##VIDEO ID:P6TJSZIheBU## nice s how you doing okay good afternoon everyone we're about to get started if we can find our seats silence our cell phone phones as I'm doing and if we can close the doors on the sides and in the back I'd greatly appreciate it thank you so much good afternoon everyone we are on the record today is Monday the 23rd day of September in the year 2024 this is a city council Caucus meeting of the Jersey City municipal Council we had a scheduled 4M start the clock on my cell phone is showing 4:03 p.m. may we have a roll call for the commencement of this caucus council person Ridley is not here yet council person priner council person Bano here council person SLE here I think council person Solomon here council person Gilmore council person Dees council person Rivera here and council president wman and I see council person Ridley so we have all n council members present at 4:03 p.m. on behalf of council president Waterman and the members of the municipal Council in accordance with New Jersey public laws of 1975 chapter 231 the open public meetings act also known as the Sunshine Law adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the posting on the bulletin board of the first floor of City Hall the annual notice which is the schedule of meetings and caucuses of the municipal Council for the calendar year 2024 and filed in the Office of the city clerk on Thursday November 30th 2023 in addition and its time of its preparation the agenda of this meeting was similarly disseminated on Friday September 20th 2024 at 12:03 p.m. to the mayor Municipal Council business administrator Corporation Council and a local newspapers and post it on the city's website so I can certify as to our total compliance with the Sunshine Law council president I'm going to turn it over to you afternoon uh first director director KS good afternoon president water members of the council I have five items before you today for consideration first one is item 105 24712 resolution will authorize the award of a contract to Millennium communication Group Incorporated camera system replacement and upgrades to the Barry Lane Park CCTV video surveillance system total amount of this contract is $295,500 um hey Greg did I know at one point the I guess the cameras were vandalized and they were in like that corner soon as you come in from the park lot did we replace those but somewhere else uh the problem with that uh coun is is that the the company that installed them uh I'll be very honest they did a horrendous job um and a lot of the cameras were in my opinion substandard to what we're used to dealing with um we actually had an IND idual was able to steal a pole with a camera mounted on it so what we've done is identified the locations where the camera should have been installed and therefore this is where this is going now oh so you're replacing that okay next is item 106 24713 resolution will authorize the water contract mum Communications to upgrade the visual management system system associated with the emergency Operation Center video wall to of this contract is $250,000 and is funded through the 2023 UI Grant next item is uh 24170 I'm sorry 10 10.7 24714 resolution will authorize an award of a contract to Millennium Communications Group for the purchase and installation of a of video surveillance cameras for the Journal Square area total amount of the contract is 5976 $96 and is also funded through the 2023 uasi Grant we're replacing the cameras in Journal Square the original installed data many of them were 2029 2009 so suffice to say it's long overdue um item 1010 24717 resolution will authorize the amendment of a contract to Gateway Incorporated to provide armed and unarmed security services at various City owned locations City needs to increase the contact with Gateway security from 1 1,915 18219 to 3.8 million adding an additional 1, 18441 788 that's due to switching five armed guards rather than unarmed guards at City Hall adding two armed guards to the public safety complex at an Annex 2 and adding six armed guards for 24-Hour coverage to the city's parking garages at Annex 4 and my list is 1011 24718 resolution will authorize the award of a contractor TK elevator coroporation for city-wide elevator maintenance for City owned buildings total amount of the contract is $105,000 with a temporary encumbrance of $226,500 have a nice night Denis council president uh council members I'm here to present agenda item 104 resolution 24711 uh changing the custodian for the petty cash funds of the division of cash and control thank you so I see Christine Goodman is here Ania is here you're not here to speak okay no worries we'll do yep we'll do right me get the camera loaded no problem Council press all right so right on to our first reading ordinances item Point 3.1 city ordinance 24- 087 is an ordinance amending chapter 188 to establish a local preference for affordable housing units created by local regulations and requirement item three can I sure I should just explain that one just briefly um so what that would do it is amend our chapter 188 to um create a preference for Jersey City residents for affordable housing um if the affordable housing is Jersey City created so if it has state or federal fronts it doesn't apply because that those regulations supersede ours but if it's local only uh it would apply um you know there's been some sort of legal questions around it so just a couple pieces of information for everybody um the first is um we did reach out to fair share and have spoken with them and they are supportive of the change and and think it's a good thing Hoboken put in place a similar ordinance in 2019 and dor passed one in 2023 um and neither of those have faced legal challenges there could be a challenge um uh under the argument that you know it sort of ends up you know treating one group of folks people live in Jersey City more but we think that as a diverse city um that you know by doing that we are enabling and ensuring that everybody in our city gets access to affordable homes so we're confident in that approach um the we had a meeting with HDC they've asked for more time um in terms of the implementation if the council approves it so I think earliest it would go into effect would be April of 25 that would allow them to update the portal um but they're going to give us an exact date in the coming future and then they're asking us uh also to um uh introduce but have the second reading be our second one in October not our first one uh so we all have a little chance to look at it and in case any Amendments have to be made um but if not it would move forward in in October there's a quick overview of it so so just just for a clarifying question here so for example because the um Bayfront is a perfect example the city owns it that we are moving forward with that to attain the 35% affordable that would be covered with a local preference something like Fair viiew Heights which had a bunch of other stakeholders at