##VIDEO ID:JFCOlwkRQGI## uh please stand for the flag salute United States ofer stand indivisible Sunshine notice Madam clerk thank you mayor Board of Commissioners public meeting agenda for Tuesday January 7 2025 the time is now 7:06 pursuant to the requirements of the open public meeting act chapter 231 public1 1975 notice of this meeting was published in the November 21st 2024 issues of the nutly sun The Herald news and the Star Ledger a copy of this notice has been posted on the Nutley Town Hall bulletin board and a copy is on file in the municipal clerk's office commissioner Evans here commissioner Tucci here commissioner scarelli here commissioner Petco here mayor Kelly present all present mayor thank you uh minutes Madam clerk yes we have uh Board of commissioner meeting minutes for December 3rd 2024 second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner pet hi mayor Kelly hi that's it for minutes uh Communications thank you uh we have an event application for Holy Family Church uh to Vis it's the visit of the three kings uh procession on Sunday January 5th 2025 it was between the the hours of 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Harrison Avenue um Harrison Street to Brookline Avenue I need a motion move it second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarpelli hi commissioner Petco hi mayor Kelly hi uh I see we have a couple reports on this evening commissioner Tucci yes I have a shade tree report for the month of December 2024 and commissioner Evans yes I have a code enforcement report for the month of November 2024 thank you uh bills Madam clerk thank you Bill list for January 7th 2025 public affairs $1 12,970 38 revenue and finance $2,919 11.73 Public Safety $2,959 36 Public Works 6427 664 parks in public property 913,256 70 uh water utility $382,450 15 payroll as of Tuesday January 7th regular payroll total $99,100 overtime payroll $79,700 36 for a grand total of 5,582 1895 and 32 cents move the Bills second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner Petco hi mayor Kelly hi that's it for bills mayor uh we have public comment on agenda items only uh anyone wishing to be heard on agenda items only please approach the microphone and state your name for the record please good evening Commissioners um I'm happy to be here tonight and uh you know just commend the municipality and the board of education for working together and coming up with a solution um that is going to have a lasting effect on Nutley for many years to come uh you know as a a former mayor and uh now in assemblyman I understand how municipal government and board of educations have sometimes find it difficult to work together but this is an example that is going to be you know rectified Statewide so I just want to commend each and every one of you um this is a this is an absolutely wonderful thing to be doing and uh as the you know just for the residents um um your commissioner board especially commissioner Evans has been harping on me and I plan on uh fighting for more money down in Trenton this coming budget season so uh we're committed to myself and assembly woman Morales are committed to making sure that we uh help assist this to the Finish Line any way possible thank you good evening everyone my name is assemblywoman Carmen Morales um live in Bell right next door to nutly but as your representative down in the State House myself and assemblyman Michael Venia are here this evening to congratulate you on this um I don't have the bill number he has it on his agenda but I just want to say that as a former preschool teacher a former kindergarten teacher a lifelong educator knowing that this town of Nutley thank you mayor Commissioners and I see the representatives here from the Board of Education our superintendent as well as the board members that are all here today knowing that you're putting children first because when we invest in our young people our babies our children we know that we are doing good good work good work for our community good work for the town and good work for our future because the foundation and I know firsthand what that is education is the great equalizer and when we invest in our children and in education we know that we are we are getting a great return on investment so for all of you congratulations this evening for putting the work work in for ensuring that we continue to invest in our children in our future and in our communities and like the assemblyman Venia said we will continue to fight for any Monies to bring it back home to District 34 which includes nutly thank you so much for allowing us to speak thank you it's always a pleasure to hear from you guys always a pleasure to have you here uh you're welcome to come to more meetings and sing our Praises uh but but like you said this was a team effort uh and uh did it do we want to say some comments now or do we want to wait until we actually roll into we have a public hearing coming up so we could probably do it part of the public hearing before we because we have to vote as well okay yeah so I do want to thank you for coming and uh appreciate it and like I said you're always welcome here what's just one thing mayor uh assembly woman Morales and assembly men Venia uh sure commissioner Evans has but that funding formula has to be looked at um we are not getting our Fair share here in Nutley so anything you could do to look at that and bring the bacon home to us we appreciate what he's saying is we're going to be relentless and not just us but all the Board of Education members here as well um anyone else wishing to be heard on agenda items only tonight uh seeing none uh we'll move on to ordinance introductions which we have none uh and we'll move on to ordinances on oh I skipped board commissioner announcements uh do commissioner EV nothing for me it's see just just one mayor uh some of you may have noticed that there's some silt fence up around the Mud Hole Memorial Park one that's because the whole raking project is underway they've begun some preliminary work and that should go on for anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks weather permitting so there's nothing wrong we're just raking it hopefully to alleviate some flooding uh and to improve the fishing in the mudle thank you mayor thank commissioner scarp uh press release