e e e e e e e e e finally yeah okay pursuant to section five chapter 231 of public law 1975 this is the state for 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 2024 to the news record in Star Ledger in December 2023 and by filing said notice in the office of Township Clerk C here office pres Mr DeLuca here Zangle here mayor Adams here please rise I'm sorry rise chapter 231 public laws 1975 cly known as the open public meetings report as all meetings of public bodies be open to the public whereas section 7A provides that the governing body has a discretion to prevent or prohibit or regulate the active participation of the public in any meeting and whereas a desire of 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 it resolved by the township committee Township mwood does hereby prohibit except to set forth an the formal agenda active participation and deliberations of the governing body by the public and acceptance otherwise ascribed by law does limit the public to the observations of the actions and discussions of the governing body at all of its regular and special meetings so moved second spr yes daffis yes Lua yes fle yes mayor Adams yes please join me in the saluting over flag the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you so much for joining us here at our Tuesday June 18th Township mwood Township committee meeting as you may have noticed I am Deputy Mayor kpe sitting in the chair of the mayor's spot unfortunately she is feeling a little under weather but has joined us via Zoom so she will be chiming in when she is able um let's quickly go through our agenda for tonight uh first off we have a proclamation which I will be reading regarding juneth then we have our boards and committee reports we have actually no boards and committees we're making appointments on so we'll skip through that um public comment will be open for the first time for agenda items only then we have two no three no four agendas items four four uh ordinances on Final passage um which will be led by the various Department people who are responsible for it hopefully hope they will be there then we'll have an introduction uh sorry a report from the Departments first off by our Chief Financial Officer is Mr kogi here no and we have no report oh I'm sorry we have a a May budget report from him okay so we'll go through the May budget report and then we'll have administrative reports first by Township administrator Mr warry our Township attorney Miss cdio and finally our Township Clerk Miss fritzen reports from elected officials Committee Member Duca will begin followed by Committee Member daffis Committee Member Engel and mayor n Adams and then I will go last our discussion items we have one item up for discussion in regards to Bulk Zone zoning and bulk requirements our consent agenda where we'll approve our sessions closed and open Agenda minutes a few resolutions final public comment on any uh matter that is um important to the public and then we will close an agend or um and adjourn for our next meeting on July 2nd 2024 and to start that off I will read the proclamation for juneth whereas on June 19th 1865 nearly N9 decades after our nation's founding and more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the enslaved 250,000 enslaved African-Americans in Texas finally received word that they were free from bondage through a proclamation delivered by Union troops upon their arrival to the city of Galviston as those who were formerly enslaved were recognized for the first times as Citizens black Americans came to commemorate juneth with celebrations across the country building new lives and a new tradition that we honor today celebration of freedom juneth is a day that should be recognized by all Americans as juneth marks our country's second Independence Day and whereas juneth is a day of profound weight and power it's a day in which we remember the moral stain and the terrible toil of slavery on our sorry terrible toll of slavery on our country what has long been called America's original sin a long Legacy of systemic racism inequality and inhumanity but it's a day that also reminds us of our incredible capacity to heal hope and emerge from our darkest moments with purpose and resolve on juneth WE commemorate that day and honor the tireless work of abolitionists who made it their mission to deliver the promise of America for all Americans and whereas on juneth we recommit ourselves to the work of equity equality and justice and we celebrate the centuries of struggle courage and hope that have brought us to this time of progress and possibility that work has been LED throughout our history by abolitionists and Educators civil rights Advocates and lawyers courageous activists and trade unionists public officials and everyday Americans who've helped make real the ideals of our founding documents for all Advocates like former state representative Al Edwards who authorized the bill that made Texas the first state to designate juneth a holiday and Miss opal Lee known as the grandmother of juneth who joined President Joseph Biden at the bill signing that finally made it a Federal holiday in 2021 and whereas to fulfill the promise of an America where all are created equal we are endowed with unable rights of which include life liberty and the pursuit of happiness is upon all of us to fulfill This Promise as the job of creating a better America and a better Maplewood is a shared responsibility while the opposition may seem Fierce and the fire of conflict may be intense the story of juneth reveals that freedom just Justice and equality will always Prevail now therefore be it resolved I Jamaine kpe deputy mayor of Township of Maplewood on behalf of the mayor Nancy Adams and the Maplewood Township committee proclaimed June 19th 2024 juneth day in the township of Maplewood and urge not urge All To Not only enjoy it in festivities and celebrations but to seek beyond the revelries and make sure juneth doesn't become just another holiday but a day of reverence and recommitment to working together to eradicate systemic racism and inequality in our society wherever it is found and dedicated to the cause of freedom for all thank you all right as we have no boards and committees to appoint anyone to um Mr warry open up the public comment if anyone present in the room today would like to come forward and address us on agenda items only at this time please come forward you'll have three minutes to speak if any members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak on agenda items please raise your hand now could we start first with the in person are there anybody we just asked and there isn't anyone okay I thought I saw someone moving sorry all right and I see no hands on Zoom great all right so just to remind folks that people in the room if you're here to speak about an ordinance on second reading you will come up and speak at that time thank you Mr Dela all right so we'll move on to our ordinances and final passage Miss spitson ordinance number 3122 d24 on Final enacting Amendment to the Springfield Avenue Redevelopment plan areas 1 and three this ordinance will revise the Springfield Avenue Redevelopment plan for areas one and three and reflect the inclusion of eight Vermont Street in area three modify the permitted uses for area three change the maximum height for both areas and make certain other changes Madame deputy mayor before we proceed if I could just microphone Mike I don't know if it's on closer can you hear me now uh no got to get really close because of the fans and people in the audience I'm rarely told that I'm too quiet but I'll I'll work on it that's much better um Madame Deputy Mayor just a a quick update for this ordinance uh in accordance with the local Redevelopment and Housing law it was referred to the planning board uh for their review um and determination for consistency with the master plan uh they provided the township committee with a memo dated June 12 which did determine that the ordinance is consistent with the master plan and also requested um two changes the one would be a change to footnote 7 in section 8.6 this is uh regarding how the highest point of the building is calculated the language in the previous draft read the building highest point shall include screenings around the chimneys mechanical equipment elevator towers and flag poles none of which shall extend above the highest point of the building they pointed out that was a little uh confusing the last parenthetical phrase in the packet before you if you choose to amend it on second reading this evening the language would now just read the building highest point shall include screenings around the chimneys mechanical equipment elevator towers and flag poles period um this is a clarification it's a minor Amendment which can be made on second reading without a need to further carry the ordinance the other recommendation that was made was to include language in section 3.3 in the goals and objective section that encourages retail use along Springfield Avenue again in the packet before you if you elect to amend the ordinance on second reading there's an additional goal and objective at section 3.3 that encourages retail use along Springfield Avenue so long as all other requirements and objectives of