thanks I feel like I need I need my reading glasses can I no good afternoon everybody and happy New Year happy 2024 let it be a healthy and happy and prosperous new year for all of us I'm now going to call this meeting of the mwood township committee reorganization meeting to order pursuant to section five chapter 231 public laws of 1975 this is state to the record that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided to the public by posting and maintaining the annual notice of regular meetings on the bulletin board of the municipal building by mailing the annual notice of regular meetings for 202 4 to the news record and store Ledger in December 2023 and by filing said notice in the office of the Township Clerk chapter 231 public laws of 1975 commonly known as the open public meetings act requires all meanss of public bodies be open to the public and whereas section 7A provides that the governing body has a discretion to permit prohibit or regulate the active participation of the public at any meeting and where desire the governing body to comply with the provision of this act same time to conduct its business in an orderly and expeditious manner now therefore be resolved by the township committee Township mwood that it does hereby prohibit except to set forth an the formal agenda active participation in deliberations a governing body by the public and accept as otherwise prescribed by law does let the public to the observations of the actions and discussions of the governing body at all of its regular and special meetings so move second Miss Adams yes Miss cite yes M Mr daffis Mr DeLuca here yes M angle yes thank you and now for the presentation of the Colors by troop 60 Boy Scouts of America and we ask everybody to please [Music] rise how we okay and now to lead us through the Pledge of Allegiance please welcome assemblywoman elect maplewood's own Garnett Hall you everyone the best to you in 2024 I have the pleasure and the honor of leading you this morning and I've asked my granddaughter Aubrey gallette to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge the United States and indivisible andice like to do a roll call Adams here scrip here Mr daffis here Mr Duca Miss angle here thank you and now please welcome for the national anthem Carrie Capone Maplewood resident and Bill tally on piano also Maplewood [Laughter] resident oh say can you s the what so last gleaming who brought stripes and fight all the soly [Music] streaming [Music] ohome star SP all [Music] the thank you Carrie that was beautiful and could we give Carrie another round of applause she and her husband are recently married and now for our invocation which will be given today by Maplewood Township Committee Member Jermaine kpe who is also the religious educator at Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit could you y me in a moment of prayer this is the hour the time has come mindful of our responsibilities as leaders and guardians of this community we call upon that great cloud of witnesses those who came before the those who are here now and those who are yet to come we seek their presence love guidance and support in this place in this hour we call them near as we undertake this sacred work and this work isn't all straightforward decisions and Beautiful Moments nor is it laments and Trauma it's not even both and because this work is something greater than you greater than us greater than the whole of those we serve this work as a calling and we're doing it day after day night after night page after page meeting after meeting we're doing the hard work necessary the work to which we're called and that matters the fact matters because when we feel we did not do enough or we did not care enough or that we did not say something enough still we were there in that moment with that individual or that family giving loving leading you me us civil servants and volunteers witnesses to this our Maplewood Community in all its messy Humanity we are doing it and we will do it again and every time that we do Creator it will be enough for we cannot give more than we have and for us we give what we can when there's nobody else to give and that is enough each of us is enough we're always enough in your eyes may it be well with each of us as we embark on this new year as Township officials and may it also be well with these Souls entrusted into our care for however long or however fleeting the moment is May It Be Well amen aay and blessed be please be seated I have the honor of reading a proclamation for Roger desiderio and I'm going to ask Roger to come on up here he just told me he changed his mind when he saw you stand and I didn't even have to read anything he said wow so we do have a proclamation I am going to read it because uh rogers's history here is um been so robust we want to make sure we capture everything whereas in December 2023 Roger desiderio maplewood's longest serving Township attorney retired after 30 years of service and whereas since being appointed in 1994 by May mayor Ellen cport in the township committee Roger served nine Mayors and 25 Township committee members and attended more than 750 Township committee meetings amounting to over 3,000 hours at governing body meetings alone and whereas anyone who has worked with Roger knows his day did not end when town hall closed or meeting concluded he cons consistently advise newly elected and appointed officials walking them through Township policies and procedures and County state and federal government laws and regulations and whereas Roger has been a teacher and a mentor he understands that we run for office because of our passion for Change and desire to get things done Roger helped us refine our dreams and expectations into ordinances and resolutions and into ideas is and actions he also encouraged us to ask questions so that we would further understand how government works both in terms of the law and the bureaucracy and whereas Roger has been a tireless and passionate advocate for Maplewood and its residents always standing up for what is right just fair and legal and whereas Roger served with Integrity distinction and humility he was always honest in his interactions with the township committee and held his ground when necessary often providing an answer someone may not have wanted to hear and that was not an easy task since he was up for appointment every year and he had to deal with many different personalities on the committee nevertheless during his 30 years Roger Roger was professional and served the township committee very very well now therefore be it proclaimed that the township Committee of the township of Maplewood thanks Roger desiderio for his 30 years of service to Maplewood and recognizes the many contributions Roger has made to improve our community and make life better for all our residents we value Roger as a friend and colleague and appreciate all he has done enjoy your retirement this going to be very short uh at the meeting of the 19th I made my my thank yous to everybody just a couple of things first of off thank you to the committee for this which was absolutely spectacular and and uh unexpected but much appreciate and then I just want to make a couple of quick thank yous my grandkids are back there I promise you this is the last time uh thank you for your support my daughters thank you for your support Denise thank you okay without her 30 years we're married 50 years 30 years of our marriage were this so anyway it it was it was truly a blink of the eye and I worked with the best people there are there was never a bad elected official it they were all delightful so my my my closing comment is Maplewood is imperfect but it sure in hell is better than almost anywhere else go Maplewood our second Proclamation is in recognition of Mila J Who unfortunately couldn't be with us today when it comes to local