welcome everyone to the township council meeting March 25th 2024 this meeting is now called to order councilwoman habets lead us in the salute to the flag fles nation indivis with andice for all thank you madam clerk please read the statement of public notice take notice that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in accordance with njsa 10 4-8 and njsa 10 4-10 as follows a notice of the meeting was prominently posted on the bulletin board at the municipal building located at 225 Main Street Little Falls New Jersey on January 4th 20124 a copy of the notice was sent to the north Jersey Herald in news and the record on the same date additionally a copy of the notice was filed in the office of the Township Clerk on said date a link in a telephone number to join the meeting virtually can be accessed on the township website at ww w. LF nj.com electronic Provisions have been established for the public to participate during the public comment portion of the meeting thank you madam clerk at this time please call the role council member Patel pres council member Murphy pres council member habblet pres council member vaneri president council president scova president if there's no objections have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of of February 26 in the workshop meeting of March 11th moved by councilman V Harry second by councilman Murphy This is a roll call Madam clerk please call the RO council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member H yes council member vaner yes council president scova yes mayor Damiano the floor is yours thank you council president I know the women's History Month presentation is under the council member report but we're going to uh get that underway right now and before we begin honoring three women who are joining us here this evening and who have had a major impact in our community uh I'm going to read a Proclamation on behalf of all three of them so that I don't do it three times and everybody hears the same thing each and every time and then I'm going to call each one of them up and present them with the proclamation for them and then I guess we have a couple of group photos as well coming coming up so we'll we'll do that after each one individually all right and the proclamation reads whereas each year women's History Month offers an important opportunity for us to shine a light on the extraordinary Legacy of trailblazing women and girls who have built shaped and improved upon our community and whereas in overcoming discrimination harassment of hardship women have been bold and fearless never given up on the promise that with hard work and determination nothing is Out Of Reach and whereas in remembering the Trailblazers of the past and the heroins of the present day we honor their legacies by carrying forward the valuable lessons learn from the powerful examples they set whether teaching our children caring for our sick serving in our Wars starting businesses serving in elected positions or venturing into unknown Frontiers generations of women believe their gender was no obstacle to what they could achieve and whereas during women's history month we recognize the advances we have made in this state for women but acknowledge that more needs to be achieved so women can gain gender equality and access to the prosperity of this state and whereas during women's History Month let us honor the accomplished and Visionary women who have helped build our community including those who whose contributions have not been adequately recognized and celebrated now therefore I James bord Damiano mayor of the township of Little Falls hereby Proclaim March 2024 to be women's History Month in the township and recognize all of the women in our community and especially those in leadership roles who continuously improve upon our community each day and now I would like to ask Jane to join me up here who is the vice president and branch manager from Lakeland Bank and a little bit about Jane Jane Casten is a vice president and branch manager at Lakeland Bank here in Little Falls for the past nine years as a seasoned professional with 40 Years of banking experience Jane is known known for driving brand awareness maximizing operational soundness and delivering financial performance Jane was Jane was born and raised in Wayne New Jersey and currently resides in totoa New Jersey with her husband for the past 30 years Jane is customer focused and Community Centric with a great passion and gratitude to partner with several different Community leaders in littlefalls as well as in pay County to support their Endeavors when and wherever possible Jane we are thankful for the Partnerships here in Little Falls and we're honored to have you as part of our community few e what next I'm gonna ask naate Dean to join me up here and a little bit about naen naen highness has been a resident of Little Falls for over 40 years after graduating from Montclair State University she worked on campus in the academic advisement office for over nine years she simultaneously raised three children and actively volunteered at their schools in October 202 2001 naen started to work at the Little Falls Recreation Department at the recreation center she was heavily involved with running many programs and activities in addition to the children's summer day camp at the Civic Center she is involved with numerous activities including supervising the senior social club and volunteering with the senior Advisory board naen can be seen some nights and weekends at the Civic Center where she coordinates and supervises meetings activities and events for groups in littlefalls such as the Little Falls Biz Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and the Little Falls Historical Society she's always the first one to lend a hand and her dedication is nothing short of admirable Thank you very e e so far the most incredible thing I think so far has been the fact that uh both nateen and Jane have been in some of the