##VIDEO ID:XK5oYuC7xiA## as long as you didn't mind the weight there better for this look look professional can I get a motion to go back into session motion second second all those in favor I we're back in session okay great um let's start right up with the administrative uh the administrating of the oath of office for our new Council um okay we are fortunate to have with us the mayor of Elward Park mayor kti who is the father of our new to be sworn in councilman please do you have somebody you want to hold the Bible for you bring I would say just go to a microphone yeah just here here yeah speaking to the mic it's always a shuffle when this goes on that's right okay everybody's always nervous and you know what I was nervous too the first time I got SW how you folks all doing good good it's a great great night here for us uh the kley family um I'm here honored that I get to swear my son in as a councilman in Hillsdale I know he's going to do a great job for you guys uh I know you're all going to get along as best as you can as best as we can but um you'll see he's reasonable and bipartisan too and in his thinking okay um great night for my wife and I along with my daughter-in-law antonet my grandson here junior varsity quarterback I'm doing a lot of bragging tonight why not my other Grand Son by the way who's at College the first time we all know what that's like he's probably been away from home nothing like what is he going to experience now and he's still trying to figure out how to separate the white clothes from the dark clothes he'll be he's not with us tonight want to be here and we have Bobby's in-laws and anet's parents Mike and friend maruzi and one big happy family so I watched this uh young man here take his first footsteps then ride his first bike then play his first baseball game his first football game his wrestling matches uh then go on and play both sides of the ball St Joe's by the way um and then he went to College Syracuse University and he aced all the semesters on the Dean's List all the semesters he was there with a 3.89 cumulative average so very proud of him especially after that point comes out gets a CPA license CFO of of multiple companies and then goes on to get this he's acting CEO of the company he's working with now and the next step is right now repeat after me I I state t name Robert kti Jr do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state Under The Authority Under the authority of the people of the people I do Solly swear I do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully and partially and partially and justly and justly perform all the duties of the office of council member perform all the duties of the office of council member for the barel his Dale for the bur of Hillsdale for the term ending for the term ending December 31st 2024 December 31st 2024 according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me [Applause] got did you sign sign up the make it official already you've already got your signature but you might as well both put your name on that nice copies my pleasure okay got that would you like to say anything sure sure okay check to see if your mic is on okay yeah so just a real quick I guess reflection on being sworn in today um I would like to thank U there was a process and and and and individuals uh who allowed me to get here today so I would like to thank the the accy committee for interviewing me um and ultimately recommending me to serve on this Council and for nominating and choosing me to be part of the the November 5th 2024 ballot I would like to thank the council for un unanimously voting me to fill this vacant seat I appreciate your confidence and I look forward to working with all of you I would like to thank my family for being here tonight especially my wife and my son my father the mayor my mother my mother and father-in-law and anyone else in attendance for being here tonight appreciate you being at this town event to the mayor and Council I'm honored to be part of this governing body and I look forward to working with each and every one of you again to the community it's a privilege to be on this Council my pledge to the council and to the community is to represent each and every one of you in your best interest to be diligent in my research to be thorough transparent and to make every decision based off of the greater good of the community and in a financially responsible and sound way thank you okay I do this usually when we swear in police and I usually say we'll take a minute break for anybody that doesn't want to be here for it um if this is what you want to be here for great feel don't feel any pressure to stay if not we certainly are welcome welcome you all to be here so that's I'll say that uh will the clerk please read the new 2024 Hillsdale role for the first time mayor shinefeld here council member kti here council president President John Escobar here council member Fox here council member Oso here council member ruko yes here council member choim Muk here okay we are all here um we're going to move on to council committees I'm not going to read them all through uh they should be in your packets if anybody in the public wants to see what they are um it's the updated Council on the standing committees uh is there a motion motion second second any discussion the cler please move uh read the role council member Fox yes council member Oso yes council member ruko yes council member choim Muk yes council member ketti yes council president Escobar yes the updated Council standings committees uh passes now the updated Council liaison um can we get a motion motion second second is there a discussion seeing none can the clerk please read the rol council member ooso yes council member ruko yes council member choim Muk yes council member klei yes council president Escobar yes council member Fox yes and that passes as well we're now going to move to the updated special committees for the year um can I get a motion motion second second discussion just a question mayor there are two committees there that I'm on the Community Development and the agenda review they seem to have accomplished what they were set out to do um in January so it doesn't need to be decided tonight um we can this is just a motion to record but I would urge you to consider whether those two committees need to be in place in the future so you've got agenda review I'm sorry the other one was uh the Community Development community and the agenda review okay thank you um any other discussion seeing none can the clerk please read the role council member ruko yes council member choim Muk yes council