this meeting is good evening on behalf of the governing body of the city of Pake we welcome you to the April 18th 2024 city council meeting in accordance with chapter 231 public laws of 1975 adquate notice of this meeting was provided by resolution of the municipal Council adopted on June 13th 2023 setting forth the schedule of meetings for the year 2023 2024 that notice was published and posted on the city hall bulletin board by the office of the city clerk please be further advised this public meeting will be conducted in person the zoom stream provided is for viewing only and is offered to the public as a convenience on April 3rd 2024 public notice and zoom instructions for this meeting were published in the Herold news and posted on the city of faake website at www.city of.com Council agenda instructions are also available on the last page of this agenda please be guided accordingly roll call please ma'am councilwoman Melo pres councilman Schwarz pres councilman Garcia pres Council pres and council president sh president sh we are please rise Heavenly Father we thank you for allowing us to meet this evening Lord as we go through this meeting Lord we ask you to please guide us in every decision that will take place this evening in your beloved name we pray amen I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for stands God indivisible and justice for all I see uh each council member has received a copy of Mr fernandz help me this is a this is I know this was discussed at our last meeting is this just yes so there was just one clarification if you look under hazardous trees uh I guess when the cut and paste happened from the state law to our law those five items were not included and that is critical because those five items exempts you from the ordinance so uh Susie and I were reviewing the agenda and we noticed that that wasn't in there and we added it uh because it's really critical as part of the ordinance it basically says with more specifics what a hazard tree is this is for first second reading second reading does it does does it need to be read no I this is just a clarification so did the state not do their job or we didn't do our job I'll State a dollar to one I believe at the last council meeting the council members had asked for more detail and Clarity so it could have been passed without it but this is just explaining the details of what's exempt because I believe councilman Schwarz had requested to know whether trees on sidewalks were affect whether the trees on public property private property as well as the diameter in terms of exempt trees so this further clarifies it but we checked with the attorney and we do not believe that it impacts the ordinance in any way just clarifies it the same thing that was voted on last meeting would be the same thing this meeting I I believe it also ask for Clarity on this this appears to be restricting trees on private property that's correct it excuse me Council that means it does affect private property or does not yes that was what was answered last last council meeting it does affect private property but this is this is not um it's required by the state so and it is affecting private property yeah I believe every municipality was required to adopt it by may I believe May 1 is that the date yeah I believe it was the every municipality in the state by the state is required to adopt this by May 1st this that's if I have a tree in my black back propit backyard that tree it's on my way would I be able to cut it it depends on what tree it is in terms of you can always cut a tree it's this effects you have apply for a permit for tree so again and we use the example at the last meeting if it's a cherry Blossom and it's a certain size not an issue and cut it if it's a tree that falls under the description of the law you have to put in yes Madam cler is there oh yeah look back I didn't know if that was on um so it does depend but the ordinance itself and I believe that it specifies what are exempt trees and what are not and I think it reads you can read it in detail there there's different categories of trees right so the Hazardous tree and this list of five items if it was one of if they met one of these five items you wouldn't need a permit um and you wouldn't need a replacement and also if you're if you're replacing less than four trees on any AC lot you do not have to replace the TR right you still need a permit but you don't need to replace so it's really going to be on a caseby casee basis if you need to replace it or not and if uh it's a hazardous tree or not or if there's a permit or not so I think it's important to clarify that by Case by case we don't imply that there's some subjective assessment of what tree constitutes replacement there there are very clear parameters and description given by the state and I can't stress this enough this is from the state it's a mandate from the state this was not created by municipal government this was not presented out of the mayor's office or the council this is the state and it applies to every municipality we actually had a conversation earlier about how many properties do we realistically or reasonably expect would be impacted and we identified that there are very few private properties with over four trees in one acre of land however again this would require replacement and permit application regarding trees both on private property or property in public and sidewalks are your property the sidewalks are the property of yes will this require a formal process on behalf of the municipality to ensure that things are being done correctly does this mean we have to hire someone to do that and will the people be and if the inspector comes out who's responsible this charge going to be made to the homeowner well people I want to make sure I understand your question you have to if you fall within the range that this covers which is a DBA 2.5 or greater um or if you