roles for over 40 years because looking at the two of them you'd barely know that they were on this Earth for 40 years and they somehow managed to be in those roles for 40 years so good for both of you and now last but not least I'm going to call up Sergeant Danielle struther Fleck Danielle was born and raised in Little Falls and she's a graduate of Pake Valley High School she graduated from Montclair State University kloud with a degree in Justice studies and a minor in Juvenile Justice Sergeant Struthers Fleck joined the Little Falls fire department in February 2002 and as the first full-time female officer she quickly climbed the ranks and was a detective from 2019 to 2021 during this time she assisted with multiple investigations in a Joint Task Force with the pay County prosecutor's office and the pay County Sheriff's Department in addition Sergeant sh Fleck assisted with the FBI on a joint investigation where she was recognized with the honorable service award for action taken on February 27th 2020 she continues to Serve and Protect this community as a sergeant with our police department and we are thankful for her service just sure the records clear it's been the Little Falls Police Department not the Little Falls fire department like you said there you congratulations grul I think they got that cage right you want to CL that what's that thank you chief thank you mayor we'll move on to council remarks uh I'm happy to uh tell the council the governing body that we had a great successful St Patty's Day senior event uh we were maxed out at over 100 individuals that attended they had a really really fun time um and also some of these seniors that came from different townships were really impressed with the program you know and commented that they were going to call their Mayors and tell their mayors that they should be do that they should be doing the same thing that little should be doing and taking care of their seniors by having these fun activities um it was really well attended and the next event is going to be the physical uh Therapy Program on knees which is going to be this Wednesday from 12: to 3: it's going to uh include free pizza for those that want attend we have 25 individuals already signed up for that program to discuss how to take care of your kns as we get older um I want to uh thank the police department uh mayor we had a meeting uh discussing the Historical Society on the parking issue that recently as you know the Slate was delivered for the old police station and that came in I think this morning and it worked very well with the parking in our uh parking lot there and I'll let uh councilman Murphy talk we did have a meeting before this meeting concerning the budget so I will um pass the next report to councilman Murphy thank you council president uh two other items I want to report on to um this Wednesday from 4 o'clock p.m. to 10 o'clock p.m. the domestic violence prevention committee will be doing another don't uh dinate dine to donate wrote it down wrong at Maggie toown Tavern um to which a portion of those proceeds go to our local shelters so if you're around on Wednesday definitely stop by Maggie um it's a really good event and it'll definitely help out I just want to give a public shout out and thank you to Joan Nixon from the pay County prosecutor's office she came to our meeting um this past month and she was awesome um we're actually going to set up another training with her so I just want to publicly thank her it was it was awesome for the committee we learned a lot so just want to give a shout out to her uh we also had a meeting tonight on the budget along with council president and our assistant business administrator and business administrator um you know I think one of the goals is is really going to be looking at our debt and and finally starting to really decrease decrease some of that debt and so I'm happy with our came out we're getting services and you know having a plan to decrease our debt so I'm happy that uh we're able to come to that agreement and uh present to the rest of the council as well thank you Council Murphy councilwoman Patel thank you council president um I just wanted to first thank the Clifton Health Department they were at the St Patty's Day luncheon um it was great to see how many residents went up and interacted with the staff um were able to obtain information not only educational information but another Avenue for them to be able to know what events are taking place um the Clifton Health Department is still continuing with their free dental clinic for school a children um the servic is provided you get exams x-rays cleanings fillings it's for any children between the ages of 5 to 18 so it's a great program you just have to call um 973 47203 n to make an appointment and in terms of PB operation grad events um on April 18th 2024 it's their Tricky Tray which is $45 a ticket um on Sunday April 14th between 9 and 2:30 p.m. they're doing their clothing and shoe drive so stop by state Valley High School do some spring cleaning empty those closets and then finally also on April 14th uh sa Valley high school will be hosting its sixth annual autism walk that's from 9:00 a.m. in the morning till 11:00 a.m. uh it's always a great event so make sure to sign up and stop by and support that great cause that's all I have council president thank you thank you councilwoman Patel councilwoman HS thank you council president um I would again like to congratulate all of the women who were honored tonight for women history women's History Month uh we started honoring women last year uh myself started honoring the women with this Council last year and this year I'm happy to say that Council brel um helped me out this year and it was very nice working with her and bringing this event to fruition um this year we are bringing back our Bike Rodeo that will be uh Saturday um May the 4th from 10: to 12: p.m um it will be for um children ages six and up bring a bike bring a helmet