went out today uh detailing a pilot program that we're going to have this Saturday on recycling some of the U old trash containers um we just want to get a little U uh preliminary game plan on how what it's going to take to get these these up so uh we're going to do that this Saturday and then we'll go from there we're envisioning a uh 9we program dividing the town into nine sections and going and picking them up and uh we'll be recycling those containers so uh it's it's pretty Monumental task when you look at what it took to deliver the the new trash containers it took over three weeks at the 12 hours a day seven days a week so um trying to pick those up and now these are all different sizes we think that's going to be a big undertaking so uh we need to do a little preliminary investigation to see what it's going to take what equipment is the best so just be patient with us and hopefully by the end of January we can begin to roll that out throughout the whole town yes mayor thank you tonight I think I'm going to make history for the first time it's good to have our assembly people here to hear it too when you think of Public Safety you think of always thinking the police fireman EMT and deservingly so right but today as I was driving around and in this 17 years we're up here I've never thanked the crossing guards and I have to tell you it is bitter cold out there they are friends to our children that the Board of Ed is here most of them hand out Christmas gifts and well birthday presents and you know there are seniors for the most part and I have to tell you a lot of like today if you if anybody's listening out there I did put my head down while I was driving by is because it is so C I didn't even know what to to say but I want to give the crossing guards a a shout out because they really have a tough job in earing all kinds of weather thank you mayor thank you and as uh commissioner scell alluded to we have our new garbage collection system in effect now uh it's a new system as with any new system and any change there's going to be some Growing Pains if you have any comments or suggestions on how we can better improve it we are more than W willing to to listen and you feel free to call the health department and thank you commissioner scarelli for assisting in the the recycling of the old cans uh it's certainly a team effort uh we also recently announced We are continuing our second year of the hometown hero banners uh any any veteran or family of a veteran who's interested in uh showcasing your loved one who who sacrific you guys sacrifice with them uh they'll be on display throughout the town uh and that's open to any nutly residents uh any uh former nutly residents who were who were nutly residents when they served if you're a member of any nutly veteran organization uh and uh most people don't know this but going back prior to 1902 Nutley was part of Belleville so if you are a Spanish American War veteran or earlier uh and you're from Belleville we will will honor you as well um I think that's all the announcements I have for this evening so without further Ado I'll turn it back over to commissioner Evans for uh ordinances on the second reading and public hearings thank you mayor uh ordinance number 3574 I'd like to do 3474 and 75 together uh because they relate to this the same same uh piece uh both of these uh ordinances the first is for uh is a bond ordinance adoption for $9.8 million and the second ordinance uh addresses the authorization to actually acquire property in Nutley um I before we we we have comments I'm going to share some thoughts about how this all came about uh so Al please bear with me for a moment listen I'm glad you're picking on the assembly people and not me for a change so thank you guys yeah so uh and and I want to before I start I want to give a special shout out I see Joe Paglia sitting in the a audience uh Joe thank you for being here um everything that we are talking about tonight you were instrumental in uh making sure that it happened um and working with you has been a pleasure um and uh and I I can imagine who anyone who has advocated more for the school system to get this deal done than you did and making sure we addressed all all of these points uh your your commitment and involvement was tireless your we you know Saturday Sunday conversations you know you know during the day conversations the amount of time you gave up from work uh to do that over the course this last year uh was uh is very noteworthy so I want to just say you know you're here so you should you know you you deserve some recognition for the work that you did uh tonight we are taking steps into the future for the benefit of our children and our community the adoption of the ordinance for 9.8 million along with the uh ordinance to U authorize the acquisition of property and ultimately the resolution that will'll read authorizing the mayor to sign the purchase agreement uh actually creates a catalyst uh opportunity for the town that um we haven't had before and and I think if we didn't take advantage of it we wouldn't have it again um the alternative to not taking a step forward would be an something that's completely unacceptable and that would actually result in stagnation we would not be able to do the things that this this purchase allows us to do and in Co cooperation with the school board and thinking about the principles that we all put in place that we've all worked on under uh one Nutley uh to allow us to figure this out especially given all of the statutory rules that uh prevent both the municipality and a school board from easily working together but you know where there's a will there's a way and you got to kind of research and go find out what you can do and uh with that in Justin you you've been helpful in helping us uh uh with that as well so by voting on this tonight and and and adopting this we're going to do a few things we're going to purchase a building at 777 Bloomfield Avenue along with the Jason parking lot we're going to add 10 much-needed classrooms to the district which will uh for now be used for the expansion of the prek program uh which will provide for an additional 90 to 100 students to enroll in the program by September of 25 but it doesn't stop there by doing this it will enable the reallocation of classroom