are PL want to remove more than three trees per acre once you hit the fourth tree you have to get the permit um I don't an inspector um when you say get when forgive me when you say get a permit to remove is the permit is in fact automatic or it is not automatic so there would be a is similar to every permit application in the city so any work that's being done on someone's property whether construction or otherwise requires a permit the similar process would be for permit to request to remove a tree that falls under this where it may be a bit of a challenge in terms of day-to-day operations and whether we would have to hire someone to the administration to consider the budget is the transition period so there's going to be a number of uh issues I believe that we'll have with people trying to assess or ascertain whether that tree falls into that category once the information I believe there's going to be there has to be and I want to give the state the benefit of the doubt that there's going to be time for us to implement this appropriately it isn't going to be May 2nd you remove a tree and we're coming down on you the request is obviously that we would approve it as every municipality has been asked in the state of New Jersey the implementation in terms of the administrative approach I believe those are conversations for us to have so if we're going to say the permit process involves an inspection the permit process cess is they apply and it's an automatic granted permit to remove a tree we're meeting the letter of the law that they needed to apply a permit I think the those are deeper conversations but right now what we have before us and want to make clear was a request not even a request a directive from the state that every municipality is to pass this by May 1 and is there a where if we close here city does not hire a Personnel to do this work oh you mean if the city would hire people to take down their trees no no I go to my backyard and I cut down five trees um what happens does the state come in find me does the municipality act on the state's behalf well that would be for the municipality to go in and see that there were five trees cut down without the permit and without the um proper well you have 12 months to replant but uh that would be for the municipality to enforce and how would the municipality know how high a tree can be we have that in ordinance is that that's part of the ordinance yes that this is so another way for the state to spend our money correct good okay with the council's permission we're uh yeah have councilman mon I'm counc forgive me I didn't see you sir yeah thank you um dbh are the the the size right so that's you the measuring going around and I apologize because I actually drew a circle for the diameter and I misplaced the paper but it's pretty much like this B it's roughly the diameter of the tree that you can cut before you fall into the ordinance so you know it's not obviously if you have a big oak tree if you have a huge oak tree that you can you have to bear hug you need a permit but if it's a midsize tree roughly about a foot wide you don't have to you don't fall within the definition of this ordinance and again to continue with the mayor's words these numbers was dictated by the state if you look at the ordinance that they gave us there is very few sections you're allowed to even touch and none of it has to do with diameters of trees so what you see here is pretty much a cut and paste of the state's ordinance so every municipality in the state of New Jersey is passing this ordinance every municipality was directed to pass this ordinance by May 1st but by who which department the state of New Jersey and I believe this is coming from the D so if I have a a tree that I can't even need a perit you need a per but how many trees have to replace that so I believe that you can so the number is five and one acre if you have more yeah if you have more than four on one acre you are required to replace so diameter the diameter is in the ordinance it says there's a replacement tree section okay so it says a DB of 33 in or greater you have to replant four trees with a minimum three Cal was how do you measure a caliber the caliber is a full circle so basically what you do is you you and we had to do a lot of geometry in my office we kind of I went through it with the staff um so you look at the diameter of it and then that creates the full circumference of the tree and if that tree meets that circumference that diameter of the tree then that's the size there's dbh and then there's calipers so what's Cal dbh off the top of my head so calculated by multiplying the diameter at breast height dbh diameter at breast height the breast height that's dbh has this yes so at breast height so you're not you're not checking 20 feet up you're not checking inch to the ground at breast he or what reasonably can be described as bre okay so if I go around okay and it's four feet going around 48 in going around am that's right 33 what's that then that surpasses the number you would have to get a permit get a permit so I get a permit for $50 number of trees is 50 bucks okay yeah up to five trees up to five trees only 50 Char a practical suggestion here because I and very much uh I know I speak on behalf of of the entire Council May and thanking you and Mr Fernandez for um investigating this matter further it's most appreciated um but I think that there's a lot of information that we're not being told here um I'm not familiar with the state having uh passed a regulation like this um without approval of of other bodies um I think there must be over 500 municipalities today scratching their head wondering what this is about um and I for one would like to know what it's about because I don't I don't understand this at all am I one in such a position does do this make sense to people I I'm just I'm only asking because I I concur with council president