good evening I'd like to welcome everyone to the Oldbridge Township Council December 19th 2023 meeting please rise for a Pledge of Allegiance please remain standing for a moment of silence and for our prayer I pledge allegiance 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 is as it's customary in this chamber we stand for a moment of silence to remember those who are protecting our freedoms abroad our First Responders for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and please for peace around the world a moment of silence our prayer Mr pasky dear Lord bless thy servants in the ministry of public affairs who serve you in this chamber give us quiet minds and hearts that we may hear your voice help us to know when to speak when to be silent give us strength to oppose the wrong and uphold the right and Grant that we have a good conscience and a soul of peace with thee and with one another amen amen amen thank you please be seated roll call council person dearo here council person dama here let the record reflect that Council councilman Desai is absent councilman Garcia yeah council person Dr Greenberg belly here let the record council person Murphy here council person pasky here council person Walker here and council president soar here this meeting is been held in conformance with the open public meetings act notice of this meeting has been given to the official newsp papers of the township on January 6 2023 has been posted in public places next open public meeting of the township Council will be the reorganization meeting to be held on Monday January 1 2024 at 12:00 p.m. and the regular uh meeting will be held Tuesday Tuesday January 16th 2024 at 7:30 p.m. okay thank you very much welcome everyone and we'll start this evening with uh giving out certificates okay good evening everyone thank you for joining us tonight on a very special night we have a very nice group of young ladies here who made quite an accomplishment over the past few months and we would like to acknowledge them for what you have accomplished at this time though I'd like to call up oldridge soccer club president uh Arty zanini please to come up a little bit about the organization and how much work they do anyone who goes to the soccer fields on a weekend sees that the hundreds of people that participate and we wouldn't do it without people like this Arty thank you so much so I'm not going to take up much time at all I'm only here today to um mayor uh I think I became part of the then Oldbridge girl soccer league about 10 years ago um I don't think there's been an opening day I don't think there's been a tournament I don't think there's been a kick Retreat program where we haven't seen you at the field supporting us and uh on behalf of Oldbridge soccer club we just want to say thank you um with a little hoodie uh we do uh thank you thank you thank you thank you uh honestly we do have a jersey on order for you but uh uh we're told there's some supply chain issues or something so um continue to come to all the games and as much as I can obviously so mayor thank you very much thank you for what you do the whole organization outstanding they set the bar here in orridge thank you okay so a little bit about the first group of girls that we're going to be recognizing the Oldbridge soccer club 2011 girls Thunder was formed over five years ago in 2018 with eight out of the nine original players still with the team they have grown to 17 strong led by trainer Alex faio the team entered the NJ State Cup Tournament for the second year in a row the Thunder battle threw four rounds to make it into the finals against a very strong Middletown team whom they had not beaten in their last two after a tough game the Thunder emerged as the victors with a two final score earning them the New Jersey state cup president's title the last time a team from Oldbridge soccer club brought home a State title was over a decade ago they achieved something many other players will never have the opportunity to do and proudly brought home a State title for Oldbridge congratulations [Applause] [Music] [Applause] girl we'll start out with the coaches who volunteer their time endless and share their knowledge and teach their skills uh we owe a lot to the coaches the parents please consider yourself lucky to have some these individuals volunteer their time with your children so Janet green please step forward [Applause] Janet Andrew [Applause] [Applause] Lou coach Brandon is not here but we'll make sure he will get this uh Alex fazo we heard him in the introduction [Applause] Alex coach I would ask you to please read the names of the individuals that come up get your certificate and then line up here and then we'll take a nice picture okay microphone so they can hear you sure we're gonna do uh Olivia Bonia Olivia mateline brunen [Applause] mine Alexa [Applause] cologne June [Applause] erri Jojo [Applause] McKenzie Paige Adeline Kira Parker Avery Kyra Madison Sophia [Applause] eie I know you put all the time in and all the practice please everybody thinks it just happens it doesn't correct it just happened no I'm just kidding these girls worked really hard together they've grown together as friends as teammates and they just have a very special bond and it's starting to really show on the field and that's how we got where we we are all you girls want to squeeze in so that mom and dads and grandparents can all get one big group picture [Applause] thank you very much I just want to let the record reflect that councilman Desai arrived at 733m we'll carry on with the Oldbridge Soccer Club 2012 hurricanes concluded an exceptional 2023 summer and fall season with the record of 21 one and one outstanding and during just think of this during those what that 20 23 games they scored 69 goals while only conceding 15 and earning clean 11 clean clean sheets this run included first place trophies in the state cup the EDP League the Hershey cup Labor Day tournament champions and the the fall finale tournament the Hurricanes had to endure four rounds of grueling competition to be ultimately crowned State Cup champions the hurricanes are a special group of girls who have all who all have Oldbridge as their first ever experience in travel soccer their dedication to the game camaraderie and desire to compete has laid the groundwork for them to succeed and continue to succeed well into the future we are certainly Oldbridge proud of the [Applause] hurricanes and again to our coaches please come forward Stephen [Applause] fanti thank you Steve okay Zach Zach Sava cool is not here okay okay Coach okay Juliana Cota Alexa [Applause] fante Leila [Applause] fante Presley Gonzalez [Applause] Ava massina London podo kin [Applause] Quia Adriana [Applause] Rees Verona Selenas Angelina stankowitz Addison [Applause] Stewart Lissa [Applause] updale and Olivia VLAN I was hoping you guys all want to squeeze in too so that they can get a group picture all parents and [Applause] grandparents [Applause] again great job everyone thank you so much thank you congratulations everyone and we thank you for being here this evening but we know of course that you know after the the presentation I'm sure you have a lot more to do so if so if you feel like leaving that's quite all right we we enjoyed you and thank you again for being here [Applause] congratulations we're all Bridge proud great holiday everybody we are old yeah okay all right that was such a nice presentation we're so overridge proud of them okay next is going to be our bill list Mrs Walker accounts payable December 19 2023 11, 363,462 payroll December 8th 2023 1, 25,2 12.76 payroll overtime December 8th 2023 $ 32,234 and that concludes the bill list okay thank you Mrs Walker can I have a motion move it second okay moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr dama and Mrs Shapiro can we have a breakdown please yes thank you council president um as councilwoman Walker indicated overtime for pay period ending 128 2023 was $ 32,234 sworn police o police overtime in the amount of $2,258 33 deduct grants in the amount of $864 180 deduct etto in the amount of $872 4.35 for a total of $1,669 18 representing $135 men and women hours and just so uh council is aware there were no uptakes um this pay period um and there were no officers injured on duty or on light duty this pay period thank you Mrs Shapiro roll call please council person de Caro yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg belly yes council person Murphy yes council person pasid yes Council vice president Walker yes council president soar yes nine yeses okay next will be public hearing uh for second ordinances for second reading Madame President uh I know we have uh six ordinance scheduled for a public hearing um but I just want to just advise the public and and and the council uh we're going to move H3 up and reason being is that um I know Mr loir after last meeting uh had an opportunity to meet uh with some of the council members uh who had EXP Express concerns about the ordinance uh its contents um and um I think uh after meeting with them and and hearing back from council members uh questions uh remain for Council um so they don't feel uh comfortable at this point proceeding with the ordinance um and so and I know there's quite a few uh members of the department here this is the first time we be able to make a public announcement so uh rather than proceeding with a uh second reading with the ordinance at this point um and and uh spending time on the second hearing recognizing the questions um that remain and the additional information that are needed uh we thought it would be most appropriate at this point rather than having a a public hearing uh to have a motion to table the particular ordinance at this time and then allow us uh with the new Administration uh to work uh you know to uh to try address some of the issues that were uh raised with our discussions with Council uh then also I guess some of the issues that were raised by the SOA um so that we can come up uh with an ordinance that meets everyone's requirements I make a motion to move it second okay moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr dama call to table council person de Caro yes council person to yes council person deai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg B yes council person Murphy yes council person pasy yes Council vice president Walker yes and council president so yes nine yeses okay [Applause] thank okay next will be H1 ordinance amending Oldbridge Township Code chapter 108 of the code of the township of Oldbridge entitled instruction code uniform specifically 108-446 look at page two um at the top of the page under 8 AE where it says F temporary certificate of occupancy $200 um what Vina had suggested be added was and in accordance with Section 25088 to reference the uh the code so uh prior to adopting the ordinance I'd recommend that Council adopt that Amendment and then have the Public Public hearing with that Amendment obviously it's not substantive doesn't change right the yeah okay so let's ask for motion to Second you got to announce it yes we need a motion in a second for the adoption of the amendment to the ordinance right okay so Dr Greenberg made a motion Mrs Walker made a second okay roll call council person Dar Carell yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes yes council person Dr Greenberg belly yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas gidy yes Council vice president Walker yes and Council and council president soar yes nine yeses for the amendment to the ordinance now now you want to proceed with the public hearing on the ordinance say amended is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard on H1 seeing No Hands we'll close public portion go to councel anyone have a question no okay so do we have a motion move it move it second okay moved by Dr Greenberg belly second by Mr dama roll call on the adoption of the uh set ordinance council person de Caro yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg Bell yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi yes Council vice president Walker yes and council president soar yes nine yeses on the adoption of the ordinance with the amendment okay next will be H2 ordinance of the township of Oldbridge amending chapter 250 of the code of the township of Oldbridge entitled orridge Township Land Development ordinance by amending 250 d104 entitled fees mam president I would note that the U that the planning board did review it and did a consistent review and had resolution finding it consistent with the master plan okay was there any council member who had a question all right I'll open it to the public move is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard on this ordinance seeing no hands I'll close the public portion Mr Murphy made a motion second second by Dr Greenberg bellik roll call council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg Bell yes council person Murphy yes council