##VIDEO ID:OM7D0P0_RDc## [Music] [Music] cler please report on certification of election and qualification of council member elect Stephanie Kim Chohan and Norma Iris hard it is my pleasure to report that the middlex County Board of Elections has certified the election of Stephanie Kim Chohan sorry Norma Iris Vargas as members of the burough Council of the bur of Highland par once they have subscribed to the O of office and Allegiance they are qualified to assume their duly elected positions on the governing body both of office and the legion administer to Council woman elect him Stephan Johan by assemblyman St scle congratulations thank you I swear SAR that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of the office all the duties of the office of Highland Park B council member of Highland Park B council member according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability I do further solemnly swear I do further Solly swear that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Conti in the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments and to the governments establishing United States establish in the United States and in the state and in the state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people so help we go so helping God congratulations [Applause] you got help all through it ocean was like yeah yeah yeah [Music] yeah oath of Alle lesions administered by by council member elect two Council woman elect Nora Iris pych they're too shy okay [Music] okay me swear that I will that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully and parti and parti and justly performed and justly perform all the duties all the duties of the office of the office of Highland Park B Council of high par council member counc member according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability I do further Sol sweare I do swear your Sol sweare that I will support the Constitution that I will support the constition of the United States of the United St and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and I will bear true faith and I will bear true and allegiance to the Saints Al to the and to the government established to the government established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the so help me yay [Applause] [Music] [Music] now we go to the second part call to order open public meeting statement this meeting is called to order in accordance with the public meeting act notice of this meeting was provided to the home News Tribune the star Leisure and the Highland planet on December 11th 2024 and was posted on B website at www.hpborrow.com and on the bulletin board at borrow Hall 221 South 5th Avenue Highland par New Jersey and has remained continuously posted as required by law fire exitor to the left and right of council chambers and nor I think can you just pleas I'm sorry pleas Alle Al to flag the United States of America the stands one nation indivisible andice for all and now we're going to have our invitation by Reverend Wanda barell lower it any which way you want you can lower it yeah good evening let us pray dear Lord we ask that you pray and give us guidance in our community in the decisions we make as a community we earnestly seek Your Divine guidance illuminate our path help us choose the way of righteousness and Justice may your wisdom be our Compass leading us toward a greater future for All We Trust in your guidance and know that with you we can navigate even the small the smallest challenges of our Journeys amen amener yes counc member George here counc member H here here timan yes council member ponic here council member Vargas here attorney Shaw here administrator here before I formally introduce our newest our newly sworting council members I would like to share a special video from Senator Corey Booker with you for administr could you please PE and this is a special message for the newly elected [Music] hello thank you for allowing me to say a few words as you all gather today to swear in members new and old look I remember the first time I raised my hand and swore an oath when I was a city council person and I want you to know that now in so many ways as your Senator I Revere this tradition it's not wrote It's not routine it's an affirmation of our heritage of our governance and of the thousands of people across our state who dedicate themselves to serve our communities you all are the front line of meeting the needs of our constituents they are our friends they are our neighbors there are families and in many ways it's the deepest understanding of that word to create Community our state would not be able to thrive without dedicated public servants at the local local and county level like you so I want to thank every one of you for making this choice for dedicating yourself to this Great Patriotic ideal that we stand in service of each other I hope you find like I did that serving is one of the most rewarding experiences you will ever have it's hard it's trying it's around the clock it's meaning going to the supermarket is a lot longer than usual but it is truly the most incredible thing I've ever done professionally I look forward to collaborating with you now as your Senator the partnership between our levels of government that serve new jerseyans and New Jersey families is so important and I feel privileged that as you swear this oath we will have an even po more important role to play together I wish you all the best May our state Thrive under our Collective leadership it's not about right or left it's about all of us moving New Jersey forward your calls for nomination of council president for the year 2025 may I nominate our colleague K exactly close um 2025 council president MERS and welcome aboard roll call Council yes council member H certifi yes council member H yes council member Kim Johan yes council member absolutely yes council member Vargas yes okay and to our outgoing council president we have our incoming council president has a small token of love how [Music] laptop for usable Cup in here thank you so much Matt for serving okay and now it's time for the state of the burrow for 2024 I'm just going to give a quick overview there is a whole lot for us to be proud of to be encouraged by and to be hopeful about in Highland Park I as I look back on last year and as 2024 ended it has been a remarkable number of positive changes and the continuation of