the Redevelopment plan could be met if those two amendments are um um desirable to the body I'd recommend you make that Amendment prior to opening the hearing on the ordinance I would move uh those amendments those two amendments to the uh main motion second m richen m SC yes daffis yes DeLuca yes M angle yes mayor Adams yes all right so we moved for that um we'll open the hearing need a motion first it no you need a mo you need a hearing first yeah so if anybody joining us in the room would like to speak on this ordinance please come forward now and if anybody joining us on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance please raise your hand now I moving over Dave hell camp for the hearing Mr hell Camp wome welcome to the hearing on this ordinance you may unmute yourself and address the committee Mr Hamp you are still muted if You' like to unmute yourself you can address the committee sorry I got that I switch Yeah State hel Camp 571 Prospect Street I also have comments on areas one and two um ordinance um the uh cons I had was regarding the change in parking requirements uh I think it's a positive step it was changed from one and a half to one space minimum um my attention goes to the master plan recommendation that we start to incorporate maximum parking requirements as well um the desire for Community I should say rather active Street Scapes and Retail uh appears a number of places in the plan and was just mentioned um by the first commenter um it also appears in community goals and in section N9 in plan Concepts and uh typical our fire department is passing by cons nearly 300 Square ft when you add access doors and and additional square footage in that vicinity it's over that so parking spaces can quickly squeeze out retail space um I think it would be better to go for a maximum of one space per car and perhaps uh get a little aggressive and go below one space as a minimum um that that's the extent of my comments thank you Mr H Camp if any other members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak in public portion please raise your hand now I see no other hands Deputy Mayor all right so we close the hearing on this ordinance Deputy Mayor I move this ordinance be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to publish the same as a passed ordinance in the Maplewood South Orange News Record according to law second m riton m c yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes M angle yes mayor Adams yes all right the ordinance passes our next ordinance uh deputy mayor uh the next ordinance also on Final passage ordinance 3123 d24 is an ordinance to amend chapter 271 of the code of the township of mapfood entitled zoning and development regulations this ordinance will amend article 8 historic preservation of chapter 271 of the Township Code the model ify the procedures by which applicants applications for demolition permits for principal structures located in residential zones are reviewed and approved let's open the hearing discussion of ordinance 31 23-24 if anyone in the room would like to speak behalf of that ordinance yeah sorry is are you going to report on the letter from the planning board before the hearing or after the hearing thank you Mr jca doesn't thank you bear with me one moment thank you Mr jca um as you noted uh we also referred this ordinance to the plan planning board for its review and determination as to whether it's consistent with the master plan in accordance with the municipal land use law they replied with a memorandum dated June 12th um unfortunately the board after much discussion was unable to uh come to a consensus so they did not uh provide either a determination as to consistency or recommendations um they raised points regarding um making sure that there's collaborative process process with homeowners rights um trying to make sure that the criteria are as objective as possible um they had some questions about the length of a determination made by the HPC um and the you know breadth of the power of the historic preservation commission unfortunately again as they did not reach consensus um they did not provide us with recommendations or a consistency review to act on okay I just add of clarity from the meeting and Mr Davis can probably also weigh in it was a long discussion at um the planning for the other last week um but I want to reiterate that there has been ample work done on this over the course of over a year um and we gave careful consideration and discussion inhouse um at code committee and elsewhere with regard to trying to um keep it from having to go to a volunteer um committee or commission at all um and there just wasn't uh the expertise in our departments that there uh would be with historic preservation commission we also took a lot of um time and careful consideration to limiting the amount of time that HPC has to determine whether or not they even want to um that there's even a chance that there's historical significance and once they do that they have a limited amount of time to if they determine that they want to do further study on that particular building and given that there's only a couple of um applications per year regarding Demolition and this is only over 50% um we don't anticipate this being too much of a burden on homeowners but rather we want to ensure that we um don't have what's happened in other communities like Westfield where people are coming to buy houses and flip them or uh either renovate them in a large way or tear them down which has happened in other communities so we were forewarned by other communities and that's why we've been working on this so long um Mr deas did you have anything else you wanted to add from the plan board yes thank you mayor as you noted mayor the uh discussion at the planning board was uh an active one and a long one uh we were there for three hours and uh This was um very thoroughly discussed and there were some really good points brought up as our attorney uh noted already uh the board did not come to a consensus as to its uh Central assort of uh official Duty which is whether or not this is in keeping with the m master plan uh there wasn't a consensus on that uh some folks felt that it was and other folks felt that it isn't and those who felt that it isn't is because it may be uh giving power uh uh Power or duties to the historic preservation commission uh which it does it does not currently have meaning that uh it will now start reviewing uh demolition permits um I want to note for the record something that hasn't been mentioned yet which I thought was a very interesting point that we probably did not consider as we have been working on this as you said mayor for quite some time now which is whether or not a determination either way through this process runs with the property what do I mean by that let's say that someone uh is going to um files a permit to demolish 50% or more of a structure that person doesn't follow through so so this ordinance kicks in if it's to pass as is this ordinance kicks in the process kicks in um but let's say that that person eventually uh decides not to move forward and they received um after historic preservation uh went through their process they determined no no historic value does that determination or designation if it was determined run with the property and for how long so if the person decides not to demolish but rather sell the house does the the buyer have to go through the same process again and that's something I don't think that we've ever uh considered and could be something that we could consider um I think Mr D is that we when we talked about that if I'm remembering correctly it would last the permit will last as long as a permit lasts they are not indefinite like a variance would be so but I don't you're right I don't think we we came to a firm conclusion on that so I would ask Council to over yeah our community development director Mr Palama was there Mr Palama oversees our zoning and construction official offal and our code enforcement team very knowledgeable and she attended the meeting and she was able to opine on that question of well how long does a construction permit last what shell life does it have and the answer to that question is it goes on so long as some action in terms of construction occurs at least every six months so um but again let's say that someone deter deter decides not to follow through with the Demolition does what historic preservation has determined historic or not for that property does that last somewhere is it recorded somewhere and does it run with the property and for how long Mr dfus I think the the answer to the question is probably pretty straightforward if they would be required under any other circumstances to seek a new demo permit they would be required to seek a new demo permit here that would in uh the um existence the duration of the permits not altered by our process of whether to accept or reject to the extent that the um HPC recommended the property for designation and the TC decided to so designate it that designation runs with the property okay thank you for that tens attorney cido um and then there is the extra don't people know that we are on right now why are they texting us popular they know we have important business to do please go away um and