because the reason I'm trying to understand this is because if I get a phone call tomorrow you pass an ordinance you explain it to me a to explain look like a total fool I I don't understand I just want to understand what a calber is what a d is and what replacement requir I read this a few times I still cannot figure it out I think that's fair the the only thing I would ask the council to consider perhaps I would propose this better if if the question is what what is it that we're doing here and the attorney has researched it and has to a certain extent and I'll leave the attorney to speak to herself verify that this comes from the state I I would ask because I'm not sure in terms of us being able to pass this before May 1 and perhaps I'm considering this um through the lenses of the administration as today's my first day having to wear glasses just got so I throw in there right that we have often been recognized with best practices of government prer doing according to what the state would request outside of anything that is outrageous or unreasonable that at the previous council meeting obviously all the council members were aware of this because there was concern in conversation and of course if there were questions and we asked any questions we brought back the information specific to the questions that were posed about this if there are further questions that we would have them because the ability to understand the ordinance is important however we have to respond as Administration to the state as to why we did not pass it the direction we gave prior notice and appro if I may appropriate notice of the date at the previous meeting we obviously gave the agendas beforehand and then at the last meeting it was clear that there was concern and we specifically said if there are any questions and we received them and had the attorney research them this is not our directive I I so in all due respect mayor I don't think that the uh state is going to take an attitude of you didn't you were given this three weeks ago or four weeks ago or a month ago and you're not passing it you're in violation Perhaps Perhaps I I do I do know very confident on that position sure there is a press release from the njd explaining the need for us to pass it that wasn't the point necessary if the state decides not to enforce it great I believe that would be beneficial to us if we're not going to pass forgive me I'm not suggesting if this is law yeah then of course it's something which must be followed I I there's no hesitation on on any of our parts but the question is I I mean I don't understand it at all understood right and I don't understand and admittedly because of my involvement on on in government and state level somewhat familiar with how things work and this just does not seem to no no I don't think that's the point I know that our ba wants to share that it's part of the storm water man passing but that all I'm saying is if we're required to pass it by May 1 I just want to be sure that the council is aware that we as of right now don't have a scheduled meeting that would allow us to pass this before May 1 we don't know if every municipality has passed it we only know that it is a directive from the state and that we provided the information that we were given and then responded to the questions that were posed at the last meeting if there is any further Clarity that we cannot have here then obviously I understand but if the questions aren't posed and we don't respond then the lack of understanding seems to be um unless there's a belief that the attorney the business administrator those involved aren't goingon to be able to answer those questions I I uh respectfully I I think that it is in the city's best interest to have full clarity on this um and I join councilman monk in in terms of if a constituent comes up to me and says tell me about this I I feel very un unsure of myself and I think that having someone from the state here uh to brief the council uh would would be a very a positive thing to do um and uh I'd be happy in in my my other role to ask the state to bring someone to to a future meeting or if the administration would like to do that that's fine too um but I I think that there's some questions here the questions of Finance do we have to hire some to do this does the person have to take courses um I mean there's a whole slew of questions is the person part of Code Enforcement of course council president the only challenge is that wouldn't be a question for the state it would be for this governing body no in terms of implementation it would probably not be within the authority of the body it probably would be within the authority of the state to determine what exactly is necessary but I mean rather than go back and forth I mean respectfully I think that we need some more clarity here uh before we would go ahead and pass it if if if the only Clarity being that we found out that 100 other municipalities passed it you know and we'll go along with it too I guess um why don't we move on and when we come to the ordinance uh if there's further discussion we can we can go that would be acceptable with the council's of permission mayor uh your update council president members of the city council and those present here I wanted to update that on Tuesday April 19th we had a fire safety seminar for our silver seniors we want to thank our fire department over 70 seniors were in attendance and were taught how to prevent respond to and reduce the risk of associated fires not to take too much of a morbid turn but obviously we had loss of life of senior citizens as a result of a fire and we felt that this was extremely important so we were thankful to the fire department and to all the seniors we will continue to do these throughout the year we also H the free rabies vaccine clinic on April 13th at Armory Memorial Park we had veterans bring their dogs here to Armory Park and receive