ordinance is or do you want to be on YouTube first we're just pausing yeah I figured we wait until YouTube yeah we're back we're back yes so whichever way you guys want to do it if you want to do an intro or Mr cido if you want to take it over so I'll do an intro and then you can talk about how we changed it since last time okay so I reported on this last time uh this is an effort of the township committee to ensure that um uh everyone feels welcome and included um and everyone behaves appropriately at all of our uh Municipal uh facilities we run a lot of programs we we offer a lot of services uh and a lot of all of that has to do with our youth in particular and we want to make sure that uh our youth are not not experiencing uh bullying uh being harassed in any way um and that there are protocols in place to protect them and parents and volunteers and our employees as well all around so we uh found a way to um fashion this code of conduct uh we uh took a first tab at it uh at the last TC meeting but we realized we needed to go back and make some additional edits to make get a bit more comprehensive and I turn it over to you Township attorney cdio for that sure um briefly uh taking into account the comments that came up the last Township committee meeting um there was bullying language in the draft ordinance we made that more explicit we also added that not only you know engaging in bullying or harassing Behavior or encouraging or permitting others to do so was also a violation of the code of conduct um we also specified which uh Township employees would be expected or empowered to be enforcing the policy uh now it is uh limited to the administrator Deputy Administrator and program directors and their designes to you know meet that objective of if we're holding a community event um there's a department head there you know they can help enforce the code of conduct at that event and finally we put in clarifying language that uh nothing in the ordinance should be considered or construed to limit uh law enforcement in any way in their exercise of their duties at M okay um I have a couple of clarification questions on the wording in the ordinance um so this is mostly for recreational or entertainment type of events or is this include meetings or well it includes uh definitely recreational type events but it's any event on in uh Maplewood facility were sponsored by the township whether or not it's h within the township so for example if you are participating in a recreation event that is uh in another municipality you're playing in a away game and you are a parent or a resident and you violate this code of conduct that's still counts even though you're not in the of Maplewood proper um similarly if we holding a uh health education event a health screening um and if to be disruptive or to um you know uh violate the code of conduct at you know such an event it's not limited to just Recreation so how does this different how does this differ from our you know ordinance on disturbing the peace or any kind of interaction that's inappropriate in Social well so sitations um you know you're general rules on disturbing the piece maybe would be a um I don't want to say a higher bar but uh maybe more difficult to to meet those um those characteristics that could be criminal offenses and these are not necessarily criminal offenses yeah for example you know engaging in name calling and harassment of you know the other team that's not necessarily you know dis worly person's offense but it would be a violation of our code of cond so it's uh it's a little more expansive IT addresses um not just um things like bullying but also profanity um targeting someone or making comments about their gender expression identity their gender their appearance um whether or not you are uh intoxicated or you know under the under the influence of the intoxicant during a during an event is a it's a broader it's a broader policy okay so it references uh State Statute in here for code of conduct right with respect to anti-bullying yes okay so the if the statute already provides for that do why do we need it separately in here since we can't supersede statute well so there's a couple of things the anti-bullying um uh stat just specific to not permitting uh fully um primarily in a recreational or educational setting this goes a little broader than that to any Township um any Township event or a Township sponsored um event that's going to happen on the of property but also it's not just bullying um right it's also you know treating other participants with respect it's not you know doing any kind of shaming or you know it's a much broader uh kind of conduct description than just also by specifically referencing that statute uh which is very specific in what constitutes anti-bullying uh we would would be able in certain circumstances that rise to a level of reporting such uh Behavior to MPD and that behavior being reportable as hate crimes Under The anti-b Bullying statute it allows us the ability to do that what we currently have uh by ordinance would doesn't allow us to do that and this is something that the school district does as well in their policy as well uh by referencing the state statute it also allows them to report those as they occur and to track them as well does anyone have any questions I have a question I don't have it in front of me but when I read it it talks about no alcohol consumed on Maplewood Township property or something but we often we sometimes sponsor events I think that had alcohol served so just the language of it I tripped up on a little bit what I didn't catch what you said I'm sorry in there there's a I don't have it in front of me but there was a bullet point that said um about no alcohol consumed at M on Maplewood owned property but we serve alcohol on like the woodlands and at events I I think the point was that if you're a coach or something you shouldn't be inebriated with children but as how I read it I interpreted it that we can't have anyone drinking alcohol yeah in Township owned property I we can definitely put in clarifying language desired but that's right May the concept was um the concept was more of an event that did not include Township sponsored you know alcohol or Township sale of alcohol as opposed to exactly right little Le Lick It Up so there are so our the facilities where we municip Municipal facilities where we have alcohol the Woodland the Bergdorf 1978 the library and where else beer beer garden and we occasionally allow beer gardens in Memorial Park and Maple Crest park so that's that's the extent of it and some and oftentimes at the Woodland and at the Bergdorf like for example the strollers do their performance they might have wine and cheese at after so it's not necessarily A Township sponsored event it's a you Township facility sub I mean but I think this is this is about somebody who's who's drinking while under the influence of drugs or alcohol right so it's not someone who's not that's how I read this yeah the it's more of the um it's more of a behavior right it's more of being intoxicated right as opposed to so it's don't we have a law on uh public intoxication anyway I'm just trying to make sure we're