person pesky yes Council vice president Walker yes council president soar yes nine yeses H4 ordinance of the township of Oldbridge vacating a portion of the township right of way not needed for public use and authorizing sale of the same is there anyone who has a question I will open it to the public anyone in the public wish to be heard on H4 seeing no hands I'll close the public and ask for a motion move it second he move by Mr pescetti and second by Dr Greenberg oh no it doesn't okay all okay roll call council person de Caro yes council person dep Palama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg Bell yes council person Murphy yes council person Pas giddy yes Council vice president Walker yes and council president soart yes nine s's H5 ordinance amending Oldbridge Township Code chapter 10 section 10-25 of the township code regarding speed limits speed limits on schulmeister road and Aster Circle anyone have a comment okay anyone from the public here to speak on H4 I'll close the public portion and roll call I need a motion move it second okay mov by Mr Mr Desai and second by who Dr Greenberg okay roll call council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg Bell yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi yes Council vice president Walker yes council president soar yes nine yeses K H6 ordinance amending chapter 10 traffic section 10- 19.7 B of the code of the township of Oldbridge maybe we have a motion you go for the public first open it to the Public Public I'm going to open it anyone in the public wish to be heard on H6 no we will close the public portion I'll ask for a motion move it second second oh moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr pasky roll call council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg Bell council person Murphy yes council person pasky yes Council vice president Walker yes president soar yes nine yeses next will be our consent agenda I'll ask for a motion and a second and then I'll bring it out for for the council to separate if they choose move it second okay move by Dr Greenberg belly second by Mr pesky council person Dar Caro any items for to be removed uh just for a discussion C5 C5 council person dep C7 council person [Music] Desai no council person Garcia none thank you council person Dr Greenberg belli none thank you council person Murphy no thank you council person Pas gidy no separations thank you Council vice president Walker C4 for abstention okay and council president so soor no thank you okay so we'll make a on the balance on the balance roll call on the balance of the consent agenda council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg Bell yes council person Murphy yes council person PES giddy yes Council vice president Walker yes and council president soar yes AC4 resolution authorizing a shared service agreement between Oldbridge Township Fire District 2 and the township ship of Oldbridge for use of fuel pumps and purchase of fuel for district 2 Vehicles do I have a motion second okay moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr pascetti roll call council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg Bell yes council person Murphy yes council person pesky yes Council vice president Walker abstain and council president soar yes okay next will be D5 Mrs Carol yes I just wanted to highlight C5 um supporting the resolution supporting our nurses and supporting uh the bill and I just wanted to thank you guys for coming out and bringing it to our attention I know you you all came out again tonight you came out last week and I'm happy to have this on our agenda and I'm very happy to support it so I just wanted to highlight that you guys did come out and and that we are always in support of you guys anyone have a comment from the council anyone else no yes we're definitely in support of you I heard you might have a contract potentially okay anyone else everyone okay for all that you do and I wish you all a very happy holiday season yeah yeah we all appreciate I'm sure every council member feels the same way we wanted to highlight it so that you know people out there would know that we are in support 100% so we are we are very proud to pass this this evening and we do wish you a very happy and healthy holiday and hopefully things will have resolution move it okay okay so Mrs wer made a motion okay all right so roll call council person de Caro absolutely yes council person to Palama yes council person Desai council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg belly yes council person Murphy definitely council person Piddy yes Council vice president Walker yes council president soar absolutely thank you very much have a great [Applause] holiday okay next will be a report of the Township Clerk Mary seven we forgot seven oh I'm sorry I apologize number seven okay who that was it was me Nicole so question what is the um the price of the the increase so on the top of the change the change order um there's just one line that says as built quantity adjustments and then also the addition of concrete work um councilman dama I don't know if You' noticed when you're walking in um to the Courtyard the area to the left where the flags were they weren't included in the original set of plans because we were trying to keep cost low but because the bid came in so good we were able to actually include that in the contract as well as we didn't have Irrigation in the flower beds we had the sleeves put in for future irrigation but again because we had the money in the contract we added that in so that um we could irrigate the flower beds and keep them nice and colorful and green thank you yeah no one has anything else I just wanted to talk about the courtyard um so is this guaranteed for some of the cracking that's going on already so one after final payment there's a maintenance guarantee that the contractor puts in that's good for two years and so we watch the concrete I mean i' I've seen too um I know Casey has brought um a couple of the cracks to our attention um we we just watch it over two years we don't we don't tell them to fix anything yet we just wait um so that maintenance guarantee is for major defects okay as long it was guaranteed more of it okay um was it moved by yes M council person Murphy okay and second by second okay by councilman D okay roll call council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg Bell yes council person Murphy yes council person pasky yes Council vice president Walker