Raby shots and be able to register their dogs as well as many residents we had over 60 cats and 130 dogs that were registered and vaccinated so we were extremely excited there was also an event on the same day with the boric guers which had a dedication of H Puerto Rican veterans or Veterans of Puerto Rican cultural heritage citizens who obviously uh fought for our nation and there was a beautiful dedication here by the Latino Veterans Association of the state of New Jersey we also had the Autism Awareness event April 13th in collaboration with our youth Council our Recreation Department where a range of organizations and services were offered in support for families we had over 50 participants and uh organizations that attended this amazing program which involved our PA police autism division our special needs program our Alzheimer's registry group our Circle of Care and the pay County I want to announce to the public and those watching online that our housing rehabilitation program is open for applications the city of Pake rehabilitation program can assist homeowners whose houses need to be refurbished the program is designed to assist owner occupants of one to three family homes in making Necessary major system repairs to their homes and can receive up to $20,000 per unit eligibility is based on income family size and a type of improvement for more information please contact the Department of Community Development at 973 365561 3 97336 55613 if you do not qualify you can also look into our tenant rental rehab program which you could contact at the same number and this allows homeowners agreeing to rent their additional units to low moderate income families for a minimum of five years for more information you can receive up to $220,000 this a federal program so we're very excited about that um we want to share that our community resilient communities program in the city of P will be receiving $5 million Governor Phil Murphy reached out via text directly to M as mayor to announced the city P will be receiving $5 million to fund the local flood Hazard mitigation project located at the New Jersey Transit underpass on Pake Avenue between vanon Avenue and lackawana place recent storm events have caused damage to public and private property as well as loss of life in this location and as a result the city has taken proactive measures to implement flood mitigation to protect the public this funding will be used towards the construction of a storm water pumping station a wet well and large detention Basin we're so very excited as part of our commitment especially in my Administration was to address the issues on Van Howen and this was a full allocation of the amount available so we're so very excited we also are receiving and Congressman Bill Pascal reached out last week personally as well to say we are awarded $1.6 million for the the McDonald Brook and Benson Avenue realignment flood control project as I've mentioned to the public before we have invested in green infrastructure we have done some Street elevation added some storm drains and Inlet the parking lot that was created on Brook Avenue as well as the work with the county um the bridge in covert by High Street all of this together has greatly reduced the instances of flooding and we had witnessed it over the last three storms we literally had police out there as well as engineering and we have seen drastic improvement on the flooding issues in that area but with this additional funding and investment and infrastructure to address these areas of concern we believe that we have come a long way and we're so very grateful for the opportunity to work responsibly with the state and federal government our Columbia ab and Jefferson AB parking lot will be ready next week April 23rd and this lot will have 23 additional spaces yet another lot with additional public spaces for the community we are extremely excited about hundreds and hundreds of spaces developed over the last three years alone and will continue to announce them and share them with the council and the public our city-wide initiative of DPW driving through Wards to assess and fix Pooles on the roads has resulted just in the last 30 days with 72 Pooles being fixed as some of the ones done recently include Burgess Place myle AB South and Ninth Street Pacific s Street Van and park Harrison hope Prospect Pennington dine Brook Elwood and Amsterdam Fourth Street Third Street chestn Gregory AV Oak Street the dead end near MAV and Lafayette AB we remind the public that during the winter the impact of the snow salting and plowing takes a toll on our cars and on our streets but again as we do every spring we invest in ensuring that we're addressing P resurfacing and milling and Paving of our roads I was want share that the NJ do 2023 local Aid and Safe Streets to Transit Grant the city was awarded a grant of 1.4 Million last year from New Jersey DOT to upgrade traffic signals on acre gab PAB and create ADA Compliant Ada for those who are not familiar as Americans with Disabilities Act compliant sidewalk at Prospect Street Gregory Avenue and Pake Avenue intersection this is currently in process and is expected to be completed by the end of this summer our uee camera surveillance system under our Administration the U applied and was approved for the installation of new surveillance cameras at various intersections in our U business district we have received funding for 13 new cameras to be placed in strategic areas throughout the business district to ensure Public Safety for business and Shoppers protect property and prevent crimes with additional cameras being placed at the points of entrance and exits of Route 21 route three and points of entrance and exits into the city with direct license plate readers this will greatly enhance and assist our police and identifying individuals as well as working collaboratively with the county and state law enforcement to