not like replicating or contradicting the the issue with the ordinance right is there are certain pieces of it obviously that we have uh criminal um uh codes and sanctions for but really this goes to um a a broader category of behavior but also B being able to um monitor that behavior and monitor these events and spaces as spaces that are welcoming and inclusive um and you know you go down to the Pendleton portion of the ordance right being able to suspend someone's participation being able to reject someone if they are not following the code of conduct not necessarily needing to to rely on making it a police matter in order to be able to um facilitate and event a participation that is open and welcoming and safe for all our residents than so is this does this need work or to tighten it up with regard to miss engle's point and or are we ready to move it if we wanted to um include language uh spefic to address we say um you know to not I'm sorry I don't have the language in front of me but to not engage in um to you know accept where Express while Under the Influence which section is that going to go in I have I'm looking at it do we know which section f and g under using or being under the under prohibited prohibited conduct e it's e it says it's F and it's f and g the version that was shared with this agenda sections F andg and I can read them if you're interested in hearing FG is using f is using or being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while at any Municipal Maplewood Municipal facility G is using or being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while attending coaching officiating or participating in any event sponsored by the township of Maplewood it was that first one that you said you think isn't this isn't this both while under the the key thing is while Under the Influence right yeah so it's not the using it's using while Under the Influence so if you have an occasional glass of wine in 1978 at the art show as long as you're not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and that's permitted well who was just it seems weird to me I'm sorry this part so if somebody buys a a little recreational marijuana down the street and then they go they have one hit and they go to 1978 and have a glass of wine that's against our law now but they're not causing any trouble they're just depends what the under the influence is yeah I'm just not sure what we're doing with this you know it when you see it would think any alcohol it doesn't say under the influence though I think the concern would be when you're Rising when either the use of drugs or alcohol would rise to a level of intoxication it doesn't say so F says using or being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while at any Maplewood Municipal facility yeah I think f is the one that's says that's the one that I have I'm struggling with and then also using or being under the influence of drug or alcohol while attending any events sponsored by the township of Maplewood I'm not saying I disagree with the code because I think that there is is often times bullying or things that are happening that it would be nice that we especially in youth events so almost feels to me like the bullying part all that kind of stuff of course we want code of conduct you shouldn't be bullying obviously I mean it's obvious right to most people but if we want to put something in place to that I'm fine with it I'm not sure I the linking of the two because somebody could be not under the influence of anything and just being bullying and being disruptive and stuff and but so does it matter whether or not they're under the influence of anything if they're bullying they're bullying regardless of whether they're under but this is this goes right and that's in K I think your point is is actually item K and the same thing the treating participants coaches based off of disrespectfully based off the race ancestry all that other stuff falls under Kay so let let me POS it a question if there's uh a participant in aach event who is not being um disrespectful to others but is say at a recreation event and is clearly in toxicated slurring stumbling do we think it's and I'm asking rather an answer do we think that there should be as part of the code the ability to ack that person but isn't there already with regard to like uh public intoxication ordinance you're talking about you know criminal statutes disorderly persons statutes and this is I think meant to cover a those things that don't rise to that right so I think the results of of an incident like that can be non-criminal whereas if we have someone who is intoxicated but maybe it doesn't rise to the level of criminality there could still be implications to you either attending that event or future events and so that that that could be considered and it's short of criminal so when when if someone was in I guess I'm I'm trying to see if there's a way that we could cut out what is it FN g& H or whatever it is fngg fngg cut those out and amend this and and move it um because engaging in any behavior that would endanger the health safety or well-being of any participant blah blah blah blah blah seems to me if someone's in toxicated you could get them on that yeah right that's why I was saying so I would just take out the because I think it is very confusing because we do allow alcohol at certain events I think we should just eliminate the two things that talk about that I think there's plenty other ways to deal with the issue yeah and I think we ought to because if we we'll just amend this and keep moving it Forward otherwise we're going round and round so so are we comfortable moving it forward with the amendment as follows taking f and g both fngg is that the only place it's metioned yeah yeah I feel like also in under H you have permitting one's child or encouraging any other person to use drugs or alcohol at any Maplewood municip yeah that's that's fine I'm fine with that because that's well who says criminal if I if I give my child alcohol at a public facility my mother's child pered to use alcohol as I see fit I said I'm my mother's child and I'm permitted to use alcohol as I see fit I think it's vague in that sense permitting one which letter is that H my point is I feel like the alcohol is not shouldn't even be inherit should just be code of conduct then then I would recommend taking out FG and age yeah I'm good with that I I think we kind of lost our way here a little bit right assistant administrator Jones agrees because I want to give you a shout out for working so hard on this in the initial draft so we lost our way we wanted to really specifically cover we were really looking at at youth activity here right we really wanted to make sure especially in the current environment of hate speech online stuff that's happening and everything that our kids are dealing with um and also let's not forget that we've had incidents of bullying and harassment at during recreational programming at our Municipal facilities it wasn't that long ago that we had female lifeguards being sexually harassed at the pool right uh so if something like this was in place then we could have gotten on top of it and there was