uh there'll be helmet fittings uh bicycle safety checks uh bicycle skill bicycle safety education and more it's really a fun day for the kids so come on out we will have a rain date for Saturday uh May 11th um this Saturday that just passed councilman van cherry and I uh attended the family fun night uh from The Little Falls Biz and the uh Little Falls Library uh it was a fun night we had lots of attendance the kids seem to be having a good time uh watching a movie so thank you to Little Falls Biz and to the library for making that happen um lastly very excited uh this week we have applied for our pay County open space Grant um for $250,000 um for Lewis Street uh playground um hopefully bringing a playground uh redoing the basketball courts and putting a much needed uh field to that area that's all I have thank you thank you councils councilman Venter thanks council president um I Echo to it was nice to have the women's history ceremony tonight honoring three great women that have done a lot for our community so grateful for my two colleagues for bringing this together um couple updates from me next week on Tuesday April 2nd at six o'clock we are holding our annual Autism Awareness Month flag raising ceremony in the process of putting the program together reached out to a few organizations and uh Pam Donovan from Ethan and the beans also going to join us as well so if anybody's around pleas stop by at 6:00 we'll probably have a table with some information as well and likely one of the residents may be selling some Autism Awareness items as well um I do want to mention too another Awareness Month ceremony I'm working on is uh recently a resident had reached out and said you know may is mental health awareness month can we do anything so in the process of pulling that together as well so that we can have a ceremony uh to honor those that have been you know helping with the fight when it comes to mental health and the stigma that's related so more to come on that and then just a couple other items just working on you know as we get ready for May with the Memorial Day Weekend activities from the concert in the park to the uh parade that takes place on that Saturday I'm just going to start having some conversations internally with the folks from the American Legion and some others just to kind of map out those two days so more to come on that as Council um woman habets alluded to you know we attended the family fun night at the library on Friday it was really nice to see you know a lot of kids there running around having fun uh with their parents and then you know the next night uh several of us attended the uh Boy Scouts uh pasta night as well at the Civic Center was another nice event by the kids there's a lot going on in the community tonight if you go down by the wreck there's a basketball championship tomorrow night there's another one uh taking place so we're probably going to have some uh teams coming in soon mayor especially tonight since it's Little Falls versus Little Falls tomorrow Little Falls versus totoa so hopefully uh the boys beat tooa um that's it for me so I just wanted to pass that on thank you thank you councilman vent Cherry I just want to Circle back to the St Patty's Day event I want to thank my colleagues for showing up that uh that afternoon and helping serve the food uh when I was doing the salads I looked over I saw the mayor with two tongs one handing out corn beef and the other one handing out cabbage I mean it was pretty busy there at that line and thank you to Officer Van who showed up as well uh seniors do like to get their food uh pretty quickly when it's time to eat and so we were able to serve that crowd uh pretty diligently um Chief do you have anything for this governing body tonight just one thing council president I'm happy to report that the township of Little Falls uh is getting the distracted driving uh Grant so that would be 100 hours of enforcement beginning April 1st so we'll have additional patrols out on the road uh specifically targeting distrac and driving these are enforcement grants so we will um you know the the um issuing summonses unfortunately but we're putting the message out now if you're looking for a break this is your break we appreciate the you alerting the residents it's not unfortunately it's fortunately we uh appreciate the safety of this community which is the what we all take an oath to First protect the residents of little fall so thank you for the fine job you're doing our hometown here Banner's uh program is really kicking off we have Lance corpo Vincent capano he's a USM active duty he is a Pake Valley graduate is also the son of the um of our who helped us get this program going he's also the grandson of uh specialist Joseph bavona US Army he's a he's a grand who's his grandfather whose Banner will also be going up uh and we also have Thomas Joseph Slater thei US Navy gm3 um Mr Crone gm3 is what thank you I don't Gunner is M thank you so much um so we have three new HomeTown herob banners going up uh we're really anxious to see them we're going to hope that uh specialist Joseph pabona and Lawrence Lance corpal Vincent capano two banners maybe could be put close together if you could see that through Mr Kone i' appreciate it do we have anything from our counselor this evening thank you if you would just the mic we are in the process of looking into the uh recent changes to the affordable housing law and how it uh it could impact um Little Falls so I believe we may have a memo in the next few weeks or so with that information that's all for yes I see a that's a very important um topic that's coming that's going to be uh Troublesome for these especially small towns moving ahead mayor you have anything you want to add to that counc simply that I want to wish a happy holy to everybody that is celebrating the holiday uh today is the the day and I want to wish them uh everyone Prosperity Harmony and love on behalf of myself and this entire Council thank