ensure that we can address any issues of concern upcoming events Tuesday April 16th we have our co9 flu vaccination event as uh this season has required more vaccines to be given on Saturday April 20th we have our asphalt art event on Columbia Aven Rose Street allow me to clarify a little bit and invite the public to participate any volunteer including council members who are available can come and help us paint the road we will paint the crosswalk and the middle of a road with a beautiful mural uh student awarded mural this was not uh arbitrarily decided nor was it a decision from the administration to pick whatever picture anyone liked but rather many students and volunteers throughout our city particip iated in the contest and the winning mural will be placed on the street in order to uh help enhance pedestrian safety reduce uh the speed of traffic in that particular area are um New Jersey motiv sorry mayor what area is that again Columbia and Monroe okay Columbia and Monroe those of you who are wondering the whing murro was a a very detailed and specific portrait of cancelan Schwarz so please come out and you'll verify whether that was true I know I can time yeah is laughing but that was the that's what she Drew so um April 23rd on New Jersey Motor Vehicle uh commission mobile office will be here at the city of Pake office and they will be offering services to the mobile unit for the following real IDs duplicate replacement title non driver ID and registration renewal appointments are required and can be made at the website you can find it at our city hall website on Saturday April 27th we will have our passport Clinic passport clinic for those wish to have passport pictures renew their child's passport or take a new picture for your passport please come down April 27th make an appointment and call our clerk's office on uh Sunday May 5th our Civic ceremony of CCO de Mayo would occur as we do every single year and there are a number of roads that we have already begun Paving I will spare all the announcements lastly I would like to share two exciting initiatives well I'll go with one and then maybe at the end during my mayor's report our efforts and I wanna I want to commend our city clerk to have young people engaged in the election process to work as pow workers has again produced great fruit of success as we had a number of students work this election I'll take a pause to congratulate the reelected members of the board of education for the city of Pake president Daniel Rodriguez vice president Judith Sanchez and commissioner Rand van ran [Applause] congratulations we want to thank all of the residents that participated and all the candidates that ran but uh we did have our students participate and work well I guess I will announce it and for the first time an initiative that I had announced a year ago and we've been working closely get we were able to hire our first uh student on the Spectrum autistic student who worked and not only worked but these are the words of our city clerk did a spectacular fantastic job unsupervised and we feel that we will be able to expand this program a term that some people are not familiar with falling off the cliff we know that the state of New Jersey has the highest rate of children born on the Spectrum and many of the children receive Services early intervention and educational services but something occurs when they become adults where they age out of programs the term has been qu falling off the cliff because it appears at all of the attention wound Services disappear one of the approaches that I have directed through my Administration is to develop programs of job training for adults with uh different abilities including those on the Spectrum identify opportunities for employment and we are presently in talks with the federal government in the state to develop a more involved program there are interesting initiatives occurring in fact former president Steve Sweeney of the Senate is developing an initiative to help individuals work and live in the same building we are looking to recreate similar programs with a different twist but again kudos to the city clerk the work and the effort that she has put in with our youth and the opportunity to work with you city clerk to expand this program for our disabled Adult Community who are in desperate need of programs and we want to thank our adult special needs program headed by Joe cologne we've been able to expand initiatives and trips with them with that stated those are some of the announcements I'll leave the rest for the end of the meeting as so much goes on dayto Dat thank you very good thank you thank you so much mayor questions to the mayor the question I have for the the motor vehicle vehicle that's coming and U passport it can be anyone because some of the people from appointments it's it's expected that people make appointments obviously if there are cancellations and there is room however we have found that uh doing appointments makes it much more effective but I mean do they have to be from Pake no not from motive Vehicles it is a state agency we want to thank our assemblyman Gary Sher in the 36th legislative district obviously these Partnerships providing these commissions to come and Serve the People however because it is a state agency it is not limited to Residents anyone from the they can call and make an appointment how about the passport the passports if you call the city clerk we expect that you will be able to get the service I would prefer Pake residents but legally and the attorney is here I cannot restrict anyone from receiving a service that we provide when it comes to passports or uh any official documents thank you very love your yeah council president just just really a comment and and I I've talked about it how excited I am um with the youth being involved I mean it it just brings um so much pleasure to my heart um and it was so funny to see that um