two others the other two one definitely don't meet the criteria my station meets all the criteria I have the parking I have everything I meet all the criteria that's why and the building department never told me I needed a use variant because of the M1 he specifically stated to my wife under the M1 use you don't need a use variants now all of a sudden after the after November 6th November 8th I was told now first they need clarification to speak to zoning to the to the planning board attorney now I need a use Vance that which I got a letter back today thank you he's the only one that after after November November um 8 nobody wanted to speak to me no more nobody responded my calls that's it the building M to respond nobody would but thank you Mike you did respond and I did get your letter today thank you I appreciate it I appreciate the courtesy but everybody else it was it's been disgraceful the way me and my wife have been treated no and and this orance from my understanding of this orenes this does not help the small businesses it makes way for the big box stores to come in and do whatever they want but the small momy pop shops like us we suffer it's not to me theorence is is not a good thing for your constituents I serve your constituents and if you read the horo page you'll see all the good reviews and the hard work me and my wife put into this place and now we we can't even now can't even Operate Now I need a use variance more money more money it's not it's just not right it's not fair and I say I think my Bo process has been has been violated I know the building department was doing their job and somebody put their thumb on the scale that's it and that's I'm I'm just I'm just upset I'm disgusted and I don't know what else to say but will be responding to your letter well Mike I don't understand if he already had the use available and we we amended the code for the B3 b3a to clarify because it never prohibited but it didn't specifically explain it and that's why we started with the B3 b3a Zone we didn't pass it yet so he's he's basically under the old version which did not hope prohibit it no actually it did uh council president and the reason is this for the service center he's in a B1 Zone yes the only B1 Zone uh operation that's permitted there is the convenience store gas stations are not permitted in the B1 Zone they're not permitted under the old ordinance they're not permitted under the existing ordinance but what he's trying to do is put in the allowable use right but he's doing it with a non-conforming use which becomes by definition it's an existing condition I know but it becomes an expansion of a non-conforming use by definition in the past the planning board gave the old Mobile station a block down approval for convenience store in their yes we did the planning board yes should have been the zoning board planning board and down at the next to shop meire what was that Exxon or Luke is that in the B1 Zone probably is an i Zone there right see in an i Zone it's just a planning board application in a B1 Zone it's a zoning board application um I went to the building department today because I wanted to understand what was going on here I saw the file I went through the file I met with Jan Patmos at feroli and also with Michelle vanalden and all of them Jean actually had a handwritten note on the front of the file that said use variant so and and listen I've known Nino in Carolina a very long time I believe every word he says that he wasn't told that but the fact is there was literally a purple sticky note right on the front of the file saying use variants um it's just not a permitted use gas station in the B1 Zone and this amendment council president is strictly clarifying how things exist in the B3 Zone not at all the B1 Zone correct but we also talked about making the same accommodations for other gas stations going forward we just said we would just do it for the B3 b3a because it was clear and cut true so I what I'm going to say is go let's go back to the ordinance committee and and make it allowable I don't have any problem with that I don't know he they could sell stuff already the only thing you have to consider and whether you're you know again the council's in favor of it is all of your gas stations in the B1 Zone which are currently non-conforming you would and mend your Ord ordance my recommendation would not be to make them necessarily conforming but rather to make the Dual use permitted correct um that's what I'm with the pre-existing non-conformity um it can be done it's it's different language we couldn't just amend this on the flight no no I'm not saying to do that I'm saying introduce it we're looking to get a meeting in before the end of the year anyway I believe um because what one or two people and he has the spot for it I mean the only other one is the one across from Tony kti I don't know the name of that one um you or something the Delta Del it's the Delta here on yeah but I don't know the owner's name and that one is in the um B1 Zone that's in the so it's very similar the one here on Ray and gole I believe is um it's either B1 or it's an rzone that might be I think that's an that's probably why it went to the zoning when he expanded either way it went to the zoning board because it was ruled a non Conformity the sonoko station on L Lincoln went to the zoning board I believe not to your board Crossings Crossings with the zoning that is a D1 and that did go to the zoning board right so that was consistently how we viewed the ordinance that the B1 Zone does not permit gas stations therefore anything you do to the building is a use variant and has to go to the zoning board I don't have any issue with the your suggestion