yes council president soar yes nine yeses okay that concludes the consent agenda a report of the Township Clerk so I did want to make mention that um any interested resident who is looking to be appointed to a border committee to please go out on our website on the township Clerk's page and fill out the citizen leadership form and turn it into the clerk's office and and we will go ahead and and circulate them and review uh any requests for any boards and committees okay thank you very much uh report of the township attorney nothing to report Madam president thank you okay administrative report Mrs Shapiro thank you council president um this is the administrative report dated December 19th 2023 and we have nine items tonight starting with item number one throt Morton Lane Phase 1 and two reserving on December 12th 2023 at 1: p.m. bids were received open and read in public for the throt Morton Lane Phase 1 and two resurfacing project contract 2023-the the award of this contract has been included on tonight's consent agenda which is fully funded by NJ doot grants construction is scheduled for spring 2024 public hearing GE Park completely inclusive playground the township of Oldbridge is seeking funding through the state of New Jersey Department uh state of New Jersey Green Acres Program to construct a completely inclusive playground at GE Park located at 4209 Oldbridge manwan Road middlex County Route 516 the public is encouraged to attend a public hearing to learn more about the proposal and to ask questions or provide comments on the proposed plan on January 16 2024 at 7:30 p.m. for more information please visit www.b bridge.com projects item number three public hearing Ty toown Road Park synthetic soccer fields the township of oldridge is seeking funding through the state of New Jersey green Green Acres Program for the construction of the Ty toown Road Park full-size synthetic soccer field located at 526 Ty toown Road Oldbridge New Jersey 08857 the public is encouraged to attend a public hearing to learn more about the proposal and to ask questions or provide comments on the proposed plan on January 16 2024 at 7:30 p.m. for more information please visit www.d.com projects item number four Parks and Recreation winter program registration the Park and Recreation winter program guide is now available online registration began today at 6 p.m. program offerings include ice skating lessons Ceramics karate kick cardio kickboxing yoga Robotics and coding class for more information please visit www.bd.com Recreation or call the recreation office at 732 721-5600 extension 4999 item number five full leaf collection our full leaf collection program ended on Friday if you still have leaf bags at at the curb contact the Department of Public Works at extension 6140 or email public works at Oldbridge decom to make an appointment item number six anchor program deadline is approaching the anchor program provides property tax relief to New Jersey residents who own or rent property in New Jersey their principal residents and meet certain income limits the current filing season for the anchor benefit is based on 2020 residency income and age the filing deadline is Friday December 29th 2023 most homeowners can file online or by phone with an identification number and pin renters may file online and do not need an ID and pen for more information please visit nj.gov Treasury taxation SL anchor item number seven Christmas Day recycling due to the holiday on Monday December 25th curbside recycling will be picked up on Saturday December 30th recyc recyclables should be placed at the curb on Friday and kept outside Rainer Shine the 2024 recycling schedule has been posted to Oldbridge decom recycling please contact the recycling department with any questions at extension 6107 or email recycling Oldbridge docomo the township will begin picking up Christmas trees in all W the week of January 8th 2024 for the full schedule please visit oldb bridge.com recycling item number nine Economic Development on Thursday December 7th mayor Henry council members Steve mamakis director of Economic Development attended the annual Oldbridge business Alliance and Toys for Tots event that took place at the Hampton Inn of Oldbridge they also participated in news 12's TV coverage of multiple Oldbridge businesses for its main Main Street New Jersey segment over 1,000 toys were collected and forwarded to to the Marines for distribution to needy families lastly mayor and administration would like to thank the Oldbridge Township office of emergency management our Police Department fire departments EMS and our Department of Public Works for their assistance during this past Sunday and Monday storm events and C council president that concludes the administrative report thank you very much does anyone have a question or a comment Mr dama and just a piggy back on what Nicole just said um this last storm actually wreaked havoc in in W two and specifically one or two of the neighborhoods um I want to thank OEM I want to thank Casey and DPW for coming down there was trees down everywhere getting the roads clear um I think we finally got all of the Power situated maybe hopefully we'll see right um but no thank you guys very much for communicating especially Anna thank you very much for dealing with me um with that that's all anyone else okay I just have to add to this um tonight the first three items you see on here they're all based with grant money so that's something very very important to be noted here that a lot of the things that we try to do good initiatives like this resurfacing and the inclusive playground you know things like that the soccer field we're doing this with grant money with funding and that's very important to keep in mind I want to thank Nicole and Anna and Casey the all the whole team because they always are looking on the lookout for Grants and something you know to help us and I think that's really important and you know what guys I just want to thank you so much for this year you really all of you you know uh Matt's here too I'm sorry I missed you Matt but you know just to keep in mind that we really do try to get the most as we can for the money that we have you know so please always appreciate I really we really appreciate you guys for all that you do yes Mr pescetti yeah I'm sorry um no it's okay just real quick Mr Shapiro uh where are these public hearings where are they actually held they're going to be held in this room um 7:30 one of the criterias that njd