the state federal level would not be able to have that preference would each project is going to depend a little bit on the financing of the project okay so like for let me sort of an example of one that I know wouldn't be would definitely fall under 188 in the local preference so when the council pass the amendment to the um um the Tidewater Redevelopment plan for the development over by the uh golden cicada you know that's an inclusionary zoning site the developer will build that there's no City subsidy in that involve so 1808 would apply another version would be an affordable housing project that's only funded through the city's affordable housing trust fund so then it would apply Bayfront my assumption would be they're going to get uh grants and credits from njhmfa so then the state rule would apply and in that case you have to follow the state regulation so that this wouldn't apply so yeah there would be anytime it's City created with no state or federal subsidies would apply for yes yes because that's our money okay yes yeah as the councilman saying to just to clarify this would apply to chapter 188 and 188 is very specific about it's specifically um non-funded municipally mandated affordable housing so for example Bayfront if um someone did it uh just using the zoning that's in place that it has to be 35 then yes it would apply apply but if they go and get funding from someone else and their codes do not require it we let them do the compliance that's how it works now so we don't layer on conflicting um compliance regulations so if it has HUD money if it has um litech money through hmfa then we use that's who does the compliance and not Jersey City so we wouldn't be able to require that it also just would like it's so complicated to be able to do the compliance layer that way so our ordinance is written where it exempts um projects that have funding elsewhere like the housing authority and other Federal funding so working with the councilman um you know this is the only way that we feel like we can do it um you know and and and be well let me ask you about the io wasn't there some clause in there that they had to be like Jersey City residents at a certain point when we did that IO because I I I I no but when we we did have a Jersey City preference one point in one of our ordinances but it was removed due to you know other situations that we've seen that it didn't work out because it it's in violation of the fair housing act but we this is we do councilman went to fair share and discussed it with them and the case law on that um through this conversation that we had with the law department and the councilman focused on communities where they're using that tool they're using that Clause as a way to create exclusionary zoning or they're trying to keep out residents from an area um we would argue with nework and Hoboken that we are helping serve the um goals of why they have the Fair Housing Act Rules by putting that preference in in place here so we are taking a risk by doing it it's not a sure thing um but as the councilman said he's like to take that risk and um you know in conversations with the law Department we think that um there's a you know good chance it would be upheld but we don't know but wasn't we didn't we get sup from this before I'm just go trying to go back I remember something about that we got you know he took us to court we got sued on the inclusionary zoning ordinance but it had nothing to do with anything about a local preference that was about um I believe it was being able to put money into the affordable housing trust fund and not build the affordable housing if it was deemed to not be beneficial to the city and the court determined that that was a little too arbitrary and so we wrote We rewrote the io with uh fair share to to do away with that we got sued behind something like that because we tried way back to make sure Jersey City residents have preference and I think what uh council president is is referring to is we've had these conversations before right and we're always told that because of fair housing laws which makes sense that's something that we cannot do and I think what councilman Solomon saying is you know there might be a risk but so far other uh municipalities have done it um so it's kind of a risk we're willing to take so I guess my question is because I know a lot of these projects um that have affordable housing in them still need certain tax credits from the state Etc so is there a project that we maybe have already completed where this would have been helpful correct are we realistically going to be able to um you know do some projects where the city all it's all of the projects that the division of affordable housing is current has affordable housing agreements with so I can get you the exact number of what they're monitoring now but yeah there're are significant amount of units in the city um and all of those have to do with our local ordinances because we put ordinances in place um that require affordable housing um whether it's through Redevelopment plan or you know zoning or through the io all of those units um most or most of those units wind up not actually going and getting Federal subsidies and so those would all um uh be subject to the we can I can give you a sense of from Talking To Gigi what that actual number has been over the last few years I know when she took over that office they were not monitoring very many only about 54 but now it's significantly more than that um it's hundreds um if not I think we're close to over a thousand now so those would be able to be now not every single one of those maybe has zero outside funding but I think that there are there are a significant amount could you get us the numbers on that because what I don't want to do I don't want to give the public F hope because once you release something like this then they will keep calling us thinking that they have first preference over affordability want to get the number to see and I remember going back that I know we got um they took us to court behind something like this and they said we could not because it deals with discrimination now we can do it so I'm we're just trying to figure out really why that's why so I I'll get you the numbers yeah before doesn't make okay next is item 3.2 city ordinance 24- 088 is an ordinance amending chapter 321 of the municipal code of the city of Jersey City Sean is um is the forest the Forester is not here right um so John I guess this this is um an attempt to rectify the the situation with the was oh um oh one um with the with the trees right because I know at one well now if they now the way the law is they essentially can't really remove the tree this I I'll justum oh oh mayor any so yeah so so part of this is the shade tree committee is tasked with an annual review of chapter 321 which are trees ordinance okay and the forestry standards which is a separate document but lives and works with the um chapter 321 so most of the changes