that we look at amending the ordinance rather than you know go through the process of a bless you of a use variants particularly when we know we have two locations in town both of which are really in in business type areas they're not sitting there in the middle of a residential neighborhood like an sore thumb so it's probably the sensible way to approach this all right we of the ordance you want to meet with you well that's nothing to do with this one okay obviously but but uh we shouldn't penalize somebody who's just in another area um so whenever the zoning board uh the uh ordance committee wants to get together yeah I know you're going back and forth online we have a few things we want to talk about and clear up too so uh let's okay let's look at our schedules and I'll throw some dates out and I'll email you can I just ask a question it does seem we know that this is all that property's ever been gas and and Service uh State repair if it's non-conforming for that use how come the property owner didn't know that when he went for the current Co when he reopened his business I don't know what the communication was or was not um the people I spoke to in the building department indicated to me that they never got to the issue of the zoning they were looking at things like the building envelope and uh there was some notion of build vanilla uh which I think Nino put in his letter um so that this way you know you could just build a box and fill it in later but the zoning issue really belongs with the zoning officer uh our ordinance does require the building department to confer with the zoning officer before doing anything and if that didn't happen it should have happened I don't say it didn't I just that's how it's supposed to be um it is a non-conforming use so there's no question and I went back Lori pulled out actually the older ordinance um that's been B1 is not permitted gas station ever so but it also it seems illogical at this point to say to this property owner well what you've been doing forever is non-conforming yeah it's fallen through it's it's it's in a weird but it it is non-conforming I think the larger issue really is this and that is gas stations have changed they're not the same as they were where was you know gasoline with phase of service right so things have changed now we have talked about that though we don't want that in every Zone um you don't want to you know confer on non-conforming properties you know you wouldn't want to do this in a residential Zone let's put it that way but in a B1 Zone you might consider it but I wouldn't go beyond the B1 zone no then that's where when you look at what we have that's where they are so I mean to to work and accommodate those businesses we're not creating any new animals here no I know and like I said um you know the old-fashioned two lifts and a gas pump it's you know people get their cars fixed at dealerships unfortunately so okay you got to come up the microphone if You' like again sorry but I just want to clarify um my my initial drawings and my initial plans for the for the space uh had was detailed a retail space with refrigerators and everything when we met with the building department I was told to eliminate and make it a vanilla box just the walls to turn the space to retail space and then when I when it's time to occupy the space of course I would have to go back to the planning board to discuss either my expansion of the existing sales that I'm using the building for or to to expand into that space the existing space or have or me lease it out to somebody else and have them run the store whatever that that's that's I think the pro the correct process that you know right now is just to turn it in it's just cosmetic changes to the building no no mod mod modifications just and that's what the building department says no leave it a vanilla box and then when I occupy that space then it would be my turn to go to the planning board which is the correct venue now it's not a zoning issue the the non-conforming use of the Repair Garage is long gone it's not permitted in a B1 but retail sales is and that's what's that's what's occupying I'm not servicing Vehicles out on the island I'm s I'm selling them a product and that's what the store is going to do and that's conforming to that be one I agree with you thank you yeah and what what Nina says is absolutely 100% it's not even like you know when the Shell station was looking to expand they were going to increase their footprint correct he's not increasing his footprint right it still goes to the planning board because there's still a site plan review like with any other business make sure he's got par parking circulation traffic all that stuff but um it is it it there's a lot of sense to making this planning rather than zoning board and so that's what the ordinance committee will look at and uh happy to meet with you before the month's ended got it okay anyone else wish to be heard on this ordinance seeing no one I attain a motion that the public hearing on this ordinance be closed and that be resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which Public Notices are customarily posted published in the record and made available to the burrow website and available to the public now therefore be resolved this ordinance be adopted and the clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to law have a motion so Move Motion by skira second second by Mee roll call no leosa yes mey yes Sasso yes skiar yes and council president Matthews yes motion carries ordinance 23 54-24 an ordinance to further amend and supplement the code of The Bu of hathorne to amend chapter 22 Fe sections 22020 water so as to revise the water rates uh now