##VIDEO ID:VaBSlIk-sTA## [Music] 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 leiser and the Highland Park planet on April 18 2024 and was posted on ball website at www.hpborrow.com and on the bulletin board of burrow Hall 221 South 5th Avenue in Highland par New Jersey and has remained continuously posted as required by law fire exits are to my right and left of council chambers Michael can you lead us from the CL Alle the United States of America repblic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty Justice for All mayor Foster yes Council Cana here councilman George councilman hail here council president H here Council cam Chan Council stck here B attorney Shaw here special Council bman here B administrator H here and now it's time for presentation an award in tonight week this month being pantri Artic Cancer Month awareness we have a proclamation that we want to just let everybody know that we're in strong support of people going out and get checked by their Healthcare professional council member council president can you please read the proclamation thank you mayor uh and uh thank you everybody for recognizing November as World pancreatic cancer um month and Thursday November 21st as will pancreatic cancer day uh whereas the burough Island Park is of the gravest health threats that face our residents and publicizes opportunities for preventive care and whereas the world pancreatic cancer Coalition has identified pancreatic cancer as the 12th most common cancer worldwide with a third leading cause of cancer in countries with very high human development such as the United States and whereas the National Cancer Institute estimates that there will be 66440 new cases of pancreatic cancer in the United States in 2024 and 517501 which will be 88.5% of all cancer deaths whereas early diagnosis is essential and may improve the chances of survival the symptoms of pancreatic cancer include unexpected weight loss new onset diabetes midback pain stomach pain loss of appetite indigestion and yellow skin or eyes and whereas according to the American Cancer Society risk factors can be changed to lessen a person 's exposure include tobacco use being overweight diabetes workplace exposure exposure to carcinogens and cronic pancreatitis whereas the burough Highland Park urges residents to schedule regular visits with their personal Physicians and to discuss with them any family history risk factors or symptoms that may cause concern now therefore Elsie Foster mayor of Highland mayor of the burough Highland Park designates Thursday November 21st as World pancreatic cancer say in the buau of Highland par thank you thank you approval of minutes may I have a motion to approve minutes as distributed October 15 2024 that was regular session Council woman can yes councilman H yes council president H yes council member ston yes and now we move to council report uh council member H uh thank you Madame mayor uh so tonight we have a hearing um about uh amendments to the Redevelopment plan of track a through D I know that sounds like a kind of a big deal um but as the planning board said when they found the plan consistent or in the lovely words of the planning board not inconsistent by the master plan um this is really just a um kind of a a collect all of um all of the changes that have happened particularly um on Tri seeg but it's an attempt to try and streamline and make um the the re development plan a little bit um easier to read a little bit easier to amend as we go forward um you know again we keep talking about Redevelopment a picture to be painted um so we've got um we've got a good frame and we've got a good outline so we're moving along um so uh so I think that's uh exciting um couple other notes uh a big shout out to Main Street for getting all the snowflakes up um always a wonderful festive time of year to see uh the the the snowflakes and um they um harb they're a harbinger of things to come so um small business weekend um which is going to include um a visit by Santa Phil Claus um that would Sant Phil George playing the role of Santa Claus don't tell anybody in a big red fire truck um that's going to take Place November 30th and December 1st um it's also a great time to remember to stock up and Shop local for all your um holiday needs uh markets are going to run November 16 30th uh December 1st 14th 21st and 22nd um it's 4 to8 on Saturdays and it's 12 to4 on Sundays um and then the annual manora lighting uh which will be um December 26 um it's a great time to jack your blood sugar through the roof on sou Donuts so come by that um I'm gonna end uh just with a a short note um one of our volunteer firefighters um uh Shalom Tex more recently passed away um uh after battling a heart condition for a while uh Tex was a friend of mine and he was always there with a new joke he always had a story and he could always talk a dog off meatwagon um he was there for his friends and uh his family and particularly his uh his daughter Tor Tex and I actually didn't agree much about anything um particularly politics and I once had to save him and rescue him from a really angry mother who caught him talking about President Obama's birth certificate to her seven-year-old son but to give it a bit of perspective TX was telling my son to look up his own information and to find his own truth um about that not telling him what to think um so we had him over for dinner even after that um he was a great guy he was just a guy that was was um out there working with his hands out there helping people um and it was impossible to stay mad at Tex because he never seemed to be mad at anyone um and above all else Tex was a character and an original there's not a lot of those left so just wanted to say um that he'll be missed it was a good part of our fire department he was a great part of our town um I just wanted to recognize his pass thank you council member Cana if you're able council member Cana has lost her voice but she's here with us she's a trer you want me to add it council president H will will read her spee part should no just read her part you're you're playing