yeah right all right good evening ladies and gentlemen um thank you for bearing with us we had close session before our Open session so we're late and at this time I would ask everyone to please rise for a moment of Silent prayer and a reflection as we think about Joan Russo and her family uh she's a member of our senior cator staff as well as Frank Bower the gentleman who was killed by the New Jersey Transit bus bless [Music] me pleas the flag to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for it stands one nation God indivisible lice for and please not the fire exits behind you into the main hallway to my right your left [Music] Court the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public Advance no sub of any business affecting their interest to discuss their act in according to this act the mayor and Council of the B the have CA notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place thereof posted in the bur Hall and notices have been sent to the record and the r news the mission of this governing body is to provide essential services and the EST lishment and implementation of public policy that will safeguard the infrastructure provide Fair honest courteous and Professional Services establish a sense of trust and accomplishment between all residents and to research and frud and planning to seek to minimize risk while improving our services we are sensitive to the needs and satisfaction of our taxpayers by realizing that this governing body cannot be all things to all people within the revenue constraints imposed by state mandates economic conditions surveiling attitude about taxation at this time to call councilwoman San councilman sari Hurley pres councilwoman Duffy here councilman gry here councilman Seymour here Council President Grant here mayor patrino here okay you look at the agenda as you can see we took care of Clos session we're in our Open Session and at this time may get a motion to appoint Jason Kelly to mayor's Vance campaign so Mo second all in favor anyos okay we ask for a motion to appoint Joe relli to the flood mitigation advisory committee motion second all favor any opposed and may get a motion to appoint Caitlyn Stormer and Samantha disher to the junior firefighter Ozil move second all favor I anyos well thank you very much Jason Joe kitlin samanth thank you for uh giving up your time to serve you well under unfinished business may get a motion for the approval of the minutes from the February 26 2024 public session meeting some second all favor anyos okay a couple ordinances up for adoption the first one being 2024 col 05 and when the clerk has the opportunity I ask pleas Capital ordinance to amend section one of the capital ordinance number 20213 entitled Capital ordinance of the B new Milfred in the county of Bergen New Jersey authorizing the acquisition of various police equipment in by and for the burrow appropriating thereof the sum of 4686 and providing that such sum so appropriated shall be raised from the capital Improvement fund of the burrow adopted February 22nd 2021 okay the purpose of this ordinance is to amend section one of capital ordinance 2021 c03 to include computer equipment upgrades as an authorized acquisition of capital funding appropriated in ordinance 20213 at this time I would ask for a motion to open up to a public for public hearing on this ordinance motion second all in favor I any opposed ladies and gentlemen the public if anyone has any questions regarding dis ordinance now would be your opportunity to speak seeing that there is no member of the public that wishes to comment on this ordinance may get a motion to close the public motion second all in favor any oos may get a motion to adopt this ordinance on it's final reading motion second a roll call please councilwoman saki Hurley yes councilwoman Duffy yes councilman gry yes councilman Seymour yes Council President Grant yes okay the next one is or 2024 col 06 and has the an ordinance to amend the revised General ordinances of the Barb New Milford entitled salary adopted as ordinance 911 and amended annually by ordinance up to and including ordinance 202 342 okay the purpose of this ordinance is to establish the Sally arranges for certain full-time and part-time positions and this is our uh yearly we do it yearly update at this time I would ask for a motion to open to the public for public hearing on this ordinance second all in favor I anyos ladies and gentlemen of the public if there's anyone who'd like to discuss this ordinance that would be your opportunity seeing that there's no member of the public that wishes to comment on this ordinance I motion to close motion CL second all favor anyos a motion to adop this second please councilman yes councilman Duffy yes councilman gra yes councilman Seymour yes Council President Grant yes moving right along ordinance 2024 call 07 when the cler has the opportunity i' ask you please read ordance an ordinance to amend chapter seven of the revised General ordinances of the bar of New Milford entitled traffic thereby amending subsection 7- 3.3 entitled parking prohibited at all times on certain streets and subsection 7- 3.4 entitled parking prohibited during certain hours on