member klei yes council president Escobar yes council member Fox yesc member alsoo yes that passes as well we're now going to move to the approval of the minutes from council meeting on August 13th can I get a motion motion second second discussion seeing none can we move to a vote clerk please read the role council member choim Muk yes council member ketti abstain council president Escobar yes council member Fox yes council member Oso yes council member ruko yes okay we're now going to move on to the initial public comment the time limit is to 3 minutes and it's items on the agenda only if you have something to discuss afterwards there will be a second public comment period for that but this is just for the items on the agenda one topic per speaker please state your name and town of residence for the record would anybody like to speak on the agenda tonight seeing none we will move on to correspondence we have uh a letter received on the uh the gardens report for the trustees dated July 20th 2024 regarding the upkeep of of sap Sapienza uh Gardens is there a motion to uh receipt and file motion second second anything discussed no clerk okay okay we're good then we'll just do that by unanimous consent okay um we just do all in favor all in favor yes anybody opposed okay good um let's move on to the professionals monthly report Nick you're up call good evening hi how's everybody doing tonight great uh so couple quick updates for the uh Melville road paving project we just obtained approvals from the dot to start the bidding process so we are going to be beginning that immediately the um current schedule that we're working with is we're going to be going out to bid on Tuesday September 17th with a bid opening scheduled for October 8th and then we will um be doing a mayor and Council formal award shortly after that to try to get the project constructed in the in the fall before the asphalt plants close in November so um in terms of active projects we have U Magnolia the paving on Magnolia that was the njdot fiscal year 2023 project that was completed at the end of August so we're just working with the contractor to finalize punch list items and uh process payment applications and close out the project for Centennial Field we had a bid opening on September 5th the apparent low bidder for that project was Dakota uh with a bid of $377,400 um we consider that to be really competitive pricing we're really happy with that number as well under the uh Engineers estimate I believe we had something like 630,000 could you just give us a general for the people in the audience a general idea of what that scope is going to be what the project is yeah so the um the Centennial Field project the the goal of that project is to get a uh more functional and playable field so we're going to be installing underd drains and some soil remediation we're adding sand to the top soil so the field will drain better and the underd drains will pick up water so the field stays wet for less time essentially then we're going to be regrading the field so water we're going to establish a um a high point in the center of the field with a very mild grade dropping off to either side so water properly runs off the field rather than ponding on the field and finally we're going to be finishing the field with sad to establish a nice playing surface okay so that is going to be the scope of that project uh Nick there was a a big distribution between high and low bidder the low bidder is it a reputable B are you familiar with yes so we we've actually worked with Dakota on several projects we did a um we did a field in Glenrock Faber field is the name of the project it was a really big curf complex that we did with him and it came out great mhm um and uh I know that Fields is pretty much all that he does so it it is a reputable contractor um there there was a big discrepancy between high and low but not such a huge discrepancy between low and the second lowest right so we we were a little surprised at the number it was lower than we expected it to be but that might just be down to the fact that he can he thinks he can do this very efficiently and quickly right so um we're I I think it's good news we're we're all happy about that um for Memorial Field we have worked with the burrow in refining the concept plan that we've been putting together I have provided a updated concept to Mike we're going to be meeting this Thursday to go over that concept plan and just make sure that all the uh items that the burough wishes to to be included are there and that we've hit all the the priorities while keeping the project within budget so um hopefully following that meeting we'll be able to finalize the the scope of that project and start moving that forward towards a final design so that will be the next step there okay um finally I just want to make the council aware we do have a requirement under the Burrow's um tier a ms4 permit to do GIS storm water mapping for all the storm water infrastructure within the the burrow the deadline for that is going to be the end of 2025 so I just want that to be on your radar that that is something that we're going to need to do fairly soon at least to get the process started because it is somewhat lengthy it's it's a it's a labor intensive process someone has to go and physically identify and open every single Inlet every single manhole measure everything it it takes quite a bit of time so um that that is something that I think we should be looking to start fairly soon um so just want want the the council to be aware of that that that's something that is coming all right that's that's all I have thank you any questions for our engineer for Melville uh repaving we may have to have a a special meaning that's correct to award uh because if we want that to be done this year uh we have to finish it by next month the whole thing and give it to the contractor so we may need um a five minute Zoom meeting uh just to award the contract once we go through the process yeah I did I did work the the dates backward for the the bidding process and how much time we needed in order to get it into the newspaper unfortunately we were one day short of being able to get it onto the October 8th mayor and counc meeting so we'll do you know it's just the way that the timing worked out um but we we do need to have that starting in October because asphalt plants close in November okay that makes sense that's that's a road project that's for Melville Road yeah the DOT road project have a question yeah go ahead the when you talked about the Centennial Field I can't hear you is your mic on councilman is your