icons one of the first names you must mention is Mila Jai for over 20 years whether it's eight years in the Maplewood South Orange Board of Education two of which she served as board president or her seven terms representing over 14 towns in Essex and Morris counties assemblywoman Jac has not been has not only been a neighbor but a friend and an advocate from her early years as a public health nurse to being the lead sponsor on bills focused on equal access and Education lgbtq Plus rights and housing alongside supporting efforts for better Women's Health whether as the chair of the higher education committee Vice chair of Education co-chair of The Joint Committee on Public Schools or a member of the aging and Senior Services there could never be a doubt that Maplewood was well represented in Trenton and the work that needed to be done or work that needed to be Amplified that had a champion her work in Trenton is just one way that she's a public servant as her experience ranges from being a PTA president a member of the NAACP the League of Women Voters La league and countless other organizations that have benefited from what can be seen as no less than an icon or a hero all heroes deserve to hang up their capes and enjoy spending time with people whose Futures they brought they fought to be better and their past and than their past and for assembly woman Jai with a mother who just turned 99 and a husband who she shared 50 years of life with three children and seven grandchildren while we might be saddened by Mila's retirement from State Assembly this month if we want more like her she has to spend time with her loved ones and whether it's to continue to learn from her mom or imprint her personality her infectious joy and her sense of community into the Next Generation that takes time as shown by her daughter Reena JC Goodman who works as a teacher a teacher retention at Montclair State University to her son Kyle who's running for congress in the eth district and Neil who's a medical director at the Kesler institute's West Orange Camp campus Mila has already got one generation down and the world should consider itself privileged that she's already begun the joyous task of working on the next in recognition therefore on behalf of the mayor of the township of Maplewood and this first day of January 2024 I'm honored to present this Proclamation and recogn recognition for Mila ji you've taken your lessons in life and pushed the world to recognize things have got to change and whether on the picket line in the State Assembly house or here in s you have set precedent I and my fellow committee members can only hope to follow from government to being the type of person who has earned every kind of word every kind words ever said with ease thank you we will get this proclamation to her at a later day I think giving that to assembly woman elect Garnett Hall will find its way to Mila J Mila couldn't be here today she was texting me earlier um she's got a lot on her plate today even as she's stepping down so at every year we dedicate um the reor meeting we we call it reor reorganization commit meeting of this Township committee and this year um we are dedicating the meeting to the Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy so I ask members to join me hope I can read this without my glasses that everybody it's so great awesome so as uh member of the township committee I've been serving as a liaison for uh to the Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy since seven years ago yeah so and I am thrilled to honor them today uh uh with this Proclamation whereas each year the Maplewood Township committee during our reorganization meeting wishes to dedicate a meeting the meeting to a person cause or organization and whereas for our 2024 meeting we wish to highlight the work and goals of the Memorial Park Conservancy and whereas designed over a hundred years ago by the renowned landscape architect firm of Brinley and Holbrook and the Olstead brother and has been recognized as beautiful and Historic Park beloved by residents and widely admired and whereas Memorial Park is listed on the national and New Jersey registers of historic places and designated one of the New Jersey's great public places by the American Planning Association whereas parks and greens are not only Avail valuable to the community regarding its aesthetic and property values but also provide space for recreation and physical physical activity improve mental health and create a sense of community and whereas from having the privilege to take a walk in nature during lunch we cannot be more lucky to have a Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy board and volunteers as partners in not only maintaining but improving Maplewood Memorial Park and providing educational programs about history and nature engaging residents and events such as painters in the park and whereas the public private partnership between Maplewood Township and the Memorial Park Conservancy began in 2017 and since then together through grants and donations has raised almost $50,000 which has resulted in over 650 new shrubs and perennial plants and 200 trees added to the park and whereas the conserv has Conservancy has undertaken many restoration enhancement projects to restore the park to its former glory and beauty with thoughtful respect to the historical design and plantings these projects are designed by Conservancy Landscape designer Jennifer C Ryan include the multiphase flag flag pole Hill restoration along Dell the Vietnam memorial redesign the dedication plaque at the entrance to the park on denell and multiple Restorations along the river and park borders and whereas without the fundraising talent and devoted volunteer labor the township would never have been able to restore the park to the extent that the Conservancy already has during this brief time and whereas the Conservancy has dedicated countless hours of volunteer time planning projects installing plantings and has developed a comprehensive master plan to guide the replacement of shrubs and trees now therefore be a Proclaim that I on behalf of the Maplewood Township committee do hereby Proclaim 2024 as the year of the Maplewood Memorial Park conern consy how cool is that DB you want to introduce yourself you want me to do it oh I will okay I'm Deborah Lions I'm chair of the Conservancy um thank you so much for this honor uh we accept it on behalf of our entire board and I'll just read their names so if you're here please just give a goofy little wave um Matt bra Andrea Curley Mary Durante Jenny kersen Gary Nelson Susan Newberry Dennis percher Laura Tomlin and Daniel Wright and our landscape consultant Jennifer Ryan who is the architect of everything we do in the park I'm very grateful to be part of this hardworking group um we are so fortunate that a 100 years ago this small new municipality had the civic pride and ambition to hire some of the best Landscape Architects of their day to create a great public space a place that as peral Gallagher of the Olstead firm noted must reflect the ideals of the Town a pleasant place of meeting an attractive place to pass through from one part of town to another a place by its beauty to draw one to it um to keep Memorial Park just such a place guides our efforts today in those efforts we're grateful for our partnership with the township of Maplewood and to the township committee for their enthusiasm and support especially our wonderful liaison now mayor Nancy Adams and to all the Departments we interact with the clerk's office administration Finance Community Affairs and to our partners at Community Services engineering and the folks at the Department of Public Works who are essential to the parks Improvement and maintenance we're also thankful to Our Community Partners in particular this year we want to give a shout