then to that there's another followup which is what if someone um wanted to do a pre-review to determine whether or not uh this may affect the the sale of of of a property right uh could they do a pre-review a predetermination well not a predetermination but there is a provision in the ordinance allowing for an informal review uh collaboration with the board so that they could get the board's thoughts without going through a longer and and more costly process okay and those are my comments mayor I don't know if I if that triggered your memory for anything else please go ahead no other than that you know basically the permit expires when it expires with no action and then um they would have to go through the whole process inclusive of HBC and as M cedo just said they can get an informal review from HBC okay Mr DeLuca seem like you had a question I I just wanted to clarify with our attorney that the action of not coming to a decision by the planning board is a decision I mean we don't have have any obligation to wait for them to make a determination correct you're absolutely correct Mr DeLuca there's no requirement to wait longer they have a statutory period and we have a requirement to send it to them they've elected to send it back to us without um making that determination so at this point it's as if they've transmitted no report and we are free to move forward as the township committee wishes okay Miss Engle did you have any comments or questions public hearing let's open up the I believe they do sir please come to the podium please give us your name and address and then your comments please good evening my name is Julian helisek I live at 14 Essex Road I'm a member of the Maplewood historic preservation commission and I would like to speak briefly tonight on behalf of the Commission in support of this proposed ordinance in the spring of 2023 the commission began to study whether to recommend to the township committee that it adopt a demolition review ordinance demolition review according to Julia Miller writing for the National Trust for historic preservation is but one tool that communities around the country use to ensure that potentially significant buildings and structures are not demolished without notice and some level of review by a preservation commission the HPC undertook its study in connection with two developments last year first was the complete demolition a tear down of the Fleming house that previously stood at 103 Parker Avenue that home likely dated to the 18th century it was significant architecturally in part because it featured two very large Stone chimneys and significant historically because the home had been in the ball family the demolition of the Fleming house was the subject of much discussion within the community many voiced concern that more ought to be done to protect the Township's historically significant assets that particular property is identified in the existing historic preservation element of the master plan where it is included in a list of 40 to 50 or so pre 1860s properties if a demolition review process had been in place before that house was torn down perhaps a preservation solution could have been reached and the house rescued the second key development was the publication of a draft of the 2023 master plan which included a recommendation concerning a quote potential demolition ordinance that recommendation appears in the final adopted version of the master plan over the last n9ine months members of the HPC have met and or had discussions with certain members of the township committee the director of Community Development and the construction official regarding this draft ordinance and we have had conversations about demolition review with the New Jersey state historic preservation office as well as with a representative from the historic preservation commission and the town planner of Westfield in addition we have had we have discussed this this topic at numerous public meetings which the commission holds on the third Wednesday of each month the commission also conducted benchmarking research and found that demolition review type ordinances had been enacted in one form or another in recent years in Morristown Jersey City Westfield and Montclair of course as Miss Miller of the National Trust rights demolition review does not always prevent the demolition of historically significant buildings or structures but rather as the name suggests it allows for review of applications for demolition permits for a specific period of time to assess a building's historical significance that is what this proposed ordinance would do it is a challenge to identify all of the structures that in the commission's view ought to be eligible for historic designation and to conduct the necessary extensive research on those structures and then nominate them for the township committee's consideration for designation the commission carries out its Mission with careful and considered deliberation in choosing which structures to nominate for designation the ordinance if adopted would bring to the hpc's attention those structures at most immediate risk of loss to the wrecking ball and this aim is consistent with the recommendation in the master plan that in connection with updating the historic preservation element quote properties that are considered at greatest threat to demolition unquote should be prioritized for designation and the role of the HPC should be strengthened in addition the proposed ordinance would increase transparency by requiring demolition permit applicants to notify neighboring property owners and the HBC of their intent to file for a demolition permit one brief observation regarding the planning board's June 12th memo to the township committee the chair of the HPC sent a note last week to to Mr Duca the currently Aon to the commission clarifying a comment about the master plan's reference to certain criteria in the HPC ordinance being vague or subjective and in the interest of time I I won't get too into the weeds but suffice it to say that that part of the master plan refers to criteria for review of applications for work on designated properties section 27183 whereas this proposed ordinance refers to a different set of criteria under the HBC ordinance for historic designation that's section 27179 the master plan as far as we know does not describe those criteria as vague or subjective thank you to the township committee for your consideration of the proposed ordinance we we believe it will help the Commission in carrying out its duties in service of the township thank you is there any else in the gallery who would like to speak at this hearing Mr wary is there anyone online if any members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance please raise your hand now I see no hands deputy mayor all right let's close the hearing uh Deputy Mayor I move this ordinance be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to publish the same as a passed ordinance in the Maplewood South Orange News Record according to law second m c yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss angle yes mayor Adams yes all right and on to our third ordinance on Final passage uh next on Final passage deputy mayor ordinance number 3124 d24 is an ordinance to amend chapter 257 of the code of the township at mwood entitled vehicles and traffic to implement 2hour parking on Raymond Terrace this ordinance will Implement 2hour parking on Raymond Terrace between Milburn Avenue and the township border all right so we'll open the hearing are there any concerns or questions from the D is there anyone in the gallery who would like to speak on this well I guess we open the hearing would is there anyone who would like to speak in behalf or against this ordinance please come to the podium is there anyone online Mr warry if any members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance please raise your hand now see no hands Deputy Mayor all right let's close the hearing Deputy Mayor I move this ordinance be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to publish the same as a passed ordinance in the Maplewood South Orange News Record according to law second SC yes daffis yes Luca yes zle yes mayor Adams yes and the Raymond terce res and the final ordinance uh Deputy Mayor on uh final passage ordinance 3125 d24 is an ordinance to amend chapter 72 of the Township Code of the township of Maplewood entitled youth advisory committee this ordinance will revise provisions of the Township Code with respect to the composition of the membership of the youth advisory committee and the length of term served okay we had this introduced already um with on Final there all right so we'll open up a hearing on that do we have a hearing on this one anyone would like to speak in the gallery no okay Mr wary is there anyone online any members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak on this ordinance please raise your hand now I see no hands Deputy Mayor all right we'll close the hearing I move this ordinance be adopted as a whole and the clerk be directed to publish the same as a passed ordinance in the Maplewood South Orange News Record according to law second C yes daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes SLE yes mayor Adams yes all right