open meeting to the public if anyone desires to be heard regarding this ordinance raise your hand come to the microphone state your name unfortunately we have to pay for the posos in Le uh service line replacement not happy with it but that's the way it is we have no chice nice rain yeah seeing no one I obtain a motion to close a public portion of this ordinance uh resolved that this ordinance was posted on the bolon board which Public Notices are customarily posted published in the record and made available the B website and available to the public now therefore be it resolved this ordinance be adopted and clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to the law have a motion so Move Motion by skira I'll second it second by Millie any discussion our rates are still cheaper than other towns our rates are still cheaper in other towns so well and originally we had anticipated a 133% increase during Finance meetings and we're down to a nine right that's still more than zero but good job Eric well the fact that the state mandated this and we had no other choice correct y r Scara yes sassa yes Milly yes leosa yes Bennett yes Matthews yes motion carries ordance to further amend and supplement chapter 505 article 25052 stop intersection so as to add therefore certain additional locations I now open a meeting to the public anyone desires to be heard regarding this ordinance please raise your hand and be recognized come forward to the microphone state your name adding additional stop signs okay we'll see uh seeing none I entertain a motion at the public hearing on this ordinance be closed that if be resolve that this ordinance was posted on the bulletin board on which Public Notices are customarily posted published in the record and made available on the Bor website and available to the public now therefore be it resolved this ordinance be adopted and the clerk is authorized to advertise the same according to law can I have a motion so move Sasso motion by skira second by Sasso any discussion roll call Bennett yes leosa yes mey yes Sasso yes skiera yes Matthews yes motion carries Bond ordinance 23564 Bond ordinance providing for the installation of bleachers and other improvements at the wager Road Fields as described here in and by the bur of Thor in the county of bake New Jersey appropriating $295,000 therefore and authorizing after application of Grant funds for the same and the issuance of bonds and notes in the amount of $95,000 of the burrow for the financing of the same I'll now open the meeting to the public anyone desires to be heard regarding this ordinance please raise your hand to be recognized come forward to the microphone state your name bleachers we did get a grant make them Ada accessible yeah we cost us 295 we're spending 95 actually there are two grants with this one from the state and one from the county even better seeing no one else I want to entertain a motion at the public hearing on this ordinance be closed and that'll be resolve that this ordinance was posted on the bolon board in which Public Notices are customarily posted published in the record and made available on the B website and available to the public now therefore be it resolved uh that this ordinance be adopted and the clerk is authorized advertise the same according to law have a motion it second second by skar roll call or any discussion just this is just at the wag Fields not not the Franklin Field right no wag two and three thank you roll call skar yes Sasso yes Milly yes leosa yes Bennett yes Matthews yes motion carries old business Randa will start your way not tonight thanks Mike No not tonight Bruce I can't not tonight Dominic no I have nothing all right how about new business Dominic I'm okay an Marie we're okay thank you Bruce no sir Mike you okay nope nope yeah I'm okay thanks oh Trifecta moving right along moving along we'll turn ad Jo's not here and gu what happen Joe's at home with a toothache uh administrative agenda presented by mayor Lane mayor the floor is yours thank you Mr President let leave it there there's no crowd this one for me I just told him to leave it there yeah Joe missed out that's another job Michael you're busy Mr President can you come down here please I can and uh maybe uh Susan would you like to come up I'm this photographer so I gotta go everybody takes pictures Frank uh you served this Council in this burrow for 20 years and uh unfortunately the state is redoing the 20- year uh to leave the 20 the 20 year uh award for uh Council people and Mayors to serve so what we felt was proper for us to have a proclamation for you uh on behalf of myself and the council and whereas Frankie Matthews has served an elected councilman of the burough of hathorne since 2004 this being the 20th year as an elected official and whereas a 20-year elected councilman Frank has served multiple terms as council president a portion a position I'm sorry he currently holds and whereas Frank's long-term Service as a member of the council and the council president is representative of his dedication to the community and Community with the proud proudly serves with the love in support of his family and whereas Frank is Council liaison to the local emergency management Council the council liaison to the hathorne Chamber of Commerce and he also serves as a chamber Board of director whereas Frank also serves as a class three representative to the planning board and serves as many Council on many Council committees and Boards specifically he chairs the Personnel committee chairs the insurance committee members of the finance committee ordinance committee technology committee and cable TV and social media and Public Relations Committee whereas as director of an