[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] e in accordance with the open public meeting act notice of this meeting was provided to the home News Tribune the star leiser and the Highland Park planet on January 5th 2024 and was posted at borrow Hall website at www.hpborrow.com and on the bulletin board of B Hall 221 South 5th Avenue Highland Park New Jersey and has remained continuously posted as required by law fire exits are the right to the right and the left of council chambersan can you lead us in the pledge of Alle of the United States of America and to the it stands Nation indivisible with liy and justice for all mayor councilwoman Cana here councilman George here councilman H here council president H she's abent tonight councilman here attorney here administrator here than you miss friends on the other side councilman H councilman H oh no she got us Stephie sorry story all right so before we um our our attorney has an announcement to make before we get the meeting started hi everyone uh we want to just set some ground rules um just that everyone's on the same page um once the the council people have gone through their agenda and each of the council individuals have stated what um what the discussion items are the they're going to few opportunities for the public to speak um when the public comes up and speaks um we are going to B close the when everyone's finished we're got to close the public portion and then at that juncture then the governing body will respond to the answers that we do have but we want to create a forum where everyone gets to speak and that there isn't an opportunity where people are also interrupting each other and we just want to just keep some decorum if the event somebody is out of order I want everybody to know that the mayor runs this meeting so she was going to pound her gal it's going to be a point of order and we're all going to settle down and she's going to direct and who who's to speak next thank you so much Council [Music] reports uh council member H thank you madam mayor um for those of you at home and without my name is Matt hail and I chair The Economic Development Council committee um so well I've lived in New Jersey for a really really long time I one everybody know that I actually grew up in Southern California where every spring we celebrated the return of the swallows to San Capistrano but what is little known is that Highland Park actually has several Springtime returns that are rituals of our own so I want to announce a number of those today or remind people of those the first one is the return of the flock of do scooters so our scooters have been on their winter bre Break um for for quite in the winter hibernation but you are going to see more and more vo scooters um flocking around town so I I hope everybody can please remember that in the initial stages you're more likely to see scooters out and about and often in odd places um this is because new and experienced scooter riders need to be reminded to bring the scooters back to improve parking spots and enclosures in and around town uh and then also in addition the scooter Wranglers from Bo will need some time to fully staff up um and to anal the migratory patterns of the scooters so they can come and pick up the Strays that are placed up and around town um we'll be working with both Riders and scooters and uh Wranglers to manage the flock in the best and most safe and economical way that we can um but it's great to have them back and we're really excited to have writers um for the spring and summer seasons so in addition to uh the scooter flock um we have two additional seasonal species that are coming out of their winter hi hibernation blend smoothies and dairy Deluxe ice cream both now open after winter uh hibernation and looking to be fed by local residents so thank you to all the people who have already gone to in the last few days to help these beloved seasonal businesses start up their spring and summer with a bang we've seen fairly long lines at both um both of them um and so thank you very much uh for bringing M Med nourishment to buns and dairy Del L um in the next few weeks we're GNA have some new species join our flock giddy pizza and Cafe is going to be open for takeout this week um but they should be uh fully serving um all the all of your kosher pizza and Cafe needs um uh in the next couple weeks um we also expect later in the summer we'll see have an exciting return of Highland Pizza back to to Highland Park uh our economic environment team says it looks like they're coming back with an expanded and improved menu options as well as some significant growth in outdoor seating sections um lastly we would also are tracking the arrival of yet another species of pilot Park it's called Superfresh um and we're seeing it um and from seeing it in other natural habitats um it's an absolutely beautiful creature which I know many of you going to enjoy visiting on a regular basis you'll notice that on tonight's agenda we're introducing um uh our first reading uh and uh about a variety of incent and inducements um that we'll be having in order to bring uh the Super Fresh to to Highland Park um again this is just the first reading for tonight um uh but we we we knew we were going to do this for for quite some time so it's nice to see that is happening um lots of places have been buying for Super Fresh So it's nice that they've been attracted to hide and park uh