certain streets okay purposes ordinances to amend multiple sections of chapter 7 of the traffic ordinance and it will include no parking on Bergen the north side of Bergen Avenue from Westerly curb line of River Road to easterly curb line of Al and we will have um Columbia Street there'll be no parking on both sides of the street from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Columbia Street between Henley Avenue and South Park Drive that's an extension of the no computer parking and the other benefit to that is we really don't want people leaving cars there in case of a flood event we can't they're not homers we can't move the cars so may get a motion to open to the public for public hearing on ass motion motion thank second all fa right anyos down in the public anyone has any questions or comments on this ordinance now would be your opportunity seeing that no member of the public wishes to comment on this ordinance a motion to close thate motion second get a motion to adopt this final reading motion councilwoman saki Hurley yes councilwoman Duffy yes councilman GR yes councilman seor yes Council President Grant yes okay thank you very much moving on to new business item number one is mechanic shared service agreements treal that's me okay so in discussions with um the Board of Ed and from actions between rpw and their um facilities um there were where our B mechanics were assisting and helping repairing buses and other equipment and we found that we do it at a better rate for the border of Ed and faster faster turnaround which is good for everyone so after further discussions we had um talked about possibly doing an agreement where they would pay half the salary of one of our mechanics and we can dedicate a little bit more time and we can come up with a partnership Where We Are anticipating um servicing some of the vehicles and like I said so they get done quicker and cheaper to the taxpayer on both ends so that's kind of what this is about sounds good when this was drafted by the borrow attorney and if everybody's in agreement I'm going to forward it to the board of ed for their review I think it's a great idea yeah absolutely yes it's you know anytime we can make um Partnerships with the board of eved that make sense for both sides right I think we you know JY because it's the residence that benefit okay item number two is the buron county open space fisal year 24 Park Improvement administra thanks mayor I'm just keeping this on the to-do list because we have a letter of interest that's due I can't even believe we're talking about April 5th being around the corner but we are and um we need to put that together uh in order to reserve a thought if we'd like to make an application this year at our meeting I think in the work session in February we talked a little bit about this um and we were looking for ideas of potential projects that we could discuss today and one of the things we talked about was the possibility of an accessible playground at Kennedy field and then the other was councilwoman Duffy said she wanted to um speak with Council n gry and the DPW director to talk about the possibility of doing some enhancements of the recreation portion of Knight's field and just want wanted to see if we made any progress if everybody has any ideas uh Randy Council woman D and I were going to talk to Vince about kns field about how much money was left in the redesign there and how we're going to beautify it like putting trees in things like that uh as far as uh the grant that were looking at I was under the impression we were still looking at Kennedy field doing a uh accessible playground well was that something that we had decided on no but that that's what we had spoken about yeah I don't think I think um I would prefer if we could um add to the money that we do have set aside specifically to landscape and add uh you know shade trees and whatever else to Kennedy since it was nights you mean I'm sorry nights thank you um so I would like to see a grant that we could add to that in some way whether it be so in other words add this Grant on to yes kns okay so we should have a discussion with Vince I think so I think so so Chris I mean what's a deadline I know you said it's the fifth but well we have to have the information of what project we're proposing and estimate estimated budget so that we can bring it to um you know the cap the the the um grants writer so that they can help us with their letter of intent and uh do we have charging stations there not yet but we're working on we're working on it can that be part of it no CU we're funded separately yeah we're doing it through um we're going out with an RFP for that okay and will that be when will that happen we drafted the RFP the mayor is looking at it right now looking at right now I think it'll be at our next meeting to look at and we've all agreed to do it but where it'll be so then Vince will know what part of the park can I just say something I thought we had thought said about putting it by the parking lot yes oh okay that's where the went right I'll make we want was talking about you wanted to add to what we had there or but I I'll make them a big thing i000 left okay so she wants