architectural Design Associates Frank is an accomplished architect having graduated from the New York Institute of Technology during his career at architectural Design Associates has been overseen by by design and construction of many facilities for numerous Fortune 500 companies throughout the United States States and abroad and given Keen eye for detail and exceptional organization skills whereas Frank is a member of the American Institute of Architects the National Council of architectural recre Recreation I'm sorry National Council of architectural UHS architectural boards and in in inst International Code Council now therefore be it resolved that the mayor Council of The Proud burough of hathorne on behalf of the of its citizens does recognize Frankie Matthews for his 20 years of dedicated Service as an elected councilman for the fourth ward serving the people of hathorne New Jersey and thanking him for his commitment to the people and a grateful community in witness whereof I have placed unto my hand and caused to seal the burrow of orthorn to be affixed this fourth day of December 2024 signed by by myself as mayor and the full Council Frank congratulations thank you very much sh hand disrespect don't even Shake our hands total disrespect congratulations well learned actually the end of December will be 21 years all right but um who's counting it's nice to get some accolades once in a while but I don't do it for that none of us do uh just want to try and make oror the best place to live for my family and everybody else and that's really what the proclamation is all about so thank you to continue on Mr President the Chamber of Commerce Santa parade and the bural tree lighting will take place on Friday December 6th the parade steps off at 6 pm. behind horor High School continues on Vin Avenue to lafat Avenue just beyond the Barrow Hall the tree lighting takes place at approximately 6:45 the burrow will be giving out ornaments candles and lightups for children all while supplies last Santa will greet the children after the parade which is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce Community groups are invited to participate please call Meg at the chamber office at 973 427 5078 once again just a reminder that leaf pickup in the streets is done by our DPW page 21 in the calendar outlines the schedule when they'll be in your area leaf collection will continue until the end of December in the streets by the DPW P per to schedule on page 21 of your calendar and in bags or barrels as at the curb on your regular yard waste day Toys for Tots is holding their annual drive there are boxes located in the lobby of the burrow Hall the train will be here to pick up the unwrapped toys on December 14th at 10:00 a.m. thank you to everyone who donated food for our food pants this Thanksgiving holiday if you are able to donate for the upcoming holiday please call Phyllis at 427 4019 I'm sorry 4012 if you are in need of assistance please call her due to the increased volume and congestion in town please be sure to obey the speed limit the police are issuing summonses for speeding the police can can't can't be everywhere all the time but they are doing a great job and I appreciate your attention to the problem of speeding please look both ways before you cross the street and drivers please take it it slow and look for pedestrians who may be trying to cross the street if you see something that doesn't seem quite right in your neighborhood please call the police department when you see it so that they can respond immediately that concludes my report I'll turn it over to now our attorney SL clerk Michael Pasa clerk for a day um really my report is very limited tonight congratulations Frank well earned um you do great work the uh spoil of matters proceed through the courts I have a conference coming up in a little over a week before the judge to see where we're going to end up moving this matter and how we're moving it along the GIF is providing us a defense on the claims he filed against the Bureau for removing debris from his yard at and uh that was under court order yeah I know it was debris it's on the front yard it's debris so we removed it uh but he's suing the burrow nonetheless you know he just wants to cost the taxpayers money in addition to creating an eyesore I don't know what his purpose in life is but uh it seems to he gets attention yeah and and his suit is that he wants his debris back right yeah he wants his debris back so anyway can't make it up quote my friend Bruce the uh only other matter I will report on tonight is that I did file a brief which I Supply to you I'm sure Frank you've read it because you always read these things um only two typos really oh my God I thought I had them all this time the um the brief was on the Nexus Plastics challenge to the designation of a Redevelopment Zone at the former pyroa site judge will be considering that matter in January that concludes my report mayor thank you Michael now turn it over to our engineer Joe burn thank you mayor uh the galvanized water service line replacement project uh phase three the preconstruction meeting is currently being scheduled with uh MSP corporation uh for later this week or early next week uh the 2024 roadway improvements project uh the road program in the local Aid uh Covino and Suns is expected to uh finish concrete work on the cdbg Ada ramps by the end of the week uh the Franklin Field bleacher improvements uh Zenith construction is expected to perform or did perform uh asphalt paving on Tuesday uh December 3rd uh delivery of the bleachers to the site is expected on Monday December 9th and the contractor is currently awaiting delivery of the Press Box materials 2023 