here for the most part to do with the adjustment and fee structure there was also John you can maybe speak a little more specifically about the um the Mandate that was U that we're talking about with the but that's public trees versus private trees so John go ahead yeah the the D put out a uh model tree replacement ordinance for towns that get a particular type of permit from the state when they don't have a 100% combined sewer system we for the most part do but there's a couple parts in town like Newport for example that doesn't have combined sewer and an issue to deal with um pollutants getting into the groundwater and one of the things that they' made a requirement was this tree replacement ordinance or something similar to it which also had the permitting of removing trees from private property not just public so that's the that's a large part of what's gone into this okay so we're we're asking people to get a permit to remove the trees from their backyard now correct okay with the rationale being that it deals with uh runoff storm water retention and and some of the other goals that we're trying to get to that of they yeah like treading now between the public private property space but I do know also and John correct me that I'm wrong that the D does give some some latitude to municipalities when it comes to the the permitting and Tre private property it's none of the city's business on private property is there cost asso I don't maybe I didn't read this properly but is there a cost associated with the permit uh process uh for removal of certain trees yes like I mean the from my yard like when I apply for a permit is there a cost for that specific permit or believe it's attached to a specific number I don't recall what is off okay do it the first three you didn't have to pay a fee and then the fee comes in after that okay joh can I ask you a question why aren't the department directors here like the police department uh you know uh and other departments so every month it's getting less and less they're not showing up announcement we ask any of the representatives that have an item on the agenda to be present so director K had the cameras in particular director K had his problems if we wanted to ask police questions I don't know if they were problems nobody here every month um a few of us have questions they ask about they have to buy hoses or uniforms they'll be here and you have an opportunity to speak to them about those items radios joke okay next um on to our second reading ordinances item 4.1 city ordinance 24- 076 is an ordinance dis establishing the Jersey City municipal construction board of appeals this was carried over from our September 11th meeting item 4.2 what um hold on you what what number that was four 4.1 where we're on that's the ordinance this establishing the construction board of appeals so if there are any questions about that I can answer as best I can but for the most part we we are moving forward with Council to decide whether or not to dissolve the board okay then it would move over to the county and the county is required to take it yay we're good so I guess we can always bring it back oh you always bring it back to the municipality yes the the municipality always has the option to bring it back I would suggest though that that should we go down that road we have some some meetings internally to to put some stronger ethical guidelines as much as we can that do not run a foul of anything from the state statute because we're mandated by the but for this particular board we have to follow the state statute there's not a lot of wiggle room here um but we can certainly you know we can certainly bring it back that is not like this is not a oneandone thing I just for me from my well the reason why I put it Forward was because I feel like there's some inherent conflicts that are currently happening within this board the council had considered it about a year ago we gave it some time and space um they were not meeting regularly they were they were oftentimes only considering old agenda items not new items so the idea of keeping it in Jersey City for the expediency of the cases to be heard hasn't really borne out in in my opinion um and the number of cases has not been a a large number of cases again that was the other concern was that the county would not be able to handle our case load and it does not sound like that is the case here okay thank you welcome councilman anything else okay next item 4.2 city ordinance 24- 077 is an ordinance to amend the scattered site Redevelopment PL study area 5 item 4.3 city ordinance 24- 078 is an ordinance amending chapter 84 alcoholic beverage and cannabis and to amend regulation of cannabis establishments and cannabis dist Distributors I did want to ask um if the council can entertain um two amendments to this um first being we allow the consumption lounges to be up to up to two per Ward um and then the second one is that the Cannabis the people that are awarded a resolution of support from the city council would have to check in with the Cannabis control board like they can't just hold a pin in the map for two years like if we're going to cap the number of cannabis uh retailers that they would have to essentially check in with a cannabis board maybe every six months and say what stage they're at um because a lot of them I don't know if they've even opened or if they're just holding on to it what they're doing like we really need to have some sort of process to understand where they're at um just to check in I I think uh to show that there was progress made maybe that they filed with the building department or that they're getting their stuff together for the state I don't know if that's something that um the council would like to entertain I would definitely uh oppose that to everyone here you don't have to say anything on the record just you know let it marinate so I agree and I think we did ask the director if they can send out communication I know that they were working on that but we didn't get any followup to the people or places that were approved I think that that's only fair that we have that written it that after they're given approval from our board that they have to maintain communication back to the board so we know where they're at because I do think a lot have left and no longer want to do business here and it's kind of kind of wonking our numbers up so so the amendment um I'm sorry uh the amendment that you're proposing councilman SLE um I would have to know from our Corporation Council if that would be a substantial change to the ordinance which would then uh require a re advertisement make it like an a first reading again me ask this question um How would they return 6 months who's responsible for it is the Cannabis Bo board able to do this because I know we talked about this before about them and some are coming back for I believe it's an annual review so right what what would be the difference between is it is it because they're