to expound on that with this grant so we can expand in 32,000 make 70,000 but we need a design okay did you mention like walkways and development of new new parks that are for recreation and or conservation purposes and the expansion or Improvement of existing Parks eligible activities include construction of a facility for outdoor area games and sports winter sports boating picnicking fishing biking walking hiking swimming camping nature and historic interpretation or similar activities installation of lighting lightning detection systems and parking if it supports an outdoor recreational or conservation facility ineligible activities include constructions of fully enclosed structures including but not limited to restrooms uh and Rehabilitation on facilities developed with trust fund a support less than 10 years ago it talks about construction costs engineering costs incidental costs um so I think I'd want to get a little more feedback from them to see whether or not this would fall within the category um because what I'm going to try to propose and work on with vin and Ira um is going to be more of uh perhaps a you know a tree line or um a way to navigate the hill whether it be a slope or a walkway or something other than just no elevators no elevators no elevators no but escalators yeah for sure um and lighting lighting could be you know solar in some way like decorative decorative you know and then uh flower beds and whatnot but mostly to get and bushes yes benches you said maybe but I'm not sure yeah I don't I think we have to dread uh timidly along before we start putting permanent structures in it um because it's so nice to be open like that so maybe really more the the perimeter with trees along the just to um kind of green up the area because it's all cars all metal and glass right from when you look from River Road from the school or from the field that's what you see so uh the idea is to Green it up a little more and then as we move along with colors yeah what do you see like the budget being I mean what did we have left in we in 30 range I think was left but um what but you know that's going to get it enough quickly because if you're buying you know five or six foot trees you know especially Cherry yes especially I I'll contact bur County open SP to get some more details I I'll be happy to talk to I come back yeah excent so I don't know does anybody have anything any other ideas let me know I think I think it's a great idea CHR get a check to make sure that the grant will cover that type of but I have been doing some reach I'll show you we come this far with I fi let's finally let's let's put the dressing on it let's it you know all it could be if you can't then we're back to you know who I am then we can look at that playground which something we should do if we can't do it now we're going to do down the road well it's not that we lack playgrounds I mean I'm not going against this is an all inclusive playground which we do not have accessible accessible yeah okay yeah right so something we can can't do it now we can do it down the road it's something we should be looking at yeah like they have okay item number four is scheduled updates I budget sorry 2024 budget update administra yes so I've circulated the draft budget from the auditor after very very very arduous task of the budget committee trying to come up with um numbers that made sense and covered our expenses um you'll notice that one of the big drivers of the increase for this year is our insurance which is money that you know we we're told by The Joint Insurance Fund what our premiums are going to be and it's you know a half a million dollars more than it was last year ouch and it has a lot to do with the increase in coverage for cyber security unfortunately it's just become something that you know uh five years ago we didn't even have specific insurance for and now it's one of the big drivers in the in the premium um I don't know if anybody had any specific questions we're looking to move forward uh with our introduction on the 25th I didn't see all the committe listed did I miss them I mean I was trying to read it online rather than no they are are they yeah I a some but I gu most of them are in the same section but a few do get pushed and I don't know what the reason is for that but I didn't see the Arts committee it's there yeah it's what page I don't know I didn't bring that I didn't I I didn't bring that part with me I only BR a couple with is didn't uh REM move some of the trust trusts Al together ones that would involve will you be having a trust with the art a trust no why would you have trust shry trust right but wasn't here C kind of consolidating I don't think so the shade tree trust is a different it's a new I see the environmental commission the Arts committee is on sheet 17 at the bottom oh there it is yes 400 oh I had thought I had asked for five and I was going to actually ask for a little bit more you might have excuse me unication guys zero the first year yes I remember we I took $20 from everybody yes you did an odd place to put it under preparation of tax maps I wonder I couldn't find it well you'll see there other committees there don't complain it's there