environment it does look like we aren't going to be able to to see them um until about Labor Day uh uh the first sting of super FES this is because the habitat and enclosure where the super FES will be located um is undergoing a six million doll Soup To Nuts renovation um and that's taking a lot longer than we expected so um it'll certainly be worth it to have this creature in Island Park um also I wanted to point out another agenda on the item tonight uh we are going to adopt the implementation plan for the third year of the neighborhood preservation program um as you might recall the MVP is in a slightly different habitat up on Woodbridge Avenue but we're hoping that the programs and grants that are offering uh this year um to the Woodbridge Avenue ecosystem uh things like online marketing help for the businesses expanded facade Brands and a homeowner Port Improvement rant process um will bring more and more people to shop and uh and up on Woodbridge Avenue um we've already seen the newest Woodbridge Avenue species the freshark convenience store um it's moved into its micro habitat um in the abandon Quick Check um property um I I was able to take a look at that the other day and it looks like it's really going to thrive there uh finally the last spring renewals are are are two that have have long and stable um species that have been in Highland Park for a long time the farmers market is gently spreading its wings on Friday afternoons from 11 to 4 it slowly grows and gathers strength during the ear early spring but our experts at Main Street hland park expect that it's going to reach full size and full plumage in April um when visiting hours will be expanded so please have an opportunity to go and see the farmers market and then of course we have the annual return of the 5K run in the Arts in the park um that's a one day event it happens in May 5th um it's it's it's a it's a it's a very kind of like a phoenix but it is a wonderful event so please mark your calendars um to go run and walk and and join uh the May 5th arts in the park so lots of exciting things coming out of hibernation I hope everybody comes out of your own hibernation um and helps with the feeding and caring of these fne businesses um and uh thank you very much here thank you for that glowing council member candidat yes thank you um for of health is working with the chief and the police department to do a presentation on proper gun storage more information is to come on that event the commission mission for universal access has many members who are working with many cultural and educational institutes throughout the state to help make them more accessible to all citizens around New Jersey so we're very proud of those members for doing that the community food pantry is open on the 2 and 4th Thursday from 9:00 am. to 10:45 a.m. and again 6 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays following the Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. the Highland Park gives a hoot food pantry is every Tuesday at the sonone 6 center from 10:00 a.m. to 11: a.m. both programs have seen a big increase in families needing their services join the human relations commission as they kick off the CommunityWide incentive the Gratitude Tree project this will be on March 27th it's a project to foster a culture of thank thankfulness and appreciation within our community by adorning a tree mural with messages of gratitude and peace the presentation will also be followed by a seed planning activity to symbolize hope and New Beginnings it should be very fun for people of all ages for more information email Highland Park HRC gmail.com the Mental Health commission would like everyone to know that March is self har Awareness Month sadly many people engage in self Haring behaviors self Haring involves injuring ones themselves by actions like cutting burning picking at wounds pulling out hair or inflicting bruises how however self-care can also refer to other behaviors that might indigenous one one's health and safety such as consuming alcohol and substances and engaging in dangerous activities or neglecting one's physical or emotional needs Key signs to notice include physical injuries you'll frequently see Cuts bruises Burns um people will change their appearance and wear different clothing try and cover up where they're harming themselves um unusual excuses for why they're injured and changes in their behavior um if you or anybody you know is Health Haring you can call either the lifeline at 988 or the self harm hot online at 1 1800 don't cut free support is available 247 lastly it's National Social Work month and I want to thank Nicole Huff the borrow social worker who goes above and beyond every day for all of our residents thank you mayor thank you council member George thank you mayor um good evening everyone for those listening councilman Phil George um I chair the Public Safety Committee just a brief report mayor for the police departments a reminder March 27th is the kite making and de and decorating event from 4 to 6: pm at the community center everyone's invited to share some Springtime crafting and enjoyment for the library excuse me today the bids for roof replacement project were open and subject to review by the burough engineer and burrow Council will'll be able to award that contract to the selected there the executive director advised me last night at the Board of Trustees meeting still on track to open around