her part tonight um I am speaking on behalf of councilwoman Cana who has a little bit of is trying to say sa her voice she is the chair of the Health and Human Services committee uh the community food pantry is open on the 2 and 4th Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. and again at 6:00 p.m to 7: p.m. Saturday following Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. uh the Highland Park gives a ho food pantry is every Tuesday and Wednesday at the zone 6 center from 10: a.m. to 11:00 a.m. the Mental Health commission reminds you that if you or someone you know is in crisis please reach out for help call the lifeline at 988 or text home H to 741741 that again that's text the word home to 741741 both are 247 or both are open 24 hours 7 days so we are free and confidential thank you thank you [Music] Council okay uh council member Pon thank you mayor good evening my name is Jason I chair the recreation and arts committee um and within that uh realm is uh some exciting developments we are uh we have uh Renovations under way at the community center uh so very happy to be able to report that uh some exciting renovation work um has begun um while the center is closed for the time being the Department of Community Services is hard at work to ensure their greatest programs activities and events continue at alternate locations but fingers crossed the work will be done uh quickly and we'll be welcoming everyone back to officially updated and more welcoming community center shortly and Rel to that I know that we have on the agenda a resolution to authorize some improvements for the restrooms in the community center also very much needed um so urge everyone up here to support that so we can bring uh that to the public uh and then a couple events to report uh we have a Thanksgiving luncheon on Monday November 25th at 12m there'll be turkeying all the trendings C by Stage House Tavern and a cocher option available upon request there will be musical entertainment by Jerry Calo location is to be determined because of the community center renovation so keep uh an eye out for that um also have the Highland Park High School and Middle School chamber orchestra Winter concert um which will be on Tuesday December 3rd at 1 p.m they'll be presenting Bach um on Tuesday December 3rd and 10th from 9 to 12 we'll have ARP defensive driving courses available and on Wednesday December 11th 11: a.m. we'll have um a holiday brief making event with ala uh please contact the community center call or stop by for any more details on program um I should say I'm sorry the community center is currently a close renovation pleas by bur Hall where the community services sta are temporarily located for more details on that or by phone or email and that is all I have for tonight pres presid thank you mayor I'm sorry I forgot that there was that were one down I apologize uh hi everybody my name is Matthew h uh I am the chair of the Public Works committee uh thank you for being here just a few updates um uh there is some ongoing Road reconstruction work which I'm sure many of you have noticed uh uh particularly Uh current contract that we have uh to make to do improvements to North Fourth Avenue Tennison Street and Harper Street uh so just so uh just just just so you know starting today uh through Friday weather depending um uh North Fourth Avenue uh the North Fourth Avenue from Dennison Street to Ren Avenue and Dennison Street from North Second Avenue to North Fifth Avenue will be Mill and paved now this will cause some you know potential mild headaches uh it will be noisy uh and obviously there will be traffic considerations uh and we will work best as best with you as we can but these are much needed um uh improvements uh particularly on Dennis And and harbor which were certainly problematic uh on Tuesday and Wednesday um uh sorry no parking signs will be posted before the Milling uh starts and uh Recycling and garbage collection should not be affected however if for whatever reason you put your your bins out and it is not collected if you're not give a call to DPW let us know uh and leave it out and it'll be picked up the following day and that's usually the case too if for whatever reason if if a certain street is missed for whatever reason uh standard course of practice just to leave it in place and DPW will come back but give us a call just to just so uh just so we know um regard regarding um trash recycling pick up I did just want to report some numbers thanks to Frank Troy uh from the Department of Public Works uh in October part of our October report is tracking part of our monthly report is tracking how many tons of garbage andon are picked up uh so in octob in October uh nearly 300 tons of uh trash col trash was collected uh over nine collection days all was delivered to Middle County count landfill and the year and that brings our year-to date total of to 3,142 tons um for recycling uh 97 of just over 97 tons of recycling were collected over 10 recycling days and those were delivered to and that was delivered to the Colgate Paper Stock company uh and the year to-day total is 882 tons and just regarding the Colgate Paper Stock company uh last fall I and some members of the environmental commission did go down to watch the recycling happen in action watch it get sorted by hand in many cases uh and and and and where our recycling goes highly encourage I want to make more trips like that uh so we can really see you know how how how things work that when you do put your your your number one and number two recycling uh in in there that uh it is indeed recycled um and it does not get relegated to the uh to the trash heat uh just a little couple other uh uh points in my portfolio there's a sh advisory committee meeting tomorrow Wednesday November 13th at 7:30 p.m. uh you can find the link on www. hp.com please come uh and in fact please do come because we will be talking about our fall our fall or spring uh shade tree plantings uh sustainable Jersey um please join our winter workshops to to learn practical skills for reducing waste and extending the life of your