tell me about it they create new codes for the flexible chart of accounts and that's just you know that's came in I will say in a couple of places judgment is correctly spelled whereas it never used to be spelled correctly just just saying just putting it out there I did look at it the coming he's coming to the next meeting so is there any chance you get that back up to 500 that's the question now now would be the time I we um this year Su on the table well $500 is is sorry for startup I mean we need to um we are hiring a company and we are partnering this year on our first event with the uh Municipal Alliance so it will reduce our cost but we will spend our entire $500 budget but many organizations require some payment uh to perform and $400 is not going to go very far so um I would ask for $500 which is what we were given this year fundraising are we allowed to do fundraising are they allowed to do fundraising pres of the Arts committee can yeah I didn't think we could but the municipal Alliance can right but the thing is I mean we do have other like we have public events and we have the M of Alliance so there are other ways that you know the good funds can be combined well it's not my decision right just I just would say that not everybody got everything they asked for I would say no one got everything they asked for probably moreo yeah and public a lot of money up Municipal Alliance yeah they got they got what I put in originally but that's because I I talked to Mel beforehand and said you can't have that what can we do and he worked with me and we figured it out so we're getting to the point where we're not going to be able to afford paper towels we as it stands now uh I last year we cut out of our operating the things we could cut $120,000 this year we're cutting 70,000 so we keep cutting down down down down but our costs like insurance and garbage and all that other kind of stuff going up plus 70 last year we cut out of the budget 120 out of what we can for operating everything everybody bringing and this year and this year we're cutting 70,000 so I don't know where else we can cut listen iron makes a good point about that but as as Chris said if you want to give $500 to your committee we can make that work without readjusting everything but it's up to you guys you guys are the vo just asking for the extra $100 unication have zero in year one right so well you should have asked for more excuse me she did you forget who the mayor was at that time they really didn't even want the committee to exist but now we have a whole different Council and the different mayor so hopefully you'll be a little kinder to have to pay for the sins of the p no I don't want to speak it because I'm I have to call for a roll call vote on this maybe there's something we could do with putting it with the events not that we have okay Matt says give him the give him the I make a motion that we give the Arts committee $500 this year just say inrease of $100 second okay may get a roll call please yes councilman sari Hurley yes councilman Duffy fine Council rsky fine okay councilman Seymour yes Council President Grant yes we're we're down I'm not talking about the library and I'm not talking about the fire department who just brought in a very nice gr I want you 20 grand for the mar Wills Community sorry 20 grand just kidding but our entire that's thing we cut every year we're cutting from where we can cut but at the same time we're also finding ways to do new things we're getting the mayor's bones off the ground commit so we're continuing to find ways to squeeze things and do more things and services for a resident [Music] so no I had one last goes the IRA Debbie Downer over there yeah we go here so we're going to have our aitor at our next meeting um I hope everyone looked at the budget I mean this is this is what we're putting forward we'll hear more from the auditor and and then will be scheduled when would uh we can't adopt until May 13th because we only have one meeting in April and it's too soon from the introduction the next meeting if by some chance we find something something has to be changed we'll have an opportunity you can make a change okay as long as it's small so we don't have to have another yeah right reduction Absolut okay any other questions about that that Fu item number four scheduled updates tomorrow night okay tomorrow night 7:00 p.m. is the second annual Crescent Moon lighting ceremony it'll be on the burall lawn and remember this is a Food donation event so we ask anyone that attends we want everyone to attend please bring a canned good an unex unexpired canned good and we will have recycling cans with signs on it where you can place the item we'll be donating all of the food that we receive to the uh New Milford frw Pantry at Ascension Church Saturday March 16th is the vendor and crafts fair uh sponsored by the New Milford Performing Arts uh the time is from new high school performing arts the time is from 9:00 to 4:00 p.m. it'll be in the New Milford High School cafeteria for more information you can go to the New Milford Public School District website on Friday March 22nd is the second annual the Milford wrestling Foundation Night Out sponsored