a process to report the behavior and I guess I'm speaking to myself in the plog because everybody else is entertaining themselves okay so uh sense of decorum should apply the township committee meetings as well so I'm okay with taking those out because I don't think they were late to our initial intent is everybody okay with that yeah and we were listening too we were okay have a question though however I understand in G they've got attending and the participating that part because they often times serve alcohol but I don't have a problem with coaching and officiating being listed there because coaches and officials should be sober right but what they're saying is and they're correct that is behavior already Rec recovered okay right so if that was something that we noticed we could do something about it under existing law and we could they could be acting a certain way it doesn't the whether they're just a jerk or they're influenced by whatever's in their body doesn't really matter right we don't want them acting that way right and and we also were not trying to create for the Public's sake because we're in a gacha environment right now there's people who are like oh my God what's behind all this are they trying to prosecute people people uh we're not trying to do that we're trying to protect our youth that's what this is about I'm sorry and this relates to our Municipal equality index rating work as well and we need to have an ordinance like this in place to be able to say that we are uh that we have a high quality rating and we're being proactive about these things so I'm gonna make a motion and we move it without without these amendments already or just we'll move it and then make sure it says what what we just agreed to on Final Passage is that good enough right okay Mr D just a point of order just we would have to put this off for two meetings because we'd have to republish it correct there you go because we're because it's a it's a I think it's important that we amend it pass it even if we have to wait till April 16th at least it gets introduced correct yes so it'll be it'll be published it'll be on the book that we introduced it and then we can vote on it April 16th we won't be able to vote on it on April whatever that is the second yeah so the hearing will be on the 16th okay so Mr dff you want move it okay so I'm GNA move it with the edits that we talked about uh meaning that we're striking FG and H I move the passage of this ordinance on first reading with the edits as uh noted its publication according to law in the Maplewood South Orange News Record and a hearing to be held on what did we say April 16th April 16th can I get a second second yes Mr daffis yes Mr Duca yes Miss angle yes mayor Adams yes thank you uh 10B ordinance 315-24 mayor it's item 10 B it's an ordinance to amend chapter 226 s of the Township Code of the township of Maplewood entitled sha trees with respect to tree removal and replacement this ordinance will revise shade tree regulations with respect to the procedures for tree removal and replacement and establish a tree fund thank you Miss priton um Mr Duca would you mind giving a little overview of the changes for this or that we talked about just for our shade tree um present yes um yeah there's a few things uh one we think it's going to help solve some problem we're having with psng vendors and or contractors and taking down trees without our participation so now they they give us a notice of um of uh tree pruning and tree removal our director um will notify our arborist to go survey those trees and if we can save if we can present to PSG that they can be saved instead of taken down and we can enter into those negotiations and if they have to come down we're empowering our director of Public Works to seek um replacement trees it also uh makes it clear that if you go before the board of adjustment and planning board and there's there are tree removal um aspects of your plan that you have to get a tree removal permit before you move forward it sets up a tree fund uh it first it's sets up a requirement that if you take a tree down on your property you have to replace that tree if or you have if that's impractical because of uh the layout of your land or what you're doing there then you can contribute a dollar amount to the tree fund and that dollar amount will be set every year by the Department of Public Works based on what it costs us to get a tree planted we'll also provide the uh person who's removing the tree with a list of trees that are acceptable to plant uh if they're going to plant on their own uh property and it also gives uh someone who is taking a tree down who's required either to plant a tree or um uh contribute to the tree fund that they can appeal that in case they have a hardship case and then we'll hear the appeal and maybe work something out with them and that's pretty much the the concept that's right and um yeah so thank you can I get a motion I move the passage of this ordinance on first reading its publication according to law on the mwood South Orange News Record in a hearing to be held on April 2nd 2024 I'll second it m britson call the roll M yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss Engel yes mayor Adams yes thank you there you go two things in one night okay we have reports from departments Mr W did you want to address anything in the February budget report or no the budget report no mayor okay then we'll go reports uh for administrative reports Mr warry thank you mayor two items we have two staff appointments on tonight's agenda the first one Ryan Zer to mechanic we have been uh short on a mechanic for almost a year now so they're they're in high demand we're fortunate to get uh Mr Zer he has experience on both the diesel and gas engine side so we're very excited to bring him on board the second one is the appointment of Kia Williams as the arts and culture manager this is an exciting opportunity for the township we we advertised a few months ago we had a tremendous response from very very qualified individuals we had a very competitive process fortunate to have a lot of people from Maplewood who applied to the position the final interviews we had four candidates all from Maplewood that were interviewed by myself and three other department heads Miss uh Williams has uh you know has the qualities that we were looking for she has a very varied background a lot of different types of Arts she's a creative director for some art festivals she was directly involved with Community Arts programs experience with local Arts Council and she did some event coordination for arts and music festivals that were held nationwide so she has a lot of different attributes I'm excited for you to meet her she she is a very very interesting engaging and a bright personality so when is she beginning her next Monday next Monday she would begin yes right that's my report thank you mayor any questions for Mr Wy okay thank you Miss cido would two items two two items tonight thereor uh first item just very quickly uh I want to commend uh Miss bedman for her presentation this evening it's rare that you see someone so poised and delivering uh remarks into a governing body so well