space in the Johnn Walker Middle School which will ultimately enable the transfer of these students to the Middle School by September of 2026 so in the next 20 roughly 24 months the school district will actually Leap Forward in some things that we've wanted to get done uh for a long time one of which has been turning the Middle School into a true Middle School by having 678 as part of that program versus just seven and8 because of the academic benefits that acre by making that that change in that model what we're doing also says we don't have to spend 80 70 to 80 million to do it right this uh we're going to do it for about $10 million uh rounded numbers and not 80 which the town itself has told us repeatedly that a referendum for that kind of money is unacceptable in this town because it's not affordable so we listen to that and working together a as a team we work through how we can make this thing work uh in a fashion that works well we also get the board offices uh Lo relocated to a permanent space so they don't have to worry about where they're going to be we know exactly where they're going to be they're going to be on the third floor of this building for the foreseeable future uh everybody when you talk about this it's all great the question is well how do you pay for it what's the impact on the taxpayers well the important part about this is that starting in 26 uh the school district will pay the municipality the equivalent of $220,000 which is about the amount of the interest cost on the on the debt which will be part of our debt service on the municipality's books so for the amount of The Debt Service and using what we call Bond anticipation notes versus bonds right we'll be able to roll the debt and therefore not incur an increase in our budget on the municipal side nor an increase on the the school side because the money that they were paying for the lease Bas on Franklin Avenue were accepting that as the money that they would pay us which when you think about it a 20,000 ft building that comes to about $11 a square foot so when you think about the economics associated with that and the value it's a tremendous you deal in addition to that you know and looking at out into the future this note will stay on the municipal books probably until sometime around 2031 through 2032 once the school board finishes paying off significant debt on their books and then it will be able to be transferred from our books to their books uh the value of that is says that until until that time it's only going to cost a school 20 220,000 which isn't any more than what they're paying now they will be able to eliminate that cost in their budget operating budget in 2031 because this will become a capital program and with the payoff of the debt their Capital requirements will be a lot less than what they are right now so overall it actually results in borrowing it you know the future what might be it actually reduces the overall cost of the operation of the school district which we all know school districts like municipalities will increase in cost well this is actually create an opportunity that says we're going to be meeting our need for prek we're going to advance the middle school and yet we're going to actually look at in the future will we we will we create create space to manage the school district better and then it will come off of the municipalities books uh and go forward if we pay principal down between now and 2031 we will do that by utilizing uh a uh pilot funds that were negotiated uh in 2018 on a building uh on the Hop from The Road Site right which included when we did the pilot agreement it was included local taxation for the schools so we're going to use some of that money for that pay down right as we go through this so the idea is school doesn't pay anymore the municipality doesn't play pay anything any pay down a debt is actually coming from a commercial commercial taxpayer will not come from a residential taxpayer so we're keeping it out of the residential tax tax bill uh which is another aspect of this that makes it work but we're not finished because once you move this sixth grade out that actually opens up space at the elementary level which then allows the school the flexibility to figure out the trailers but also expand the rest of the prek program and meet the demand that were in that's in front of us prek man we're taking advantage of it because again it's not local taxpayer dollars It's all under State Grant so the quicker we can move on that and secure that Grant funds the safer we are because the state you never know when they're going to change a program so we should take that money in as quickly as we can so when you think about it we're not spending 7080 million but we're getting all the benefits that we were looking for if we were to do a referendum and we're doing that for roughly 10 million bucks so and we're not taxing the TA the local residential taxpayer any more than what they are right now uh so overall I think it's it's uh it's very clear I think when you come to the end and you think about what we're doing and Carmen you you um mentioned it earlier we're able to invest in our children's future by providing more early development education we're making the Middle School a three-year curricula appro program a reality which is an intention that's been part of the district for many many years and we're doing that without burdening our residential taxpayers so it took a lot of work a lot of negotiation uh but it's the right thing to do so with that we can open it up uh before we open it up uh commissioner uh $10 million is or $9.8 million is a big price tag what's going into that $9.8 million besides just the acquisition costs sure so uh when you you think about it we're doing it as a an installment purchase agreement so we're not going to buy the building tomorrow we will buy the building once it's fully renovated however we're advancing the costs to do the renovations but if you look at the base acquisition the parking lot on the corner that that that with the white rocks on it uh that's Valu at about 600,00 000 and the building is is valued in the 2.2 range from our from our appraisal so we're doing we're basically buying uh the the asset the the initial asset for about $2.8 million that's that's the initial piece the