Green Acres Program has is that Council be present right so um we the the first real available meeting would be the 16th of January the deadline I believe is February 7th for the application so that's perfect timing um it's going to be in this room I'm going to give a presentation to Council on both the projects and meeting their criteria on on the public meeting great thank you yeah no it's really wonderful very very very good okay does anyone move Nicole's report okay we'll move Nicole's report and who's gonna Mr Murphy and who's going to Second it second okay who okay Mr Ji all right there we go roll call on acceptance of the administrative report council person de Caro council person to Palama yes council person to I council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg Bell yes council person Murphy yes council person pascy yes Council vice president Walker yes and council president soar yes nine yeses okay I know I'm walking home though um okay next will be um public comment on on any subject matter so is there anyone in the public would like to come up and be heard the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council attention their com concerns or comments this section is open for any topic or item in the consent agenda in accordance with njsa 10 col and 4-2a in the Oldbridge rules of council the council asks the public to limit their comments to three minutes or less only one member of the public shall approach to speak to council out of time the council will respect the Public's Time by refraining from any comment until the speaker has finished with their allotted time should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not structured as a question and answer session if a member of the public has questions they seek answers to an appointment can be made with the corresponding Department's office during regular business hours the Township Clerk will regulate the time during the comment portion of our meeting hello my name is Antonio carvalo 27 Craton Circle don't get to give any that's all right you can find me two weeks ago I got blinded was at a meeting heard that Oldbridge made the news again and it wasn't good we the first ones to adopt a policy in our schools 5756 now this is a policy that extend itself beyond the school system and into the entire community so he has forced me to do my homework something that that Council didn't do okay there's a there's a description of what this uh policy deals with and it has to deal with sexual attraction identity is based on sexual attraction in our schools this document goes all the way down and lends itself to the sixth grade that's what 11 years old and at 11 years old this document removes parental rights of a student's sexual identity it also has mechanisms in here to inundate parents with Professionals of other bureaucratic agencies as well as removal of the student from the parents and it's far-reaching it states in here Community students parents Guardians people from the Community have no rights once a child pulls the plug on asking for gender equality in this document three times it states how parents can lose the rights of their children it discusses things like bathrooms and locker rooms and the reason this a policy and not a law so there already laws on the books governing those facilities I went down to that school board four people voted for it one abstained we got a lot of leaders in this place not this place but down at the school board that a person abstained I think it was a leader down there so I I'd like to read a couple of things for you because many people don't read these things for example a person who transitions from male to female is attracted solely attracted solely to men may identify as a straight woman this is what we're dealing now within our schools we don't teach this we're teaching this you're sent to school to learn the basics and build character and I want to talk about that because it's not the first time things happen down at the school I hope I don't mess this name up but back when my wife was still around we were much younger I'm sorry sir that's your time okay thank you very much thank you very much thank you is there anyone else in the audience who wishes to be heard this evening seeing oh yeah okay come on up no it's okay good evening how are you good evening sorry got a a little shorter all right um I wanted to discuss oh thank you oh it know thank you I wanted to discuss this route 34 bridge over former Brick Yard Road the construction like what is the plan for this because I'm a Central Park resident Mary salmon um I'm constantly dealing with PSC and G changing the gas lines I never know which way to get out of my development every day cuz guess what maybe you're having having your pipes done to your house or then next you are okay is Doc Road open is Washington open is Athens well guess what I currently have three trucks sitting in front of my house in front of my house since last week still haven't done it they stopped right in front of my house I have cable coming I have tomorrow somebody else coming I don't know when they're coming back today I spoke to the police officers who sit outside my door are they coming yes I don't know but my point is is there a line of communication between say pscg which is working in Central Park the state which is going to be working on this bridge and closing part of Route 34 what's the next plan cuz are you going to be able to get from 9 South to 34 South is there something that's because it says here that they're closing it they're taking out the bridge based on this and there was a meeting in October but I didn't find out about it until November so I don't know what the line of communications is going on between the state the county and you all local so if we can work on that for the next Administration that would be lovely how can we do that um is there somebody that I should be communicating I did communicate to the state and the name that's on the on the wrist on the paper and she's at a meeting she's not in I left a message anybody I talk to they sit there and they go what what are you talking about that means everybody who comes home on Route 9 and tries to get on 34 you're not going to be able to for at least two weeks and then if they're pulling out that ramp based on what I'm saying where are they sending everybody so I'm looking for answers and I don't know what the plan is so if anybody has any information please share yeah well I think if you reach out