and certainly not in high school yeah um and I might be a little biased because I was one of those Girl Scouts who uh went all the way through high school and uh received my Gold Award but lovely to see uh people still involved with the organization and giving of their time so tremendously impressive young woman um uh second item mayor just as we're probably aware uh A4 s50 uh passed the state senate yesterday that's the uh affordable housing legislation that's been speeding through the legislature yes passed both houses now and uh we'll be coordinating uh with your affordable housing um counselors and uh you know uh Miss York on the impacts to the township do know the impacts yet or not yet I didn't think so so we know a couple of because I was going to report on it if I could I'll just sure go ahead B you back so we know it it abolishes COA officially and it sets up a uh new group panel of seven experts that'll be appointed by the courts it codifies the formula for towns to to determine their um fair share need um it would allow us to be uh exempt from affordable housing suits if we get our lawsuits if we get our ducks in the row it does require rental units to be deed restricted for 40 years instead of 30 years yep and for sale units for 30 years so that's a significant jump right now it's 30 years so going to 40 years uh it it has a whole section on credits you can get credits for special needs age restricted and housing built on land that was retail or office before so that's good because a lot of the malls are talking about converting to affordable housing and so that might entice some of the Suburban towns or the exurban towns to to allow it to finally happen I wish we had a mall we can convert yeah yeah well like Livingston never know we might we might find some some options you know not malls but there could be some Office Buildings that might want to get converted you know things like that so so I'm sure Mr seran will um give us an earful and we we'll move from there yeah there are some concerns about um whether the preservation suits is as strong this bill as it has really get um you know pose and and to be suits and you know there's been some concern about uh the calculations and you know how those are really uh teasing out whether there was enough analysis that went into numbers we'll see how it uh how it works out so the calculations you know the rumors that that are going around is that we be required to we we've met our affordable housing obligation right we have an unmet need we have an unet need right but no place to do it so the only the only thing we can really do is take office space almost because I mean obviously build new buildings but to the extent that um what are towns like some of our neighboring towns that have sold their obligations for like Mount Laurel obligations in COA for years well we're no longer allowed to do Regional no no I know but but like some like our neighbor to the west has not built any right and there's no they're building them now now they they're building one yeah they have to I mean the issue with the bill remains that the Jacobson formula that's being used across the board is not uh doesn't apply to every municipality because not every town is the same we don't all have the same land we don't have the same uh geography landscape and so on and so forth so that is the issue and then the other issue is uh and yet to be decided because the bill does not go into this is the process here uh we do know that the Department of Community Affairs will be the administrative agent here Department of Community Affairs is tasked with providing towns with their obligation Under The Jacobson formula by the end of August that's likely not going to happen until sometime this fall instead um and you know what are our rights in terms of negotiating as we were able to do in the current round um with respect to that you know it's it there's a lot left to be figured out uh and there's no question that the governor is going to sign this bill you know that's really the concern too with respect to certainty moving forward it's not that um municipalities under the current it's not that we prefer the current system because we have certainty or more protection it's more so that we can plan you know you engage in the process and this is how you're going to meet your affordable housing obligation and plan for that you can budget for it it's that's really the concern I don't think municipalities that are concerned about the change in that protection from suit it's not really about the protection from suit correct to be able to plan andal housing in a meaningful way right I think one thing that will be different for us is um before when we did our vacant land adjustment we kind of if there was a vacant office building or a vacant um industrial building for example on on ruter WE counted that as not vacant um I think now we're going to get a push that they are vacant because if they've been vacant and they're not viable as whatever they were before um and they can be turned into housing then it's probably going to put a little more pressure on municipalities to allow that to happen so there's no eminent domain rights under this though no so we would have to work with private property owners who aren't do anything to get them to do it well what will happen is yeah they'll they'll argue that um you know you need to let me build 40 units so that I you know go heavy density so that I can provide the afford so we can make money yeah right right and then you know the the credits that we get for putting in the Departments that you know currently we get sufficient credit or better than what this bill is going to allow now for the units that we are putting in uh that qualify as affordable so it's another issue with the bill so it's unfortunate I mean we understand why the bill came uh the way that it did uh we wish that there was more participation uh and allowance of participation of Municipal uh feedback here there really wasn't a lot and the league didn't really do that much in this in this regard um they they hosted some yeah webinars but not much advocacy here yeah and uh we know fair share housing is pushing this they're behind it um and it's all because there have been Still Still municipalities who have been fighting their fair share so um so this will pass and then be implemented or are we expecting lawsuits from some of the towns who don't want affordable housing to stall it it wouldn't be right we pending there's still a regulatory process that to go into effect which as Davis indicated is six months would be a very very quick just third round expires mid2 yeah right and we have responsibilities uh towards the end of this year to start planning for that so we we're aware of that and uh I think we even kept some money in the budget for our legal yeah for affordable housing legal stuff for that okay anything else Mr no no it's okay I have one thing for you um and uh I'm going to ask you if you could give us sort of your advice not tonight but maybe through a memo of some sort um there was there was a Supreme Court ruling on two cases dealing with Facebook pages of public officials this was last week