June the bid specs for the substantial upgrades and installations through the generous Kushner estate Grant have been prepared and that process should begin very shortly the work is being coordinated with the construction and roof replacement projects to make that work the work completion line all come out at the same time in June the libraryies online lending app had some difficulties recently but as of yesterday afternoon it's back up and sta reports is working much better than it did before it should be noted that it's a good sign because when the app went down the complaints came in so rapidly that we knew people use it and they use it all the time and they use it every day it came right back up um and even the Board of Trustees was was thought that that in some ways was good news that so many people were actually using it at the moment that it went down that they called in the library is doing a project with me that was suggest by councilman cck to map out the location of all the mini libraries in town at the Board of Trustees meeting last night one trustee mentioned that there's an older map a watercolor map floating around that shows the location of some of the little mini libraries of people street corners um so if you know of one send me an email at Phil George at P George at hpb.com include a picture and a short comment if you wish uh including whether you've taken a book put in a book or what you know what you feel about it and um the library will put that out sometime in the next couple of months we're looking at a deadline of around April 15 so if you would get your information out in the next month we'll put that together uh finally with the fire department uh the crew was trained Saturday on the new engine uh we don't have the license plate yet U so I'm disappointed about my ride however the the fire department has also received a grant 27,000 through the American Rescue firefighter grants program for eight sets of turnout gear and five pairs of boots for our firefighter thank you man thank you council member post thank you mayor for everyone here and at home I'm Jason melck I chair the recreation and arts committee um so I'm going to start off my report with a brief reminder of the Ser an important service provided by the department uh Community Services which is that they have grocery transportation and online food shopping assistance that me help in those areas please reach out to the Fine staff Community Center um next up I have a couple of community center programming highlights um first up is that there's free tax prep available at the community center every Tuesday um now through April 14th you get your taxes prepared by IRS certified volunteers um please know the program is limited to individuals with incomes up to $70,000 and appointments are required to make an appointment please reach out to uh the PS at Community Center um a little later on we also in the month we're going to have a community behavioral health event on Tuesday March 26 from 12 to 3pm also at the community center um there'll be resources and presentations uh the event is open to all uh visit the community center web page or call for more information um early next month we'll have a an ARP safe Tri course offered on Monday April 1st and Monday April 8th this two is open to all visit the community center website or for more information um and then in mid April we'll have a spring luncheon on Tuesday April 16th at the community center and that will start at noon moving on a couple of reg Recreation programming highlights uh not this are open um Theater Camp is already full so that one is filled up but the other camps are still open registration if anyone is interested um we're going to be offering a few new youth programs this spr namely the new tennis and chess programs fors uh lastly a couple Arts commission updates uh the Arts commission and human relations commission are teaming up to hold a special Windows of understanding event which table of understanding um that's going to be focused on food security issues that will be held tomorrow Wednesday March 20th through 4M and it'll be at Alon at 137 139 RAR Avenue um and lastly uh there will be a couple of book art workshops uh by the Arts commission um that will be those will be held on Sunday April 7th from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday April 17th very important day from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m at the community center um on the April 7th event they'll be the project will be a SE part down book um for that one bring sewing needles if you have all of their materials will be provided and then on April 17th there's accordion FL flag Book Project and all material that will be provided but you may want to bring some collage elements to populate the book if you're interested in either or both of these book shops please sign up in advance by emailing the instructor am at a139 gmail.com that's a p l a139 gmail.com and that's my report tonight thank you thank you attorney sha I have nothing I'm sorry [Music] mayor administr show her no report this even okay I have a very I have a brief report um today I had a meeting with uh the Attorney General Mayors from middlex County and police chief and the meeting was about the growing concerns of home burglaries or Ortho Tech FF and um what are they what is the attorney general office doing to going to do about um curving this this new wave that we