out to the Maplewood Garden Club uh youthnet and the Parkview neighborhood association to the historic preservation commission for their guidance and support and the Maplewood open space trust fund which has funded so many of our projects and finally to our many members for their goodwi and financial support and our volunteers the weeding Wednesday crew the trash pandas and those working right now on our Communications and branding and many others we look forward to our continued Partnerships in the year ahead and we have several wonderful projects in the pipeline so thank you again thank you and happy New Year go out and enjoy the park in 20 I'd like to ask Bruno Lee mapboard resident to come up and play for the memorial uh tribute to Lost residents this past year made famous by in Houston it's called go thank you Bruno next we're going to have the memorial list and a moment of silence these were citizens deceased in 2023 who were active in community life and each member of the township committee will uh participate by reading several of the names singer olis and athlete Maplewood resident Stephen K Welsley father of employee Michelle Welsley a resident for 48 years James Jim Buchanon Maplewood Community Music former director of arts and culture for the township Fred G bowling B ringer retired Maplewood firefighter Maplewood fire department Grace P McGrath Maplewood Community for service men and service women a resident for 62 years Charles Moore Johnny lifelong Maple woodan kis Club founder of the Maplewood duck races on Memorial Day Phyllis e Massie longtime Maplewood resident Maplewood senior clubs mother of employee John Massie Frederick fatzler retired Maplewood firefighter Maplewood fire department Charles Val retired Maplewood firefighter Maplewood fire department Bobby Rosen Garden senior's advisory committee lover of Music Arts volunteer Robert manuso father of employee Melissa Manzo who is our director of community services Jose Martinez retired Sergeant in the Maplewood Police Department for 36 years in a Maplewood resident Gloria P Simpson mother of Elizabeth britson Township Clerk Gloria was a 60-year EMS volunteer for the Springfield first aid Squad Joseph Harnett who ran the government strategy group he was the former Township manager for the township of Monclair and he helped us recruit and hire our current Township manager the awesome Pat warry who's with us here today William Charlie Howard retired Maplewood DPW after 25 years Maplewood resident for 45 years Bernice pnik mother of detective John pnik Maplewood employee for 42-year resident Maplewood seniors Harold Gilligan Maplewood resident over 50 years mother of South scfd firefighter Michael Gilligan Maplewood Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club lastly and Gemma fritsen The Lovable golden retriever that was Maplewood Town Hall mascot and loyal friend to all staff and residents and Township committee members before we move on with our program I would like to acknowledge a few of our uh esteemed guests this is always a tricky thing to do because you're inevitably going to leave someone out so I'm going to try not to do that we had with us uh during the opening of our meeting today Senator elect John mcken uh and we have with with us of course as we mentioned earlier who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance assembly woman elect maplewood's own uh Garnett Hall welcome again Garnett um I also want to acknowledge former mayors and committee members of the Maplewood Township committee that we have with us today we have former mayor uh Fred uh foretta sorry Fred I Had a Brain moment um foretta um we have uh committee former uh mayor Ellen Davenport Ellen you are here to witness history being made again today we have not had a female mayor since Ellen and that's about to change in a few moments we're really excited about that we have former Committee Member Greg lri and we have who am I missing who can I not see here India oh of course former Committee Member India larer former vice mayor Deputy Mayor Ian grodman and former deputy mayor Kathy lenthall see it it it it's us right it takes a village to do these things correctly and uh before we move on I also want to acknowledge um uh congresswoman Mikey Cheryl could not be with us today but she did send a repres representative from her office Melanie Holmes Melanie please stand and thank you Melanie uh for being with us today and presenting us with this beautiful uh special Proclamation from congresswoman Mikey Cheryl acknowledging you Nancy as our incoming mayor and acknowledging the two of us Vic uh as being sworn in into our my third term and your ninth ninth term on the Maplewood Township committee so thank you for that all right so we're moving on to another special piece uh please welcome Again Carrie Capone and Bill tally on piano for their rendition of lift every voice and sing Lift Every voice and sing till Earth and Heaven bring with aies the let it ReSound loud as the Roar sing a song full of the Fai that the dark past has taugh us sing all of the hope that the present has us facing the let us march on till Victory is thank you so much Carrie and Bill now Now's the Time for the administration of the oath of office for our newly uh reelected Township committee members we'll start off first with uh Mr daffis if you would come down and join me uh in the middle of the room yeah [Music] I I support theti of fa and Faithfully fath perform all the duties of the office M ACC to so prosecutor Stevens well done you know how to make an entrance my friend well I've been doing this a couple years we are so happy to have you welcome everyone let's acknowledge ESS County prosecutor Ted Stevens esteemed guests and fellow residents of Maplewood a very very happy New Year I'm deeply honored and humbled to be sworn in again for my third term profoundly grateful for the trust you have placed in me to serve your unwavering support and belief in our shared Vision have granted me the opportunity to continue serving our incredible Community reflecting on our journey together I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished during my first two terms on the Maplewood Township committee together we've made strides in enhancing our infrastructure advancing our sustainability promoting Community engagement equity and social justice right here at home and fostering a vibrant inclusive community that we all call call home my commitment to serving Maplewood Township as those of you who know me very personally goes beyond mere dedication and hard work it is truly a passion ingrained in every decision every action I take the faith placed in Me by you fues this passion and I am resolutely committed to continuing the work that we've started you can expect from me in the next three years that which you've grown accustomed to already passionate dedication sincerity empathy accessibility and some creativity as well as the outgoing mayor I'm excited to witness the transfer of power to our longest serving female Committee Member Nancy Adams let's get give it up for Nancy I get very emotional in these moments Nancy I'm sure you will too um Nancy I wish you the very best as our incoming mayor I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and be challenged by it as I have been there will be highs and there will be lows your resolve will certainly be tested May these challenges and the unforeseen lead you to tap really deep into the best of yourself surely all the rest of us all the five of us will be with you every step of the way when reflecting on my leadership I'd like to share the reflections of a resident who has been a reliable constructive critic of mine this resident recently reached out to me to thank me for my service and remarked that in my Approach as mayor in particular I have been quote sensitive thoughtful amazingly