we have no ordinances for introduction so we'll go on to our department reports um the May budget report yes our CFO provided a May budget report if any members the township committee have questions I try to address them now I actually do have a just something um in the report Mr kog talks about uh saving $115,000 by not issuing the estimated tax bills but sending out the final tax bills later in July uh with a tax payment in late August and I want to make sure that we I think that's great makes a lot of sense um but I want to make sure we get that information out now because for those of us who don't pay a mortgage anymore and pay directly we Circle that calendar on August 1 to make sure we pay our bill okay and if we're pushing it back to August 15 or something like that people need to know that now so they're not taking money out of one account too early and are getting here and thinking they have to pay at August 1st when we may not even have a date until the end of August so sure let's start getting that information out now um let's tell why we're doing this to save money and also that we're able to put out the final tax bill and not an estimated tax bill which will be a better indicator for everyone to know what their taxes are for 20124 okay we could put something together and put it out in our weekly that's fine you bless yes all right any other questions or concerns Regard in the May budget all right thank you for that Mr rur administrative reports sir you are up I have no report Deputy Mayor excellent thank you misso I have no report Deputy Mayor is this meeting gonna go smooth or what sh Miss fritsen I I I said it I did it I messed this up no report all right thank you so much um so we'll start with report Mr DeLuca oh thank you thank you Deputy Mayor um I have a very quick report uh this Thursday the 20th at 7M in this room we'll be having a program it'll also be on zoom and it's about this new program we have it's the Maplewood shared housing program and this is if you have room in your house and you'd like to have a border live with you um um we we'll be working with Home Sharing Inc they're out of um Bridgewater and they've been around for a very long time it's a nonprofit organization and they match up um home providers with home Seekers there's a whole screening process and everything like that so uh please come out to our meeting again it's 7 PM Thursday night the 20th and it is on zoom and uh make sure we get this on our website so people can find the uh um the zoom link we did mail out thousands of these to Residents 60 and over in town so hopefully we will uh be getting folks to come out I got one too so not 60 and know just we may have we may have dipped down a little bit but I got two so I don't know what that means really really old and I think that's it for me and um Mr Juka that's going to be recorded right for people who missed the info session so yeah was I supposed to do anything else no you had anything else to report fourth of July right I'm good all right Mr D uh thank you Deputy Mayor kpe I just want to report on lavender graduation if you missed it too bad it was a beautiful Ceremony this year we had wasn't it was it it was we had more uh lavender graduates than ever before about 21 students uh and for the first time ever we had students outside of the school district uh from other towns including cluding two students from the county from the Donald Payne School of Technology so we are uh this is becoming a very visible event Statewide and we've been hearing from other school districts who want to adopt uh and put together a lavender graduation uh during the month of Pride for themselves so um so that that was great we want to again thank publicly our school district and all of our partners uh in supporting this annual tradition uh Deputy Mayor I presume you talk about juneth I got that all right starting tomorrow and then the big celebration on Friday as well two events this week and lastly I just want to report that we are getting close to hiring a new Village manager for Maplewood Village Alliance we have two great finalists and um a couple follow-up meetings with both of them and we should be making a decision and announcing a new Village manager soon that's my report thank you commit sorry daas um angle thank you um so it's summer so we're going to talk about the pool um summer is greeting us with a heatwave so I just want to make sure all of Maplewood knows that our pool will be open to all um Tuesday through Friday of this week Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday from 4:00 to 8:00 P.M Friday from 2: to 8:00 pm. um if you did not already register for the pool you need to be bring proof of residency and if you don't live in Maplewood you can still come by guest passes you just have to come with somebody somebody who is registered to use the pool um more on the pool we um are still hiring lifeguards always looking for lifeguards so if you have a swimmer a teenager who's interested you should get in touch with the community services um committee um our I mean our director of community community services our swim lesson registration is now open our weekend classes expanded for kids ages 4 to n and those booked up really really fast um so it was nice to see demand and we continue to look to expand our swim Ence but there are still openings for younger children and weekday openings as well so you can um look on Maplewood Rec deck for all that information um the pool is looking really great if you've been so many new improvements happen we had the big construction project um doing the floors as well as new pool lifts to make it Ada accessible we have a new all gender family changing rooms that are just about all finished but they are usable right now and so it's really exciting all the work that we've done in the offseason to make this pool um really great for the season um want to continue to talk about donating to pool Pals which helps fund our pool assistance program for members of our community that can't afford to pay um we do have that assistance program but we need your dollars to help continue to fund it so you can um go to Maplewood Rec desk to donate to our pool Pals fund and that is all on the pool oh no more on the pool is that we're going to be having our programming calendar is going to be coming out soon we have DJs every Tuesday evenings and on Wednesday days we're going to be having five concerts through the summer so you can look for those dates by following the community pool on Instagram and signing up for the community services newsletter um Fourth of July we have a funfilled Fourth of July which Mr Deluca and Miss Manzo and I have been working on we have the um 5K race at a 8 amm from the CHS track and field we have the bike parade at 10: amm we have the fun relays at 11: am from s fox running club and those are in Memorial Park we have a 3 pm ice cream eating contest at the Hart Community Center sponsored by the Maplewood rotary and then we have a 4M Pet Parade at the har Community Center where you can show off your pets um and then at 900 PM we'll have our fireworks festivities start at 7:30 with a DJ at Memorial Park South um and it should be really good fun time celebrating our independence day um I wanted to thank Miss fritsen and congratulate you on hosting a fabulous Clerk's luncheon for County um last week thank you for inviting some of us us all to attend it was really great to see you in your element with clerks across ESS County um I want to congratulate our health department for a fantastic health fair this weekend this past weekend at the heart Park and remind everybody that the Barnabas um van with medical checkups will be at the farmers market every Monday or the first first Monday of the of the month um and then I'm not sure if Deputy Mayor if you're going to be talking about the w movies do you know about the movies you can talk about the movies okay this is my last thing movies in the park are coming on let's see July 19th wish August 3rd trolls band and September 14th Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles um those are at the wish and the 19th is at 7:30 at Memorial Park Amphitheater then August 3rd trolls will be at bordon Park and on the 14th um Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be at 700 p.m. at Maple Crest park so community service is doing a great job bringing these movies to all of our parks and all of our neighborhoods and that is my long report thank you brilant and and we do want to remind people that we reduced this pool fees by 10% this year correct so we still have memberships available correct we do membership is open you should join our pool we did Reduce by 10% the more people that join the more we can lower it next year and we did pledge to try to lower fees by 50% over the next five years and Moos started as well we mentioned that too so they have their first swim meets coming up so you'll be able to see them uh at the Maplewood pool thank you thank you may I ask a question absolutely uh it's not a question it's uh you probably have heard of this Committee Member angle but in relation to July 4th we have received some feedback from a few of our seniors we saw them over the weekend at the health fair who um they were hoping to have something