remaining amount $7 million is what it's going to take to gut the building and completely renovate it'll be internally a brand new building with brand new HVAC systems uh and we'll have an improved parking lot there'll be a stop and go drop off for the children the outside playground all of those improvements that are necessary in order to qualify for State Grant funds for the program that's where that $7 million is going so we will purchase it once it it's done we also looked at the fact that the seller has the ability to do these Renovations and do it much quicker than if we were to do it through public Contracting law uh which we don't have to do and the reality is while we still need to comply with prevailing wage uh they're actually moving faster and they can actually negotiate materials in in a faster way than we can we're actually saving money it was estimated that we're saving on this whole thing if we were to do it ourselves we're picking up at least a year and we're saving about a million and a half uh to do it this way so when you think about the 9.8 that's what we're getting uh for that so to put it in simple terms uh we're getting we're paying for the building land and the finished product and also time yeah but we're getting a discount I don't do simple well if I can just as one point of clarity and I know there was a lot there uh the it's an installment contract and the the payments uh will be made upon B benchmarks being completed we're not actually financing the renovation it it there will be work that's completed and then payments that are made excellent uh so I think we laid it all out I think at this time we will uh uh Mr Bruno do we need to open the public comment for each one separately or can we open them together separately all right so anyone wishing to be heard uh for on public comment for or uh public hearing on ordinance number 3574 this is a bond ordinance providing for acquisition of lands and the buildings and structures there on in by the township of Nutley in the county of Essex New Jersey appropriating $9.8 million therefore and authorizing issuance of $8 million in bonds or notes of the township for financing part of the cost thereof anyone wishing to be heard on that piece of the the puzzle uh please approach the microphone and state your name for the record uh seeing none uh move to close commissioner hi commissioner Tui sorry sorry thank you uh I'm sorry commissioner Evans hi commissioner tuchi stain commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO hi mayor Kelly I and uh we need to move the ordinance move the ordinance second commissioner Evans I commissioner tushi St commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO hi mayor Kelly I uh now the the second piece uh this is ordinance number 3575 in ordinance of the Board of Commissioners of the township of Nutley and the county vs authorizing the acquisition of property identified as blocks block 2304 Lots 18 and 17 uh I move to open the public hearing move to close commissioner Evans no I'll second you want to comment you want to comment at all all well we're getting there I commissioner Tucci obain commissioner scarelli hi commissioner pet hi mayor Kelly hi and did you want to move it or yeah move it second commissioner Evans I commissioner Tui stain commer scarelli hi Mr PCO hi mayor Kelly I um I'd like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Board of Commissioners for their collaboration and unwavering support in addressing our District's space challenges over the past two years through subcommittees and a shared service agreement under the theme of one nutly our boards have worked together to turn dialogue into action resulting in much needed Renovations at Nutley high school and rackliff Elementary School scho and tonight culminating with this transformative action that you this board has just taken tonight's actions Advance a Forward Thinking plan to purchase a building and lease it to the district supporting state funded prek expansion relocating the board offices and the transition of the sixth grade to the middle school and adding additional Elementary classroom space this approach lays the foundation for a cohesive Middle School model within two years Foster an academic social and emotional growth for our students while enhancing curriculum and advanced learning opportunities this initiative has the full support and collaboration of the Board of Education its Administration and our monitor reflecting its immense value to our community and underscoring the power of working together toward a shared goal it also demonstrates the incredible potential of two board two boards working in Partnership to address CH to address challenges and create opportunities for the betterment of our school district and our community on behalf of the Nutley board of education I extend my sincere thanks to commissioner scarelli for his vision in forming the initial atoc committee that got our two boards together during his tenure as mayor to commissioner Tucci and commissioner Evans who served on that at hoc committee for all their hard work and collaboration uh and the one nutly initiative I also want to thank mayor Kelly for continuing that subcommittee's work with the addition of commissioner petraco which culminated in into this uh uh event tonight and this has truly been a complete team effort and a special thanks to commissioner Evans and to former board ofet trustee Joe bagler for their extensive work and dedication in bringing this Vision to life again thank you for your support collaboration and commitment to nut Le schools and the future of our children thank you uh good evening I prepared something but I'd like to speak a little bit from the heart tonight uh on behalf of the educational Community our students our teachers our administrators I'd like to thank this Board of Commissioners uh you changed our schools today thank you uh thank you commissioner Evans thank you Joe baglia for your work on this thank you to our board of education for supporting this uh this will trigger great change for our district much needed change change we can accomplish change we can do for our students um you have an educational Community that's excited to do this um there's been a buzz around our school district uh thank you for your work and we look