and um this is an instance just like what we do these are private Facebook pages in which um the one was a city manager and another was a school board member one was in U Michigan and another was in somewhere else uh Sor about this but um so the situation is that like we do your private Facebook page oftentimes we put ribbon cuttings on we put notices of meetings we put events on it becomes almost like a public page trivia night uh trivia night yes in case uh you saw my post of yesterday um so in this instance the the uh and the Supreme Court didn't rule it kicked it back to to the district courts but um there's some Appel rulings that that impact this but in any event uh what happened in both of these cases is that the owner of the Facebook page or the P the person who sponsored the Facebook page kicked off a couple people ban them from their page because they were complaining about you know the posts and so they said okay I'm Banning you they blocked them we blocked them and then they sued and said you can't block me because it's a First Amendment right right so I don't think I I don't know if we any of us have ever blocked anyone but I think it would be wise if you could give us some guidance on I think we're going to continue to use our Facebook pages so telling us not to do that is not it's not gonna work yes recognizing that we're going to continue to use our Facebook pages this way um you know you can check out the the Supreme Court um and they you know again they didn't rulle but they they gave a lot of opinion um so and then you can tell us how we might how to behave codee ofct I just want to add something I just want to add something to that though because our community is engaged and I know sometimes our community's not nice so I just want to note to our attorney that sometimes like I think people can be bullying in messages and comments and stuff that might make give a reason for it elected to want to block somebody because of online harassment and bullying so I just want to note that is when you're thinking about your reply yeah but if they they have that the the problem is if they're us using their personal page if they never post the whole argument was if they never post anything about what they do as a public official or any trivia contest or anything that they put up there then they're probably okay but if they share anything that we're doing as a municipality on their page then they can't block people because then it's wor right precisely yeah and I'm not even a lawyer and people yeah sorry may be a good reason to have two Facebook pages there's definitely and I'm not familiar not gonna happen if you let me it's too much with that recommendation nah it's not gonna work yeah be more creative than try did that I think we we all did that like when we were running you know we had our but those those kind of go doring because you're not running anything they do yeah and the algorithm is off then and suddenly everybody tags us personally right whether we want to be or not there was definitely some case law about it I can't remember the exact details off the top there was definitely some case law about it um about Twitter and official government accounts you could people um you know were you mean X forly known as also what you're creating a government Rec the government record rules apply I I didn't hear anything what you're creating on Facebook when you post posted in official capacity is considered a government record so government record rules apply not deleting comments not editing things right saving saving everything that is the other part of one of those suits I think was saving yeah stuff that you're not allowed to that you have to you have to oh right someone you delete it else sees it then you you oops yes oops oops my bad just like that ordinance we pass with the profanity oops oops this is a this is a good um uh reason why we need that public information officer yeah yeah blame that person the Pio told me to put this up here right it won't work either talking to you all right reports from thank you anything else for Mr pido Deputy Mayor you're up Miss FR oh I forgot about you over there I only can see the top of your head just awful sorry forget been a long couple days well I'm GNA say first that I also was a lifelong Girl Scout all the way through high school and I was even a brownie leader I was never a Girl Scout all right well really I had to say that a um so I wanted to be one but wrong gender let you well you know I wanted the township attorney to know that we travel in the same circles so miss fritzen do you have an actual I no I have a report uh tomorrow I'll be attending a county election meeting for uh for Township clerks and Essex County um with the county clerk and the superintendent of Elections and commissioner registration it's kick off for could I think it's the computer computer it's the computer you move it a little I don't think it's that though Bob I don't know no okay okay um so my other item is the report that we'll be scheduling eight event planning meetings for large events coming up in the township and uh also uh starting to reach out to groups for Memorial Day the parade and the ceremony are really around the corner so I'm starting planning on that not the computer that's show is not the computer lra move your laptop I don't know if it's got anything I don't know I'm just hoping throw it across the room oh good any questions for no and for Miss viton Deputy Mayor super short report just keep going to Som celebrates women.org to check out all the events coming up including one that missed U Miss Engle alluded to our she Rose recognition is coming up tomorrow night at soac um and that is my report yeah thank you any anybody have anything for Deputy Mayor kpe nope Committee Member DeLuca thank you mayor they're like all the same I know all the same every every so uh just a few things um women's History Month the Hilton neighborhood association is having women's history trivia night Thursday 7:30 in case you saw my Facebook page at the community center in deart they have a cute graphic um I want since Mr McCoy is still here I want to give him a shout out for all the work he did on our community energy plan it is now um with our consultant to finalize and we will have a presentation quality uh plan uh for our April 16th meeting it'll be on the agenda for discussion and um we'll have a resolution I asked that just give you a heads up we want a separate vote on the resolution after the discussion just so we have the plan rather than being on the consent agenda and uh you all get the plan ahead of time you take a look at it uh and Mr McCoy can come and speak on it if he wants he's probably tired of talking about it but all this is really we're trying to get this approved in April so that um we're on uh on Pace to uh apply for Community energy plan implementation Grant on May 24th we're seeking half a million dollars to do uh our heat pumps at the police station and the greenhouse and also I give you a heads up that we are moving forward with our energy aggregation to seek another uh round of cheaper and Greener electricity for our residents we will be going out um in early April uh