balanced fair and sincere I I would say that that's pretty accurate and I'm very proud of that I'm also very proud of the history we have made together with my becoming maplewood's first lgbtq plus elected Committee Member and mayor though hopefully not its last my fellow elected I thank you for your support I'm proud of our work together especially this past most challenging year when we proved yet again that local government can and should be the most direct and impactful source of good in people's everyday lives more so than any other level of government I will remain collaborative and loyal to all of you and I must give a special note of gratitude to my running mate the amazing the one and only Vic Duca who I congratulate on his being sworn in in a few moments into his ninth term in local office truly remarkable Vic you remain tireless influential a mentor and a role model inspiring to the rest of us and especially to thank you in 2024 and Beyond I see boundless opportunities to elevate Maplewood even further our Collective vision is clear to continue nurturing a community that thrives on diversity inclusivity and progress and to also promote economic opportunities our town branding and standing Statewide to enhance our public Communications and interactions with the public to see our adopted master plan recommendations implemented to be even Greener and more sustainable to enhance our pedestrian safety and our mobility and to combat all forms of hate that divide and distract us from our shared humanity goodwi and aspirations I extend my heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of our Township officials many of them with us today from department heads all the way down to every employee they are the backbone of our Township they are the ones who make everything possible thank you all in closing let us Embark friends on this new year and journey united united in Purpose Driven by a collective desire to make Maplewood the best it can be thank thank you for this tremendous honor I'm eager and I'm ready happy New Year again thank you Mr daffis next uh will be administering the oath of office to Mr Victor Duca e of the United States and the constitution of the state of New [Music] Jersey faith author of people where the to made the wrong place can't get good got a little nervous the prosecutors watching me sign that you know so happy New Year everybody I'm proud and honored to have received your support for another term on the paperwood Township committee thank you for joining me on my 8,766 day in office you know I love this job and give it all that I can my commitment to Maplewood and to improving the lives of those who live and work here is as strong as ever I look forward to the the next three years to get things done and to make our community the best it can be congratulations to my running mate Dean daffis Dean your leadership as mayor over the past two years was outstanding we appreciate all you did you are smart tieless and Maplewood is fortunate to have you on the township committee for another three years let's give it up for Dean thank you to the Maplewood Democratic party chair Ian grodman and vice chair Garnet Hall we appreciate your leadership and your wisdom and congratulations Garnett we'll see you in Trenton on January 9th for your swearing room thanks all thanks also to the Democratic District leaders and I see a bunch of you out there would you stand of your Democratic District leader please come on you worked hard in last November's election in which we had 23% of Maplewood V voters turning out compared to 177% countywide that was a nice job Janie Janie Janie you are my biggest supporter my best friend my partner in life and my love thank you for sharing me with Maplewood I could have not done that done any of this without you by my side and I'm fortunate to serve with with three extraordinary women Nancy Jermaine and Deborah Nancy I look forward to your leadership as our mayor and stand ready to assist you in any way possible and speaking of women I hope you are as excited as I am for the first time in maplewood's 100 plus year history we have a woman mayor a woman Deputy Mayor a woman state senator two women General Assembly members a woman is District 2 Essex County Commissioner and a woman in the House of Representatives there's no other municipality in the state who can say that guys got to give up that clapping kind of quiet over there I see a couple of you you know today we celebrate democracy dozens probably hundreds of County and municipal buildings across New Jersey and the United States elected officials are being sworn in like we were to represent the people in their communities we all take the same oath to uphold the Constitution and no one from Township committee to President should violate that oath and if they do they should pay the consequences upcoming the upcoming 2024 election is going to be the most consequential in modern history the future is in our hands and we must organize and take action from now through November you cannot afford to sit this one out during the next year I didn't I don't intend to do much sitting we're hard at work to ensure that by Labor day you'll walk through the doors of the new Maplewood Memorial Library will be a magnificent building the most environmentally sustainable library in the state and for every dollar worth spending 40 cents is coming from the state and federal governments and the Maplewood Library Foundation I want to thank Library director Sarah Lester and Ben Cohen and former mayor Ellen Davenport and all the board members of the library foundation for your Vis vision and dedication I also want to give a shout out to my partner in all things Fire Department South Orange Village president Sheena colum Sheena and I spent many hours over many years hammering out the framework for the establishment of the South Essex fire department and now it's a reality the South Essex fire department the only Consolidated Fire Department in the state of two separate municipalities is better able to provide fire and emergency services to the people of Maplewood and South Orange was a huge accomplishment there are there's a lot more I hope to accomplish over the next 12 months including creating more affordable housing opportunities reducing fees at the Maplewood pool making improvements to our infrastructure SES roads buildings to meet present and future demands strengthening police and community relations advancing pedest pedestrian and bike safety and promoting environmental sustainability I'm very happy as Dean mentioned the new Master Plan well the new Master Plan talks about a one Maplewood approach and we must walk our talk we've made Headway on Irvington Avenue but need to do more Springfield Avenue has come a long way and we need to continue with that effort and from Berkeley Road on the Milburn border to Berkeley Street on the Irvington line our actions must back up our words about valuing diversity and inclusivity and about being a welcoming Community now I believe that leaders must use their voices as an elected official I will not be a b a bystander I continue to advocate for social economic and racial Justice I'll speak out against anti-Semitism and islamophobia I'll fight for the rights and safety of lgbtq Plus and transgender people and I'll keep lobbying for stronger gun laws now let me take a moment to thank our Township employees who are led by a great group of department heads our employees come to work every day to make our lives better and we appreciate their dedication and I especially want to recognize and thank Township Clerk Liz fritzen and just retired Township attorney Roger desiderio M and I'm very happy very happy that we hired Patrick weary as our new Township administrator I also want to thank the hundreds of volunteers we have in town from coaching to playing music