by the N milord wrestling Foundation it'll be from 7: to 11:00 p.m. at the New Milford BFW and for more information you can go to the New Milford Wrestling foundation's Facebook page Saturday April 1 is the New Milford athletic boosters pancake breakfast sponsored by the New Milford athletic boosters from 8 to 12 8: a.m. to 12: p.m. in the New Milford High School cafeteria more information you can go to the athletic booster Facebook page at the same time right across Chino will be the annual Easter egg hunt sponsor to Milford Recreation that will start at 10:00 a.m. so you can hit the pancake breakfast with the kids early and then run out and and and grab your eggs across the street that'll be on nights field um we'll have more information on that on the B website and our Facebook page after Easter is after Easter it is after Easter Easter's in another week or two it's the pal Palm Sunday right yes let see so what threw me on is the 23rd so the athletic booster sent me the pancake breakfast flyer living the DAT and then it says the Easter egg hunt right under it ah so that's 2003 yeah so it's March 23rd March 23rd so straight there Easter egg H yeah yes and the pan breakfast oh so athletic boosters uh the flyer you sent me today has to be fixed they last year's F okay I'm like wow yeah I can't do that and on Saturday April 13th is the animal softball and Li League open gate parade uh sponsored by New Milford Recreation and New Milford little what is the start time 9:30 930 0 uh start time and Gathering will be at the henan Armenian school on River Road and the parade will down Road and and on the uh kns on the Kennedy field softball fields and the Conelly L fields information for that will be on the website and Facebook page as well as Lily and Recreations Facebook pages are there any other events through April that I'm failing to mention okay moving on to item number May yet no administrator's report thank you mayor um as most people should know by now directed by the buron County Board of Taxation and the New Jersey Division of Taxation the borrow is revaluing all taxable real estate for the 2025 tax year to ensure uniform and Equitable assessments the borrow has contracted with appraisal systems to conduct the revaluation letters went out to homeowners last week and inspection inspections began today we have pictures of all the inspectors here in the burrow Hall posted on the burrow website and they've been filed with the police dep department and additional information can be found on the borrow website County of Bergen has advised that Madison Avenue from River Road to the Dumont Town Line is scheduled to be resurfaced at as part of the County's 2025 2026 resurfacing program uh I think it was originally scheduled for for an early uh repaving but there's some other work that's going to go on before that so they're they're holding off from the office of the tax collector the senior freeze applications have been mailed out by the state beginning in February they do not have copies of the applications in the office but applications and instructions can be found on the state site and links have been posted on the homepage and the tax collector's page of the B website the polling place for districts 8 and 9 which has traditionally been at the New Milford Public Library will be moving to Berkeley Street School in the gymnasium multipurpose room beginning with the June primary election the meeting room at the library is too small to properly accommodate the new voting machines and this change in polling location is going to be noticed frequently and through multiple mediums from now through election day so please help spread the word um information will also be printed on sample ballots that are mailed in advance of the election and the only other thing that I have is that our next meeting is scheduled for Monday March 25th that's it for me thank you mayor welcome any questions for the ministry everyone has had a chance to look at the resolutions are there any to be pulled for f the discussion and your vote if not let's go around real quick we need one or two highlights only let's start with Council well uh budget you know like these guys said it's it's been difficult but um the Departments have been very Cooperative I would say um not you know in participating with the Cuts Etc excuse me thank you um and uh getting back to um the Landscaping of the new night's field um I do intend to have a a meeting with Vince and hopefully the arborist and even maybe one person from Shad um and I'm presently trying to be in touch with r grps just to get their um take not so much design because in this case there's not really room for design you know it's more just get the basics and then design can come later um but uh just in picking varieties and and whatnot so try to pull together a number of people so we can uh spend that fun and get it moving by the way does anyone know is there water are there like a spti no more like sprinklers or uh yeah yeah on the soccer field right on the soccer but not in but not in the not in the Park area that's what I okay all right uh that's water hook that's we'll take turns we yeah that's really it for now thank you wel Council