doing a request for proposals for electric generation and this involves seven towns Maplewood South Orange Glen Ridge Verona Montclair Livingston and Glenn Rock and we are the lead Agency on May 7th we will be back before the township committee with a go or no go recommendation on the uh going with an aggregator um we'll be meeting 3M that day to decide whether or not the the bids look good and our goal is to have cheaper electricity than psng and a higher green component or at least equal to because that's actually higher now so and we so that's coming up and then finally I just want to report that today sefd the South essic Fire Department we hired our first um Civil Service employee and the person lives in Maplewood this is the first time that we've used a civil service as scfd and our first hire is a Maplewood resident or or firefighter that's what I was asking my neighbor that's it that's great any questions for Mr DeLuca can you share who it is is it because no it's confidential until he or she is out there okay Committee Member Deus thank you mayor I was gonna what's that how was Maui great um but back to business so I was going to report on the state legislation which uh our attorney already reported on we discussed and the other state legislation uh the proposed changes to the open public records act we're going to hear from committee M DeLuca about during discussion um in code committee uh the themes tonight seem to be code of conduct shade trees and historic preservation and speaking of historic preservation um at code committee this morning we moved forward just a little bit more our proposed Dem Dem demoltion ordinance which would hopefully slow things down as it relates to uh full demolitions or even 50% demo or uh construction Improvement of residential homes in the town it would allow the historic preservation commission to oine uh in those instances to stop the clock a little bit in construction to see if uh they deem uh the the residents or the building Residential Building worthy of designation to have the time to do that review uh and if it isn't worthy then the construction will proceed and we have a little more work to do on the demolition ordinance uh but stay tuned it is coming for introduction very soon um on the municipal uh equality index rating work we talked about the code of conduct and we'll be talking about uh some other things we'll be moving forward now that that has been uh introduced our master plan implementation working group will meet uh on Thursday night I'm sorry to miss the trivia that sounds like a lot of fun we will be uh starting to prepare a summary as requested by the township committee uh of all the recommendations that were made for every category uh present it back to the township committee and then send it to all the respective subcommittees to start doing that work and we will have more details about that soon and last but not least we have really good news uh as we talk about our budget um we have good news from congresswoman Cheryl's office congresswoman Cheryl is our uh congresswoman of course for those who haven't been tuning in for a while um as you heard the federal budget passed and it included 15 Community projects from congresswoman Cheryl among the 15 was Maplewood Township uh we are set to receive after all the administrative process is done uh 9 159,50 to that's almost a million dollars for the township to support new storm water subsystems that will be able to convey larger volumes of runoff to address flood risks while providing additional water quality treatment that's a wonderful win for us and I'm proud to all of us uh of all of us for you know um building those relationships and going out there and seeking funding when it is available and that's my report any questions for Mr DS that'll be a drop in the storm water system but a big drop but we will take it yes yeah we'll take it it's gonna be crazy expensive to fix stuff anyway Committee Member angle thank you mayor um not to bring up The Unsung shirro events again but I just wanted to um acknowledge the honores besides M fredman who's our youth Honore Barbara Velasquez for advocacy Judy targan for Arts Monica Bernett for Education Kamaya salcar for business Joselyn Ryan for community and a jeda Davis for public service so we're really excited to um shine a spotlight on these women for their outstanding contributions and achievements in their fields our communities and Beyond and then um I also just want wanted to congratulate the entire cast crew and pit Orchestra of mam Mia which was just truly fantastic I recognized a lot of Maplewood residents in the cast as the leads and it was just a fun amazing show and very um proud of the resiliency to switch locations and it is again this weekend if you can get tickets I know they're very hard to get that is my report any questions for Miss angle no okay so since everybody's talked about women's History Month can you put that back up why not and then go to the homepage so this is the this is the event tomorrow night and she unsung she Rose and there'll be refreshments and Cocktails I believe or maybe cash bar I can't remember and that's our homepage that's from that's from last year because it's got the Girl Scouts in that was last year yeah yeah so um yeah so we're still celebrating women for the rest of the month of March um and then I just wanted to mention that our budget will be up for introduction as planned on April 2nd um so that's something we'll be introducing um on Deadline on time as we should um and that's all I have other than I if anybody's trying to reach me for the next couple weeks I'll be on and off because I have jury duty for a 10-day trial because I have tons of free time so why not I can actually just tell Mr weary he's more into it's a civil case of a uh medical male practice suit and this will be the third jury I'm sitting on I know people who never get called I get called every three years okay anybody have any questions for me no good just thank you for performing your civic duty yeah that's great I don't do anything otherwise so discussion items shave tree commission we don't have to talk about it or committee sorry um because we already did it yay the next are all Mr DeLuca so storm water utility feasibility study thank you mayor uh a year ago or so we applied to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection uh for some assistance in uh doing a feasibility study on creating a storm water utility this is enabling legislation from the state which allows municipalities to uh create a structure which would charge a fee to help uh maintain our storm water system so we have been working uh the way it works is that the grant is given to uh well DP hires an engineering firm we're working with arcadius and it's a large International firm that was selected through uh RFP process by D so they've been working with us on talking about the feasibility of our creating a fee it would be similar to a fee that we have for the sore line um funds would be raised on an annual basis it would go into a capital projects fund only to be used for storm SES uh right now there are no other municipalities in the state that have that that has