in the park to serving on a board or committee to participating in a Civic group we would not be a terrific town without your help and I encourage all our residents to get involved in some way to improve our community so so like Dean I say get ready for 2024 and I am I am motivated and energized and I hope you are too again happy New Year and thank you congratulations again Vic uh I want to acknowledge a couple of guests that we fail to acknowledge Essex County Commissioner elect ad Dorian Murray Murray Thomas thank you for being with us you we're excited about your representing us uh at the county and congratulations on your historic uh win as well really really excited to be working with you uh and we had with us I don't think he's here any longer but he was uh Summit uh city of summit Council pres president Greg Barden uh Greg are you still here no but Greg was here and we wanted to acknowledge that as well that okay that's it okay members of the township committee I now call for the nomination for chair of the township committee for the year 2024 I nominate Nancy Adams I second the nomination are there any other nominations for chair of the township committee for the year 2024 I move the nominations be closed second the motion I'll take a roll call now M Adams yes Miss C yes Mr daffis yes Mr Duca yes Miss angle yes I declare Nancy Adams a duly elected chair of the township committee for the year 2024 so I did not just suddenly grow it's not GNA happen now that's for sure happy New Year everybody wow I'm honored to serve uh this year as your mayor and I thank my colleagues were choosing me to serve as mayor of the first women majority Township Committee in the history of Maplewood yeah as chair of the township committee I look forward to working together with all of you as a true committee and will chair accordingly I want to recognize and thank mayor Ellen Davenport for her years of service before and still mayor Davenport was the first woman mayor of Maplewood and until today the only woman mayor in the history of Maplewood as we've said and I'm happy to break that rather sad practice by becoming the second woman mayor of this wonderful town there will be more but even with all our strides towards a equality women still don't run for office enough and even when they do they don't serve as long as our male counterparts so I encourage more women in our community to run for elected office it's hard but very rewarding work thank you to Mr dafis for your hard work as our chair and mayor for the last two years and thank you for your help already in the transition of our leadership much different than um Washington DC a few years that's for sure yes thanks to my family including my siblings who reminded me how proud my mom and dad would be right now even though they were [Laughter] Republicans uh to my kids Maggie Thomas Michael Kristen and Oscar I hope I'm modeling community service and Leadership for you and that you also can be proud of it and that you step up and do something for your communities too thanks to my very good friends who are here today and our great sounding boards um who provide fun times to balance the life of this public servant thanks to all of you who are here today in support and a special shout out to my sister from another mister Amy Simon there she is and my and her mom is my substitute mom thanks for being here Bubby and to my co-conspirator and partner in crime starting 31 years ago who flew back to Maplewood yesterday from St Louis to be here for my swearing in Deborah Cochran now everybody in Maplewood would know you as Deborah Trumper um but for those of us who knew us back when we were picking up garbage and cleaning graffiti on Springfield Avenue and attending Economic Development commission meetings every month bringing up Springfield Avenue Springfield Avenue Springfield Avenue and founding College Hill neighborhood association together going to Washington to March for women's right to choose we may have to do that again um holding up our thelman Louise were right signs and as leaders in the league Women Voters of Maplewood and South Orange and we were busy and we had little kids so it can be done women of America thank you to my husband sa for your continued support of me and my work on the governing body including all the evenings you have to wait for me to come home to watch the Villanova basketball game on delay I love you special thanks to Maplewood Democratic committee for all your hard work as District leaders and to chair Ian grman and vice chair and now assemblywoman elect guard N hall for your support and councel always thank you to the Maplewood Community it is truly an honor and a privilege to stand before you on my stool today as your mayor I want to assure each and every one of you that I am committed to continue working tirelessly for the betterment of this town I promise to serve with Integrity diligence and honesty this community means a great deal to me and I'm personally invested in seeing it Thrive and prosper as it does today and with that I'll move on to the state of the township address and I I want to recognize all the things we do but I also will try not to bore you all because this is that kind of speech but we have such great things that have happened um in 2023 in Maplewood we gained some stability that we struggled for for a few years by hiring Maplewood resident Patrick weary as our new Township administrator and recently welcomed our new assistant administrator shra Jones we welcome both of you and hope know that we are in good stable hands finally thank you Mr War you hit the ground running when we began um last spring getting a lot done in a short period of time during your brief tenure here Patrick was able to help us save money by transitioning out of the state health benefits plan where rates have been rising ridiculously fast and entering us into a municipally municipal joint insurance program that will result in savings to both Township employees and taxpayers this year we undertook a salary study of non-union employees that Patrick oversaw to ensure equity and competitiveness on hiring of our fabulous staff and in the last few months of 2023 the administration hired a new superintendent in public Public Works a new construction code official and we recently hired a new Township attorney to take the place of the Irreplaceable Roger desiderio and we look forward to working with Jennifer cardo as our new Municipal attorney J well Mr Duca deservedly um spoke about the library that he's worked so hard on I will just confirm and and reiterate our new library is under construction and despite delays dealing with some Asbestos and a huge oil tank we are on track for opening the new library in September of 2024 yeah I took a tour recently and I'm so excited about the design and the amenities that that will be included in the new state-of-the-art library the library will embrace our beautiful Maplewood Memorial Park and allow people inside the building to see see the park while the view from those in the park will not be a big brick wall but a reflection of glass reflecting the parks trees it's it's really a thoughtful and wonderful design it's coming to life and we are looking forward to a ribbon cutting and in opening in just eight or nine short months and we're shooting for a Labor Day right Sarah okay as an environmentalist I'm especially appreciative of the lead gold certification that the library design has qualities that enhance a building for lead certification just so you know is water efficiency green energy indoor Environmental Quality Innovation and design and a lot more and our new library will be entirely electric with full solar energy the only fossil fuels will be for the generator should we have another hurricane of some sort the library Foundation also ran a capital campaign to support the