a growing list of treasured Highland Park traditions in the past year we held ribbon cuttings the mayor visited businesses major Renovations of public spaces and upheld time onor tradition in our chel we were pleased to welcome and welcome back to our town in 2024 places such as our Supermarket we had Superfresh best barber shop freshark convenience store her cannabis dispensary Main Street dispensary D's Pizza for have par Pizza China Le restaurant gies restaurant another F me me to Tea and flower shop we celebrate improvements on reopening of our V of our Vital Futures to our downtown Highland Park Public Library was another huge success for us last year Highland Park Community Center Felton L to lot Road and curb cuts on streets such as Dennison North Second North Fourth Harper Highland Avenue gr Street south8 and other streets we were pleased to see these Improvement happen on these areas we also enjoyed the continuation of a bunch of activities that give Highland Park a strong sense of community that we all treasure these include Main Street Highland Park Farmers Market Community Center monthly lunch porch Fest Park stop Highland Park Park Partners Grand program Earth B Fest flag racings for pride month juneth and Caribbean heritage month and other and other occasion outdoor movie theater Highland Park 5K race 4th of July fireworks Tom wde garage sale window artw walk Memorial Day parade and Veterans Day Parade spring Spring street fairs Highland Park Street Festival and Highland Park Police Department National Night Out and much much more as we look ahead to this new year of 2025 I know that many of you will join me in eager anticipation of the start of a bunch of welcoming Innovations such as design for South Third Plaza and I want to say special thank you Sandy who's here with us tonight for securing the funds over a million a million dollars we're looking at road diet and upper Raritan Avenue New intersections intersections for safety improvements and parts of an new interection for Public Safety as a part of the Bor safe route to school programs major Redevelopment project and Raritan Avenue continued work by the NPP team to add vibrancy and new amenities to business and home on Woodbridge Avenue the reorganization of the human relations commission and the Mental Health commission as mayor I can attest that these compelling elements of our community are produced by many work many many work hardworking people together in good faith and putting in a lot and lots of hours Who Have and Have overextended themselves on periods of time please join me in thanking some of the key players that made this world possible our bough councel member Stephanie King Shan Matt H Matt H Phil George Jason pul and the newest addition to our team Norma V the chair and the chairs and activity members of the boards and commission and committee the Arts commission the historical commission safe walking and cycling committee sustainable Highland Park Board of Health shry advisory committee environmental commission universal access commission the mayor team advisory committee the library Board of Trustees the rent leveling board and the Main Street Highland Park advisory committee I thank you all the B borrow staff in all the the various departments such as code enforcement Community Center DPW Finance water and sore communication The Zone 16 Center the public library the B clerk's office and the administration office and on one final note I want to thank you you all all the residents of high Park that have reached out and had offer their thoughts on how to improve our borrow and to Pro and me proove borrow Services your continued support is greatly appreciated please keep those thoughts coming because collectively we can make Highland Park a better place we benefit greatly from your input and your insights and I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with us as we work tirelessly to improve our borrow Island Park small town a huge Park thank you motion to spread message upon the minutes SOC member George yes council member H yes council member H yes council member Kim yes council member yes counc member yes resolution requiring a separate reading 11a 1-2-1 resolution to adopt Rules of Order for 2025 may I have a motion to adopt or reject motion to adopt second council member George yes council member Hill yes council member h yes member kiman yes counc member yes counc member yes 11 B 1-252 resolution to adopt mission statement of the Bor of Highland Park may I have a motion so Mo second council member George yes council member H yes council member P yes council member Kim Johan yes council member Pani yes the yes 11 c1253 resolution to adopt 20125 Municipal Water and temporary budget motion to adop Second M George yes council member hail yes council member H yes council member Kim Chan yes council member ponic yes council member yes consent agenda um presented gender resolution may I um may I ask if there's any council member that has anything that they want to separate and P as a separate item on this agenda no okay may I have a motion to adopt or reject the following consent agenda 12 a through 12p second R call council member George I just like especially with 12 one 259 our a fire chief a long time coming but quite a great honor quite a great person and someone who is really working very hard in our new fire department i v gas council member ha yes council member H yes council member Kim Chan yes council member ponic yes council member Vargas yes mayor's appointment to the following Ada coordinator St prusher Library Board of Trustees r Phil George may I have a motion to adopt Ada coordinator Scott brusher and Library board trustee re Phil George motion to adopt second call council member George yes council member ha yes council member H yes council member Kim Shan yes council member yes council member yes mayor's appointment to the following Arts commission Ariana atini board of Health Dr norav Tracy Kina Kathleen Smith health inspector paraj inra health inspector an an Anette zambo secretary Community Development black Grant Deborah Morgan Tara canava Stephanie Kim Chan Terry H commmission to universal access Kimber Kershaw Marlene tarnish pressure Ada coordinator Lieutenant sodin Community Emergency Response Team Bruce nater Susan winter and Sh and Cheryl white ad ala juliani Nancy wolf Alysa Kaplan pela POA Brian does Susan Arie