microphone on sorry sorry it was my understanding on Centennial Field that we would not accept any bids until we know what the D has decided to the best of my knowledge they have not yet given us permits that that is correct so we are not able to formally award the project until we have the permits do we have any idea of how how much longer the DP is going to take we are told by the lsrp because she is the the person that has submitted the application and is in contact with them we are told that she's anticipating getting something possibly this week or next week again I I think it's impossible to know for sure but based on the feedback that she's giving she believes it will be soon okay and and isn't it isn't until we get that that we can actually formally accept the bill that's correct so we're we're targeting to try to award that project at the October one of the October Council meetings got you okay okay and um the work that's going to be done ultimately somewhere in the future on Memorial you mentioned here on page three about a new gravel path we had a grant the construction has been completed on that certain improvements have already been made to Memorial will any of that be made Superfluous by whatever we're going to do at Memorial Field you're saying the the modifications that we've made to Memorial Field previously is that going to be re right well the ones you mentioned like on what is it uh on page three where we had a grand and we the construction's been completed we did a Timber rail along the southern Parkway we did a new gravel path along the baselines this is pretty recent right um is that gonna be wasted in a sense by Whately likely yes likely yes likely we will be demo and how much have we spent on doing this um I don't know the exact number it wasn't it wasn't a huge amount and it was partially Grant funded it was 50% funded through a grant I'd like to know what that number is at the next council meeting if that's or if the ba can calculate what that is before the next council meeting and distribute that to the mayor and Council I may uh bathroom uh renovation that that we did that will stay so the grant that we got for that that that will stay the uh the railing and uh and the gravel uh I can get you that it's good thank you and the last uh question on that is uh the concept plan that you said you had completed you're going to be talking about it on Thursday with the field committee um maybe this is a more appropriate question for the ba will that concept plan be shared with the full mayor and council at some point so we have the field committee and this is actually the second ccept plan and we keep on changing it as we meet and we revise it uh so I I think once we somewhat you know finalize it toward what we think is you know the best F it's probably the best but I sent you copies of the ones we have the latest one at least I haven't received any such copy I sent you one I got a a um what you sent me was no it was uh just the the actual uh uh um survey that's all we have all right so but that doesn't have any concepts that's just a survey of the property no it shows it shows where the field is it shows where the different layouts are yeah I have it um I maybe I you know I'm not an engineer and I don't if if you have it I can that's it that's it that's it yeah so the the concept the first draft of the concept plan was not extremely detailed it was more just to get an idea of layout SP so this is it then that is the first concept plan yeah and and like you're going to revise it we we have revised it already and again this this is just to establish a layout it doesn't have every detail on there but it has enough detail for us to be able to say okay this is the direction we want to go um and then to answer your question about the um dollar amount for the previous improvements at Memorial the total project cost for that was $45,100 12 cents and I believe 50% of that was funded through a grant so at risk for us is only half of the 45 correct 25 okay and there's nothing we could do as far as saying whatever is done there has to be restored I mean that that's that's a sunk cost for us correct yeah so that that project has already been closed out um no I realize that but I mean in going out to bid to say return it in the condition that you found it I mean if there's railing and whatever that's just going to be impacted and go away so the the current um the current approach that we're considering for Memorial Field is a full redesign right so in order to retain any of this stuff that's there is more or less not possible because we're going to be completely rearranging the way the whole field is laid out so if we if we if we ultimately decide we're going to go that way that's just the way it goes correct okay yeah yeah and and the last question um we raised the the issue of projecting what road improve and inventory study for our roads right and as you have accurately described it as the burrow is having second thoughts about having you do that uh for the cost that you've indicated which if I remember was something in40 to $50,000 doesn't that range um can I have an update on that perhaps are we or is this just languished no um we have to go out and do our own survey first and then show it to the engineers see if we can you know do it that way to you to save money who would do that survey for us Mike so in the past the engineers would go out and they would rate each Street a You by by by the color and say you just needs this you know this year next year and the following year uh but we do it only on a few roads rather than the entire town and we'll continue to do the same thing so we don't spend money during the entire time okay and you've got plans to do that for every year okay so we're going to stay with the process we've had as opposed to process for now and it used to be our engineer Chris Datil who did that with input from the police department if I remember because they had so we're going to do this so we're going to do with coler's yeah same yeah okay as opposed to this complete yeah so the the the study that um was proposed is a lot more comprehensive than than that you know it's it's a it's a very detailed thing we're not only looking at road infrastructure it's also going to be condition of the side walk the curb the dra infrastructure it's everything and it also puts together um forecasts future costs for Budget planning in the future and IT projects forward I I believe it's 20 or 25 years so it it gives the burrow an idea of um what the approximate cost yearly cost would be for a long period of time now there is some potential