library including a brick campaign and a solar grant for $100,000 our library staff is led by director Sarah Lester is second to none as is shown by their personal and professional compliments and com and Community engagement I thank this dedicated team for all their hard work in keeping Services running while working out of various spaces in town while the main branch is under construction it's a lot of work and the community is so lucky to have you to continue Library services with all these challenges I thank you and a big thank you to the Maplewood Library board and the foundation for getting this fabulous project so far and a special thanks to committeeman Vicor Luca for his unparalleled work and Leadership on this project in public safety I'm pleased to report that overall Prime in Maplewood is down robberies have decreased by half from 2022 to 2023 theft is down 15% auto theft is down 42% these decreases are largely due to police patrol initiatives and extra officers in certain areas of town determined by monthly meetings that Chief Sally has with police supervisors to discuss areas of public concern crime statistics and to determine where to place officers also the Maplewood detective Bureau made several arrests during their investigations of these crimes and while this is very good news aggravated assaults increased from 8 to 14 from year to year and burglary increased slightly from 26 to 29 almost all the assault aggravated assault cases were domestic violence inst instances that resulted in arrests the Maplewood Community engagement unit had has put out Public Safety announcements on how to secure homes vehicles and other crime prevention tips thus the decrease in our in our thefts for Autos in particular I want to thank Chief Al Sally and deputy chief nahima Malloy for your leadership of the entire department and for all of your officers and staff for their hard work in keeping this community safe thank you after a dozen years of studies discussions and negotiations we fully merged the Maplewood and South Orange fire departments into the South Essex fire department with 71 uniform Personnel three fireh houses and five fire trucks the scfd is able to respond to fires and other emergencies with more firefighters more quickly in 2023 the scfd answered nearly 5,000 calls the Maj majority being Emergency Medical Services in Maplewood the department also responded to 63 building fires Chief Alvarez reports that combined department is working well and everyone is getting used to the new system so thanks to the scfd and all those who are here from there thank you our health department under the leadership of Candace Davenport was the recipient of the gold star and Health from sustainable Jersey Maplewood yeah Maplewood was the only town in the state to get this recognition in 2023 and only the third town in the state at all to receive that it's an example of how our health department strives to add Health to all of our policies that our T in our town and taking Progressive and Innovative holistic approaches to Public Health health and to the environment in addition our Health Department's service to our town we also provided essential consistent public health services to our neighbor in South Orange with our shared service agreement we secured an agreement with Bloomfield for animal control which is so important when we abruptly lost our previous services in 2022 we also expanded The Crisis Intervention social worker program with a new part-time social worker and both both of our social workers in those roles are Maplewood residents as our director Davenport moving on to engineering and Public Works under the direction of Paul kitner our engineering department worked on many projects this year including Paving 4.4 miles of our roads and bonus thanks to Paul and his staff closely monitoring the work of psng we got another two and a half miles paved this year um so that's pretty good because you have to stay on top of PS when they're doing projects or they'll just leave so thank you for that Paul at the um I've since I've been serving I've been asking our engineer to include infrastructure green infrastructure in our projects and our road designs whenever possible and most recently the 44th Street rain Garden which we received another sustainable Jersey award at the league municipalities in November for its Innovation and design so thank you for that that's where we got to keep going to control what's happening within the environment all year round we work on traffic calming and pedestrian safety projects that include traffic data collection analysis discussion sometimes public hearings and implementation of various forms of traffic calming we also make sure to phase in any traffic calming elements that like striping or speed humps so that we're not doing more than necessary to achieve that safety and not spend unnecessary taxpayer dollars so it's been really effective some key traffic calming areas this year we introduced at the intersection of tusin Bernett and Springfield Avenue we did so on Summit AV and Midland Boulevard and the for decades long problem intersection at Jefferson and Maplewood Avenues I think we finally finally picked yes that was a huge lift so thank you for that engineering coordinated the installation of five new public EV charging stations throughout the township and worked on maintaining our Township buildings with most of which like this beautiful one are over a hundred years old so it's not as easy for those of us who live in old houses we know um but we these beautiful historic town hall the Woodland the C Civic house the Bergdorf the police building and the Hilton Library needed repairs too so we've been they've been working hard under the direction of Paul kitner also is a Department of Public Works they're always busy maintaining our parks and properties throughout the township along with all Municipal Vehicles tree planting and removals Road repairs storm water and sewer repairs including jetting miles of sewer lines this year to keep that functioning and you really know how important that is when it's not functioning so you need to be happy about that uh there was a concerted effort in 2023 to continue the expansion of tree planting throughout the town something I personally have been advocating for since I got on the township committee we have made great strides and planted 300 trees this year two-thirds of those were in all of our Parks all throughout town the department has also revised the previous Culture by emphasizing pruning over removal wherever possible for our trees for both privately and publicly owned trees we need to keep our tree canopy especially in as our temperatures rise along with the Department of Community Services DPW maintained and cleaned our community fridge helping those who are in need and installed a free library there too DPW and Engineering have been studying ways to improveed conditions at deart field while maintaining it as a natural grass field as is the desire of the the community based on two referendums voting down artificial turf our recycling program changed dramatically in 2023 from single stream to dual stream this change required residents to remember to separate their cardboard and paper from the rest of their Recycling and to put each out at the curb on opposite weeks it also required the township to clearly communicate the changes and the schedule which we did by launching an SMS Tech text messaging system for non-emergencies to the public I'm proud to have worked on this for almost two years of meetings with South Orange officials including Bill H Haskins and Karen Hilton trustees in South Orange to try to get more bids and better pricing for both Town's recycling programs and I'm even more proud and happy to report that the new system that create has created a cleaner stream of recycling