open is it because they're not open and then also how would we prioritize who gets an extension and who doesn't what would they have to show us and again not not that that's a bad idea but I would just like to get a little bit more color around that before we move forward yeah and council members we have not met on this at a for a long time I know a few people brought up some questions or some changes they would like to make if we want to get together provide the changes to me so we can get an update we'll have to table it and again I'll I'll circulate something you know with a little more uh meat and potatoes than the statement um I I do anticipate it being something like a reporting back to the Cannabis control board until they get that license at least to tell where they're at in the process um and then once they get their license it's once every year essentially so but I I will send handle it yeah let them let them they won't have any other right now it's just to report back obviously the city council can say later like hey if you haven't done anything in two years like you haven't shown any progress you haven't went to the building department you haven't like gotten your state approval like you know you can't just sit on the what's it called the local support that we gave you like let someone else take it if you haven't done anything absolutely nothing you can circulate some ideas too because I know some some applicants went to the state first some went to cannabis control board first so there's not to say that it's not untenable and it's something we can certainly work through but I also don't want to inadvertently penalize an indiv ual versus a Multistate operator because of where they are in the pipeline and I don't think that that's anyone's intent but I just feel like these are all the things we're really going to have to dig through if that's something we're gonna ask absolutely I don't want to weigh in on your you can weigh in it's all no no but what I want just want to say is that um you know this has been uh tabled for a very long time um and I want I guess my request is that if there's something simple change you could make before Wednesday meeting if you can make that and still vote on it and then anything more complex like what you're proposing maybe is done after that and we just re we just amend it because what we hear from Cannabis owner business owners that are trying to get open is that the current process is very onerous and sending them back to the CCB at the end of the process which is in the current ordinance but not in the one in front of you today as well as sending them to the planning board has cost them a lot of time and money and I get a lot of pleading emails please help us I I think the owners really want those parts passed because each month that goes by they're struggling so I mean I'm just um from what I hear they really want this to get cleaned up if there's any way to do it in pieces I I agree with you director and um I will ask the corporation counsil once once I type this out and Corporation Council looks into it if they say substantial change and we have to go back I'm not going to go back like do it right after yes I because you're heard and all those people I know many of them they are on the brink okay I just want to make sure okay I appreciate that thank you so with that being said if we do move forward with the ordinance I believe that we would also be uning 11.6 ordinance 23 day 078 because that's like a companion ordinance if we move forward correct right okay just wanted to make sure all righty next item 4.4 city ordinance 24079 is an ordinance amending chapter 287 Solid Waste article one storage collection and Disposal and article three private collectors item 4.5 city ordinance 24- 081 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 9 parking for the disabled of the Jersey city code designated a reserve parking space at various locations throughout the city stop me if you have any questions on a particular ordinance item 4.6 city ordinance 24- 082 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic regulations amending section controlled intersection item 4.7 city ordinance 24- 083 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article two traffic regulations amending section 332-94 point8 city ordinance 24- 084 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traff traffic article 3 parking standing stopping and amending section 33224 parking prohibited at certain hours at ps16 96 Sussex Street and at danith Avenue Early Childhood Center at 160 danith Avenue item 4.9 city ordinance 24- 085 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 3 parking standing stopping amend in section 33227 angle parking on Second Street between Provo Street and Warren Street and item 4.10 city ordinance 24086 is an ordinance approving a 30-year tax exemption for a mixed use residential project with cultural education and art space and authorizing Financial agreements with 808 ponia owner urban renewal LLC and 808 ofon 2 owner urban renewal LLC pursuing to the long term tax exemption law njsa 48 20-1 EXA yes um so Sean um I mean John if um I don't know if anyone else got it but I was pretty busy this morning I know the mayor did say he will send some I guess further documentation in and out because I know the state had allocated some money for the buildout and now subsequently we were using part of that money as say the 10year to pay TOS in a 10-year proposal um so we can we can get that also if if someone can answer the question of when the white box is to be built out does this white blocks include HVAC electrical and things like that and the final question along those lines is can we get some type of estimate of what it will cost even if we look at other museums and look at square footage as it released to the build out just so we can have a comprehensive Financial um estimate you know just to weigh weigh everything together sure councilman just uh for the council's um discussion on Saturday we had a meeting and uh the public had asked for um additional information on the budget that was provided to you guys so um the mayor is providing an updated um budget and basically what that was is there was a line item in your budget called the um City landlord operating contribution and what that is that's two tranches that was the Sid that we're discussing to establish um that would benefit from The Local Economic driver of the museum as well as um a approximate $1.5 million budget allocation from the inial budget that would occur um year-over-year so we're going to break that down in addition and just to clarify uh councilman the state tax credit line item in that budget that was presented is the Eda funding but we're going to circulate another um item not to change any numbers but just to designate those Eda funds um that that's what the tax credit is because the words were used interchangeable that tax credits and Eda you know but um we're going to clarify