to Mrs Shapiro she will be able to give you assistance and guidance so my email address is n Shapiro oldb bridge.com or you can call the engineering office at extension 79066 thank you I'm going to see you afterwards if you hang out a little bit Yeah Yeah May if you yeah okay is there any way we could put something out on a I know they delay till January they they did delay January well yeah I think but they whatever the first Friday of January is um because dot doesn't do detours until and they start a detour on Friday that's their habit um they do do public information centers they do one for the local officials and then they do one for um the public that's part of their community relations I believe that you're probably trying to reach um Meredith Hammond from NJ doot she's their Community um relations liaison for this area um she not only takes care of Oldbridge but a lot of different communities so I I I surise that that's why you're not getting something from them um if you're sending her an email put me on it as well and then I'll I'll certainly answer your questions because they do update me um there is a detour plan um we've we've permitted them to have a detour plan because then it breaks down the stages from 3 to two for the work that they're doing out there and that then takes the duration of their project and shortens it um that dur that detour would take you down Route 9 detour you to come back up onto uh parine and and then to come back on to 34 um the whole idea of the construction that they're doing out there is to um remove the Culvert fill it in in and restore the pavement back to normal conditions and and they tell us that that Culvert is substandard it's obsolete but it's no longer needed and that's why they have to do that okay thank you very much for your conts is there anyone else in the public who wishes to be heard seeing no hands I'll close the public and I will go to council comments council person dearo uh yes thank you um basically I just want to say happy holidays to everyone again um nurses I appreciate you guys coming out I'm very happy that you have reached some sort of agreement um but I just wanted to say happy holidays it's the end of December everybody enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate with your families um this is the time to reflect on our year and how things went and you know we all have those those New Year's resolutions that we're thinking about right now and um but and I also uh mayor Henry I want to thank you for you know your Administration and I want to wish you well on uh on moving up to Senate you will no longer be sitting at our table here so I want to wish you all thank you council person dick Palama yes so um Good Luck Senator elect Henry is is sitting in our last council meeting thank you for the last four years of me being up here um hopefully we we have a strong voice from Old Bridge down in the down in the state house now um also just for the recent storm I know I already did but thank you again to O DPW the administration folks getting things done as quick as possible it was a bad stor I I hope that the residents understand that even though jcpnl is sometime is delayed the safety of those workers is you know has to come before they start to restore a lot of things happened I know in one of the neighborhoods around me there was three separate incidents that caused the the outages which had to be addressed three separate times um but still I think as we go forward uh we do need to have jcpnl come in front of council early next year and they need to address the infrastructure that we have as well as what are they going to do to mitigate this happening in the future right just in Ward I there's been I think three outages in the past five weeks to the same houses so that we have to figure out how we how we address that jcpnl has to come up here and explain to the residents what are they going to do to assist where they can and whether or not it's a jcpnl issue a Township issue or a resident issue so that they can be addressed as soon as possible because this same neighborhood for two years in a row now have been out of out of power on Christmas we don't want to make it a third um thankfully it didn't happen um this P this coming weekend but we do need to have um jcpnl come in here next year so mayor elect Walker as we go forward let's see if we can get them here in front of council and have them explain what they're going to do in 24 and forward to assisting our Township because we do go out absorbent too much uh then for for everybody you know just merry Christmas happy holidays and happy New Years enjoy the time with your family um that's all thank you council person Desai Johnson and they reach tentative agreement and I hope most of your demand must have been resolved but see this was a Dem Ry at work the representation you brought to us last meeting and we all heard you we all was agree with your demand but we need a support so you came out as our president initially said and you saw we work together we are here for the people and the citizen of this great town Oldbridge so one more time congratulation your work is so important for Everybody's Health and I have seen as I said last time and I was there this afternoon and let me tell you the nurse always take care of your health they explain you and they are dedicated thank you very much Happy Holiday before I finish I want to congratulate our good mayor Henry who is going to be not here in January but yes you can come and participate in our meeting every meeting so mayor good luck and hope you get a good assignment in a committee which can help this great town and also I want to congratulate Miss Walker to become as a mayor election is over and as I always used to say in past that once the election over we have to forget Republican and Democrat we have to work together for the betterment of the community for the resident so I hope in 2024 and onward we all can work together and achieve the next height of the political I don't have exact word but at a political level so again congratulation mayor Henry and mayor elect Miss Walker thank you have a nice evening enjoy the holiday good council person Garcia hi thank you I want to congratulate the girls last tonight I giv the awards the soccer girls and the parents and the family and the coaches you know they did a great job like I said made o Bridge proud so thank them congratulate them again as well I also want to thank our mayor CU you know the mayor