being collected and brought to a new vendor resulting in fewer penalties for contaminated Recycling and more profitable sales of what they collect resulting in a savings of over $100,000 to Maplewood just in 2023 alone this year also marked the first year that gas powered leaf plowers were prohibited all year long in Maplewood we are the first 10wn Township in the state of New Jersey to ban these dirty fossil fuel burning engines year round this was followed this year by Monclair doing the same and likely more will do this do it also there are also two bills drafted at the state event to ban gas powered leaf leaf prowers Statewide because of the emissions they Emit and the damage to the environment to the health of New Jersey residents that they cause we are also noticing a difference this year um in the amount of leaves being collected anecdotally we don't since we don't have the numbers yet we are seeing a change and hopefully that's because residents and landscapers are mulching more of the leaves into the ground resulting in fewer leaves being P brought to the curb for pickup this will ultimately save us money in the seasonal leaf pickup work done by DPW once again this shows that environmental environmentally Progressive practices not only help the environment but cons save us money and speaking of the environment we were also recognized by sustainable jersey yet again for the sustainable Jersey silver certification with 555 points this year that's more than 200 points higher than the 350 needed for silver certification which is the highest level available the sustainable Jersey certification avails us training and tools for green initiatives for our town and also to Grants that we would otherwise not be able to apply for more importantly the initiatives we undertake for points including creating a community community energy plan like we did this year make us more environmentally aware and sustainable on to our Department of Community Services under the leadership of Melissa manuso along with her hardworking staff continues to offer our community a plethora of varied recreational and cultural Al activities they have continued offering and enhancing softball basketball tennis Ultimate Frisbee to children adults and seniors alike along with goat yoga skating arts and craft classes and more this department also manages the pool offering new classes and swim lessons along with day-to-day operation of the pool which included a huge Capital Improvement project this year that will keep the pool facility Running Fit for decades to come in the future in 2024 we are working as Mr Duca mentioned on lowering the fees for our pool to enable more and more residents to be able to join and hope to continue to lower them year after year the arts and culture division of the Department of Community Services did a complete redesign of their website and launched new social media accounts to improve communication to the public they hosted seven SE successful exhibitions at 1978 Arts Center including raising $7,500 for the ACLU draft drag defense fund that's a mouthful along with Co cooperation on events and local theater groups and putting on concerts at the Gazebo the department launched this year the first ever mapo Foles in November which was a huge success over drawing over 400 people to watch their friends and neighbors perform at the Woodland it was such a fun night it really great other events because there's so many in your department Missy other events in 2023 where the lunar Fest the West African beats night Django Agogo Studio Bergdorf and Broadway in the park to name a few the department also helps coordinate black history women's history and pride month activities helping us recognize and celebrate all those groups so thank you thank you for the township clerk's office is always busy in the important work of keeping resident and Township records in 2023 the office along with our new Administration successfully created a way to use our current technology so that the township committee could meet in person and people could actively participate online with hybrid meetings this was a heavy lift and a lot of coordinated work and I thank Dean daffis as mayor Amari Al and Patrick wary for their hard work on this successful effort so thank you the clerk's office also transitioned processes so that online payments can now be done by residents lessening the need for paper the office appointed a new in-house registar to allow for those Services during normal business hours again and began a massive scanning process of past ordinances and resolutions our award-winning clerk spritzen leads her team including Deputy clerk Amar Al and Ed starinski and of course there are the annual celebrations that Liz coordinates for the employee pool appreciation at the pool um Veterans Day program which is always so great and volunteer appreciation dinner just the name a few of them the Department of Community Development net looks up Works year round on construction permitting code enforcement and all things planning and approvals in construction almost 2,000 permits at just under a million dollars in fees collected were processed in 2023 and with almost 5,000 inspections for construction Code Compliance Property Maintenance there were 1,800 notices of violation only 300 of those resulted in summonses and our code of enforcement team made almost 3,300 inspections the Department of Community Development under the leadership of Anette depa applied for and reive close to a million dollars in Grants for road work and beautification on Springfield Avenue for a preservation plan at the Woodland additional shout out to Daniel Wright our acting chair of historic preservation commission for his work on this and a huge Grant for CD senior ADA Compliant electric bus so thank you for that I'd like to recognize the HPC on their hard work in general but this year their achievement of getting our Maplewood Village designated on the state and National registers of historic places and for achieving the award of the grant to do the preservation study of the Woodland it's vital to maintain our history through our buildings and homes and HBC works on that too year round thank you associated with the Department of Community Development our zoning and planning boards are administered by Adell Adele Lewis our land use administrator Adele serves as secretary to both boards and has been doing so for quite a while and in so well both were busy this year but in August the planning board adopted a new master plan for the township this was a culmination of a subcommittee of the planning board under chair Karen pesota and led by board member Liz Ward with several representatives from other organization organizations and groups held many Community meetings and the planning firm got a lot of input from the community input that led to a comprehensive master plan that reflects what our community wants its community of Maplewood to be it's a huge lift and we ended up with an excellent end product as a result of the hard work of so many volunteers and staff the township has also continued to include affordable housing units in all of our new housing developments ensuring equity and housing so that more people can have the pleasure of living in this great town so as you can tell the state of the township is not only excellent it is very very busy you are blessed to have a Township staff that is dedicated and hardworking they have to be because you also have a governing body that is dedicated and hardworking and maybe more than the staff would like us to be but seriously though it's a pleasure to continue to serve this community I again thank my colleagues for uh their faith in me to chair this year and it's an honor to serve this community as your mayor please stop by my home at 67 Harvard Avenue for an open house after we conclude today