to bring the cost of that proposal Down based on the fact that we have just done recently so much Paving so that that price was based on evaluating all the roads in the town but we could very easily just blind ourselves to all the roads that have just been paved in the last two or three years which is got to be 30 or 40% of the Town it seems like I mean we've done a lot so if we did that that would substantially reduce the amount of data that we need to collect and as a result we could reduce the price pretty substantially I think there's Great Value in in letting us know what the condition of our roads are and when we expect each of those roads to be to need repaving or Milling I I would agree I'd be happy to provide a revised proposal if the council requests it um but you know mean the council wanted to do that but when the cost came in from you guys it was a bit of a shocker and that's why I think we pulled back on it now now I'm hearing that there's a sort of like a alternate plan to do it but it's not it doesn't involve the same leg work the same type of expertise it's the same plan that we've been doing every year nothing uh like for next year U Nick will go around and and he'll propose six seven roads that need to be paved we have an idea of the roads over over a period of time that have been I wouldn't say neglected but haven't been touched in 10 years plus right so we know those roads and we know the condition of the road so it's kind of giving us the start of of well that's what I'm saying instead of giving us the full picture he's going to give us the immediate picture well I yeah it one one approach is dealing with the problems as they come the other is knowing what the problems will be in the future and being able to the advantage is you can budget for it right that's really the biggest thing is but we but but as far as that goes we know the roads that are giving us problems up front and that has to be addressed first it's there's nice to haves and there half to haves and so I think we have to first address the half to haves before we move on yeah and I think a lot of the um a lot of the high priority roads up to this point have been addressed there's still a few um but the vast majority of the roads that were in really poor condition we We have dealt with okay look as the chair of the finance committee I just want to know the roads that we're going to be doing and budgeting for in February you know I we need that information in January February okay any other questions okay let's move on to committee reports thank you Nick appreciate it appreciate it let's move on to committee reports let's start since we we're going to start at the left side uh councilman roko committee report starting that way okay which way are we starting down you get to be you get to be first we're going to go right from Left Right from where I the access for all they sponsored with the help of the library and the library Foundation an inclusive art workshop for adults uh it was conducted by Anna from the uh J Robinson art uh firm uh they were assisted by one of the members Jen Romanov so it was well received and well enjoyed by the uh the folks who participated uh given the success of that event the um Hillsdale access for all uh group plans to organize more workshops they're looking for volunteers to assist participants who may need help in order to participate uh in those and their next meeting is September 23rd Board of Health did not meet their next meeting is September 26th um for the seniors um there is a 50 plus meeting September 12th at 11:30 at the United Methodist Church uh the senior lunch is at St John September 18th at noon uh there is a County Senior Festival this Thursday at Van sa Park from 10: to 2 um there'll be food at 11:30 there'll be music dancing entertainment all types of bakan alian events uh free giveaways giveaways giveaways um we uh we circulated their flyer to the seniors in Hillsdale um we found out unfortunately that we our bus we don't have a bus driver uh to arrange for our bus to take some of our seniors there so that's an issue for us going forward down the road I think this is something we need to we need to work on and if the county would tell us in advance when the dates are I think U Mike can work on U on something to to make sure that we do have a driver the finance committee um we met with the burrow administrator and the CFO on August 29th to discuss the review of the Burrow's books and Records by our internal Auditors prompted out of an abundance of caution uh by the circumstance es surrounding the resignation of former councilwoman Lundy the results of that review were all benign um and the mayor came forth as the residents know uh with a statement to the to that effect a few days ago uh we also reviewed during our committee meeting the revenues and expenses for the burrow uh through the month of July uh we're meeting again September 26 to begin preparations for the uh 2025 budget and that's it Mr Mayor thank you Council manoso yes thank you mayor um generally I provide an update with regards to the the the George White Middle School and the referendum um I asked Mr Lombardi to uh attend the meeting I was wondering if he could just say a few words um does anybody have any objection to hearing from superintendent no if you want to step forward we get a special presentation oh he's got Nel on everything few words are hard for me the clock won't start so but Bob you can't repeat anything you've already said okay then we're done thanks for coming done while he's getting set up I just want to commend the school board on U providing such great information uh regularly to the residents they've been very available and uh they've answered a lot of questions is the best speak go microphone micone you're on stage okay thank you so good evening thank you um thank you to all the council um I want to welcome Mr ketti um I wish you the best of luck during your during your term and I want to offer a special thanks to to one for Mr oo for the invite for the mayor and the team here having me and of course uh Mr gasali and and Mrs Cohan for all of the communication that they've helped me with as we we approach September 17th so um as you know Tuesday September 17th the Hillsdale uh board of education has an upcoming Bond referendum for the renovations of George White um and an addition of a new Wing I've brought some some images with me and excuse me for not introducing myself to the audience Robert Lombardi I'm the superintendent of schools in Hillsdale if you you look at the graphic here to my left um you're you're above George White the area