just as we suspected they were the ones in charge of the um technical part of it everywhere I went they were sitting right in front of the the computers and and the the the U signning boards and everything else but it was good because like we we thought and we suspected and as a a city clerk and the mayor um kind of brought to Fu wisha that combination of veterans working the polling sites and the youth who's familiar excited it just was a whole different atmosphere in the Poland booths and I had an opportunity not not an opportunity I was more intentional this time to to talk to the youth um in that process and there they were just ecstatic and and not one time that they mentioned you know the fees that they would be receiving just the process and learning new thing so I just want to say I'm I'm overwhelmed with that initiative and I want to thank the administration and city clerk for the fees you I mentioned is $21 an hour and I believe $300 a day is that but but it was it but it was that ex important I share it only because with prom season coming up graduation it's such an opportunity for children that come from lowincome uh backgrounds to have an opportunity to work to be involved in this uh most sacred Democratic process to be part of the civic duty and receive payment that's going to help for college because it ties in some of them are eligible to receive college credits for working elections so it's a great benefit It's a Wonderful initiative and we've already heard that other municipalities want to copy it so we're very excited J be busy any other questions at this time seeing none we onto hearing of citizens um if by the way you're joining us tonight and you don't have a copy of tonight's agenda you can get it on the uh on the city's website the internet uh we do not allow participation accept by physical presence um if you would like to communicate with us in the future you're not able to make a meeting if you'd submit your questions uh to the city clerk she'd be happy to take them down and they will be addressed uh at a future meeting uh a hearing of citizens if I may in accordance with the open public meetings act NJ say 10 col 4-1 at SEC the council opens every public meeting of for comments of the public however in accordance with njsa 10 col 4-12 nothing in this act shall be construed to limit the discretion of a public body to permit prohibit or regulate the active participation at any meeting therefore please be advised that the council will not entertain any comments from persons who communicate OB scene material make statements which are considered debias intimidation in which a person intends to intimidate any individual or group because of race color religion handicap gender sexual orientation or ethnicity or makes comments intending to harass or speak any offensive language the person who makes these statements will relinquish their allotted five minutes for public discussion um we welcome the comments of uh anyone who is here is there anyone who like to address the council at this time yes good evening uh Joe Cente 170 Broadway council president my first question here is on these um what do you call them um on these zoning um like the alcohol beverage they have a meeting tonight and it's not for the public it's for the uh the zoom um you got it's difficult for me to hear you I'm sorry sir I'm saying like the alcohol beverage meeting they have one tonight and it's you could only go on Zoom so my point is you have different you got the planning board you got the Redevelopment agency you got all these boards and they don't have no um how do you call it um in person meetings everything's on Zoom so and I know you guys uh pick who's on the boards that um I think you are responsible or give an answer on this issue my next question here is the property on 47 149 Broadway the garbage in the front yard the side alleyway the backyard something needs to be done with this property uh clean up whatever has to be done here um also part of the roof is coming down my second question here is Irving Place it's a one side of the street parking but here you got people coming there they parking all on the sidewalk blocking the uh blocking the road in case you got the emergency you can't get through the the whole side is to me is illegally parking there's one sign that's it's in the middle of the block and nobody seems to see it there should be a toe toe Zone that's what that should be if you to the cars it won't come back no more um oh bake Avenue and acri Avenue on the last meeting it sounded good idea and nobody seemed to reach out and they never put the fence up for the safety around that 20 208 uh bake Avenue property where they tore the houses down uh my last question here is on Saturday at 474 Main Avenue the Armory Memorial they had a service for the uh Latino veterans that I attended to and a lot of questions were about the monument why it looks so terrible I'm just wondering if uh I don't know I know I think it was last year or two years ago they had a volunteer to clean The Monuments but um and then somebody painted the bottom Foundation um I'm just wondering if there's anything here that could be done with this property this uh send the because it's very you know it's horrible these are my questions I have tonight okay thank you sir um Madame attorney is there a requirement or there are requirements requiring live meetings live meetings they're not it's perfectly acceptable to have them by Zoom Mr Fernandez are you aware do most of our boards or all our boards offer the choice of Zoom or or or in person they're all Zoom they're all Zoom yes and what would be the purpose for that to have enough individuals be present and have Quorum for the meetings and when we didn't have zoom available we were not getting participation not as frequently as we are now so in terms of the course of business of the city we need the zoom it's much more effective