belongings whether it's sewing food waste reduction homeing car maintenance and more uh whether you're learning or sharing uh we do want your input uh there is a form uh to fill out at www.s sustainable Highland park.com that's www.san Highland park.com uh and you can fill that out and you can also get information on the couple other items I'm that to mention uh join sustainable Highland Park and the Highland Park ecology and Environmental Group for our trash cleanups gloves bags and other supplies will be provided so all you need to do is your Goodwill cleanups are from 10:00 a.m. to noon unless otherwise listed and the locations are n as we move forward but uh uh currently uh we do have a sorry our next clean up is Sunday November 17th uh and that is uh we we'll meet at the Valley Place Trail uh that's the trail along the river parallel to South adelade Avenue uh and that's at 10:00 a.m. we'll meet at the entrance to to Valley Place Trail at the intersection South Adelaide Avenue and Valley Place uh again the information if if you don't remember that the information can be found at www. sustainable park.com the next Highland Park meeting is Wednesday November 20th at 7:30 and our meetings are typically on the fourth Wednesday of each month except in November uh and December which are the third Wednesdays of the month and then finally I just wanted to now know the mayor and my colleagues uh uh with Terry with men's gratitude uh because the B had a ribbon cutting last week to formally celebrate the renovation and reopening of the felt uh we were honored that the director of no County Commissioners Ron Rios was there to participate in the event um mayor Foster uh and we all noted that you know this this renovation uh you know is integral to our you know how how we hope to improve neighborhoods throughout Highland Park is identify new public spaces for Passive Recreation or improve existing spaces that might have been neglected and had a little rust and just need a little TLC um this uh and I do want to note that while the burough did did print a significant investment uh this this project was also assisted by $170,000 from midd County open space fund so we do wonder where those funds go those are the types of projects support we have to apply for them uh and seek them out but it is an normous S we couldn't get these little things done without it um so thank you all and that's my report thank you uh B administrative report I don't have a report uh B attorney special Council Balman a report sure mayor um on your agenda tonight u in addition to the uh plan discuss is a resolution concerning U the Redevelopment are Bond related to the grocery store um this is the last step in the process for the agreements we have with the grocery store it's it's pretty much administrative process um you may recall that as a component of the financial agreement we agreed to issue a non recourse Revel Bond so non- recourse means uh the payment of that does not come back to the taxpayers it doesn't appear on our debt statements or official statements or otherwise um we Ser purely serve as a commu theond the pond is $90,000 and get paid back three over three years zero % interest $3,000 a year um the property owner will be paying that Bond back um it's their ultimately obligation of the grocery store uh this received local fin Bo review and approval um and so this is this resolution is the last step in that process uh attorney sh thank you mayor um would you like me to go through the rules thank you good sorry good evening everyone please be advised we implemented a new set of procedures and how we conduct the councils May Al the meeting and everyone will have an opportunity to speak as you can see from today's agenda packet we have three opportunities where the public May participate the first opportunity for public participation is after the mayor's report if you look on your agenda that's number 10 this time is limited to questions about the resolutions and or ordinances that are also vote on today's agenda any questions or comments will be placed on the record then the public portion will be closed once the public portion is closed the mayor will respond to the question or direct a member from the governing body or directors to respond to the Public's inquiries the public cannot speak once the public portion is closed the second opportunity is the public hearing for the ordinance we have in the agenda for a second hearing and on your agenda that's number 11 at this time a member of the public may have a question or comment regarding the specific ordinance up for a second reading once the comments are heard public portion will be Clos and the mayor will respond or direct a member from the government body directors to respond to the A and finally after a vote for the consent agenda is passed there'll be a third opportunity for public participation and on your agenda that is number 16 the public at this time may ask a question or make a comment on any topic once all the members of the public are heard in person and Via Zoom the public portion will be closed once the public portion is closed no one from the public will be able to comment the mayor then will resp respond or direct anys from the diet respond thank you very much thank you mayor thank you and now it's time for my report um but before we do so can we have a moment of silence for text our our firefighter who has served our B for a very long time um just a reminder um our communication one of the things that we're trying to improve a mayor and council is how do we communicate with the members of the public and we have a survey that is out and you can go to the borrow website Island Park borrow and just look at the survey fill it out and find out some of the ways that we need and how we can improve communication with all of you so we're asking you to complete that survey that's on the we site so we can know how to better improve our communication we are looking for members it's coming to the end of the year and we're looking for members for boards and commission information for boards and commission is also on