roadway uh improvements leave Road program and local Aid uh residing questions and inquiries regarding their assessments are still being reviewed and addressed um and the Lafayette Avenue streetscape phase 3 project uh award is planned for tonight to uh AA burms LLC specifically under resolution 16124 and that concludes my report mayor thank you Joe and now over to my administrator Eric ma thank you mayor um the bureau's water billing clerk Debbie Ford has resigned her job with the buau to take another position we wish her well the bu will be seeking candidates for her replacement the announcement and application should be on the bur website by tomorrow in the meantime I I I um wish to express my appreciation to Lori Foley and her staff for working hard to uh keep up with the departmental workload while short-handed um the team working on the redesign of our website had its kickoff meeting uh last week and we look forward to moving forward on that project I spent yesterday and today in hearings on departmental budget requests for the 2025 budget as the administration prepares a budget to present to the council and finance committee um after the first of the year probably more like February um budget transfer resolution r184 was reviewed with the finance Comm committee and shifts money to cover expenses for the end of the year um resolution R1 16124 um as noted by uh Mr burn Awards a contract for the construction of phase three of the downtown streetcape project uh this uses Grant funds from the njdot and it continues the streetscape treatment North to warber Burton Avenue on the east side of Lafayette and up to McKinley on the West Side um at our December 18th meeting I will present resolutions authorizing our grant writer to sub an application for phase four which would allow us to continue further north on warb burden the buau has received 468,000 of the requested 97,000 from the NJ do local aid program for the repaving of Grand View North wung and Westervelt uh the project will need to be paired back based on the amount of money received uh the administration is working on a recommendation for this pairing back to provide to the council Public Works committee um the um just as we've we moving forward with the bleachers at w wag 2 and three um there are grant opportunities again through um through the county open space and the New Jersey local Recreation Improvement grant program which we intend to file applications for um um replacing the wag one bleachers um as we're moving forward through the various projects recommended by the uh um Fields committee appointed by the late mayor Goldberg at the end of his final term and that concludes my report thank you Eric will answer any questions that the council may have Mr President any questions for administration I DOA um Joe just following up with you about the Franklin field bleachers um so they're going to be arriving next week so is that mean the Project's going to be complete this month the timing for that no we are still waiting on the delivery of the the Press Box which is a different component from the same manufacturer um just it has a longer lead time for those materials so um okay so will we be getting the Press Box sometime during the winter yes it should arrive sometime during the winter and then you're going to install in the winter or are we going to wait until the spring just because of the weather or is it dependent on the weather to install um we plan to install in the basically once it arrives um projects planed completion is by the spring so okay and uh Eric just a quick question for you so you're saying um the wag one bleachers with the New Jersey Recreation program we're going to be doing a grant for that we're going to apply for both County open space funds and the state local Recreation Improvement Grant just we got both of those grants for the two and right wag two and three bleachers we're hoping to be a successful for the uh wag one bleachers obviously we won't know until we apply so okay and then along those lines with the grants you're saying at the next council meeting we're going to be putting in permission to go for another grant for the phase four of streetcap so do you need letters or recommendations at that time at that council meeting or is that applic just granting that's just the res resolutions we will be requesting uh um letters of of support for it the application will probably not go in until either toward the end of the month or or even more likely in January okay but it just discussed it with the grant writer this afternoon so we'll be putting together our plan for that application okay great that's all I have for clarifications thanks No not tonight and Marine we're still picking up on uh leaf collection day in B mhm yes yes last two weeks they skipped me okay I got one bag sitting out there the Cur okay we gave you a proclamation I could dump it in the street if you want just put it with the other leaves that are on the street you want to take mine just figured I'd ask that's all I had anything else mayor that concludes the report from Administration can I have a motion to record the administrative agenda so move uh motion by Bennett second by skier all in favor I introduction of ordinances we have none resolutions we have off consent R 15824 is budget transfers uh have a motion for that one some move moot second by Bennett obviously there's some pluses and minuses and they all end up in same place same place in roll call Bennett yes leosa yes mey yes Sasso yes skara yes Matthews yes motion carries cassette agenda r159 d24 through R1 16124 State appeal uh r159 d24 is a state appeal tax reduction R 160-24 is tax exempt status R1 16124 is Award of contract to AA