that we are all seeing and we're all very much concerned with so this was basically the meeting that we have they told us stay tuned we had a lot of questions about keeping everyone safe and what kind of safety measures are they going to put in place or possible changes to the law to ensure that we're some we're we're safe because we see it creeping around in neighborhoods across the state where people are breaking into homes and they're stealing cars or there's Auto for home invasion and so it was very important that we went to this meeting today and lend our voice about the concerns that we have about safety for everyone they also um r that they were also talking about a new technology that they have which is called the the LPR reader and this something that we have been doing in Highland Park for years which is called a license plate reader this is something that the state is giving out to just about every every Police Department um and that the effort of that is to if there's a c that's stolen um on any of the thway in the state that the any c that is driving around that is stolen that the License Plate Reader that the police have on their death would be able to pick up that information and hopefully stop some of these CS that we're seeing so they rolled that out and that they rolling it out across the state so I'm hoping that would be a tool that will help to curve some of the the Oro thefts that we all have been seeing I will provide more updates as soon as I get more from the Attorney General's office um also today was uh the senior at their senior lunch and they celebrated St Patrick's Day and it was good they had their their corn beef and cabbage and it was a good event and I was able to spend a little bit of time with them to tell to update them on some of the items that you all heard discussed here today so this evening so that was good um I am pleased to announce that this past Sunday there were 88 residents that attended the project for the park Partners Grant at the community center this year the number was low and you may ask why Soo well we had strong competition at the high school cuz foot loose the performance of Foot Loose by our amazing Highland Park High School student was in session and most people went up to go there I also went it was it was pretty amazing those kids are awesome so with that said we gave out five different grants we gave out grants in the following category arts and who's my neighbor Inc wall art and a project for who my neighbor was awarded a grant the environmental category was the native plant and garden and sustainable Highland Park they receive a grant uh another category for safety the universal access health and wellness program received a received a grant and also a grant was given for the social Wellness for elderly persons and that was a grant that was given to the Chinese Association because they did a aome program with the seniors last year and for the past few years they have been doing some wonderful work with seniors I was happy to see that Grant and then there was one that went to the um human relations commission um and it's called the unity tree and that we're going to see some more things coming out of Jason's uh uh no Tara's department and she's uh she's reported on it tonight about the the project that's coming and I would strongly suggest that everyone get engaged in this because I'm down to see all the things that we're all grateful for because there's a lot to be grateful for so I was happy to see the HRC receive that Grant and last but not least the Highland Park student class or club for the prom prom for all they also receive a grant and that was the mayor's team Council project they want to make sure that all students have an opportunity to attend the prom this year so that was really awesome um that is my report oh one more thing I wanted to add to council members panel report um that Super Fresh has also agreed that they would help to sponsor the 5K race and arts in the park so they are not even here yet but they're they're getting involved and they want to show that they support our town so that's an awesome thing okay and and now it's time for public discussion 3 minutes limited three minutes limited to items on the agenda comments from members of the public attended in person will be heard first followed by members attending on zoom and remember we will listen to everything that you have to say and then we'll respond later um please state your name and address it is you just got to move closer oh okay Mary for7 Dennis stre I have to say I'm kind of surprised that there aren't more people here about the pilot um agreement that is on first reading uh because I I'm actually pretty concerned about the pilots that pil Park is talking about we did one for um for the Frederick for $100,000 if they were taxed regularly they'd be paying over $800,000 in property taxes and I'm I'm so curious about the relationship between High Park and middle sex super middle um and the super in Highland Park I it seems like they may have the same developers but I'm not sure uh that's not really clear um and I'd like somethingone to kind of respond to that I'd like some somebody with some knowledge about what happened in Middle sex which opened in December and then that that development that sort of um Supermarket area was sold for $8.8 million in January or February of this year so do you see something like that happening in Highland