adopted a utility and implemented a fee and so we're and there are other towns looking at it so we are um moving along and trying to figure out if it makes sense for us and what the cost would be and who would affect and we have these these Consultants are very good and looking at we've been feeding them all kinds of information the number of um sewers we have the catch basins we have in town the manholes we have in town it's amazing we'll have all that but in any event um I'd like to schedule them to come in on April 16th to make a presentation that' be great ship committee I think we'll hear from them um with the impact of course anything we do we want to make sure the impact is minimal uh but gives us enough revenue on an annual basis that we can really work on our sewers uh both not the sanitary sewers these would be the storm sewers and these these really are affected by yeah uh climate change because these rains are intense and the sto the system we have have is just not able to capture enough water so we have to take a look at how we can make some improvements so 16th works we'll have them 16th works as long as they watch the presentation we had tonight and as brief we well they are Engineers so I know I doubt it we we've told them but and they may be doing it on Zoom so that oh good because they they do want to show things so but they may be here or they may be on Zoom okay okay I move to the Woodland doors we received a memo today from Mr kitner um just so uh just go through what happened uh in October of 2023 we went out to bid for replacement of the woodlands of the doors at the Woodland uh we received a bid that was way beyond our budgeting so we went out a second time we we refine the bid we went out a second time this year we received uh bids again in February they was still were way over um by over $100,000 uh we then through our um what were permitted through the contracts law to contract to contact that um bidder and see if we can negotiate a price Mr uh kitner did that he spoke to the the bidder uh and it came down a bit but still above the amount of money that we have so Mr kittner's recommendation is that we um now move move to a pre-manufactured door and Sid lights and that the materials would be made um that match the hardwood hardwood uh look color and texture of the wood there and uh would also do modern insulation which would help reduce sound and heating requirements um so that's his recommendation to us uh the way it works is that uh because we're the owner of a historic building we have to go for a certificate of appropriate winess before the HPC the historic preservation commission uh the historic preservation commission then has to have a public Hearing in which they would uh review our application for appropriateness if they deem it is if they do give us a certificate of appropriateness we then can get the permit to do the work if they don't then we can appeal to the Zoning Board of adjustment so I think at this point in time um what we need from the township committee is if we're willing to move forward with this proposal this recommendation from Mr um kittner to move to a manufactured door and that we would authorize him to submit a certificate of appropriateness to the HPC uh the HPC has been um uh notified I began a practice of sending them monthly updates in February I sent them an update on the doors telling them that um the second bid was high and I told them the township committee will uh now evaluate more affordable options that may result in a plan redesign options the township committee decides upon will be referred to the HPC for its review and action and then I gave a subsequent March report that said we'll be discussing it tonight and then that decision will be referred to HPC so they um they were notified they uh may not be exactly excited about our Direction but that's for them to decide through the certificate appropriation certificate of appropriateness uh process so my recommendation is that we move forward with Mr kittner's recommendation we authorize him to submit a certificate of appropriateness submit an application for yes uh the sighting is this any part of it the removing the siding no because I think that would make it a better sell to HPC if that was part of it um because at least that the bigger more obvious well actually we'd have to go for certificate for that too so we might be able to do for I think it' probably be a good idea to combine it because we did talk about it in the budget M um so I think that would be the best thing to do so I'd support it if we go for both y so that we I support that support it let's let's just do a motion so that uh I move that we go for a certificate of appropriateness for the repair of the doors and removal of the sighting second yes yes yes yes yes the next discussion item is oh Mr Duca who's that in case you heard enough from me so just quickly at the Public Safety Committee we discussed um looking at the calwell ordinance for electric scooters and electric bicycles we are getting more and more of those in town they are really um as as we've seen they're writing against traffic in between traffic on sidewalks um with and without helmets and what we would uh the Public Safety Committee is supportive of at least exploring uh this as an ordinance the chief is very much in favor of this feels he needs a tool to help enforce the law because right now there it there is no law so um what we would ask is our attorney to take a look at the cwell ordinance and maybe any other ordinance that you might know of and um draft something for us for our consideration I think the calwell or ordinance was pretty it was very oh it's very very detailed it gives the police if we can enforce some of the stuff that it says in there I mean yeah we we don't enforce speeding cars sometimes let alone a helmet 200 feet away from any any car I mean they don't want you dragging on hanging on to I mean it's very specific oring must have come from somebody I mean this is very comprehensive out there I'm sure our attorney can I didn't see that ordinance but I just want to note we're trying to make it more bike friendly and encourage people to get electric bikes and bicycles so I just when we're doing the ordinance I just want to make sure that it has that you know feel that this is bike friendly making it safer for you to I just want to say that out loud it's not about enforcement and it's about making it safer and making our street right and it's also partly about enforcement for like they shouldn't be riding them on sidewalks walking that's why they're called sidewalk um and we found out the name of the one wheeled little device that people right around it's actually called a onewheel no we went back and forth in public safety what is it called I don't know it's called the one did we do a vote did we do a vote no we did we moved it and second that we move forward and we instructed our that was for the Woodland doors that was that was the Woodland door I'll second it I moved that we instruct our attorney draft a res ordinance okay we don't need to resolve that no okay no keep moving you got okay proposed changes open public just uh and Mr daffis you can jump