in the gray is all existing structure uh as part of the Hillsdale Bond referendum that area will be fully renovated uh classrooms lighting Roofing um uh Windows Doors Learning settings hallways um all of it um again as part of that that Bond referendum the multi-purpose room otherwise known as the cafetorium this area shaded in yellow here that will be taken down and it will be completely rebuilt larger with a bigger stage and with two additional class rooms for our band and chorus as well as additional kitchen area for the nearly 500 students we service that right there is all part of question one that you will see on the ballot that is the renovation and the Reconstruction of the multi-purpose room in addition to in addition to in addition to the renovation and the Reconstruction of the multi-purpose room question one also accounts for a modular classroom setup for our students in grade 6 to 8 while the renovations and construction take place our current fifth grade students will temporarily go back to their Elementary School where they'll be housed during the time of construction once construction is complete they will then return to George White Middle School that's all question one can I ask yes should should this pass question one when is anticipated groundbreaking you said go back would they would they be there and then have to go back in the middle of the school year or would you'd start it and then they would never actually go sorry can you clarify that well you're going you say the fifth graders are are going to go back if you started they would not so the anticipated with a successful referendum vote on September 17th construction would begin approximately one year from that time so approximately September 2025 so we we would plan for our our fourth graders to graduate to fifth grade and remain at at both metal Brook and and Blan Smith School okay good question yes thank you question two is the addition of a two-story six classroom Wing behind George White that's for additional programming and the increase in enrollment our demographic study pointed at an increase of approximately 60 students over the next 5 years right now George White is working at near Beyond capacity question one on the ballot must pass in order for question two to pass question one must pass in order for question two to pass there is a wealth of information that remains available on our website Hillsdale schools.com v224 the um culmination of this vote comes after the board of education has gone through an extensive process dating back to 2019 um of of looking at a variety of options proposing a referendum in March 2023 and then listening to feedback from Community following that referendum's defeat the feedback informed us three things save George White lower the cost and increase state aid this proposal accomplishes all three of those tasks the Hillsdale Public Schools and residents of Hillsdale with approval of this plan will have access to 18 million in state aid that is money that all taxpayers in New Jersey pay into that the residents of Hillsdale will see come to fruition in the renovation and progression here at George White Middle School our website includes videos from our Board of Education members detailing the process virtual tours around George White by me and information from our architect about the specifics of the construction and planning process so we encourage all of our voters in Hillsdale to please go to the website learn as much as possible I'm an email or a phone pull away I welcome any questions and please come out and vote on September 17th I got a question yes sir um one if one passes and two doesn't we get an anticipation of of uh 60 approximately 60 new students what happens then if one passes in two does and we have 60 new students in an already over capacity system tough question um that new Wing is um not a I want to it's a I need um so so I would have to come back out to the voters at some point in the future um ask for that new Wing construction would have to recommence on that site um the plan and the pricing would have to be updated you know as we go forward in time the um price for the plan and the price for the construction are all only headed in One Direction so the cost today will be lower than the cost in 2028 okay I have a question yes ma'am um when you go into the um voting booth um and you vote for question one yes let's say then question two you can decide yes or no correct if you vote no for question one do you vote for number two or you just skip it leave it blank and move on I don't know technically how that work so I I I don't get to see that um but that that that's that's a good question I can I can try to find an answer for you I know that the county has recently changed the manner in which they do some of their voting and they've digitized things um so whether you see that on a uh iPad or a screen I'm not sure I know that the the ballots that have come home you can see you can see both of the questions right yes okay I just was curious if because you shouldn't be able to vote for number two if you said no in number one but then I don't know if people would vote for number two and they didn't vote for number one and then it's a chaos you're not doing two without one right you can't do that one one must pass in order for two to take place right yes yes I thank you more questions so I I think maybe a better understanding for everyone as to if what we'll call phase two here is a musthave right but yet it's contingent on phase one passing yes what is preventing you from getting that must have on its own independently getting question two independently yes the the cost of it so the cost of this construction is approximately 7 to8 million um that scope of work is well beyond uh the budget of the Hillsdale Public Schools so what would be your next steps though if both did not pass um that's a that's a challenging question for the Board of Education to contemplate um the should the referendum not be successful and I hate to even have that conversation um the the challenges that exist today will exist on the morning of September 18th um um this process would begin a new um all costs for the renovations that are um you know pending um would be recalculated further into the future um so we would see a change in cost and scope of work um likely an increase of cost and a reduce of scope of work or scope of work Remains the Same and cost goes up um because now we're predicting further and further uh down the down the road um so you're not going away I'm not I'm not going I'm not going away um you know we the Board of Education took