Park that you know the developer could walk away with a lot of money um and another question was uh I don't know if any of you remember this but I I can't remember I think um Brunswick had a super fresh grocery store in downtown brunck that's right next to where the heix is going in that only lasted a few years um and I'm a little concerned that we've given away we're giving away a lot of tax revenue we've given away a lot to fedi um and you've got what six or eight other potential pilot areas that you can give away pilot you give away tax revenues on and I'd like some kind of like financial analysis of what the future Pym Park is if all of these Redevelopment um areas get redeveloped and we give everybody a pilot because youve set the example that we're GNA get we get the second one and we'll probably be a lot more and I guess I guess that's it for now I actually have a question about not not something to do with the pilot but um with um with Oprah as on each one of you an email uh asking you not to support the changes that um are being proposed in Trenton um over Oprah and nobody bothered to respond but I'd like know what position you are all taking on the changes to the op okay hies 26 thir Avenue I have two questions the first is also related to the pilot I understand why we did a pilot arrangement with the supermarket I absolutely understand that but I'm just curious is this the same owner that is now operating under the name DL Urban renewal LLC is this the same owner landlord um that had the Stop and Shop property and if so have they changed their name and then my second question is related to the pilot funds and does the burrow intend to initiate um a specific agreement with the public schools to ensure that they get a portion of the annual service charge that is collected by the pilot I understand 95% is coming to the township and 5% is going to the county my two questions hi everybody i'mah 146 North 6th Avenue um I have a couple of questions about the supermarket situation um we of course we all wanted to succeed goes without saying but we have to be realistic supermarkets don't always take off like the one in runs it so my first question is what happens with the supermarket BS I realize that there has to be the urbanity in order to be able to follow tax abatement but the question is if it did fail would the next tenant have to be a supermarket what are the criteria for getting the pilot if subsequently it fails and um the property is empty and then we have to find somebody else for the property um so I understand that they have to be an urban renewal entity but beyond that do they have to be a supermarket um second are we talking about the revenue allocation bonds is that part of um what's on the table as well because if so my question is what municipality's exposure is with regard to the revenue allocation bonds um and again especially if the supermarket fails U what is Our obligation um is there any clack we're only getting a 2% increase per year um if it on the other hand is wildly successful are we only getting % increase per year for the whole life of the abatement um so the question is there um is there any room for increasing the Pere tap increase rather um if the if they're making a lot of money on it on the other so those are my questions thank you good evening uh my name is Scott seigel I am a property owner in town and own three properties over on 4th Avenue Dennison Street and also on Wayne and I'm going to talk a little bit about different subject uh than what's been talked about this evening and I'm talking about the issues of 20 about 3 four years ago you guys hit us with a 20% approximately increase in water you then hit us recently with a uh tax increase one of my properties went up over 30% that hurt personally because it I was in mid leas and hadn't been able to account account for that not anticipating a 30% increase in taxes then you had somewhere in all that rent control in put in and then we're all aware of the uh ongoing insurance issue in the state and then we also have now this water meter situation that's gone on in town and that's what brings me here this evening okay recently uh the town notified the property owners in town after everything I just laid out for you and they said well we want new water meters in town and I back that you want a new way of measuring water new way of reading the meters and it hopefully will save costs and then lo and behold I get a bill in the mail for over almost $6,000 because you said that the meter in my one of my properties was incorrect I said well how can that be you've been coming to read the meter I have no way of knowing whether that meter was or that water that was used was as a result of a previous owner but now I'm left to pay for a $6,000 Bill councilman you talked about inducements and I respect that point point of order sir you only have to have all your questions directed to the mayor and not to any specific Council making comment to statement sir I understand that we just want to keep some theorum please follow rules thank you okay comments were made this evening about inducements for business well how about an inducement for property owners in this town it seems though everybody seems to think Property Owners make a lot of money when in fact most of us use this as a sideline uh to maybe just as an investment tool not making much money paying large mortgages older homes need lots of love need