burms downtown revitalization phase three have a motion some Move Motion by Mee second by Sasso any discussion no call skiera yes Sasso yes mey yes leosa yes Bennett yes Matthews yes motion carries reports of special Council committees Dominic we'll start your way well every week I've been talking about the miss Alliance meeting our clerk was out today so we're supposed to have a meeting we received substantial amount of money from a suit which we will talk about what we can divide it up for certain things one of the things I I can say it now we want to try and lower the price of the some what uh summertime pool pool wreck no the leadership Leadership Camp it's getting too expensive so we're going to try and help that out but that's we all say right now that's it we're on our Edge yeah R committees are quiet Bruce nothing Michael no I have no committee report but I do want to acknowledge and uh congratulate Frank for his uh 20 actually actually going on 21 years of service now it'll be 21 end of December all right well congratulations I'm going for the 50 Mark you'd be doing it without me R it no I'm good thanks I have the chamber as the mayor stated this Santa parade is on Saturday on Friday at 6: PM anybody's participating be there at least at 5:30ish and the Chamber also wants to remind everyone that there's a holiday window decorating contest so if you're a business owner you want to show your best decorations uh judging starts already and the winners will be announced on December 23rd um last night the planning board meeting we had uh three or four applications actually we were there till almost 10 o'clock uh Premo sausage came for an expansion of a loading dock um there was an accountant on Lafia daav that wants to open up a home office uh on Lafia daav who's an auto body repair person that was told to come back once he cleans up his act and Nissan yeah what was the Nissan one Nissan was the was the uh oh a design a designer fashion company yeah what was moving into the Nissan uh the Nissan Fisher tile PL Fisher tile they're taking they're buying the whole complex um they're buying both buildings both buildings both buildings wow and it's a uh one side will be the showroom and the other side will be Warehouse we looked them up online last night while they were talking in uh kind of like a Urban Outfitters type edgy men's clothing line casual stuff retail no no retail there no retail um they sell to other people and an online presence gotcha okay I think I got them all right yeah well the other 43 gole oh a uh mechanical me wants to move into where the uh Apex glass or whatever the glass cup A1 Glass right A1 Glass are they gone already A1 Glass yeah they're gone they didn't last long no basically they're moving right into that spot okay they're there already but the landlord they didn't change the sign landlord neglected to say that oh by the way you have to go somewhere so we thank them for coming in so okay that concludes my report correspondence we have none we have bills have a motion to approve the bills and forward them to the treasurer for payment so Move Motion by Mee second by skir roll call Benet yes leosa stain on horth environmental commission bills and yes on all others mey yes Sasso yes skiera yes and council president Matthews yes motion carries public comment now open the meeting to the public anyone desires to be heard please come forward to the microphone state your name did you ever get an answer back to the one resident on Ridgewood regarding the speed sign oh it's there okay hello sir good evening my name's Patrick um I live on 17th Prospect I was just wondering if we can get some kind of clarification on the lead replacement program like what houses are in what phase because I know I have galvaniz coming in and I would every pipe in the town will be replaced if it's not copper no I know that but oh when it's it going to happen yeah we're we're talking seven years out now we're only in phase three yeah so I'd like to well we got 10 years to do it get an idea of where my house stands in that schedule do you have any idea Joe or Prospect Eric I don't think that's been specifically uh um programmed yet I we can we can if you leave if you get me your your phone number no don't give it out publicly but if you give it to me we can check and see whether you're um scheduled on phase four or or five yet all right well how how many houses were done in phase one and two um six or seven probably about 400 and some okay there's there's there's over there's 20 1920 something I just I mean I just bought it but you're getting pip just so you know there's nothing wrong with Galvin ice pipe the state just decided it's called also no I know that I did a Le test and I actually worked in this field myself so I understand but I did like test and concerns Trace Amounts granted they were Trace but they were noticeable on the test got it so that's why I came here try to find a little more information like I mean if you're sayfe because when I went on the website it said 2 200 houses had galvanized you're telling me in two years 400 were done you got seven years left yeah the math doesn't really kind of work out six seven years the first phase was was small because because when we got the started it we we we were just rushing to get it done so you know since then it's cut we're doing phase three we've just awarded um we're planning to go out to bid for phase four over the winter as soon as we get approval from d and we're planning to do phase five um bid it in the fall so we we are by by by uh the winter of 2026 we will be half done okay we're also trying to coincide with roads that need to be improved at the same time because if we're going to any