for them uh they you know and if it's not too late maybe maybe we can figure something out I suggested Bingo they spoke to me as well I know they spoke to miss Mano as well and U Mr Duca has some ideas percolating in his head and we are um working on it thank you excellent good to hear and we will have um chairs at the 4th of July we'll have a senior area we'll not have a tent because she want to be able to see the fireworks but we'll have an area with chairs so folks do not who are uh don't want to bring a chair um we will have chairs there they're the white chairs they not the most comfortable chairs in the world but they're there we will have chairs there for and a senior area yes well I definitely wanted to commend you Comm Luca and Committee Member Engel and miss fritzen and everyone in the community services department for spreading July 4th around the town that's one of the changes that's been made recently that is really helping Maplewood be more unified and unit so thank you for that and uh looking forward to the four the fourth mayor Adams yes thank you um sorry I couldn't be there this evening it looks like it might even be a quick meeting so but that's good for me too but I just wanted to ask my colleagues I know uh Deputy Mayor is going to be talking about juneth so I won't bring any of that up but I did want um this came up uh after the agenda went out um we need to move um the first alternate on the zoning board up to um fill an unexpired term that goes from a resignation that goes um through December 31st of 2026 and uh Adele Lewis the zoning board secretary is is um asking that we move up the first alternate Larry Seltzer from that position so that he will be a full member of the zoning board so I'd ask for um support for that and Miss priten can do a resolution on it which would um we could vote on tonight it was unclear are you making a motion of that yes but I second it okay motion all right uh Miss K yes Mr daffis yes Mr Duca yes Miss angle yes mayor Adams yes thank you and that will leave vacancies on the alternates two vacancies the one that expires uh 2020 the end of this year and one that expires the end of 2025 I do have um two possibilities one who reached out to me today and I will be bringing those up in close session at our July meeting so that's thank you all right um B any questions from maym report no before you go can I absolutely abut one thing I forgot yeah um CU I was on vacation but now I see I should have mentioned this uh on so we a couple or a year plus we approved the manufacturing license for cannabis operation ogs yeah and uh they are going to be operating on um ruter and part of their requirement is to hold a community information session a daytime and nighttime we've scheduled that for July first we were they were to do it with the Hilton neighborhood association but because of their scheduling and stuff we couldn't get it in so we're going to have a zoom meeting at 1:30 on the 1st and at 7:30 on the 1st so we will get that information out so that people can find out about this operation and ask questions will there be a graphic and promo available so we can send it to the neighborhood groups okay thank you oh geez because people have been asking about that um my report's fairly short um obviously juneth is coming up tomorrow for those who live in New Jersey have the day off but don't stay home come to our own Jerry Ryan PL Plaza at 12 noon to join us in a um more solemn and serious um observation of juneth on the official day we have thats um from the community that will be coming forward not only to present our colors but also to sing our national anthem as well as the a black national anthem lith voice and sing um and then come back on the 21st um at 4M in Memorial Park where we have an entire derby um day planned H and with fireworks at the end so I hope that folks will come out it'll be an educational as well as a inspirational opportunity to spend quality time in our community celebrating our second Independence Day finally um youthnet is seeking um local businesses to um hire or bring in and train our our interns we have have had I believe something in the RM of 21 applications from various Juniors and seniors at our own high school but we need spaces for them to learn how to be business people so if you are an independent or a small business owner who would like to have a summer intern to teach the ropes of your business answer questions and Mentor them please reach out to youthnet and you can send them an email at Som youth net.org um and that is my report deputy mayor we share that information with our special improvement district managers yes please do or our manager at the moment manager right now and i' I've hosted an intern from youthnet before over the summer and it's really a great experience so I encourage people to um look into it and sign up it's not a heavy lift and it's really fun to engage with our youth and to to show them the rootes and teach them and Mentor them I believe that the township has hosted some youth net yeah we've got three I believe Mr wary I think it's five oh went up yeah y nice bring them in all right well moving on to our discussion items Mr daffis thank you Deputy Mayor um okay so quickly here I've shared these uh proposed amendments to bulk requirements in residential zones with the township committee and I'm going to talk about them here uh in the public record in keeping with our Master plan's uh recommendations and in keeping with this governing body's recent actions to somewhat control major development Redevelopment and major Home Improvement uh in our residential zones uh these proposed amendments address bulk uh recently the township committee approved a revised and even better tree ordinance to ensure that uh during Home Improvement people aren't raising trees unnecessarily uh this evening we passed thank y our demolition review ordinance uh so this is another example of that but this addresses bulk directly and it applies to the R15 and R17 residential zones meaning the the bigger Lots in town it does not apply to the R14 and r24 zones there are three proposals let me just mention them and then we'll get into each one the first one relates to side yard setbacks The Proposal is to increase the current sidey yard setback requirements by two feet on each side measured off the property lines so in the R15 Zone uh according to this proposal it would increase from 5 feet on each side to 7 feet in the R17 Zone it would increase from 7 feet on each side to 9 ft on each side that's proposal number one again let me just get through all three and then we'll speak about each one individually the second proposal requires a recommends a 4 foot front setback for an attached garage to a house from the front of the house we've seen a couple of examples recently um most notably on Maplewood and Walton and a couple of other places in in Maplewood where we're having attached uh garages at the very front of the house it's like very uh visible from the curb and this would require a 4ot front setback for such an attached garage um and we'll talk a little bit about 4 foot from where from the curb from the facade of the house we'll get into that in a minute and then lastly the third proposal is to require a twoot setback for any Second Story construction on an attached garage so again attached garage to the house if you want to build on top of the garage fine the proposal uh this recommendation is to propose a twof foot setback on that second story and again this goes to reducing the bulk that is very visible uh from the curb and uncharacteristic when compared to most of the homes and surrounding houses uh in these two residential zones those are the three proposals sidey yard setback Amendment front setback for attached garages and a two- foot setback for any secondstory construction on an attached garage let's start with a sidey yard setback any discussion any question questions these have been uh discussed I should mention again for the public record we didn't make them up tonight of course uh we've been looking at these and reviewing these proposals uh in code committee which I chair this year again uh and we have received the recommendation to move forward accordingly from our zoning officer our construction official and from the community development director as well meaning that these uh amendments would be practical again in these larger Lots in the R15 and R17 zones can can I just ask a question just to put it into like layman's terms for those of us that don't really understand like bulk and all setbacks and all that stuff so can you just clarify for the public maybe you said this I'm sorry if you didn't R1 to5 and R1 to7 like where is that and like what's excluded like what can you just those are uh single family residential zones R15 is 5,000 square ft R 17 is 7,000 square ft those are our bigger Lots in in in town and then can you just explain for people who don't quite understand this like when you say increase the sidey yard setback by 2 feet or the require like could you just explain like what that actually means in Practical terms in like regular language for people so they understand so uh sidey yard is from either side of the house right from the property line it currently requires that