that they're both one in the same it was about a $70 million tranch that um the state had allocated uh it's not to be confused with the $48 million that this City had Prov that the excuse me the state had provided in their budget and then uh retracted on the these are um state tax credits that were approved for projects of this size and that are are uh solidified um councilman just to uh for your second Point uh with the white box um we have done as an Administration have done extensive work on building out what the pth cber look like um working with our partners in om and other consultants and understanding what the HVAC requirements would be the lighting security um a lot of stuff that I wasn't even knowledgeable on um insurance for shipping uh expensive works of art creating all that type of stuff um we went through all those exercises um we now have all that information as institutional knowledge um that is transferable from the old project to the new project so um we can give you a lot more information on that but um uh at this point we're looking at the amount of square footage and how it how it would be structured as uh uh use of the space but we know what has to be incorporated in the space already we'll be able to provide you a little bit more information on that as well I think you had a third third uh piece we were asking about yeah what what exactly uh does the build does it is it equipped with a electrical yeah so all the connections and and all that would be already um facilitated within it and then we would have to build out the specifics that we would need so the electrical would be run to the white box and then we would have to put the fixtures in and in those items we can have Oma provide it more documentation on and um what have happens if we vote tomorrow I mean Wednesday it's approved and I don't know something else happens and the project can't come to fruition um I don't know the the finance people full they pull their money or anything happened um what happens with the the abatement at that point is the developer allowed to sell the project to another developer where does it reverse does it start back over with the process what will happen at that point see have a little bit but John let me ask you something while they coming up here if that don't happen because the councilman has a good point here can't we put an additional where ass clause in there that say if it doesn't happen it can we can build out a youth recreation center yeah I think there's two different questions here councilwoman I'll address yours and then Jim will address yours councilman uh Gilmore so uh council president you're right so the next step would be once this is secured on Wednesday right we'll work with formalizing the agreement with uh the centr to pomu um uh entity uh suicide if you vote for in the event uh that that falls through from a um marketing proposal for a museum and a cultural space the city would still retain the rights to that area as a public good and we work with the Council on what that would look like public Community Center um you know uh partnering with the library or the public schools but we as of Wednesday regardless of what Jim's going to talk about with the financial structure of it the city through the abatement if the building is built um would retain that 100,000 square fet 85,000 and 15,000 uh exterior uh for a public use that's designated by the city we're looking to use it as a cultural art center right but it would still be within the hands of a public space with the city and Jim will address uh the question about if the building's built so hi my name is Jim mccan from the law firm of conell Foley I represent the applicant for the tax abatement just so you all know who I am um I just it was a while since the question was asked what was the question question was asked that um if the financing falls through on the project um would the be able to sell the rights to the to the project so um in the unlikely event that that that were to happen I mean there's a there's a site plan approval in place for the construction of the building already um if the financial agreement is is passed by the city council the financial agreement would be binding upon the developer if the project fell through um unlikely for financing purposes um everything would still stay in place once the site plan is amended to incorporate the museum yes and other Developers could come in and complete the project pursuant to the requirements of the site plan approval and the financial agreement so in the unlikely event that something fell through financing wise but my client recently acquired the property and so they're they're Full Speed Ahead if this financial agreement is approved they will sit down with the with the museum folks and the city and continue to move forward with the project oh so so the answer to my question is basic Bally that another developer would be able to acquire although you don't think it's likely that anything is going to happen but the potential for something to happen and another developer to take over is there yes so and and my client is a designated redeveloper under the uh jca rules and regulations they have a Redevelopment agreement with the JC so only a developer who would be approved by the JC could come in and take over the project so the JC what they typically do is they qualify redevelopers to make sure that they have the financial wherewithal and the expertise to do a project so everything would stay in place another developer that's could come along they would have to be qualified by the jcra and sign an amendment to the Redevelopment agreement that says they're going to move forward with the project so the the jcr would certainly have a say in any future developer now so John this or legal this may be a question for you and so let's say um they get approved Wednesday how long do they have to actually start the work because I know in my ward like there were a lot of deals brok it and developers never brought said building to fruition and lot still stand empty now do I'm just trying to figure out at what point would it revert back to this project having to come to the council should it not come to fruition so the developer has as I said a Redevelopment agreement with the Jersey City Redevelopment agency there's a schedule um in the Redevelopment agreement and it does have to be amended because um since the museum is now part of the transaction the developer and the museum still need to sit down and figure out the finer details of what would be actually in the white box but once that is done my client's supposed going to start the first phase of the building in accordance with the the first phase of the project in accordance with the Redevelopment agreement um in the spring of 2025 so next year to start the project well the second Tower so the second tower would come after that but I believe the schedule tentatively depending on what's worked out with the museum would the second