forward to the next two years of making this happen thank you I uh I did have also words prepared but I have to be honest with you for sake of sounding redundant um I uh I'm coming up here now as not only a vice president of the board of education but as a father and a Community member to really just take a moment to pause and really capture this moment in this community our assembly people are here our Board of Commissioners our Board of Education uh this is going to change the face of this school district for generations to come and I think that uh this moment is something that we will all be proud of and talk about for uh the rest of our lives and hopefully get to pass on to our our our children and our P our grandchildren as a as a moment of inspiration of what a community can do when they come together um this is something that does not happen I'm an educator uh by uh trade and a board of ed member by election and I will tell you that this is unique and what we are doing here tonight I hope is a shining example to other communities of what can be done when you actually don't just talk about care but demonstrate care come together uh many many hours of of time away from our families away from um our sometimes W talk say it too loud away from our work uh to make this happen um countless hours uh but one thing that is all about is nutly and when we had said one nutly years ago we celebrated that one nutly and initiatives like this show that we are one nutly so I just want to sincerely thank you on be behalf of the the community as a father as a member of the Board of Education as an educator and a resident so thank you all and this is a wonderful moment I hope we all hang around for some pictures too so thank [Music] you any other board members want to uh come up and approach the microphone any of the Commissioners have comments they would like to yeah mayor this is gratifi when you you see something that was envisioned a couple years ago come to fruition and uh great things happen and when you put great minds of the five people here and the nine people out there together you can have great things happen so uh this is great for our children um which is the most important thing and it accomplishes uh what was uh would have cost a lot more money in a shorter amount of time um which is you know I like I said when you get great minds together that's what can happen and special thanks to uh commissioner Evans for getting through all the mechanics to make this happen and to all the Board of Education members and congratulations to Mr Ferrero and Dr deia on your election and um great things are are yet to come for the township of Nutley thank you mayor yes I would um just like to say it's unbelievable that I still have a kid in the school system at my age unfortunately he won't benefit from this but my children got great educations my older kids and my high schooler now is getting education we always say and thatly the most important thing our Jewels is our children and you know to make an investment to build a relationship with the Board of Education and this heavy lift and thank you to commissioner Evans as well for doing a lot of the leg work on this is I believe is going to pay dividends I also be remiss if I didn't thank my good friend Joe bagle out there and it's a privilege to have you here tonight Joe and thank you for all your hard work and everybody's hard work and Tom Evans knows that I always say you can't put a price on Public Safety but you can't put a price on education and you know what I think this is a a really Mo a big moment in Nutley and it's going to paid off dividends and not to mention I always say is how the schools go is how your town goes too your property values all that stuff so God bless my father I my dad's still alive he's 89 years old and he's sometimes questions me a lot but I even tell him it's a good thing for him even though he doesn't have kids in the school system it's an investment that you'll be paid dividends if you ever do sell your house thank you mayor thank you uh commissioner Evans do you have anything more you want think I said enough at the risk of being redundant I I think this is a a Monumental moment in the history of this Township I think uh education is the foundation for all of our children you get one shot at it there are no doovers in education so it's our combined responsibility to do the best we can for our children give them the best education and a price we can all afford and I I think this is the first step in many more to come in the right direction congratulations everyone thank you and I would just like to add uh that we as a Board of Commissioners have had a lot of successes recently and that's because we we've worked together uh to accomplish those goals but those successes are nothing compared to the success that we've had tonight and it's it's in part because the you had almost had the planetary alignments you had you have the Board of Commissioners working with the Board of Education working with our our legislative team in in the state house uh and that never happens to get everyone all on the same page with so many different opinions uh and it's all ultimately for for the good of our children uh and as assembly woman Morales said you know the great equalizer is education I always say our most valuable resource is our children uh but not only are our children going to win but but as commissioner PATCO said we're going to win as well because this is going to increase our profit property values it's going to increase the value of our town and it's going to continue to drive people to want to come here be here and this is continue to be a destination for people in life this is this is nutly and everyone's going to want to continue to be here live here and grow old here uh whether you're you're zero or 99 or we have a couple uh centurians here uh this is this is the place to be and this solidifies nutly as the place to be so I want to congratulate all of us I want to congratulate the entire board uh special shout out to both uh Joe Baga and commissioner Evans for for working hard on this and I want to thank our legislative team for always being there to support us uh so uh I think Now's the Time for a photo op and so we we can stop patting ourselves on the back Happ which congrulations