I'm here two years the mayor's accepted me he's taught me a lot so I I really want to thank him for you know for his guidance and Leadership and he's turned his town around as you guys know he's been here 12 years I've been here too and he he's done great things for the town so may I want to thank you again uh for your leadership and your guidance you help me helped me quite a bit over the two years I've been here so thank you and mayor elect Debbie you got big shoes to fill but I'm sure you'll have no problem with it you've been with the mar 12 years as well you know you know the routine it's it's just it's if it's not if it's not broke know wife fix it so everything everything's going well live well enough alone as you know uh also nurses like they everybody says we need nurses we thank you guys congratulate you guys so good luck going forward of course we're here for you 100% so thank you uh what else do we have merry Chistmas yes Merry Christmas to all uh Happy K Quanza and happy New Year to all of you and thank you and like I said I was we'll see you sometime next year thank you again council person Dr Greenberg Bell yes thank you first of all it's always nice when we can come here and we can celebrate many different things so when you saw the young girls the soccer um teams here I looked out and the first thing I thought of all the lessons they're learning on that field they're learning how to win they're learning friends they're learning how to lose they're learning how to cope with things uh the lessons that they learned on that field they will take for a very long time no they didn't but they knew how to lose it gracefully okay so then but that's very very important and um you know the commitment of their parents and the commitments of the coaches and everyone plays their part when you live in a community one person can't do it all but when you see everyone come together it's great and seeing those girls after the gentleman came up and started talking to us about 5756 now that was was a policy that's um was voted on in uh with the board of vet so I do want to say that the paper slant it by writing that it was approved because it was a straw pole and I wanted everyone to know that too but you have to know the people on the board and just as you explained the people that voted for it and what that takes away so when they look at these little girls could you imagine if the rights of their parents were taken away from them listen we have to be open-minded and openhearted about anything that kids go through but they're kids and they change all the time and to not to take your parents out of the equation is a little bit absurd because you know what your kids matriculate out of school the parents have to take care of their kids for life my child will be my concern to my last very last breath so it's not just when they're in school once you're out of school the school has nothing to do with them they can't control them so as this gentleman has educated himself and learned about it you have to educate yourself and do your due diligence to understand these things there is no reason I can't imagine any parent in this whole whole courtroom that would not want to be involved with their kid no matter what no matter what you are there for your kid so that said I thank you for coming up and saying that and it's beautiful to see these little girls and so both of them together came to light but tonight is a special night and it's very sad night in a way it's sad because our mayor mayor Henry this is your last council meeting you may be happy and we're happy for you and we're happy for you but I want to thank you for the time for your dedication and your devot to all bridge I remember when we started this Voyage you said you would be a full-time mayor if you had gotten elected you held up to that commitment and you did a good job my dear friend you've done that and this journey has been 12 years with many challenges when you first got on sadly there are several things that stand in my mind that you were judged by that really gave me an indication how we were definitely in good hands how you H handle super storm standing also how you handle the tragedy at Pathmark those are just two of the things that stood out and you did a fine job with that said you know running a town of this size of Oldbridge is not very easy you've made a lot of sacrifices you have always shown compassion to everyone in this town on many different levels you hear that all the time when people come up you showed up for them a lot of times in government you can't do what you would really like to do but showing up listening and be there and support means a lot and I think that's on all of our hearts you showed strong leadership it is clear to everyone that you see that we have made a difference we have made a difference in this town changing it through very difficult times we are now financially stable you focus on safety and Capital Improvements through all this town a job well done my dear friend may you and your family be blessed this holiday season and with your assistance and efforts at the state level hope we will be able to continue to make Oldbridge more positive than than it is today continue in that direction we will continue and bother you to make sure we get the support that we need to get the things done that we need to get done so enjoy your next phase or behind you with that said with that said I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas um I wish you during this whole holiday season much happiness and joy to you and your all your families and may the New Year be one of peace and prosperity for everyone enjoy C think we should stand up [Applause] council person Murphy okay thank you um I want to First wish everybody a Merry CH Christmas and a happy Quanza and um hoping all the Jewish people had a happy Hanukkah and the I guess was last week or something um um the mayor we have had our differences in the beginning I have grown to appreciate a lot of things you have done and I want to congratulate you for you moving on to the Senate um and to keep that a no rate increase last year was amazing uh okay now I want to speak to the nurses um as most of you know I had a liver transplant so I spent a lot of time in six different hospitals and over in Oldbridge I guess because of the strike they were working so hard and they were you know it was ridiculous so I just want to thank you for all being there uh the other thing I want to say Debbie I'm