do the worst one first yeah like like I said I'm in the field so I I understand that part of it but also you phase three was already awarded or yes so the standby bid is separate from that yes that's currently out okay yeah and we've done phase we've done phase one phase two and we've done um dozens of properties under the uh standby as as there have been breaks generally as we've been replacing meters we we found that we can't shut things off because and because the the valve is is broken so then we have to replace the line and so that's what we've been doing the a lot of the emergency um replacements for all right you can break your valve oh my God hit you with that he's in the field he's in thei that's why I threw it out there not trying to dry my basement out so later but all right thank you why don't you give me your phone number so I could uh follow up for sir Ronald vogo 16 Horizon Terrace I just want to address the engineer and the town counsil I got some issues with paperwork that will if they look at it they're going to understand what's going on the the microphone needs to pick you up he said he the the microphone you have to speak in the microphone cuz we record you can bring it over with you you can bring it over it just grab it and walk with it them plans there Jeff said that they are unacceptable here's your zoning permit cont proper like this and they Chang the Contour of the property without the proper permits I'm going to give this to you counselor you'll see when I ask for the the the reports for both of those uh issues in the beginning of the wall and after the only one I received before was the after after he became the engineer Peter it says here no such record the protocol says he's supposed to send a a report to the building department is that correct or am I just making that up I do not know well I know they're supposed to do that there's a lot of issues here that the more I dig the deeper the hole gets and I I gave his opportunities to try to take care of this all I do is get a dance that's not good for me my house is Mrs Sasso is a real estate person you buy a home so it increases in value my house is depreciating because of the Town that's not a good thing and if I show you my house at the property and if you go there now to see it I ain't buying this house I wouldn't so what am I supposed to do five years from now when I want to sell my house it's it's this is unbelievable and the more I peel back the the sheets the more issues I got and paper don't lie visual don't lie I wanted to give you my UBS I got all your emails I'm going to send it through an email so it don't affect the town's computer or nothing you will see from scratch to finish with this people did to my property it's unheard of it's disgraceful and I can't imagine a town with this much knowledge have so much unreliable situation you know in their in their building department the zoning department so figure it out I'm not I'm a card player I'm showing you something of my hand I got lots of more cards not that I'm that's not a threat or nothing but I'm all in now I'm up to here it's starting to affect me uh my health and now I'm going to go in another Direction with that too so you want can you uh answer some of that there or is that what do you what did you want answer you handed me a section of the code that talks about stop work orders right your code official was standing here I was standing there and and Peter was standing over there when your code official asked Pete are you going to sign off on this and Peter said I'm not signing off I ain't got no plans my wife is dying in a chair in my house you think I'm going to go back and tell her what this guy said to said her wol I wouldn't would you so that's where I'm at with that and I don't like to you know bring up my wife's name with this because she sat in that chair taking notes I got handwritten notes that I got to an attorney for the homeowner and that's another thing Mike you said I was going to sue you I've never sent in a tour claim because my attorney at the time told me you can't sue a town okay and then I said to you when did I ask when did I tell you I was going to sue you and you said that I said that in an open I mean that's to me is a lie I never told you that you got a t claim you've never submitted a Tor claim right I never admitted a Tor claim and I never if my attorney told me to shut up I shut up he told me you can't Su the town oh that's what I did so you told all of these people in front of me that I said that to you is that correct I said at a meeting here that you had made comments in this body before this body that threatened further action I think you should look at the previous you know we can go to I know listen I've done all my research I don't say I I'm I'm a factual guy I look for facts before I open my mouth so if you look back maybe seven eight months ago and if you think I said that you'll never see it and then what uh this is a a nightmare so what do you think of that uh Brian you think they did the right thing in the building department giving this guy a zoning permit to change the Contour of the property and put a four a five almost a 5 foot retaining wall with a six foot fence up that's 13 ft that's illegal right there am I right um I've previously written you've been there on the inspection so you have referred to that you have Mr Burn's report you have the what you have his report I have his report I don't have Peter's report you have Mr Burns report so there's no reason you need to wa allow me I have it in front of me I had a friend that does litigation I said do me a favor and decipher this and you know what he told me this has been edited and only a lawyer can