the website so please take a look there uh Thanksgiving is fast approaching and the Highland Park PB Police Department First State Fire and zone 6 they're doing a Food donation drive this is being um organized by Officer Fitzgerald and uh the Thanksgiving drop off food can food drop off will be at the police department from now until October 17th so if you wish you just drop off any items you wish to donate can items over to the Highland Park Police Department and last but definitely not least that the library is finally open we had a great turnout on Sunday it was just awesome um it's newly renovated it's really state-ofthe-art and it's really really awesome there's something for everyone and it's very convenient to check in and out whatever you need there's a meeting room and everything else it's it's I would say highly improved um and I also want to thank our um State Partners such as assembly man Stanley that came to the opening and uh I I want to thank the assembly members that helped us to get the funding for the library and also the senate members that our senator Pat Digman will also help to get that funding so thanks to everyone and that's my report now I'm going to go to public participation total of 21 minutes 3 minutes for speakers limited items on this agenda comments from members of the public attending in person will be heard first followed by members of the public on Zoom if you wish to speak please come to the microphone and give us your name and address administrator anyone on Zoom yes we have a hand up on zoom and just record we have 10 folks attending from home Sal Baptist you're up please state your name to confirm it's you um hi this is this is s Baptist I live on raron Avenue um I had a question question about resolution 11-24 d262 um authorizing uh us joining with the Cranford police Cooperative pricing system for goods and services um I looked into that a little at present they only have a contract about purchasing cars for police departments um however I'm a little concerned about how vague it is just saying goods and services uh what types of goods and services um does this involve uh I worry that in future this could lead to something such as Outsourcing the crossing guards for instance um so yeah just some clarification would be good thanks see no other hands up here okay seeing there's no further questions may I have a motion to close the public participation [Music] second councilman hail yes council president H yes councilman yes uh regarding the question that was posed the we have a hard time and Sarah and administrator correct me if I'm Inc correcting particular this one that we have a hard time in purchasing vehicles and if we when we pull the resources together with smaller towns or town our sizes because we go to the bigger towns it takes us forever to get uh police vehicles and other vehicles so when we pull resources together with other smaller towns it's easier for us to get more vehicles on the road rather than going in a pool where there's such as say um towns such as Edison presis scatter way and new BR with smaller towns we can pull our resources together and we can get vehicles as a as a it's an easier way for us to get the vehicles because we're currently behind in our Fleet am I correct yes mayor and just to clarify the resolution format was dictated by the Cranford police Co-op um but it's basically authorizing us to join the co cooperative and the sole motivation at this time was uh they apparently have some EV and hybrid vehicles available which have been very challenging to find for police department and um but certainly we'll continue to monitor what other goods and services they may have but right now this the purpose was the vehicles as noted because we really we our desires to be as sustainable as possible in EV Vehicles is it's really desirable that we want to see here in town for especially for our environment so as we pursue these opportunities with other towns where we can get and it's important for us to C on all these opportunities um ordinance requiring a second reading CL can you report in ordinance number 24-29 7 in ordinance of the bur of Highland Park County of no state of New Jersey amending the downtown R development plans for tracks a through D has been duly advertised for consideration of passage on reading by title and affidavits of publication on file now it's time for a public hearing on this ordinance if you wish to speak on this ordinance please come to the microphone and announce yourself those on zo those in person will be heard first followed by those on zoom and you could raise your hand on zo anyone on Zoom yes mayor I see s Baptist it looks like your hands up please just state your name again to confirm yes uh it's Sal Baptist um again um I was reading through the Redevelopment plan uh it does seem to be a little easier to read um and I noticed uh that for track c um Lot 19 is a single family home facing Magnolia and they say it's got a well manicured uh lawn or whatever I am wondering why that's considered uh in need of Redevelopment also lot 13 is a daycare uh and other uh businesses facing south third um these are the only two that are not facing south second and riton um so I was able to uh find in the fine print that it's uh the plan is to do parking related things with them I'm not sure how that uh helps Highland Park be more you know walkable to re be replacing small businesses and single family homes with parking related things um but also um how will this intera with the uh PL to uh close off South Third to vehicle traffic um and uh to make Magnolia a one-way Street this doesn't sound like it's going to be uh Pleasant to uh get into whatever parking area is going on uh or to leave it um and so that kind of defeats the purpose of trying to make things walkable if you have to go all the way around two entire blocks to get in or out of the parking lot uh if I'm incorrect in uh figuring out how these things all work together please explain but I'm just foreseeing a very bad time for everyone if uh all these plans come to fruition as far as I understand them