you are all welcome to be there I have plenty of Libations and and um my my somewhat Infamous Christmas cookies as well so um thank you thank you all and Happy Happy new year thank you okay okay we all want to get to my house now my my friend and my husband have to go sneak out to make sure everything's cold and stuff for y'all to drink you are excused and now um I'd like the members of the township committee I call for your nomination for Deputy chair of the township committee for the year 2024 I nominate Jamaine KP I second that nomination I move the nomination be closed I second the motion mcri Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss angle yes mayor Adams yes congratulations I'd like to uh declare Miss kpe as the duly elected chair of the township committee for the year 2024 have draws okay let's keep this meeting moving got it okay resolutions uh yes mayor resolution number 1-24 it's op in the bylaws of the township of M I move resolution 1-24 I second the motion m c yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss Engel yes mayor Adams yes we have the 2024 confirmation of appointments for staff I will read those uh move them move them first and then I'll read them thank you mayor uh I move the staff appointments for 2024 and I'd like to read the following appointments our business administrator Patrick weary assistant business administrator glra S Jones Court Administrator Ryan boft director of community services Melissa manuso director of community develop and AD Anette deama director of Public Works and Township engineer Paul kitner Health officer Candace Davenport Township Attorney Jennifer cido Treasurer Joe Cog public defender Dennis clear registar of Vital Statistics Edward starinski Deputy register of vital registar of Vital Statistics Elizabeth J fritzen tax Searcher Joseph Cog custodian of Township records Elizabeth J fritzen Deputy custodian of Township records chief Albert Sally Deputy custodian of Township record records Fire official Bob Co Robert Conlin Board of Health for three years Dean daffis Victor Duca quality qualified purchasing agent April Miller tax collector Joseph Cog tax assessor Thomas Dort supervisor of certifying agent Pension funds Joseph of COG certifying agent Pension funds April Miller Americans Disability Act coordinator Patrick weary public agency compliance officer Patrick weary Municipal housing liaison Patrick weary designated employer representative Paul kitner do I have a second I second the motion yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss angle yes mayor Adams yes thank you next we'll roll into uh also read by title resolution number 2-24 appointing municipal prosecutor Anette dep and assistant municipal prosecutor Gracia montilus I move for the adoption of this resolution second Mr K yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes M angle yes mayor Adams yes uh next we have resolution also read by title 3-24 adding tap into Soma and Village Green as electronic news sources to which notices and other matters are to be provided under the open public meetings act I move for the adoption of this resolution second m c yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes zle yes mayor Adams yes thank you and uh item number resolution 4-24 appointing Municipal Deputy Emergency Management coordinators I move for the adoption of this resolution second M SC yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes angle yes mayor Adams yes members of the township committee I now call for nominations for the township mwood repres representative to the Joint meeting of Essex and Union counties for the year 2024 I nominate Nancy Adams I second the nomination of Nancy Adams I move nominations be closed I second the motion m c yes Mr daffis yes Mr Luca yes M angle yes mayor Adams yes I declare Nancy Adams a duy elected Maplewood representative to the Joint meeting of ESS and Union counties for the year 2024 members of the township committee is necessary at this time to elect three members and one alternate of the township committee to represent the township on the board of school estimate for the school districts of South Orange and Maplewood accordance with chapter 232 of the laws of 1953 I now call for nominations of the border of school estimate for the year 2024 I nominate Nancy Adams Deborah Engel and Jermaine kpe to represent the township on the board of school estimate and Dean daffis as the alternate on the board of school estimate I second the motion I move the nominations be closed I second that motion yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes M angle yes mayor Adams yes thank you I declare Nancy Adams Deborah Angel and Jermaine kpe and Dean Deus as the alternate duly elected members of the board of school estimate for the year 2024 next we have the consent agenda I move the consent agenda I second the motion M great yes s dafish yesca yes zle yes mayor Adams thank you members of the public I now uh open the microphone with the assistance of administrator weary who will be monitoring people who are zooming in today um an invitation to address the township committee if you'd like to address the township committee come up to the microphone introduce yourself and your address and you may speak happy New Year good afternoon I'm Ain Sherer I live at 9 Overland Street congratulations mayor Adams I've was working with you from the very very beginning um of your campaign I'm here to speak to the township committee because I know that's where our comments are directed but I recognize there are other elected officials in the room and I believe that they need to hear these comments as well in addition to living and being a proud Maplewood resident I'm one of the many Maplewood residents who take the train New Jersey trans every day to New York City I heard very clearly mayor Adams your words about wanting more people to step up and serve we have a major issue if we want more people to step up and serve because people we're we're at a different time now where we have to have dual professional households where people can't work at home or stay at home um and they have to commute to the city to pay their taxes and to keep this Vibrant Community all the accomplishments that we heard today are on the backs of our dedicated professionals here in our um municipality but also on the backs of hours thousands of hours of volunteers if we want that to continue we need to have our elected officials of all levels even you soon elected assembly woman elect Garnett really pushing Trenton to fix New Jersey Transit it's no secret that the green line the Morris S6 line is the one that has the most trouble we all see it there's there somebody created a bingo card in our community of all the issues that New Jersey Transit face this inputs inputs impacts us in our jobs it impacts Us in terms of serving our community and I beg that you please please please push New Jersey transit to fix the trains thank you thank you would anyone else like to address the township committee seeing none we'll ask for Mr rry if there's anyone on line who wants to I know you all want to get to my house right if any members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak in public portion please raise your hand now I see no hands mayor great okay I'd like to invite up The Soloist for our Maplewood resident Carrie Capone and Bill tally on the piano this is our closing song Thank you so much and I I invite you to all sing along if you would God bless am from the m to the pries to [Music] the so I'd like to I'd like to invite troop 60 of the Boy Scouts of America to come and poost colors m oh I knew that was gonna happen May or I move we adjourn do I have a second second second Mr daffis who adjourn yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss angle yes mayor Adams yes thank you Happy New Year everybody