spoke this kind of way and you got that smile on your face listen I told you Mike I do my homework Ron I didn't edit Joe's report well you have Joe's report in the original it was not redacted it was unredacted you made no no allow me for one minute to speak you keep talking over me you submitted an Oprah request to the municipal clerk right she fulfilled the request multiple times she gave you Joe's report that's correct it went to me before it went to you you I said send it because that's what I do I don't edit reports I don't change the words Joe's a professional the only he submitted a report you have it speaks for itself the only thing that I looked at that was different than what he would depict as dirt that was up against the war that was washed away that was washed away the second week the war was finished so of course there's dirt there because the dirt is being pushed out from the neighbor's house onto my property which is now almost a sinkhole I have two big trees God forbid them trees full of my house and then I'm Mr V were you ever given a letter that explained the outcome of the board of construction appeals listen I went have to talk to Janice when I built my house there that's not what I asked oh I'm sorry did you get a letter from the town with the response from DCA which is basically where they sent it and it went to them no never no correspondence did we receive a final report from DCA it was of constru appeals right construction board of appeals I've never seen any written report I do know that the appeal filed by the homeowner was sustained that our our municipality issued a notice of violation to the property owner adjoining your property that appeal from what I was told but I've not seen a letter was dismissed by the instruction board of appeals I have not seen any correspondence St so they're the governing body that would allow changes to be required and they said no what what we issued a notice of violation for constructing a wall in excess of 4 feet that's what the violation was without permit to do so the DC U the DCA the construction board of appeals when the homeowners appealed that determination upheld the homeowner's complaint not ours so at that point we have no further authority to issue new violations that was the violation notice so a violation notice was issued so it was County a county not us dismissed it okay so listen uh so there is no there's never going to be resolved no it's not and and you know essentially well it's going to be resolved somehow well it could be say you can come every week and you're not going to get a different answers what I'm I understand that but I want to just tell the engineering department that I'm being kind of sued by these people and their attorney on a legal document that goes to the court injected Boswell engineering they signed off on it nowhere in Hell excuse my language there's no Boswell to sign off on this on this that report in the beginning when he went there with the uh code official to me that's negligence would you think that would be negligence I guess the code if this guy doesn't do his job that's not negligence Peter did his job he told the code official I'm not doing it that's where that letter comes in he didn't he didn't stop this this job he should have stopped it right then I understand Mr that's the procedure but we can go round and round and I don't think you're going to get any different answers so I would say if you have a a plan B go to it so a plan B would probably call my friend with a back and taking that wo down no your plan B Ron is where you're at which is you and the homeowner are in a civil suit listen and that's where it's going to be resolved the burrow did no but hear me up for a minute the burrow did what it said it would do we looked at the situation we issued a notice of violation that's what our Authority was we didn't have further Authority than that we said you need to remove that wall the homeowner appealed our notice a violation and the homeowner was upheld not the burrow so we did that which we could have done we couldn't do more than that we can't do more than that now so we did our we did what we said and we did back you in that regard and the County Construction board of appeals said No my only thing is why didn't the building theart but the zoning they didn't even sign on the paper if you can see there they didn't even sign it why why didn't the zoning department say you need a building permit you need an engineering for the seat the drainage you need a topographical map all of that was like that's okay give me $50 you can put your wall up is somebody watching somebody up there or not I mean really I can't speak to what happened with the prior building I know that's what understand there was a the the building inspector at that point or the subcode official was a different person how it happened what happened I don't know I can only look back at the F they have to protect me they didn't do it but I'm going to leave you with that and you're right Michael okay well my attorneys are after the homeowner and I'm I got issues with that too but I got other problems you know my brother's kid just lost his wife from an overdose I don't need this headache every time I look out my window I watch my property I think we can end it there I mean five years anyone else wish to be heard did you get your stop sign or speed sign back okay seeing no one I close the P public por of the meeting you have a motion motion all in favor I I the next Council meetting Leo uh next council meeting is Wednesday December 18th 2024 at 7 p.m. have a motion to adjourned so move second motion by Bennett second by skier all in favor I I motion carries we're adjourned Friday