lots of care you start taking away too much money which you have over the last four or five years now property values are going to start to look at I've been in this town 30s I've been in this town since approximately March 16th 2001 and I lived here for five years I've seen this town wither not grow but wither despite all the comments in this room this even I've seen it a deprivation of what's going on in Main stre and I've seen some of the changes in the housing in this town I don't think this council is understanding what it takes for property owners renters and we have a large number of landlords in this town to maintain their properties to provide satisfactory housing thank you hi Harper Street make a comment on a different topic I saw that there's two people being um appointed to the public information committee um I know one of them she's great I think that's wonderful um I just wanted to mention that I think public information is incredibly important it really needs uh a focus um I I served on that committee and honestly it was um hard to feel like we could make an impact and I really want to see you know this this skill and talent that I know some of the people have actually be used and um you know I know it's super hard to reach all the communities we have we have a very diverse Town um absolutely but I I would love to see kind of some of these um professional talents that we have who are volunteering your time have a little more impact on some of the communications um you know i' would love to see some Communications about in different languages we have a really big agan population and I just think there's a lot that could be done there and and I hope that that um that committee can really be tapped and and maybe used a little bit more uh than I've seen it used in the past thank you anyone on Zoom yes mayor I have a hand up and I have three attendees uh Jessica hunson you could just state your name and addresse hi um this is Jessica hunston and I'm on Street um I also want to talk a little bit about and ask a couple of questions about the um tax long-term tax exemption um for the supermarket so according to the municipal tax abatement hand handbook long-term tax exemptions incentivize private developers to invest in the development of a property or a area of a municipality in a May in a manner that may not economically VI be viable without a financial incentive so I agree with some of the others who have said that it seems like um a grocery store is something of utmost importance I think we all agree how critical that is but the handbook also indicates that mun municipalities should you the use the pilot financial agreement forecast spreadsheet tool to evaluate the net cost to the m Municipality of Any Given pilot scenario to ensure taxpayers are not unduly burdened by offsetting the subsidy through their own tax dollars so I have two questions my first question is has the municipality utilized the pilot financial agreement forecast spreadsheet to evaluate the net cost to the burrow and then my second question is tax records indicate that the owners of this property have paid 120,000 approximately in 2022 100,000 in 2023 and about 50,000 in the first two quarters of 2024 how much does the burrow anticipate receiving from DL urban renewal LLC annually in property taxes and or annual service charges and how does this compare to past tax revenue received from this property and I have actually one last question which is I noticed that this um uh entity is named DL urban renewal LLC and I wanted to know if and I did read the financial agreement but it was difficult for me to determine is this entity receiving a long-term tax exemption on both land and improvements so those are my three questions thank you um was last question okay this time I move I make a motion to close portion public portion of this meeting move okay roll call councilwoman Cana yes councilman George yes councilman Hal yes councilman cic yes now we're going to try to answer some of the questions that was put forward and um as it pertains to a pilot um Terry you want to talk about the pilot and um the the the pilot for Superfresh and uh the 8.8 million that was for the developer that was discussed I did take good notes mayor um and I'll do my best I I you know I'll try to I think I can address some of the questions that multiple questions that were raised by members of the public where I can't we will get you answers uh after the meeting as mentioned earlier this is an introduction the public hearing will be at the next council meeting so we have some time to get back to folks and I I should mention I had intended to put the application up on the website and I I neglected to do that but I will get to it this week um so there was a question raised about middle sex buau uh the project there I am not familiar with those details so I don't have any uh answers I don't even know who owns the property versus the the grosser I will tell you in our case uh the Superfresh operator does not own the property um but I it's my understanding that they are the urban renewal entity that's been mentioned and that is who applying for this now so they are not the property owner they are the operator of this facility and the the agreement goes away if there's no grocery store so that's just a fundamental reality that's baked into our Redevelopment plan by by choice um and um so that's that's an important consideration um let