the feedback very seriously from the community about accessing the state aid and lowering the cost and and saving George White and and that's what this plan is um you know the challenges of George White have been long admired for decades um and and and a solution is in front of the voters on September 17th Rob we we've had a few conversations about this over the last couple of months couple of the things that came up sitting in those meetings was number one um why weren't these improvements done over the last 10 to 15 years right and number two uh why doesn't it make sense to do this in a peace meal fashion over the next five to 10 years right yeah yeah fa so let me let me I'll answer your questions in reverse order so in terms of the peace mail fashion um during our planning process uh The Architects and the engineers did look at that um and to do it in a peac meal process there's a couple of challenges that you face one you're trying to do construction um over Summers or while school is in session so contractors have to set up certain barriers there's a lot of starts and stops to the job people are on and off the site and a project that is estimated to take 18 to 24 months could go well beyond that and when a contractor sees that the price for the bid goes up because the contractor says I have to throw more money at this project because of all of the challenges that I'm going to face with kids in the building the Summers the starts the stops and getting my my my subcontractors on and off the site um so that was looked at um and that's why we felt it better to vacate the building do all of the work that needs to be done and then bring children back in terms of why hasn't this happened in the past um there's a variety of reasons there's there was a turnover in the superintendent chair um and the the scope of work at at George White um grew and grew and uh it is beyond the um means of the Board of Education to remedy all that that needs to take place there you know there's a old saying right in that you know the the uh the windshield of our of our car is bigger than the rearview mirror and it's because what's in front of us is more important than what's behind us doesn't mean we don't remember what's behind us and we don't look at it and think about it but but we we have to go forward and make Pro progress so um you know there's there's no more looking back um we have a chance to make this better thank you thank you thank thank you everyone any other presentations surprise guests no no I I don't want the other council members to uh use this little uh thing you've set a precedent is there any other committee report you've got yeah yes uh the the Recreation Commission uh met last night um just want to remind everybody that the Fall Festival will take place on September 29th uh lots of uh good things to do there pony rides Bounce House Balloon twisters uh and plenty of food vendors um also keep a lookout for the fall brochure uh which will uh indicate all things wreck uh that's released quarterly on next one will be released November 15th and you can find that on the burrow website uh Nick gave a great review of um the where we stand with the fields um I think we were pleasantly surprised about where the bids came in um and we do have a very reputable bidder there there uh hopefully you guys go through your review process as well um and then uh with Memorial we're having a meeting this Thursday uh to discuss where we stand with that and the next steps great okay Council Mia yes hello um Library uh board met last night um I'd like to say that on Sunday the library hosted a very nice car show uh in the parking lot of the library and uh it was uh primarily for children they could actually get into the cars have their pictures taken it was really very nice there was music the weather was great and of course a big thank you to our great librarian director Dave France who hosted this great event for us um the library is also looking forward to the Fall Festival they are planning to um they'll be handing out a um a survey that they want to do to better get an understanding of how they can serve the community uh in the future um and uh what else I um oh and since the last meeting that we've had the if you remember I had mentioned that they were looking to hire a librarian so they have hired a children's librarian and she's began working there and so um you should stop in and say hello um I my other committee a planning board that meeting is going to be this Thursday so I don't have anything to report on that I will report on that next time and I also just want to mention that I am also a member of the finance committee and I partake of the meetings and so I concur with the councilman luo's finance committee report that he gave earlier great and that's it thank you council president Escobar I have no report at this time there councilman Fox uh just that the uh Renovations that the new DPW space or the existing space um is ongoing and I'm sure uh beali elaborate on the progress uh that's that's about it okay our newest councilman councilman klei do you have anything to report I actually do great um I actually had being on the fields committee I had the privilege of meeting uh the Parks and Recreation committee members and I just wanted to Echo councilman um also said in that they have a really interesting agenda planned for the Town Festival and I would encourage as many people as possible to get down there uh also I had the privilege of meeting with the environmental committee environmental chairman and uh we actually have Owen peock in the audience who was Peak here during during the public session uh but they did receive their uh the two signs for be uh the Beachwood Park Nature Trail U they're now working with the DPW to figure out where they can either store it in the inter room or potentially erect it in the inter room um so they're working through the uh the possibilities there now that's the nature trail project as well as the Ada project so they're still waiting to determine the finalization of those but they wish to potentially erect them in the in room so thank you thank you the ba thank you I have a brief report we have two new businesses that moved to town one is zooming and Grooming at 100 West Street suet 18 and one is Chase Roofing moving to 53 Prospect Place we are waiting for the CA to let us know of our affordable housing obligation before we proceed again with the downtown project which I think will be really exciting for the town and for the downtown businesses I am taking a grand riding class going back to school again uh in October along with the