the house be set 5 ft uh from the property line right on either side and this recommendation would require two feet more to make it 7 feet in the R17 Zone and in the R15 Zone excuse me and it would make it 9 feet in the R17 zone so it's basically the uh the setback on the side of the house from the property line so it would make the house narrower if they were going to build according to that line I mean it would keep the house it would keep the Home Improvement or development from being right on top of the next house on either side yeah what we've been seeing to um is when people are trying to a lot of most of the time it's flippers honestly but it does happen with residents who are staying in that they're building uh new houses or they in enlarging existing homes and they're building them right up to the sidey yard except right up as far as they can possibly go which is fine except that historically Maplewood has detached garages that are set back in the backyard and these houses are so that additional driveway for example reduces the feel of the bulk from the sidewalk and also from the neighbors so when they start building these newer houses and they're build build I'm right up to the side yard setback line they're doing so with the attached garage which is what Mr de was referring to it we'll talk about more and then so it the massing of the house is not what we're typically used to or what um neighbors of those lots are um enjoying and we've even had people put their house on the market when and move when um one of these larger houses being built with as much bulk as possible to get in as much house as they can on this lot um are being built so it's having a negative effect on neighbors thank you for putting that inide you're welcome and I'm going to invite our Township attorney Miss gido to opine here as I know that she um wants to note that um we may have a decision to make here aside from moving forward these two Rec these sidey setback recommendations because we currently also have uh in our zoning ordinance we require that the combined sidey yard setbacks total a minimum of 25% of the entire width of the lot so uh if we create these these uh proposals as the new minimums what are we doing with that 25% M gdio and as you noted committee and the master plan does specifically talk about um increasing setbacks as a recommendation that should be undertaken it is silent as to this question and um you may want to consider both increasing the setbacks from the property line and also requiring that the combined setbacks equal 25% so that on a much larger lot you're you're still getting that percentage um you know distance from each of the neighbors and maintaining you know air and and circulation and other items what do we think about that Township committee members Yes sounds good yeah it sounds proportional okay great so we'll add that then to the uh awesome ordinance that you're going to draft right the amend the amendments to our existing zoning okay let's move on to um the second proposal and we can actually talk about the second and third proposal together because they both relate to these garages that we're seeing so close to the curb in the front of the house attached to the house um so again the idea here is to require a 4 foot front setback for such a garage and um the decision we have to make is where do we measure that from do we measure it from the curb um zoning typically considers the front the house to be the part of the principal structure closest to the street whether it's the front facade or as is typical in Maplewood with a lot of homes the front porch uh so we have to make a decision and the suggestion that we have from our community development director and construction official is that if we want the garage setback behind the facade of the house require the setback to be measured from the main facade of the building so 4 feet from the main facade of the building which would not be the porch right right it would be the m u the house basically because what what would make it difficult to do it from the curb or from the center of the street or anything like that is the differences in all the all the streets and all the houses some are closer than others and um we we've noticed that when we were discussing you know uh trying to keep houses all in line with each other on a block but we um stopped talking about that for now but I think it should be from the main house four feet back I thought that's what we were discussing so yes mayor and just to be clear because I don't think I caught you in the beginning uh so you agree with requiring the setback to be measured from the main facade of the building yes yes great so we have a consensus with that committee man may I inquire is this for just garages where the garage doors face the street or where the garage also where the garage doors face the side of the building so is the concern more to break up the the appearance of of the garage some houses it's you know sort of the dominant feature or do is it would it still apply if the garage doors were facing the side of the of the lot no I think this would apply to garages attached garages to the front of the house so it's facing front facing yes yeah front facing is what we we've been talking what we talked about anyway FR facing um and then lastly uh the third proposal uh would require a two uh two feet of a setback for any Second Story construction on any such attached garage and I don't think that's really controversial that kind of makes sense so you're not like facing you know again you're you're breaking massing and bulking um mayor did you want to add anything to that no that's exactly what we that's the goal of it okaye with that sounds reasonable yes so we'll move forward with these recommendations yep great thank you um Township attorney gido for helping us draft those amendments great thank you for your support your a work all right our consent agenda uh I move the consent agenda but before we vote on it I do have a question for Mr weary proceed oh want to get a second first and then we can second sorry um on resolution 23624 we're we're spending a little over a million dollars for Police radios could you just describe to the public why we're doing this and how it will enhance our uh Public Safety work sure the police department operates uh currently on a radio system that is owned operated maintained by the township of map wood so we have our own um transponders receivers um and throughout town uh we have our own um equipment in uh in our Police Headquarters to transmit over those we run our own um like handhelds and portable um mobile radios and our cars and and carried by our police officers and it's somewhat of a siloed system and that that is uh has two drawbacks one is that it's all ours to maintain and for a town our size or or any town our size you know that that becomes um you're not really leveraging mass and quantity right we have to maintain what is a pretty big system that only Services us the second main drawback is interoperability so our ability to communicate with other towns that we have uh Mutual Aid agreements with uh as well as other agencies that may operate in map wood such as New Jersey Transit um fire departments who come in for for uh Mutual Aid or even you know our own scfd or DPW um and you know we we have developed ways to where we can communicate with them now but it's it's not um it's not an optimal system couple that the the fact that we could have a better system with the fact that our um radio system is nearing the end of its useful life and requires replacing this is a good opportunity for us to do better and so what we are uh proposing to transition to is a state operated system the state police runs a radio system um that they they've rolled out through our area and are rolling out throughout the state where um municipal ities any public Sur safety agency can subscribe to their service and we will now be subscribing to the the state police radio system they maintain the the antennas the repeaters the receivers um and that takes some burden off us and it leverages the quantity of um the use you know we get better value for our dollar it increases our interoperability with agencies who are already on a state police system um and and so there's a great advant AG there and it gives us just this purchase because our our current equipment is at the end of its useful life it gives us better equipment um the uh you know better features um things where you know you can call back recent transmissions on the radio clear reception better reception um and so you know all of that will be uh will be a benefit to us so this award here uh there's two parts to this resolution one is to Motorola for all the uh for the majority of the equipment um the other is to Northeast communication um part of that is to buy the the consoles that go in our Police Department that Aid in our dispatching and the second piece of that is for Northeast to do the actual installation of all of this um so this is a a very large undertaking that is not done very frequently radios we have um are you know some 20 plus years old and the system older than that so U you know we're we're thankful to be able to do that this was funded in the 2024 capital budget the we had