me just go back to my notes mayor um I don't have details on the New Brunswick one but I'm I'm happy to look into that a little bit but we my my initial reaction is we are in a good place with our current Arrangement and I have no reason to think that we won't have want I don't know what if any there were issues there but um right now we don't have a reason to to be concerned as far as that goes um uh so I think I answer that that the so DL urban renewal that is an entity held by superf I'm calling super I corporate made this um the question was asked about uh pilot funds um and a share was with schools uh kind of like we did something that similar with I there you are with with the with the Frederick project that was mentioned earlier it's my understanding and I will get you clarification that because there's no residential component to this project that the ASC the annual service charge can't be split that way that said at another question that was asked I think by someone on the zoom was whether or not the [Music] um there's the land tax versus the Improvement you cannot uh wave land taxes with a pilot so basically the way this shakes out is the uh the urban rural entity superfat will pay the greater of either the land tax or the ASC depending on what that calculation looks like for that given year um so hopefully that answers that those two question two killing two with one response there um there was a question raised about the Redevelopment area Bond it's a non-recourse bond to the buau so it's very limited risk and it's very nominal in terms of its amount uh it was a necessary tool to use to make the financial agreement that we have here and anything beyond that I'd have to refer to our attorney and you can feel free to email me and I will get you a more precise answer to that question but I know that there is a good answer to that question um and it is a 2% annual increase over 30y year per question that was raised um I I will find out about the forecast spreadsheet but I do know our attorneys did look at this very carefully on our behalf I don't know if that was a tool that they need to use in this situation but I will raise that question with them and it's in terms of how much we can anticipate it's it's basically about 50,000 a year based on the current value of the property and we're discounting the improvements is essentially what we're doing in to make this work um so I think those are the kind of the ones I'm comfortable getting back to if there's a question that I didn't address directly now I would be happy to follow up with anybody um after the meeting or um and and we'll make sure you get your questions mayor that's that's I have I have notes from some of the other speakers but was you know I wanted was to address the pilot program and Super Fresh and I think you I think all those questions were answered because I also took notes um I'm going to hop over to uh the question that was raised regarding the by Mr SE the increase in water and increase he saw 30% increase um I can't address that that now because we don't have his I would suggest that Mr seagull that you meet with Terry or someone in the water department and have them take a look at your bills and see what's going on there I I I I can't address that we can't address that from here um you said you receive a $6,000 bill without see that information there's no way we can address it but I would strongly suggest that if you give your information to Terry she can follow up with you okay and then um another question was raised about information we will try our best to um communicate as as much as we can um we all are painfully aware of that we just don't receive our our information from the news or from a newspaper anymore that there's various sources in where which people get information and I have met with some of the members that's going to be appointed tonight to in public information committee and we are looking at various ways in which to communicate as a matter of fact one of the persons that I met with um a tool that I use to communicate with Asian Asian Community here in town talk about a bigger expansion of that tool so yes um we're looking at various ways in which we can communicate with everyone so that's being worked on a question was raised regarding Oprah that um the courts are being I think it's the uh that's been worked out with the assembly or Senate in Trenton we're not involved in that process we had no comments to add and I think that brings us to closing up for public so now we're going to move on to ordinances that require first reading CL can please report on ordinance that require first reading ordinance number 24283 approving the application for a long-term tax exemption and authorizing the execution of a financial agreement with DL urban renewal grocery store motion to approve or reject motion to adopt second roll for councilwoman ker bar yes councilman George yes councilman H yes councilman yes now we move on to the consent agenda may I have a resolution may I have a motion to adopt the following consent agenda items 12 a through 120 motion so second second councilwoman can yes councilman George yes councilman H yes and I just quickly I should have mentioned earlier that the on the consent to J is the implementation for the neighborhood preservation program um we are looking actively for for residents and business owners in the Woodridge area to to continue to be a part of the