President Grant thank you mayor uh the library as as most people know the children's library and left uh she moved out to the West Coast with her husband Miss son is is missed she was absolutely fabulous in the position and her replacement is Shannon and she's doing extremely well and everybody's getting to know her and like her and she's very effective in her position and the Arts committee met last week and we're working on our logo and our mission statement and we are planning our first event for June 15th I know you're not taking information so I won't give details but it's scheduled for June 15th and so uh people should be aware of that thank you we're expecting a very good logo from the Arts Comm fabulous be fabulous pressure almost as good as better Council thank you mayor I know we're not taking June but I like to repeat things over and over June 8th um that's our Hall of Fame evening where uh we have a number of names and but there's we haven't decided on any definite names it's going to be at the Athletic Club oh yes they have been generous to give it to us without a face is there a flyer for that yet not yet okay you do get we haven't decided on once you once you put it in writing right right right can't be changed but it's June 8th that's definite unless it's the spooky stories that got changed spooky St 10 times for the rain but we like why don't we put a 10 Cil thank you mayor um well I think the municipal Alliance did another great job with another Black Balloon day along with the stigma free committee to remember those we've lost to addiction and it's I think every year gets stronger uh and it's such an important event to remember those we've lost and it was also very nice to have a su woman Lisa Swain come and speak as well and have and have her support and the Min I'm sorry and the uh Recreation advisory committee has also been working very hard uh planning this year's seasons and in particular there'll be some changes coming to soccer so I'm excited to see what the what the changes bring yeah I mean as as spring is coming you know it's like okay here we go yep here we go it's always uh it's always great when spring starts and the sport start it's awesome it's here thank you mayor yeah uh yesterday as we all know was a very interesting day in the burrow uh not only did we have flooding but uh we had a uh demonstration over in Teck on the New Milford border so as usual i' just like to thank our DPW for doing a fantastic job with our flooding and putting out uh Yodo and everything and of course our Police Department making sure everybody in Milford stays safe safe thank you thank you I will add to that I will also add the M fire department or standby as well as the uh OEM Department all four groups work together and there were no injuries yesterday and the amount of I'm going to say you know action going on and traffic and detours and cones and it was a lot going on so I just want to thank everyone for um what they did in keeping you know residents and property safe the other thing is I want to thank the school district uh it was Dr Seuss it was read Across America last Frid yes had another opportunity to I read to a Kindergarten class in first uh second grade class and a third grade class and it was it was awesome I always read you know box and talks and um the best question I got you know we were playing around was you know doing um what's what's the population in the Milford and we started at 25 billion and we whittled it down and we got it close and I got it to 177,000 and then the question was how many Kevin are in New Milford and I said I don't know I'm going to have to get back to one so I'm got to figure out a way to find out all the Kevin report may may when I was reading at the schools was also a great honor one of the kids asked if we could help bring ice cream if that's thought like that is a great question I mean you need me to bring ice cream sandwiches as just let me know that would listen I'd be there too well given pencils to hand hand out actually when I read I read to a Kindergarten class 2 the question that I was asked by a cute little boy he said how old are you so I said I'm older than you he said but that doesn't really tell me anything that's right wise guy but it's just it's just so much fun they are they're adorable great last year they asked me if I was born with this hair there was your answer I said no as bold as okay at this time I would ask for a motion to open up to the public for public comment motion second all in favor I any opposed ladies and gentlemen the public if anyone has any questions or comment regarding the good welfare bar MILF that would be your opportunity to speak seeing that no member of the public wishes to comment I would ask for motion to post so second all in favor anyos a motion to adop resolution 20244 2024 call 91 second second any other business this Council if not I for motion toour second thank you ladies and gentlemen for joining us tonight and um don't forgetting tomorrow night and uh for all who celebrate we wish you happy hon and Patrick days coming up so I think what everyone celebrates that so holiday time once again spring spring and spr M B soup and biscuit yum yum