thanks anyone else no mayor oh seeing there's no further may I have a motion to close public session on public hearing on ordinance number 24209 motion to close public hearing second roll call Council woman can yes councilman H yes council president H yes councilman Pon yes uh or administrator can you um respond to the question on track C the the the two lots and then the closure for South Third sure um the Lots 19 and 13 that were referred to were included in the plan they were studied as uh and determined to be um meet the criteria as area in need of Redevelopment the main reason we wanted to include them is that there were possib ability that if they were Incorporated they might facilitate either access to the site and to the parking areas uh and or round out the parking areas to make the layout a little better there are no plans on the table right now for those two lots um but we didn't want to preclude that possibility by not including them in the plan Amendment um the but right now there there's no movement on on those two um and um there was a reference to uh Magnolia and the oneway which I believe is a reference to something in our bike P plan uh where you might consider looking at uh changing the road directions and making them one ways on Magnolia and vener but that is not moving ahead and we recognize it needs additional study in light of the the um plans for Trax SE um so that is not etched in stone at this point um and we'll be here that further in light of the re thank you in addition to um when South Third The Pedestrian Plaza comes in place it will always have walkability it will be an area that you will be able to access yes may and I Thanks for mentioning that the the Lot 19 that was included we were actually potentially just envisioning the pathway through to the site and to the church as an a possible amenity so walking from Plaza you could walk through and Pen the Block in the middle uh and get to the church and to the to the rear of the the new project so those are amongst the concepts we've considered again none of them um we have we're not really pursuing those at this time but we didn't have the possibility okay may I have a motion to adopt or reject ordinance number 24-29 motion to adopt second roll Council yes councilman yes council president H yes councilmanic yes ordinance requiring first reading cler can you please record an introduction of ordinance number 24-29 c ordinance providing for the purchase of a community shuttle bus appropriating 200,000 thereof authorized and by the bur of Highland Park in the county of midc state of New Jersey has been introduced by the finance Comm committee for consideration of passage on first reading by title may I have a motion to adopt or reject ordinance number 24-20 N8 to authorize publication as required by law and set forth in public hearing for December 10th 2024 sove second roll call councilwoman Cana yes Council yeah council president yesc first I just wanted to say thank you mayor and toing staff here at the bur including Terry uh very excited for this one to move forward this is something I was champion at our last work session so thank you for having it on the agenda tonight uh and I wholeheartedly vote Yes and also just a little plug hopefully we're able to get nice electric [Music] H but who are not aware that um our senior bus is down so hopefully we'll get renovation and bus it right around the same time okay um Now we move on to the consent agenda may I have a may I ask any council member who wish to add or have a question the centen or have anything be separated or called no okay okay may I have a motion to ad adopt or reject the following consent agenda items 13 a through 13 C second I should have said t sound like C isn't um resolution required a separate reading wait oh may I have a motion or roll call roll call counc can yes counc yes council president yes and if you look closely fireworks July 3r this here so yes councilmanic yeah you sto my thunder gonna point that out too that's totally fine we can both Champion it together very much you know all looking forward to another exciting Fourth of July celebration uh in Highland Park it always brings out a ton of people I have a [Music] yes uh resolution uh requiring a separate read um may I have a motion to adopt or reject resolution number may I have a motion to confirm so second counc yes Council H yes yes counc one more final comment for the night I look forward to workation ADV commission yes all right second public um participation three minutes per speaker on any topic subject to conclude by 900 p.m. comments from members of the public attended in person will be heard first followed by members who attended on Zoom yes Baptist your hands up pleas confirm yes okay s Baptist again I just um I was a little confused about the ordinance um because I asked how something could be listed as in need of red velopment um when it was you know described as nicely looked after and whatever and the answer I got was that we saw there was a possibility of you know rounding out the parking area um I don't remember the exact wording but looking at a lot and saying well it would be nice to have that included in our plan is not really the same as saying yes this lot is in need of development and I think it's a little disturbing that this is what's apparently going on um that someone is saying well for our grand plan that lot would be perfect and that's the kind of thing that leads to imminent domain and unhappy people and you know there's a lot of things I would like and I can't just go around saying well that's in need of Redevelopment so that it becomes mine just saying thank you anyone else okay seeing there's no further may I have a motion to close public participation so move second roll call Council yes councilman Hill yes council president H yes councilmanic yes uh we're going to not have a recess so may I have a motion to [Music] adjourn I need a second all in favor our next schedule all in favor I I okay our next schedule meeting will be December 10th at 700 p.m thank you and have a good night Happy Thanksgiving to all