assuming this is going to be your last meeting as a counil council woman I want to thank you for actually working with you and when you move up to the mayor I'm sure you're going to do just as well I don't know if it's is going to do just a good job right away but I'm sure you'll be able to fill his shoes okay thank you council person PES gidy yes hi I also want to thank the nurses for coming out tonight and um we're glad to support you in that legislation hopefully it'll pass um you know Owen it uh it's been a long haul right um I remember when you first became mayor and you had to look at the budget and uh you knew you had to do something and when I got here tonight all those guys that were here reminded me of that that time were you were faced with a a budget crisis in the town where we were underwater and um we had to make some really tough decisions you did and you did and uh those decisions were made and uh we recovered from that and we didn't just have a stable zero uh budget this past year we got a decrease in our taxes this year okay so it's it's worth it's worth noting you know so on your way out you you left us a little gift thank you very much uh good job I I really appreciate you uh amazing uh how many events that you show up to um it's just incredible a lot of energy uh it's great that you're going bring that energy to to the Senate which uh is even more important for us there so uh thank you thank you for all your efforts and um and for the administration for uh for the department heads and uh all the workers you guys just do a great job and um it went from uh struggling to what it is today very professional and um uh things get done in a timely fashion and it's nice you know you you often hear um you know government workers are lazy they don't work not in Oldbridge these guys work they do and um you know it it shows thank you um yeah Happy Happy Everything Merry Christmas um happy Hanukkah happy and blessed New Year to everybody uh thank you very much oh I just want to say one other thing was um one thing in Oldbridge um since I was a kid um you got Santa Claus coming around on the fire truck it's just the kids just love you look at the kids they're just like they love it you know and um you know you got to give those uh the fire the OEM a lot of credit to go out there and do that especially on the real cold nights man it's amazing as you know I'm inan cheese great vill we don't have any kids we love them and the older folks love them they love them just as much yeah they look they look forward to it that's funny out there with the candy can candy can taking a pictures they love it I'm telling you I stand corrected thank you well thank you everybody Council vice president Walker yeah I want to also congratulate our soccer team I couldn't help but thinking when they move up to the high school we're going to have some amazing High School soccer team also I want to thank the nurses for coming out tonight as you know we really stand by you and it was no problem for us to move this forward and really hope you get this sign soon also I want to congratulate mayor Henry as well uh I don't know if many of you know that we've been friends many years before he ran and we actually ran together 12 years ago he ran as mayor I ran as Council and we knew the town was in a terrible shape and I remember on Election night we were all so happy we won we won then we said oh no we won and what do we get going to do now but mayor hen was up to the task and as you can see we've totally turned the town around we have a doublea positive Moonies Bond rating all the things and money we put into the town and a lot of people have just moved here they don't realize how bad shape the town was in and an amazing job he's done with the help of the council and very proud to have you my friend and you're only going to be right down the road so you'll I already told everyone I have my new phone number and it's going to automatically go to the mayor new senator's phone it's going to so congratulations and this is also my last time sitting up here as a council person so I want to thank everybody for over the years for all your support and I just promise that I'm going to keep the town moving in the right direction um I'm I follow the same guidelines as mayor Henry did and I'm going to try to do as good a job as he did thank you all so much and congratulations mayor walk y thank [Applause] you and I just want to wish everyone a happy holiday and we have our inauguration on January 1 at 12 o'clock if anybody's interested thank you very nice and council president soar yes well it's getting late but then there's not you know everyone has really spoken very well this evening the nurses naturally thank you again and we appreciate the girls soccer so many good things I always say going on in Oldbridge you know that we are so Oldbridge pout and I think it's the New Year I'm looking forward to it um I know that mayor Henry is going to make a very good senator for us in Trenton and we will miss him though I mean it's been 12 years I I've been you know part of the council with him and I had been um a council person prior to his administration and I'm I have to tell you when he came on board he really did help turn the town around so we've had a lot of ups and downs and and crazy things go on but really at the end of the day the dedication is there and um I'm I'm just very happy for you and I think the bar you set the bar very high and I think Debbie's going to exceed be that that bar because uh she really does do her homework and she's just as dedicated to the town as you are but uh again I just want to wish everybody a happy holiday and enjoy your season and we are having the inauguration January 1st so if there's anyone interested in coming we would be more than happy to have you here thank you so much and you have a great holiday thank you go into Clos session we're gonna go com back no no no so you'll make just need a motion to adopt uh resolution uh to go into executive session purposes of uh litigation matter NL Industries in turning client uh privilege discussion regarding uh health benefits move it second all right so we have a motion and a second council person D was motion and second by council person Murphy roll call council person de Caro yes council person dealma yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Dr Greenberg belli yes council person Murphy yes council person pasy yes Council vice president Walker yes and council president soar