you have a motion to open the meeting to the public for agenda items so move so move by counciler I'm sorry move by Council woman habits second by councilman Venter all those in favor I all those opposed Madam clerk anyone wishing to address the township Council may do so through the council president it is preferred if you give your name and address for the record comments are to be limited to 3 minutes however if appropriate you you may be granted additional time in the sole discretion of the council president members of the public who have joined the meeting virtually and desire to provide comment shall raise their virtual hand in the zoom application the meeting moderator will cue the members of the public that wish to provide comment and the council president will recognize them in order members of a public who have joined the meeting by calling in must press star six to mute and unmute themselves and star 9 to raise their hand members of public who have joined the meeting via the zoom application must click the reactions icon and then the raise hand icon once the process is complete we will return to the regular order of business thank you the floor is now open Mr Kuser is anyone in our chat room and I see no one that's coming before us here have a motion to close the public moveed by councilwoman Patel second by councilwoman habitz all those in favor I all those opposed that motion carries have a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved moved by councilman Murphy second by councilman V Madame clerk call the RO for the consent agenda council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member habblet yes council member V Cherry yes council president scova yes madame clerk read ordinance 1480 please introduction of ordinance number 1480 an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township Council of the township of Little Falls in the county of pay state of New Jersey to add chapter 134 Mutual Aid of to the code of the township of Little Falls with a second reading and public hearing scheduled for April 29th 2024 have a motion to uce 1480 so moved moved by councilwoman habit second by councilwoman Patel have a royal call to introduce 1480 council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member Hab yes council member van Sherry yes council president scova yes madame clerk please read ordinance 1481 introduction of ordinance number 1481 an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township Council of the township of Little Falls in the county of P state of New Jersey amending and supplementing chapter 163 of the township code regarding requirement for inspe C of lead based paint in certain residential dwellings with a second reading and public hearing scheduled for April 29th 2024 thank you have a motion to introduce 1481 so moved moved by councilman Murphy second by councilman V Cherry this is a roll call Madam clerk please call the rooll council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member habet yes council member vaner yes council president scova yes madame clerk please read ordinance 1482 introduction of ordinance number 1482 an ordinance entitled an ordinance amending the Little Falls fire division in the code of the township of Little Falls code section 3- 7.8 entitled fire division with a second reading and public hearing scheduled for April 29th 2024 thank you have a motion to introduce 1482 move by councilman Venter second second by councilman Murphy please call the role Madam clerk on 1482 council member Patel yes council member Murphy yes council member habblet yes council member van Cherry yes council president scova yes have a motion to uh open the meeting to the public for General matters so moved move by councilman have I'm sorry councilman Murphy second by councilman haets um Madame clerk all those in favor I all those opposed Madam clerk please read the statement anyone wishing to address the township Council may do so through the council president is a it is preferred if you give your name and address for the record comments are to be limited to 3 minutes however if appropriate you may be granted additional time in the sole discretion of the council president members of the public who have joined the meeting virtually and desire to provide comment shall raise their virtual hand in the zoom application the meeting moderator will cue the members of the public that wish to provide comment and the council president will recognize them in order members of the public who have joined the meeting by calling in must press star six to mute and unmute themselves and star 9 to raise their hand members of the public who have joined the Mee VI of the zoom application must click the reactions icon and then the raise hand icon once the process is complete we will return to the regular order of business thank you Mr Kusha is anyone in our chat room I see no one coming before us in the council chambers can have a motion to close the public comment move by councilman Venter second second by councilman habt all those in favor I I all those opposed motion carries c a motion to go into executive session to discuss contract negotiations moveed by councilman um L Cherry second by councilman Murphy all those in favor I all those opposed we'll go into executive session council president I'd estimate 20 to 30 minutes maybe a long time 20 to 30 minutes okay uh Chief uh we'd like your uh presence in that executive session good okay we good thank you have a motion to return to open uh Open session so moved moved by councilman vent Cherry second by councilman Murphy all those in favor I all those opposed I want to thank the staff for um their they helping me to put on this meeting this evening k um there was no action taking uh with the executive session action may be taken at a later council meeting have a motion to adjourn this meeting so move moved by councel second by councilwoman habits all those in favor I all those opposed this meeting is now closed