to scrape together a little extra money because um the this equipment came off a state contract early this year just before the budget was passed uh and so the the pricing went up a bit but fortunately we had some ability in the police department budget to absorb some of that increased cost so it's a little higher than we may have discussed the last time we had this conversation great thank you and this will improve scanner connectivity it will maintain the ability for us to broadcast our radio Transmissions to the public yes okay and the implementation of this this is a long way off so you know we we hope probably sometime near the end of the year maybe the beginning of next year to where we're fully implemented because we're talking about every handheld radio every incar radio there's a lot of transition that needs to take place even after the lead time for procuring these okay thank you any other questions NOP we move the consent agenda and second moved and seconded yeah thank you m k yes D yes Mr DeLuca yes Miss angle yes mayor Adams all right move to the public comment section for any subject matter anyone in the gallery would like to speak on be please come forward to the podium give us your name your address and you have three minutes to speak oh come come on little closer to the mic if you could or pull it down so it can we canar microphone in front of yeah very good yes good evening everyone my name is Jun Kirk Patrick I live on jacobe street and I have a few concerns that weighs heavily upon my heart like the 24hour businesses example waa which is I understand Commerce but then again it's not conducive to Public Safety there's increased vehicular traffic foot traffic you name it all night long on jacobe Street which is a side street it's narrow and any hours of the night you could see up and down to the war the other thing is the I live close to Seth boen school and there's a basketball court which incurs nocturnal activities all night long there's basketball going on and we had a shooting there like a week or two ago and I wonder why why is there basketball 2 34 a.m. here's my neighbor Miss Colbert we don't sleep sometimes she's my witness all night long there's basketball boom boom boom boom playing and these are not residents of Maplewood they come from surrounding towns Irvington Newark and other places because as I understand it 24 hours gas station is not in Newark which wa has basketball courts actually Newark is very well policed if if if to my the best of my understanding but for some reason it would appear that we here in Maplewood we've become like aico where safety is concerned but then I live on the border and it bothers me greatly I pay a lot of taxes and I like to be safe why are we left out why is jacobe Street ignored it's Maplewood and then there's the homeless the benches that that is an invitation to homeless people to sleep on at nights are you talking about the benches in Rotary Park there yes there's one in Springfield Avenue Miss cber can about it Benes could you come to the microphone so we can actually hear you and have you on record Springfield Avenue in front of the Avon and for most of Springfield Avenue we have benches um most of I I think most of them are mental health patients that are getting discharge probably from Beth Israel or whatever they give them a bus pass they go down Chancellor Avenue and they end up becoming Maplewood resident by taking up spaces on these benches and apparently the police say we can't tell people to leave the benches so why do we keep putting more benches on Springfield Avenue so you know these people get up in the morning they relieve themselves defecate the urinate on our property and you know the police are like well they're on the bench there's really nothing we can do about it so I think we need to be more conscious of what we allow to be added to the city and just think more past beautification I think we have become really desensitized to a lot of crime a lot of shootings June 19th yeah that's great we can have a party but we have really become desensitized to the fact that human beings are being shot at we have Seth boy in school that backs into jacobe you know we're like two or three hours away from these shootings and these kids are out there I don't have a kid yet but I would never send my kid to school there to go play in the backyard like that's not even safe at least in newk they have fences which we would hate to have it's not going to look aesthetically pleasing but we have to Value the safety of human beings whether they're from being or Irvington or wherever it's it's still it leads to a really big systematic problem overall you know it's it's really a a big issue policing has not changed we don't have frequent officers that Patrol the area frequently we don't have people in Union they have people on officers on bikes they have officers on scooters we don't have any of that the officer drive down our street at 40 mes an hour I've tried to wave down cops for numerous issues I've seen people stealing bikes things like that they're they're playing music the windows are rolled up they're hitting the gas pedal at 40 miles an hour that's not patrolling so um I don't really know what the solution is we've called the police department nothing seems to really change we can invest a whole lot of time in the beautification of the town but safety is a priority so you know I don't know what advice or Insight you no no no thank you for sharing that and as a resident of jacobe Street myself um I live on the other side I hope someone will give a thought to my concerns yes we will um um I'm the chair of the Public Safety Committee um we've had our meeting for this month but I would love it if I could speak to you ladies afterwards if I could um exchange emails so we can talk um there is a conversation happening right now with with the police department regards to patrols um in the area so there will be some change hopefully coming soon thank you for sharing your concerns can we just ask is there a particular day or days that the basketball is going on could you come back up to the mic so we could get this just yeah on record and is that on Seth boen property where they're playing it is actually that basketball court is on Seth but that back gate is not closed yeah it's SE boen and it's it's all night every single night of the week and you know I have a rent it's my property was a it's a rental property I've had a lot of residents come and stay and just because of the safety issues and stuff that we've had people have opted they've opted to move back into the city of nor because those neighborhoods are actually quieter more safer in certain areas of norc and more affordable so you know and are they playing under the street lights is that why they're playing um there not a it's not a lit court it's not a lit court it's not there's street lights back there they still play without lighting and I don't know how well because they have the lighting for the parking lot yeah the parking lot is there also the residentials the houses that are right in that block have lights on in and because of the extension of Seth boen has really impacted with the sound so it's actually really really loud yeah yeah it captures it now because and um also with uh what is that Seth boen boen Street and that property that's there the rental property I hope we're not going to allow like any more 24-hour businesses or you know things of that nature because that's going to be an issue remember where the breadstand was yeah there's going to be a pizza Aven the quick the quick check one oh the quick oh that one the Quick Check yeah yeah Mr Wy can you notify just so you know I'm sorry mayor yeah could you Mr gy could you notify the um administration of the school district about um people on their property into the hours in the morning yes yeah in our Police Department yes and do they have a fence there that can be locked I don't remember a gate being there at all they have a gate but they leave it open because you could you they must so people are driving there and playing ball right yeah they might be actually be parking their car they're they're driving in off of boen Avenue parking back there where they parking coming on the back from Chancellor well we have a noise ordinance so the there is an ordinance that we can enforce that starts at 11 o'clock so there is an ordinance that can be enforced now the issue is it's school property so that would be trespassing private private property so we have to work with the school board or the school district for them to give us authorization to go onto the property to get it so that's what Mr weary our administrator is going to speak to the school district about is working on that with the Wawa we have worked with Wawa under mayor daffis to get a a a police officer there on site overnight but that doesn't address the concern that you have about cars going up and down jacobe street so we're going to have to speak to our Police Department about that right and there was a conversation in public safety earlier last week in regards to mapping apps that actually send cars through our neighborhood um as a shortcut to avoid Springfield Avenue so it's been we are discussing it and and working with ways that we