F like stand over the chair who's the bullseye so does that make me the triple 20 great job doc second you can stay if you want there's a lot of traffic on the way back to Belleville and Bloomfield yeah to clear room all right uh hi yeah I think we have one more ordinance on for this evening commissioner Evans yes mayor uh number 3576 uh this is Administrative the uh Diamond Springs property was sold to a new owner and this transfers the uh the pilot agreement the financial agreement uh to the new owner which is uh um moving it from Diamond Springs real estate investment urban renewal to Soho Park reality urban renewal Inc that's it uh I move to open the public hearing move to close Comm Evans hi commi hi Comm scarelli hi Comm Petco I mayor Kelly I move the ordinance second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi M scarelli hi Comm PCO hi mayor Kelly I I think that's all we have for ordinances on second uh reading this evening moving on to resolutions commissioner Evans thank you mayor uh I have I have three resolutions uh the first one is uh I'm reading on behalf of the Board of Education uh whereas the Board of Commissioners of the township of uh have identified a need for additional office and indoor space for public purposes whereas the board has identified certain property identified as block 2304 lot 18 and 17 on the Township's official tax map located at 777 through 789 Bloomfield Avenue and 4th to 13 Kingsland State respectively collected the property as particularly suited for its needed public purposes whereas the township has negotiated installment purchase agreement for the purchase of the property with 777 nutly LLC and 413 nutly LLC as owners of the property which provides among other things that the owners of the property shall renovate existing the existing building on the property uh as well as the uh parking lot and all the uh site plan improvements uh uh to suit the Township's needs according to plans and specifications provided by the township whereas the owner of the property has agreed to the terms and conditions of the installment purchase agreement including the required building and property uh Renovations whereas the board authorize the AC the acquisition of the property by way of ordinance 3575 passed on uh this evening uh January 7th 2025 now therefore be resolved by the Board of Commissioners of the township of Noy County of Essex New Jersey that the mayor and Township Clerk B and are hereby authorized to execute an attest respectively an installment purchase agreement with 77 Nutley LLC and 413 nutly LLC in a form acceptable to the township attorney so move a motion second commissioner Evans all mioni stain commissioner scarelli hi commissioner P hi mayor Kelly I just want to clarify that commissioner Evans read that on behalf of the Board of Commissioners not the board of education did I say the Board of Education I yeah well them too so thank you for the clarification mayor uh I think I did that before didn't I I think but on the ordinance I did it I think I think uh my next resolution uh this is for municipal tax appeal Services whereas the township of Nutley has a need to acquire the services of an attorney as Municipal tax Council to provide legal uh Services concerning Municipal tax appeals in the township of nly has a non-fair and open contract pursuant to the provisions of njsa 19 col 44A 20.5 and whereas the tax assessor has determined and certified in writing that the value of the aggregate Services provided by the the vendor for the year will exceed $17,500 whereas Joseph mclone of Esquire of the law firm of Atul scrio located at 14 Village Park Road Cedar Grove New Jersey uh 07009 has submitted a fee schedule for providing such Services total of which will not exceed $42,000 whereas the anticipated term of the contract is January 1 2025 through December 31st 2025 the 42,000 is the same amount as last year there hasn't been a change whereas the firm of AOL scrio has completed and submitted to business entity disclosure certification which certifies that they have not made any reportable disqualifying contributions to a political or candidate Committee in the Township in the previous one year and that the contract will prohibit them from making any reportable contributions for the term of the contract end whereas funds are available in account 501 20420 and will be certified by the Chief Financial Officer subject to the adoption of the 20 uh 25 budget now therefore being resolved by the Board of Commissioners of the township of Nutley County of Essex state of New Jersey that the mayor being and is hereby authorized to enter into a contract with Joseph mclone Esquire of the law firm of UL scrio as a professional service be further resolved that a copy of this resolution as well as the contract shall be placed on file with the clerk of the township of Nutley and a notice in accordance with public contract laws of New Jersey and the form attached to here to shall be published in the nutly Sun so move second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner hi commissioner P hi mayor Kelly hi uh my last resolution is uh on behalf of the Board of Commissioners uh which I'll I'll I'll read by title uh is resolution of the Township Commissioners of uh authorizing the engagement of UL scrio as Council for the township of nutly concerning legal matters with respect to the on3 uh Redevelopment area um the funds are available for this purpose in account 501 02205 subject to the adoption of the 25 2025 municiple budget and a certificate of available funds has been filed with the Chief Financial Officer in the Township in accordance with local budget law 48 4-57 whereas uh excuse me whereas tool scrio has completed and submitted a bus enti the disclosure certification which certifies that the firm uh has not made any disqualifying reportable contributions to a political or candidate Committee in the Township in the previous one year that would violate njsa 1944a 20.5 or the Township's local unit pay to play ordinance adopted by ref referendum or any requirements and that the contract will bar to tul scrio for making any reportable contributions through the term of the contract now there be resolved by the Board of Commissioners of the township uh that uh in accordance with local public contracts laws