director uh last day for backyard waste pickup is October 29th Lea collection will start on or about October 28th and the last day for leaf pickup is going to be Monday day December 17 the DPW building uh the four bay garage that is on the high side of the DPW property has been cleared and ready for the mechanic to move in it's a lot bigger now than it looked when it was full of stuff uh so um ERS so we're moving in some lights putting in some uh some drains and um we should be moving uh the mechanic in in the next few weeks and that's all I have Mr Mayor great okay um we are going to move on to the introduction for our ordinance of 2414 an ordinance supplementing provisions of chapter 63 Police Department of Code of the burough of Hillsdale to establishing procedures for the utilization of off-duty police officers be it resolved that ordinance 2414 does now pass a first reading that the said ordinance be further considered for final passage at a meeting of the mayor and Council in the municipal building 380 Hillsdale Avenue new uh Hillsdale New Jersey on October 1st 2024 and at said time and place all persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning the same and the clerk is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance in the Ridgewood news once at least one week prior to said hearing with a notice of its introduction and of the time and place when and where said ordinance would be considered for final passage can we get a motion to introduce motion second second okay there'll be no discussion right now uh we please read the role council president Escobar yes council member Fox yes council member Oso yes council member ruko yes counc member Chim yes council member K yes great so first reading has passed we're going to move on to the consent agenda uh it says 24241 through 2 24256 we're actually going to add a resolution which will be 24257 we need to add a resolution to guat to bit for the New Jersey Department of Transportation Municipal aid grant for fiscal year 2024 Melville Road and Douglas Drive improvements so uh we're going to be considering 24241 through 24257 uh can I get a motion motion second um anybody want to pull any resolutions I don't want to pull I just uh the 24257 has that been distributed at all please the clerk's going to address it um reference to what our engineer said tonight that um so we can go out to bid we didn't do a resolution to go out to bid for it we did a resolution to allow them to do um the agreement to work out the bid for us but we haven't given anyone approval to go out to bid for it this is for the paving of Melville and Douglas that Nick spoke about earlier only yeah Doug Douglas is already paid correct yeah the project was originally sced to be Melville Douglas and that became the official title uh basille it's dou us is done so the point of this resolution is to go out to bid just to go out to bid that's it yeah okay I mean it's highly unusual to be voting because we haven't seen the resolution usually you have it prepared and then you we come out just with the timeing to get be able to do the paving um we need to be able to go out to bid for right corre yeah so this this was approved by the do today and it's a very tight timeline we're trying to make sure this gets constructed in the fall and like I mentioned have to contractor in October because that's all that's the reason for Rush okay okay any other questions on the consent agenda seeing none will the clerk please read the role member Fox yes council member ooso yes council member R yes council member CH yes council member K yes council president Escobar yes the consent agenda passes is there anything on off consent nothing okay we're going to move to public comment now with limited three minutes time for any topic uh you would please state your name and town of residence for the record would anybody like to speak on this please come forward to be heard good evening my name is Owen peacock and I live in Hillsdale I'm on the environmental commission here in town um and I just wanted to update everybody on the the project that uh councilman kedi mentioned earlier with the signage for Beachwood Park um we received a grant about a year ago for $1,500 with that $1,500 we've already placed in the park 17 signs identifying native species that live in the park um and we just finished with uh two large signs for the entranceway one for Hillsdale and one for Liberty Avenues um we were had a timing issue in that we had to finish it within a year even though the construction work hadn't started so either we bought the signs or we lost the money so we went ahead we we have the signs um they're kind of big and clunky if anybody wants to see one I have one in my trunk but uh but uh they're they're twoot by 3ft signs we did meet uh I met this morning with the DPW um and they looked at the and they could feel they're comfortable with mounting the signs on using the same kind of metal works that you would use for mounting street signs but using two of them because they are kind of big signs and so we can put them up temporarily until construction work begins take them down put them someplace safe and then put them up permanently when it's all done so I just figur I'd let you know that uh that project is now pretty much wrapped thank you okay great thanks okay thank you okay thank would anybody else like to be heard please I just say your name and address again Richard Sabino 64 Westdale Avenue um I just in looking at the engineers report online Memorial Field looks like it's there there's discussion or it's mentioned to install Turf now at a prior meeting I thought that my impression was that was still open for discussion has a decision be been made to install Turf on Memorial Field so we gave the direction to the engineer to come up with a plan for a turf field at Memorial is that a final de my qu my concern is Council will still have to vote on the final because in the environmental commission we took a very strong position that turf you know to reconsider using Turf on any of the fields for injuries for a lot of Health for a lot of reasons it will come back to so it's still to be and will that be a public discussion when that happens they will have to vote on it there'll be discussion of course yeah be part of the process are the the one other quick question are the bids that went out for Centennial open for public to look at at this point are they open for public the bids have they been open yeah public doc I'll I'll take a look at it I just want to see what's being done there actually we don't have them we you still have them right I still have