H James polos Sergeant Jason Calver sergeant lieutenant Columbo Jr Council on Aging Angela Peron Arlene arick kathin kouser Emergency Management Council Jame H Polo Sergeant James cber Chief Rich Abrams William Hines Scott Brasher Lester Jones Terry H Kim mcra Christina SSA nor Shamy Michael rert Nancy wal employee Safety Committee Kim mcra Michael rert Chief Richard Abrams detective Brian omara Jennifer Smith Mullen Terry H Edward Carson Janet Marik jacn asz Norm Shamy Jacob alahan ethics board Paul ambos historical commission Darius stroy Donald Brett be bra Tom Glenn Michael reppi Dar H Neil F Jennifer Santiago Christina sooka mayor sen advisory committee Emma Shan miam heel Finn VES hadessa eser Rich Highland Park Wellness committee Dr Patricia Whitley Williams Dr Elliot Frank Dr Karen eel Avery Dr Fisher Bruce fiser Aston Burell Pastor Greg M McCullen Hayden son Dr Norma former a um abriam L father AB um Josh pansi Dr Cliff Lacy Sergeant Gano Palumbo Jr Eric Gonzalez Ruth berer Ilana Bohan Mental Health Mission detective Brian Maria Karen ja Jai Nicole Huff Dr Norma fo Ashton Bell Ken kessle Elena boham Ruth berer Municipal Alliance mayor Elsie Foster Bill George detective Brian Oma Christina Soka Karen Lane Ashton Bell Irene Marx Kim mcra a information commission wa Lieutenant David S Recreation advisory committee Kathy paast Ryan Potter Kenneth Hoskins Andrea Alexander Nicholas citus Deborah hair Alex Duncan yudy Davis Sean Harrison Linda shill rehabil Rehabilitation and screening committee Rebecca h from Huffer Deborah Rebecca H safe walking and cycling committee Lieutenant David Soden shry advisory committee Rohan Rosanne baroo Paul sour Karen Swain Melanie mcdermit chrisy Van Horn Marcia shiffman Margaret ingr Karen rabab willamis sustainable Highland Park for sour Irene rner Miller Miller Miller she Shere Nico Todd n Todd rosean Rose D Angela I marks Tina house Claudia Faber Mark leco Christopher Perez Lisa no and Rose D reio um motion to [Music] confirm wel council member George yes council member H yes and thank you to every council member H yes council member Kim CH yes council member yes council member VAR yes mayor appoint the following environmental commission Jonathan Abrams Karen Swain Alan Williams human relations commission Sarah far Fiera officer Caitlyn Dean officer Brian Fitzgerald Library Board of Trustees Roberta kessle Michael rodriges planning board Alan Williams class five Bruce Matthew H class three Scott brusher class two patri mle class one Alvin Chen class five danan C Cardel alternate one no confirmation needed now it's time for public discussion 15 minutes total 3 minutes per speakers comments from Member public attending in person will be heard first followed by those attending on yes may I see one hand up Sal Baptist please state your name for the record H hi um my name is s Baptist I live on Ron Avenue um I U was is looking at the resolution 12508 um the direct administrator to um make it a priority to um look for sorry the exploration of new shared services and Cooperative agreements in the areas of personnel equipment purchases and repair and maintenance um I just wanted to comment that uh the previous uh shared services agreement with the Ruckers emergency dispatchers um has not worked out very well for many of uh the Highland Park residents and um you can see on the different Facebook communities people are saying that they've had unacceptably long weights um or that the um when they called 911 just rang and rang and rang and no one picked up um so I would be um I would like to remind the bur administrator and the council um that a shared services agreement uh doesn't save us any money if it results in extremely uh poor Services um so just to keep that in mind when looking into these things that saving money um at the cost of our residence is not really a small town with a big heart kind of thing to do thank you anyone else please um step up to the microphone and announce yourself I totally agree with the young lady who just spoke I have called 911 numerous times and the phone rings for five six times and also they get on the phone and they ask you lot of questions like an example we have people stuck in elevator how do you know the people are stuck in the elevator well they're screaming in their banging and saying El well how many people are stuck in an elevator I don't know well what Flor is the elevator stuff you know just get the C depart here so I would urge you people to look into these uh shared services with buckers and also reports are very hard to get it takes your months to get a police report thank you please step up to the microphone and nounce yourself yes um I I want to speak about the flashing stop lights stop signs that had put in on corner of Cleveland and Madison Avenue three of them and um I actually looked up the company that put it in they um advertised you can be seen a mile away they're like the biggest the brightest and they're not on timers which most schools that have lights flashing go off after school hours so now all night long these lights are flashing and some of them are flashing directly into people's windows um we moved actually from what second to Grant because it was quieter and darker and and I also work at the school so now I can walk there but um it's ruin the whole sort of vibe of the neighborhood you take a walk on Friday night Saturday night used to be like most peaceful neighborhood in the world and now there's these flashing lights that you're at a disco or a bar or something like that um anyway I I don't know if light can be put on timers but there certainly many of these flashing stop signs have timers that you can um time accordingly so they're not flashing through the night or when school's session thank you see there's no no one else may I have a motion to close public participation so move council member George yes council member H yes council member H yes yes counc M yes council member yes and um can we um can we look into if the flashing stuff like can be at some kind of timer or something sure all the after hours with the PD great and at this time I'm going to ask reverent Rell to come and give us our benediction all hearts and Minds clear May the peace and the grace of God be with you all until we meet again amen amen motion to adjourn meeting our next meeting is schedule for January 21st at 7 p.m. thank you all for coming have a good night