building would start approximately a year later maybe a little bit longer but approximately a year correct me if I'm wrong I I thought that the reason why we had to do this yesterday was because fightan was dictating the shovel going in the ground in September that's what demolition that has to be done site prep but actual construction of the building takes would still take several more months councilman Jim was being a little too literal uh what I what I right John uh so um with the financing and the projects getting underway um the the uh entity had already had plans to get underway now uh we asked them to stall for a few weeks to get U this idea on the table of the potential of a pilot and the recreation I mean the cultural space but they're well on the way of um they have all their approvals uh they're working through their financing and they have some Demolition and uh uh site prep work to get shovels in the ground in the next few months and but they had permission to build before this project came correct that's what you they should be doing demo right now but the hip was I understand that they have permission to build as a right whatever right my concern is that the reason why we have to vote on it immediately is because whatever work that you guys need to do as it's demo or whatever it is you're not going to start that work until you have this agreement ired out on the mic our local pilot ordinance it's because of our local pilot ordinance that requires this vote prior to them starting construction that's why it's not just about what they want to do or don't want to do it's that they can't start building number one until this vote happens if they start building number one before the vote they're no longer eligible for a tax Bay what about the demo though if they that's part of the build out how um I don't know the specifics of the the law but I am my understanding is you ha you have to to start the project it would negate their ability to get the pilot so so they need everything in place so that they could get going on construction that that's what the timeline is all about that's what the rush is about they're ready they would already be in the ground if it weren't for the fact that this you know opportunity with the museum came up they have their site plan approval and they can't pull permits before they were to get a tax payment well what about the but the forget the buildout part because the demo is going to take what two months a month what um so I'll explain to you the timing of the demo and I'll explain to you how the demo is related in building one to how you construct the museum in the building too I apologize if you just dentify yourself for the right I'm sorry it's okay John Kushner k group I apologize thank you sir um in in in order to construct the museum to the requirements and specs that the Pompa do needs from what we've been told from their Consultants and their team correct they will need about 10,000 feet of Subs seller space in our building two in order to access that it will come via building one's Subs sellers so we actually do need to know what we're doing in building two before we begin building one they're connected the subs sellers are connected Mr Gilmore they're connected so you go you enter the subs seller of building 2 by going down into the sub Celler of building one you've seen in many buildings in Journal Square and in the towers that we built right around the block our buildings are connected above grade right you've seen the white towers the Journal Square project the parking for those three buildings were built in phases above grade in this property um we are building our parking below grade and they connect below grade so we have actually held off the process for the last two months while in discussions so that we know how far down to go and what building to build now in order to build a building we need to take down a garage correct for building one what's outlined in here and my lawyer probably correct me if I'm wrong hopefully um is that we would begin if if approved on Wednesday night we would get into active real discussions and come up with a exact like development plan right for for for the museum that is outlined in here correct there's a schedule the white box is already defined in here the white box is defined and and the schedule Mr Gore I know what you're getting at you want to know when are we going to begin and when is the project going to start and when is the project going to be done and when will people be using the museum correct no I actually I just wanted to know I just wanted because like I said during the presentation part of the the rationale or reasoning for The Rush is because you guys had to start right away so I'm just right so we we lined up financing for a building but in order to start that building we need to know what's going in building too because you might not see it above grade but these buildings are actually connected below grade okay and and the part of the white box definition that's in here for the museum is below grid and those two buildings will actually connect below grid so I can't start building one without knowing what I'm doing in building two once I start building one if I don't provide for it in building two they're it doesn't really work what H how long does it take to demo the parking lots I'll I'll tell you our proposed schedule is that right now we're in front of the city with an application for a demo permit as soon as we have that demo permit that garage has been standing there for probably 75 years I don't suspect it'll take more than 30 to 60 days to take the actual physical garage away our plan would be to start construction the moment we complete demolition I suspect that that will come in somewhere around the 1 of January if I had to take a guess given our so is going to first of all you got to wait for the permit to take the garage down then once you get the permit we've paid for that permit and we've applied for it we've hired still a waiting process though you ain't gonna get it tomorrow right um it's I'm told it's imminent any that's what I'm saying we don't but we don't know we we've we've we've we've we've been issued a bunch of denials from your building department we've answered them and we're in we're in dialogue with them and we should know within I I suspect it'll be by the end of October at the latest that we can knock that thing down all right so the end of October and then it's going to take you upwards of 60 days to knock it down what I'm hearing is there's two different I think the I think Ania though hit on the real point the law surrounding tax abatements is that you have to have your financial agreement signed and in place before you start the project oh before you start demolition before you start the project it's but what point does because I mean I'm not fancying these terms I just know straight terms so when does the process start does the pro when you say when a process start does