can deal with ways and Google Maps so that folks are understanding that our roads are not supposed to be thorough fairs and then on the benches on Springfield Avenue we are in the process from uh I think it's Bo it's either jacobe Street or or bav up uh to the Union border we're going to be repaving the whole street and we're going to be looking at the bench configuration but we have engaged a firm uh to work with the homeless population here in Maplewood so so um we'll ask Mr weary to speak with our health department you're talking about the The Little Triangle Park uh across from the fire station and where the Avon near the apartment kitty corner from the quick check the old quick check I think they're talking back yeah yeah all the benches cuz even outside the 7-Eleven there's like a homeless person that stays there and sells drugs like I just don't think we need that many benches like if you need that many rest stops like every 10t then you probably shouldn't be out walking well so actually there is the reason we do have a lot of benches is because we want this to be a pedestrian friendly friendly pedestrian and a um age-friendly folks who are older tend to need more benches so they could sit reflect rest and so that is part of what we're doing but we're taking a look at all those benches those the the the situation in front of 7-Eleven we're aware of the person we've been trying to work with that person um and some of the other people we have some people who are regular uh visitors to town or live here um and some who come and go so that's what we'll be talking with our health department to take a look at that we are we are looking at the configuration of benches how many benches how they're set up uh single benches are better than joint benches because that tends to get it we're also not getting benches that people can lie on anymore they're going to have um the divides in dividers it also helps people who are older because they need to a stand up get push up so those are things we're looking at so they can't sleep overnight on them and stuff like that they can't lay on them yeah but the police are correct they they can't be arrested for being homeless right yeah I mean that I understand but you know most places like in Irvington like we have to be a you know Irvington nework is like considered one of the top 10 most dangerous cities so we have to really make sure that we're we're sort of building a resident in area where like it safety like we don't encourage loitering and things like that I've not seen elderly people really sitting there on Springfield Avenue like a lot I mean I see the bus stop people saying and that makes sense but you know they do during the day yeah they really do yeah there's some walking groups that actually do the F because we didn't have it before the Avon so I think it's also just important to say that I think there's a distinction between and you're probably making it about you know safety and and um loitering and homelessness doesn't mean that because you're homeless that you're committing a crime or that you're a criminal no I think you know that and you're not saying that but I think we want to make sure that we keep reinforcing reinforcing that out to the the community is just because you don't have a place to live doesn't mean that you're a criminal and it's not just we're violating a law you're just out there yeah but but these the but a lot of these people I recognize a lot of them they have the you know a lot of people who are homeless are have mental illness and they're coming from Beth Israel Hospital they get a bus pass from from social workers and they're taking the bus and they have nowhere to go and they get off there and and there's a bench and it's they don't have those benches in Irvington Irvington does not have those like you would have to sit either on a curb and the cops tell you can't sit there so they sit in in Maplewood on the and then they've got a refrigerator on Springfield Avenue too yeah well that was part of the process that we were looking at doing is trying to make Maplewood accessible for all people even folks who can't afford or don't have the ability at own a home um but we do have social workers we also have that agency that M and DeLuca mentioned we're working our hardest with our unhoused population as best as we can but as he stated we can't force people to go into care even if they do they there's only a limited amount of things that we have control over if I may I'm going to ask our administrator to work with our health department so that our next Board of Health meeting which is our next Township committee meeting um I'd like to see a report of where we are we've hired our homeless Outreach street team they've engaged now for at least a month uh I know that the contract requires data collection and uh so let's find out how things are going on they identified people what kinds of services are they providing how are things coming along yes it's only been a month or two we're not going to solve homelessness in a month or two uh but um let's get a report on that and let's make the majority of the Board of Health Report about that all right sounds good And in regards to the um the incident of the the shooting is still under investigation however we have reached out to the mental health associates of Essex County and at the Hughes street block party that's happening this weekend we will have a table set up we've reached out to a few families on jacobe Street to speak to them um about the tension now currently felt um conversations also being had with PSG regarding lighting um and in general safety so we're we're we're doing our best were on it we we saw it and we thank you for coming forward and speaking up because we don't want you to feel like there's a different standard on on the lightning Brook side of town than there is over here by the town hall thank you ladies is there anyone else in the gallery who would like to have a public comment in regards any matter yeah and Deputy Mayor I just want to add one thing for the public certification because not everybody comes to all the subcommittee meetings that we have uh but you are the chair of Public Safety right now and at our last meeting our so our Public Safety Committee uh meetings are every second Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m and they're on Zoom so very convenient to attend at the last one at everyone our police chief rattles off crime stats what's happening in town how does that compare to this time last year and so on and so forth and again whenever an incident happen this is no consolation to people when an incident happens no matter what it is people get upset right but our police chief did say that in comparison to postco when we were experiencing an a serious optic in crime in the area that you're talking about and in other places in town uh crime has since then come down and it is because of details that Maplewood PD has been doing now they recognize that we need to be more present and they need to switch up a little bit on jacobe and some of the surrounding areas and they're going to they're going to do some details there they told us um but you know crime is coming down uh and and you know that's a testament to the hard work of the police department and this governing body that stays on top of of these things and and we have the laws as Mr Duca said we just need to enforce them so just wanted you to know that so you don't feel that you know we're very dangerous town and uh anyway that's all thank you thank you Mr warry is there anyone online 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 oh hold on oh here we go magic hand and under the wire magic hand I'll be moving over Sharon Dixon Miss Dixon declined to be moved over to public portion let me try one more time would you explain so that they know it could be someone who doesn't understand I accept you've received a all right she's moving on M Dixon welcome to public portion you may unmute yourself and address the committee yeah uh good evening everyone good evening yes yes yes um this is Sharon Antoine Dixon I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm on my phone um the connection is not that great you sound fabulous oh I do um all right um thank you mayor Adams um just inquiring about just following up regarding um my request on behalf of the residents on 12 Brown Street with the parking not sure if we have started the assessment and evaluation process on that street yet yeah M Antoine Dixon we had as you know we talked about it at engineering Public Works and planning meeting last week um that was just um a few days ago for work days so while nothing has been started yet we have um Mr wry is certainly talking with our engineer who unfortunately is a away this week on vacation so but we will get to it uh just give us a little time okay we do thank you may Adam all right thank you yeah you're welcome Mr M is there anyone else there is not Deputy Mayor right I move that we adjourn this meeting until Tuesday July 4th 2024 when we meet again second July 4 yes yes Luca yes ble yes mayor Adams yes thank you good night everybody thanks for joining us meetings this that July 2nd July 2 July yeah you said July 4th by I say 4th my bad the second it's okay delcas