hereby authorize the mayor and municipal clerk to enter into a Professional Services contract with the firm of Atul scrio at an Aver rate of $295 not to exceed $50,000 in the aggregate aggregate be further resolved that the business disclosure entity certification and business entity disclosure of campaign contributions shall be placed on file with this resolution and a copy of this resolution shall be published as required by law within 10 days of its passage so move second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO hi mayor Kelly hi thank you thank you commissioner commissioner Tui yes thank you mayor be resolved by Board of Commissioners tchum Nutley County of Essex New Jersey that in accordance with the provision RS 4A colon 4 the 58 the following transfer of Appropriations in the 2024 budget being and same are hereby authorized and approved for the Department of parks and public property from health insurance 30,000 to utilities uh electric specifically other expenses in a l amount so move second commissioner abens hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner Petco hi mayor Kelly hi have thank you commissioner uh commissioner scarpelli I see you have nothing on for this evening is that correct that's correct mayor thank you commissioner Petco you know what mayor I'm gonna pull this resolution tonight I just want to get a little more clarification on that before I read it thank you sure no problem uh moving on to me I have six on for this evening the first one is resolution number 325 uh it's a uh raffle application from the Spring Garden PTO raffle license number 6124 on premise merchandise raffle for Thursday February 27 2025 whereas the application has been reviewed and approved by the municipal clerk and the police department now therefore be resolved by the Board of Commissioners of the township of Nutley County of ESS state of New Jersey that the aforementioned license is hereby approved and the municipal clerk is authorized to issue said license so moved commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO hi mayor Kelly I and uh also on for this evening is resolution 425 this is to recognize uh the month of January as National Blood Donor month whereas on December 31st 1969 president Richard Nixon proclaimed January 19770 as the first national Blood Donor month as requested by Senate join resolution 154 to pay tribute to voluntary blood donors and encourage new donors to join whereas the demand for blood donation goes beyond unexpected emergencies such as car accidents and natural catastrophes that are regularly needed to treat patients facing disease like cancer cardiovascular disease surgeries and organ and bone marrow transplants whereas every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood or platelets whereas the approximately 299,000 units of red blood cells and nearly 5,000 units of platelets and 6,500 units of plasma are needed daily in the United States whereas an estimated 3% of all Americans donate blood with 20% of those donations coming from donors under the age of 25 whereas playlight donations are very important part of the donation process platelets are assigned the important task of clotting blood to stop bleeding and are vital for cancer patients and as well as those with blood disorders and undergoing open heart surgery and organ transplants now therefore it be resolved at the Board of Commissioners in town of Nutley County of exic state of New Jersey recognizes January 2025 as National blood donation donor month and I urge all citizens in Nelly to support efforts and activities that bring awareness and education to blow donation during the month of January and throughout the entire year be further resolve that many residents are encouraged to make a life-saving donation during the annual blood drive in memory of Keith Jared on Monday January 27th at the nut Le department of public affairs and health between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. so moved second commissioner Evans commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO hi mayor Kelly hi uh I read this next one resolution number 525 on behalf of the entire Board of Commissioners whereas the late Reverend Dr Martin Martin Luther King junr was a leader of great courage and skill who became known as a drum major of the American Civil Rights Movement to enfranchise black citizens whereas Dr King's life was tragically cut short by an Assassin's bullet in April of 1968 in Memphis Tennessee while he was there to Champion the cause of underprivileged workers whereas due to the efforts of many dedicated people who believe Dr King deserves National recognition the third Monday in January is nationally recognized as a day to remember Dr King his legacy and the causes for which he so Gant fought and died whereas Dr King's life will always shine as a light for those without hope and as an example to be emulated by all who care about their fellow human beings regardless of race religion class or nationality now therefore it be resolved that the Board of Commissioners of the township n count of essic state of New Jersey recognizes and celebrates Monday January 20th as Martin Luther King Jr day so moved second commission rans all commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO I mayor Kelly I uh this next one I have on for this evening is resolution number 625 whereas an application has been filed for an in for a personto person and place to place transfer of plenary retail and board broad package privilege consumption license num 0716 32- 8-9 here to for issued to Jim dandies of Nutley LLC trading as Jim dandies for premises located 561 to 63 BR Avenue notley New Jersey 07110 whereas the submitted application form is complete in all respects and transfer fees have been paid and the license has been properly renewed for the current Le licensed term whereas the applicant is qualified to be licensed according to all standards established by the title 33 of New Jersey statute and regulations prating thereunder as well as perent local ordinance and conditions consistent with title 33 whereas the applicant has disclosed and the issuing authority reviewed the source of all funds used to purchase the license and the licens business and all additional financing obtained in connection with the licensed business