that refers to the actual construction of the building putting something in the ground or does it start when you start to knock the site down so demolition doesn't Dem process part of this project the process so there there's no it says project but demolition is part of the project so we we need to put the financial agreement in place before we start the project getting construction financing has been incredibly difficult if you speak to anyone who does any building or anything in the city it's like getting a colonoscopy um nowadays just cuz financing is the the interest rate is higher the turnaround is now 12 months versus 18 months so the the time timelines and the return on the investment that the banks are requesting is a shorter time period so what I'm hearing is there there are two different things that can happen and you're basically waiting to see what happens Wednesday in order to adjust your plan um and you can't move forward to their plan and already you've spent a month to two months deay two months delaying in order to have some definitiveness from the city as to whether or not the baitman going to go through um and cuz that's going to dictate how you build the building because all the buildings are connected essentially you you're exactly correct okay I just colonoscopy reference without a doubt put to sleep yeah without being put to sleep I that that's what I'm hearing uh across the city so it's we're ready to go so yes you hit the nail on the head with your description though okay I just know one thing if if it get approved and y'all don't start doing demolition until January then it's then we have a major issue because you're you're I'm under the I'm under the feeling that iin being rushed to to make a judgment on a project that's full of so much uncertainty even the Mee and questions were asked and it just it's just so much uncertainty in fact I'm even scared to embark on a journey with so much uncertainty but I mean that that's my position on on the project John oh got his two John down iot his two Johns down I can give you a legal opinion too Council presid you know what um I know there's uncertainties you know with the Pompa do and all of that there because based on um what I heard the meeting was about but I want to know can we add a where as clause and because if it doesn't if the pomu doesn't come I just want to clause in there because we doing an ordinance because if we if this pass and we give the tax abatement I want to make sure that the youth you know kind of benefit from this so I want that where as clause in there as that it can be a youth center if the pomp do don't materialize because I really think we need things for our youth too because it's a lot of still negotiation going on we don't know but I understand they have to you know get moving I understand that these buildings connect all of that understand but what we don't understand that we're not clear with and we hope it happens that the Poma do do come but there's still negotiations going on but I wanted in writing another where as cause if it do not that that site that we have can definitely be used for some type of Youth Center that's all because it'll be ours we are on it right and so why can't we have a youth center up there or youth recreation place for the kids which to me is a ideal location it's right on the Square parents can get to and because if we going to give a tax abatement I think if that doesn't happen I just want to back a plan yeah so so council president it's already written in there uh that um I want it specific no no I'm just I'm just emphasizing that I got you council president all no so I mean just for the entire council's uh knowledge that the the uh exemption would exist without dedicating that space for public use and for a public person and uh a public purpose excuse me and um you know they would default on that I mean basically the entire thing would fall apart without that being written in stone but we can emphasize the the uh purposes of a public use um with your request council president so it's already there and we could Define what the public it would be including youth activities and and other public uh correct can we I just want to Define because you know I no we can work with you it's not a substantial change either I I'm for the Youth and everything but I am also really hesitant to tie a future Council to just one public use it could be it's a large space it could be youth it could be seniors it could be we're gonna identify what we as public uses um when you look at a city dis size I know we do have senior buildings we only have two which we need more we need more but right now we really have nothing for the Youth in a city de size that's why that's why I really pafic because we have nothing I get calls all the time the parents have no place really to take their children a city decides we don't have a youth area a a recreation place we don't have it we don't own anything we have two senior sites we do own that is a city but we really don't have anything for the Youth because Recreation down there on Cav point City do not own it okay they don't own it all right so what else do we have with the youth you know nothing right that's my point you know it's a shame uh that we only had one meeting on this and that was on Saturday and I wish every one of you sit at that table and every council person was at that uh meeting on Saturday because the people spoke out they spoke out quite uh elegantly council president that'll be the 11th Warehouse Clause just when we do the am so um John question and I don't know if you or the law Department can answer this right now we might have to look into it but I was at that meeting virtually on Saturday and one of the things I heard a lot of people talking about was of course affordable housing right now there's there is money going into the affordable housing trust fund from this project correct with the abatement is it I don't know what the laws are because I know we have affordable housing trust fund board Etc is it possible so that we know that this is like real money that we're going to see the results of right away because I think that was one of councilman Gilmore's concern is the money is just going to be sitting there floating is it possible to earmark those particular funds for a project that's happening currently to get some affordability in a project immediately and then maybe I would guess then that money would kind of um delve into what councilman Salomon is now uh proposing with us being able to dictate certain units when they get city funding so I don't know based on the laws if that's possible or not yeah Council we just want to look at the bylaws of the affordable housing trust fund before we give you an answer but we'll have it by Wednesday thank you um I just want to you know for conversation points that there will be roughly $1.9 million from this project going into that affordable housing trust fund and um just for Clarity on the project