stakeholder committee um that has helped come up with this so I would just encourage people if they interested live in the area have a business in the area um to to to let me know and be a part of it but absolutely yes now we move on to appointment appointment public information committee Le some noise and pachy white Arts commission Arena R motion to confirm second call councilwoman Cana yes councilman George yes councilman Hal yes councilman yes okay and now we move to the second public participation the speaker may speak on any topic um we're subject to close at 9:00 p.m. B administrator will announce when your first when will announce your first speaker if there's one un Zoom if anyone in the public wishes to speak you may do so now uh Mary forberg uh Dennis Street um the open question was not whether you were involved in uh passing that legislation the the question about that was um in the past you signed on to a um sent a letter to the lead of Municipal Le mun municipalities opposing prevailing wages and um I'm just curious if you are in favor of the changes hi I know you asked the question before and we already responded to you didn't answer it um actually she advised that there was no comment on it there is no back and forth once the question has been answered and if if the if the governing body says they're going to get back to you on something they're going to get back on to you something but this is not a form if you have a pending question please ask the question but cannot become an issue of a dialogue or a confrontation it's already been asked to answer actually it hasn't been answered it has been man if you have anything else there anything else we'd like to hear your question if not then please have the next speaker out thank you the question that I asked before with all due respect I don't believe I think it was forgotten and that was the question about whether if the supermarket failed whether there was any presumption that what was the association of the pilot with the protti of the property and with there if whoever the succeeding owner might be would have be an urban renewal entity and a another pilot so that was my question but that didn't get answered so still out there thank you hi I just have to correct the record it was not Super Fresh it was Fresh Market in new was a different okay yeah than yeah CU I it's nice to have someone would know that oh I'm sorry I got dist uh no hands up uh oh take it back one hands up uh Kieran Crowley please state your name and address for the record please hello Kieran Crowley 218 Harrison Avenue can you hear me yes yes hi so um I'd like to just repeat the request for some kind of budget analysis to support the pilot program and the incentive for the developer um and I think about three previous um members of the public have kind of asked the same thing so I'd like to Echo that um and I guess in addition I'd also like to know which uh member of the uh Council or um you know entity is behind the analysis so who who is doing the analysis and I asked that so it's not just left Loosely that oh this will be a you know this will be a net positive for the town I think it's important is it the um Economic Development um arm under councilman hail or is it Finance under um council president H um or indeed is it a member of Staff within the barough so so that's my request thank you all right that was the last uh hand up from home and we're we at three attendees motion to close public comment thank you R Council Cana yes councilman George yes councilman ha yes councilman konic yes okay um Terry you're in the hot seat tonight I'm going to ask you if you the the Mr Crowley that just called um would you be able to get a budget analysis for that let me I don't I don't want to commit to a budget analysis but we can C I can certainly get a response to that question okay and we'll get back to Mr Crowley um Anna had a question about the in in the event which we hope not that the supermarket fails although they have a 30-year lease um she wanted to delve into that can we can you give some more information about where we are and with the with Super Fresh failure or no failure although failure is not an option and about any kind of bond that we may have and uh Revenue allocation and up 2% abatement that was requ is I don't want I can't get into everything on the spot here but I I hear I heard you the second time a little more clearly I I think I understand it's my understanding that this agreement is with this specific urban renewal entity and I think if your question is what if this particular operator fails what would happen well immediately there would be no more uh uh pilot tax payment on this property um but then what would happen next if with another operator I have to get you a better answer on that sequence of events I don't know could someone assume that uh entity and then bring in a grocery store and continue with it I believe that might be an opportunity but I got to get you a better answer because there is a transfer trision point of order ma'am the public portion is closed you can engage this is an opportunity for the governing board to respond to your questions so I will I I think I understand your point and I will I'll work on okay I think those were the questions from members of the public [Music] um okay uh may I have a motion to adjourn all in favor next meeting is scheduled for April 2nd thank you all for coming good night question