them yeah okay so reck if you come back this they're still being reviewed by the engineer so we don't actually have the the actual documents yet they're public documents but they're being the hard copies are there okay but so as if I make a request I can get a copy of something I'll come in and look at it it doesn't matter we don't have no but what what would be your reasonable if somebody wanted to see them what would be your them and they'll be oppr will be responded to or will at least call you and tell you they're back in the building swing by any time yeah all right I don't think we SC do we have them electronically electronic the actual B package not what came in oh not came in just the package so we don't have the respones electronic I did he sent it to you okay well I okay anybody else like to to speak seeing none let's close the public comment period and move on to council commentaries uh I'm going to start it out I just want to give everybody an update um Mark bucker at Verizon has been wonderful about getting our stuff together for a potential cell tower consideration over by metal Brook School um he's retiring so I want to just thank him for all the work that he's done for us over these last several months um we're still on track that I anticipate we're going to get um the specs that we need to go to you guys next um and during this month and we're going to work with Council and the ba uh to put together a bid package and we are still on track hopefully if everything goes as planned that sometime in Q4 and 2025 we could be looking at if if Council agrees to it we could be looking at the cell tower there which anybody that's been in a Board of Education meeting over at Bellbrook or been over there or even at the high school knows it you get the message SOS because you're not getting any service so hopefully we'll go to that um since we started over there before let's go to council commentaries starting at the far end Council M ketti no commentaries just want to thank everybody again look forward to working with you all councilman Fox want to congratulate councilman kety on his new appointment great councilman Escobar president escar I also want to congratulate councilman klei I've known Bob for a number of years now he's coached both of my sons um he's a well respected guy in town I'm excited to have him up here and I look forward to running with him in November great thanks councilwoman truk oh okay um I'm going all the way I'm going the other way yes I thought you were gon to start no no no no going straight across okay um my commentary I would like to just uh address the school referendum and I just want to reiterate to everyone that Tuesday September 17th uh is the day that I urge everyone to come out to please vote for this referendum um the last time we had this referendum on the school it failed and out of that failure the school heard and listened to what the public had to say and basically there were three asks from the public at that time they asked that the original historical building be saved um they asked for the cost to be reduced and they asked to have uh possible increase in to have state aid I believe that all three of these asks have been met and so as such I support the project and I believe that this renovation to the school will ultimately result in adding value to our properties and I know that people are focused on the fact that your taxes will increase but for the long term for the for the betterment of this town for the children and for our property values I definitely think it's the right move and again I'm just urging everyone to please go to the websites go read upon go read on the details and please show up to vote because every single vote is going to count on this referendum thank you thank you Council Manos yeah I wanted to thank U Mr Lombardi for making my Council commentary today fresh and exciting um go out and vote on 9917 uh every vote counts it's it's very important that uh Hillsdale shows up on Tuesday um also wanted to welcome uh Robert klei uh to council um I walk by his house every night when I get my steps in and uh I think he's going to do great things up here for the time that he serves thank you thank you and in conclusion uh I too want to welcome uh Robert uh to the council for whatever term that will be if it's it's two and a half months if it's 3 years and two and a half months welcome and I stand ready to help you in any way that I can given my experience U tonight we passed resolution 24244 which is the ambulance study modification it was on the consent agenda um it amended the contract for a joint visibility study for our ambulance services uh this is a study and the steps that the council took year to place the ambulance uh Service Unit on Firma ground is much needed and appreciated uh certainly it's of key interest both financially and for the safety to the residents um the mayor recently appointed councilman Escobar to chair that committee um replacing former councilwoman Wy uh despite this committee being a standing committee I don't believe it was ever called to meet I was a member on it and was never asked to to attend a meeting um I trust that the work of the committee is important enough for the new chairman uh to find the time to call the committee together at least once before the end of the year uh I want to uh urge help as many residents as possible join our emergency service workers um at 8:40 a.m. in Veterans Park for the 911 uh service um we honor all those who lost their lives uh that day in the towers and surrounding the towers um and those police and fire ambulance Personnel who sought to to rescue them um as someone who was involved in that process um in my former life at that the Federal Reserve uh I do appreciate everything that we as Hillsdale do uh to commemorate uh this terrible day um finally the uh the Scout Troop I think it's 109 I could be mistaken because 109 and 108 they I get them confused often but I think it's 109 they're holding a candlelight vigil on September 11th uh at 7:30 p.m. in the same downtown location as our emergency service Personnel are having it um the pasek Valley High School band is going to be there as well uh to play some um some music uh to commemorate that and that's all I have to say okay thanks before we adjourn I just wanted to the C was kind enough to point out to me um the 12th which is this Thursday uh the county is spraying for mosquitoes so be aware of that uh you may want to sleep with the windows shut just in case um and also welcome Council mcti and that's all the business we've got here uh can I get a motion to adjourn motion