May therefore be resolved at the Board of Commissioners of the township of n county of es state of New Jersey does hereby approve effect of January 7 2025 to transfer the a foret plary retail consumption license to ShopRite wines and spirits of nutly LLC from its former location at 561- 563 Franklin Avenue Nutley New Jersey 07110 to 437 Franklin Avenue sweetb Nutley New Jersey 07110 and does hereby direct the municipal clerk to endorse the license certificate to the new ownership and new location as follow as the is subject to all its terms and conditions and is hereby transferred to shoppr wines and spirits of nutly llc at the the location 437 Frank Avenue sweet be Nutley New Jersey 07110 effective January 7 2025 so moved second Comm Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner PCO hi mayor Kelly hi uh the next one I have on for this evening is order resolution number 0725 where is the an application has been filed for a place topl transfer of a plenary retail consumption license number 0716 d33 019 d008 New Jersey here to four issue to John grew LLC trading as uh Jim Jimmy's Bar for premises located at 692 696 P Avenue N New Jersey and whereas the submitted application form is complete in all respects and the transfer fees have been paid and the license has been properly renewed for the current licensed term and therefore be resolved at the Board of Commissioners in the townell in the county of es state Jers does hereby approve the effective January 7th 2025 the place to place transfer of the ffor St plenary retail consumption license from a former location at 692 696 bake Avenue nle New Jersey the premise is at 561- 563 frin Avenue Nutley New Jersey and does hereby direct the municipal clerk to endorse the license certificate as follows it's license subject to all its terms and conditions is hereby transferred to the premises located at 561 563 Franklin Avenue nle New Jersey 07110 effective January 7th 2025 so moveed second commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarelli hi commissioner Petco hi mayor Kelly hi the last one I have on for this evening is resolution number 1025 uh and this is a a resolution for uh the award of Professional Services contract to gion pako uh for outside litigation Council to represent the township of Nutley in the matter PB nut Cliff versus the Nutley zoning board ES x- l- 2 281 16-23 uh total not to exceed 15,000 the term is November 1st 2024 through November 30th 2025 um I'm just going to read the uh broad brush strokes and the highlights uh they have submitted got goton and pako has submitted a 2024 fee schedule to provide such services and allery weight of $215 for Legal Services by attorneys an hourly rate of $100 by for services by paralal or law clerk the contract will not exceed $155,000 uh for a period November 1st 2024 through November 30th 2025 and the funds are available from account number 4-01 d012 d205 and 5- 01- 012 d205 which will be certified by the Chief Financial Officer said certif certification being subject to the adoption of the 2025 Municipal budget uh whereas the law firm of gion and pako PC has completed and submitted the a business entity disclosure certification which certifies that they have not made any reportable disqualifying contributions to political candidate or committing the of nut in the previous one year that would violate New Jersey statute annotated title 19 44 alpha- 20.5 or the Township's local unit to pay local unit pay to play ordinance with New Jersey election law enforcement commission disclosure requirements and therefore be resolved as Board of Commissioners of the township County of Essex state of New Jersey award the contract for special Development Council as follows that the mayor and Township cler are hereby authorized and directed to execute and seal and deliver a 2024 25 contract for professional Le services with gion and pako PC pursu to a non-fair non-open process in accordance with new statutes annotated title 19 44 Alpha 20.5 uh for a term beginning November 1st 2024 through November 30th 2025 for the state hourly rates not to exceed $15,000 a copy of this resolution as well as the contract and business disclosure entity certification and business entity disclosure of campaign contribution shall be placed on file with the clerk a copy of this resolution shall be published as required by law within 10 days of its passage so moved second commissioner EV hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scell hi commissioner Petco hi mayor Kelly I uh that's all I have on for this evening at this time we will open the meeting to the public anyone wishing to be heard on any item or any issue facing the township and wishes to address address the Board of Commissioners please approach the microphone and state your name for the record uh seeing none uh Mr Bruno do we have a need for executive evening mayor briefly we have a need to uh go into close session to discuss uh litigation and contract negotiation thank you I'll entertain a motion for whereas Section 8 of the open public meeting act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 permits the exclusion of uh ex the exclusion of the public for meeting in certain circumstances and where is the public bodies of the opinion that such circumstances exist and where is the Board of Commissioners of the Township of nly in the county of Essex and state of New Jersey desires to proceed to close executive session and now therefore be resolved by the Board of Commissioners and the township of Nutley moving to close executive session to discuss contract negotiations and litigation be further resolve that at the time when such discussion may be disclosed to the public shall be when and such disclosure may be made without adversely affecting the township of Nutley pending and or anticipated legal Personnel contractual matters and other matters within the ex ceptions provided for by Statute this resolution shall take effect immediately commissioner Evans hi commissioner Tui hi commissioner scarpelly hi M Paco mayor Kelly hi and uh we won't be entertaining any more business this evening our next meeting is Tuesday January 21st 20:25 at 7M and I'll entertain a motion to adjourn move it second commissioner Evans I commissioner Tui hi M Carelli hi Comm Petco mayor Kelly I time is 80 six