and efficient if that's the question council president could we offer both you could there's nothing that would stop that from happening but I think each board individually takes a look at their board members and their ability so the chairperson of that board typically um when we ask them how they want to hold the meeting this is kind of the direction because success of having the meetings continuously uh because if you recall it wasn't too long ago and it might have been Mr kente himself who was talking about you know constant posting of cancellation of meetings um at at the council CH in the um City Hall doors council president I would add that uh many courts have continued zoom and the reason being the ultimate goal is to have participation at times meetings can be cancelled because an attorney has a conflict or is a away was called away on business the goal was to ensure that the business of the city would continue much like the courts Zoom has allowed a resource where attorney who is not present can still present regarding a case it's vitally important for uh the Commissioners on the board to hear from experts sometimes an architect an engineer uh a sound expert considering the footprint or impact dat a application may have in the neighborhood or in the city they may not be available in person Zoom has actually enhanced the ability for Commissioners to ask questions to bring in more individuals some residents who go I can't be there in person may participate and or see the zoom meeting later so it has been of great benefits we're not the only ones that do this are the municipalities and even the courts have continued because of how effective a resource it's been for participation in in terms of the gentleman's question I I don't think that any of us would doubt thank you for the for the clarity mayor nothing that any of us would doubt how positive Zoom has been the question is can we do both is there an expense involved is it is there difficulty is there planning involved is there Personnel costs I see your answer yes in terms of a practical approach and I want to thank the Council on this we find Qualified individuals to volunteer and we need them to be present in order to do the business of the city the idea the approach to make it as convenient as possible is a benefit to the city as a whole if if we were paying individuals we can say hey get over here if we had such a large pool of individuals for these volunteer services I the answer is yes but I do believe that it's been of great benefit for those that are appointed by the council and those that are appointed or wish to volunteer to say I can be involved in a way that you know does not necessarily disrupt but when there are meetings that we require in person or even if the council so chooses that direction it can be done we just want to highlight the great benefit we have had to cancel less meetings if we have and we have had more professionals available that help the Commissioners to make informed and educated decisions on whether they would approve projects or applications how how about last question on if I may counc president I'm sorry to go to your question of expense that's one additional night that maintenance has to be here overnight to see to the meeting so every meeting that's now on Zoom full it's a savings to the city councilman Schwarz yeah I could just um Echo that the even at the last planning meeting there was a conflict with one of the Commissioners which would have precluded hearing an application and there was enough time to track down and Alternate which would have been impossible if it were in person and to have that alternate connect on Zoom after a short recess to enable us to hear that application rather than not be able to do it because of the conflict I think necessarily by having both live in person you're de facto requiring the Commissioners to come live because otherwise it just doesn't make sense and I think on a practical level um the zoom meetings are every bit as effective because especially when you have a professional making a presentation they share their screen um I do product demonstrations I prefer doing them electronically because I have the other person's undivided attention they have the screen in front of them when you're in a group of people you're looking at it at a distance you're it's less it's less intense so in terms of being effective I I I do believe that the zoom meetings are every bit or even more effective than the in person ones and in terms of the convenience of being able to have people which would have been difficult for them to make it to the meeting that still enables them to connect for starters it takes less time to get there further they can be anywhere and dial in they can be in another country and still participate um so therefore in terms of of maintaining quorums and making it accessible and easy I think that the zoom is a tremendous benefit last question on this point on on Mr kend's Question um should there be any concern on behalf of this Council that uh for people who don't have computers or who have computers but haven't figured out how they turn on um is there any concern that's for the council believe the question was good coun think everyone has a smartphone nowadays most of us know but I think technology has made it I mean I've seen elderly people that know how to operate because it's just download okay I think is conducive okay thank you um 14749 way Mr Fernandez the gentleman speaks about the property needs a cleanup I have that R down I'll have code take a look good thank you um and the Center PATH um the gentleman mentioned that the center path is not in the kind of condition that would be appropriate oh Armory Park if I may I was present there I know councilwoman Mar monz was present um there were a number of individuals who came there was one individual who came from Essex County who admittedly stated that he hadn't