um the approvals were done pre um IO or anything like that so so um this is part of the agreement that's in place but there's nothing that would mandate us to prompt any additional onsite um it's pre-approved yeah so we'll get you an answer on dedicating the $1.9 million dollars to a a program but we don't feel comfortable saying that right now until yeah can I just just want to confirm just back and forth with the councilman but you know right now the city's plan is to you know fund the full cost of of whatever the build out would be and we don't have at this stage any cost estimates of what that would look like I just want to say if those two statements are accurate yeah so um we know what the white box uh what the value of the white box is going into it and we know what om has presented as to what the needs are for facilitating that uh white box so um we have an idea of what has to be put in and then we're going to work on the exact cost of what the exact buildout would be okay if have a ballpark figure I say can you Pro is there any any you know range you can provide us at this stage even just like a price per square foot right yeah I'll follow put om before uh before Wednesday Council thank you that's it thank you go ahead okay so after the second reading ordinances we'll have a public hearing on the 2024-25 westside Avenue special improvement district assessment role and budget do have the director here ifes anybody has any questions regarding the Westside Avenue special improvement district hearing none we have our regular public requests for a hearing at this moment we have 43 speakers next are petitions and Communications items 6.1 through 6.44 and then we have our office of communications 7.1 through 7.4 report of directors 8.1 and 8.2 our claims and on to our resolutions item 10.1 City resolution 24708 is a resolution honoring Aaron Jones Williams and rescue treats next item 10.2 City resolution 24709 is a resolution accepting the assessment role of the 2024 2025 Westside Avenue special improvement district of the city of Jersey City item 10.3 resolution 24- 710 is a resolution adopting and ratifying the 2024 2025 budget of the Westside Avenue special improvement district of the city of Jersey City items 10.4 through 10.7 were touched on earlier item 10.8 resolution 24- 715 is a resolution authorizing the execution of a license agreement with New Jersey City University for facility rental and usage item 10.9 resolution 24716 is a resolution authorized in the payment of a Stacey Stacy's here oh okay good afternoon um I'm here to present um both 10.8 and then if I have to wait um for 10 16 I can come back oh just do them both St okay great uh this is a resolution authorizing the execution of a license agreement with NJCU for facility rental and usage this is for our senior program this is paid for out of the Hudson County um ssbg Grant funds we host two days a week swimming track and other athletic activities for seniors and then I have um oh 10.14 a resolution awarding the negotiated contract pursuant to the njsa 40a 11-5 1s to green bucket compost LLC for the marketing of recyclable materials that includes the provision of food scrap drop off spots um representing this um for the vision of recycling because Sonia and I have been working closely together on the composting effort and Sonia is at another meeting right now uh there were two uh proposals that came in uh green bucket compost LLC is local and was the most affordable question yes uh parts of the proposal are like blacked out like a CIA document do you think we can get the ACT um was that done by you guys what part was blocked out councilman so we do have to remove um the edal employee identification numbers and proprietary financial information but without it right in front of me I couldn't the the critical measures of success like there was one portion that was like blacked out on page seven of 69 on the bottom I have we we could sidebar about it I just you know I just we can get you whatever the Law Department allows us to provide okay you all can obviously see the the original documents it's just probably information that was sensitive on there for the public I'd have to take a look at it though I don't recall off hand okay anything else Jimmy name of the council members I have item 10.9 resolution 24- 716 it's a resolution authorizing the payment of a claim from the CarePoint Health Medical Group for providing uh medical care services for uh injured employees on the job uh this is in a sum of $174,999 n6 and it was for the period of January 1 2024 to June 1 of 2024 any questions thank you for your time okay next um items 10.10 and 11 were touched on earlier 10.12 City resolution 24- 719 is a resolution authorizing the purchasing agent to sell various Motor Vehicles at public auction item 10.13 resolution 24- 720 it's the resolution of the municipal Council of the city of Jersey City and support of principles and Convention to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in Jersey City item 10ne did you change that clause in there they wanted to make sure they said partner with we did yep updated thank you sure okay item 10.4 was touched on earlier items 10.15 and 16 uh Corporation Council you want to take them sure uh we'll provide an update offline to the council but 10.15 is just continuing uh representation of a litigated matter where there's a conflict and we need outside council 10.16 is just continuing uh litigation as well but we'll let you know where they're at and last but not least 10.17 resolution 24- 724 is a resolution reappointing Victor nangang Jr as a member of the Jersey City ethical standards board are you able to answer a few questions is your most current resume attached to this resolution do you want to go the podium VI reappointment it's a reappointment it's a reappointment but his resume and the letter from the mayor is attached ethical questions only but no ethical questions for him at this point that has to be done during the ethical standards board meeting but with that being said does anyone else have anything to add yeah Sean I just want to say something Saturday we had the meeting for four hours at the college and I wish everybody here was at that meeting because out of about a hundred people 54 got up and spoke and I'd say 50 of them were quite aggravated that there was no further the discussion on this issue and what's going on and I think it's a mistake and I'll tell you it's a lot of people are irritated second okay so I have a motion to adjourn excuse me at 5:08 PM by council person Cay seconded by council person Riva I think I think you got it reversed but I do okay I'll fix that okay so motion to adjourn made by council person Rivera seconded by council person C at 5:08 p.m all council members present by acclamation please say I I we are out of here at 50:8 pm thank you so much everyone watching at home and everyone present here remember teamwork mates a DreamWork have a great night stay safe