in here the um the legislature was on track Monday to pass major changes to the Oprah and I know we have had um difficult experiences with Oprah I'm sure Mr weary and would say stop it already but um a lot of our allies out there in the in the labor community in the advocacy Community civil rights community housing community they're very concerned about the uh the thrust here which uh quote unquote is supposed to be good government and transparency is exactly not that yeah um it is to close the the the system to shift fees shift responsibility make it more difficult uh there's some question about interpretation who's included in what you in what gets to find as commercials uh commercial use um so I think everybody agrees that there can be some changes because this is an old uh statute that hasn't kept up with modern times but um what's been proposed so far so I would I would ask that um after our conversation that we uh pass a motion just to ask our three legislators uh assembly woman Tucker and Hall and Senator um Burgess that they would uh not vote for this until they've had the opportunity to really explore some amendments with the advocacy community and with us can we do that by resolution yeah yeah I think that's what we should do yeah I but I I'll move that after we have the conversation of anybody else yeah no I think you said it really well I mean I I I do think that uh changes need to be made to the law because there is a lot of abuse right now uh but what has been proposed has gone way too far in the opposite direction uh so I think the effort in the assembly is dead but the Senate is considering their version of this exactly as it is so we should get this resolution out as soon as we can if we're so inclined but I'm in favor yes inations incl let's why don't we do so move it let's do a vote I'll second it yes yes yes yes yes thank you um close session minute oh consent agenda sorry can I move the consent agenda second second yes yes yes yes yes thank you you can congratulate Miss William public comment no okay on Zoom do we have anyone yeah all right hey uh this is Daniel Wright I'm on the Sor preservation commission I I just want to chime in on the Woodland doors projects um as a municipally owned building in the state and National nationally designated historic district it's uh I believe it's actually the state historic preservation office that will need to uh approve plans for the Woodland doors and just so everyone is aware we we applied for a grant last year to complete a preservation plan for the Woodland we got the grant almost $50,000 and the project is underway uh right now and will be complete in the fall one of the big goals of having this preservation plan in place is that it will allow the township to be eligible for uh significant uh grant opportunities uh for uh projects to uh fix up the Woodland so projects like the door replacement like removing the sidings so just wanted to caution by by moving now on the project uh we may not be able to get uh that those funding sources to do the work um so that's one advantage of waiting for that process to play out and we also have access to a historic preservation architect who whose firm is completing the preservation plan um who has been offering advice on the Woodland doors project and has suggested numerous things to lower the cost and make sure that the work is done in a way that adheres to the Secretary of interior's standards for rehabilitation which is the standards that uh the state historic preservation office will use to evaluate projects on the building okay um Mr wri the project um let me just step back a minute um any of the the study that this architect is doing is for internal and external for the Pres preservation plan correct yes okay so there's and then grants for work within the building do they apply for inter interior or exterior work or just exterior I'm not uh not 100% sure uh which they would apply to but but definitely exterior probably interior as well um given would it cover um HVAC um improvements to the building because the Mechanics for that are on the outside of the building would that be something that might be covered or is that not considered that's just updating it for for modern use during climate change would that be something we could get grants for is it not restoration enough um I'm not sure with m rally owned projects I've I've heard of um you know for private property owners getting incentives uh that things like uh HVAC um uh has been uh part of projects getting grants or tax incentives um so we'd have to to find uh research that so um so likely there's a lot the problem is the doors are in such horrible shape and we've been trying to get them done and restored in a historic manner for a couple years now as you know um and it's just not financially feasible but I have no doubt that much of the work that will still be needed on the Woodland we might be able to go for grant money for it as well so i' ask that you keep that in mind tomorrow night when Mr DeLuca brings that to HPC um but I'll leave it to you guys to talk about it at the meeting tomorrow so more conversation mayor I think that's that's a good point there's there's plenty of work there we can go and get grants for and the grants are not going to be available for in in the near term right so just just just to be clear I'm I'm not really not going to get into the merits of the door issue and I think all of us should probably not because um the way I read the uh the the commission task here um a certificate of appropriateness shall be attained prior any major work um on any historic site or Improvement within a historic district with the village being a historic district any Improvement such as Improvement to the Woodland would qualify so I do think that the um HPC has jurisdiction I do agree that shipo has jurisdiction and I think it would be in all of our best interests both on the township side and on the HPC side to talk as little about this as possible until we actually submit the certificate of appropriateness because we wouldn't want to have anyone prejudge the application uh on the commission's side because they're the ones that didn't have to make a you know a judgment call and I think um we're just going to follow the process we've we uh we will make our application the the HBC will follow its process clearly outlined in the ordinance that they have to to have a public meeting we will present our case as the owner and the HBC will make its decision and then we'll see where we land and then we'll go from there and that uh approval from local HPC then goes to shipo for State approval in order to get it done okay anything else Mr Ray nope okay thanks for calling in who's the next [Laughter] caller Nan Adams I'm GNA do a radio show you should podcast podcast or thing 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 okay thank you i' entertain a motion to leave the meeting and close the meeting and all that stuff how about adjourn adjourn motion to adjourn thank you I'll second it yeah yes yes yes yes yes thank you um hold on a second I don't know if we pass the consent agend yes we did we did we did okay my goodness I'm sitting here like we're