been here for 30 years and that he saw that the steps could use some improvement the monument was washed cleaned by DPW the area was uh cleaned by DPW the monument is just at a monument it's been around for a long time we are sometimes uh limited and challenged with trying to preserve the historic value of a monument to the best of our ability if it's about the steps we will readdress it we've done it before we are in the spring season and we often have to address issues that were further exacerbated in terms of time of the existence but because of weather conditions and otherwise we will address it but I do remember the individual I spoke to him personally after the conversation he admitted he came from nework he hadn't been here 30 years and he saw the monument and I said well you haven't seen all the improvements we've made to this monument in the last five years but without that context or perspective I understood his statement and I appreciate Mr kenti sharing that one individual statement because I did speak to him personally we will address the steps we will have a structural analysis to see if it's compromised as of right now we haven't had any issues but we will address it and we'll have it reassessed by our Engineers thank you thank you much thank you sir anyone else wish to address the council second motion and second to close roll call please yes yesc yes yes yes thank you to R numeral that's not six that's nine but it should be a six ordinances for second and final reading hearing is required proposed ordinance number 12 4 41-24 and ORD adopting a Redevelopment plan for blocks 4099 Lots 21 24 and 26 corresponding to 206 212 216 President Street in the city of pic New Jersey introduction and first reading was held on March 19 2024 is there a motion please to open public hearing so Move Motion second roll call please councilman mon yes councilman love yes councilwoman Melo yes counc schw yes counc Garcia yes Council yes at this time ladies and gentlemen the council is contemplating proposed ordinance 2441-20 if there's anyone who would like to address the Council on this item and this item only yes sir yes Joe coniss 170 Broadway yeah I've been down at this property it's so funny how it's torn down so quick um my question is there's a building right next door I think that's uh two 18 or 219 um is that part of this deal no sir this ordinance this proposed ordinance applies to block 4099 translating to Lots 21 24 and 26 yeah because you got 206 212 and 216 that's it yes and then you got the you got three lots here the Lots this ordinance or proposed ordinance applies to those lots that are identified in this proposal and what are they planning to do with this property that sir is the results of their applications which have been been publicly heard including in tonight and I'm sorry but I'm not in a position to translate or share that with you it has been available to you as a member of the public was there any violations on this property there could not be violations for the proposed ordinance to be before us today any violations would have to have been taken care of first well there had to be violations it I'm sorry sir there had to be violations because it came out where there could have been termites there could have been a lot of there could have been a lot ofish coun president I believe he's confusing the property on President Street where there was a structural compromise and people were evacuated with this particular property he may have the properties confused I don't think he's on the ordinance forgive me I just wanted to clarify thank you mayor isn't that the same property 220 220 is not listed on this what what he's thinking about I'm not quite sure I don't want to put the same property 220 is not on this property list 120 whatever it is 120 is not on this list so if you give us lots that are we'd be happy to deal with it is there anyone else who would like to address the council please s CL public comment second motion and second to close Rock call Mon yes counc love yes Council M yes counc yes counc Garcia yes Council yesc pres thank you on the ordinance is the remaker please second motion and second roll call councilman monk yes counc love yes councilwoman mow yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes counc yesc yes thank you uh we had begun a conversations at the beginning of the meeting on this proposed ordinance for second and final reading um let read it in the book and then uh decide how we'd like to proceed councilman your light is on yeah I'll wait you finish okay uh proposing ordinance 244-248 of the code of the city of toake entitled trees and Shrubbery introduction and first reading was held on April 2 2024 um is there a motion to open public hearing please motion and second call please councilman mon yes councilman love yes Council Melo yes councilman Schwarz yes councilman Garcia yes Council yesc yes thank you ladies and gentlemen this time the council is contemplating Pro proposed ordinance yes Joe conent the 170 Broadway my question on this here is um homeowners are they responsible for curbside trees on this ordinance question Mr Fernand yes yes isn't isn't the curbed trees by the city I believe curbed trees that are planted by the city are the city's responsibility and curbed trees which are planted by the homeowner or the homeowner's responsibility is am I correct on that so the the city of Pake only deals with hazardous trees so if there are Street trees that fall under the hazard tree definition the city takes care of those trees but um sidewalks for example anything on the sidewalk if the sidewalk is lifted if there's an issue with it that's a responsibility of the owner and the city will not cut a tree that is not a hazardous tree that is today even before the ordinance that is the way it is that doesn't change with disord yeah but curbside trees is not a a homeowner tree if I may council president I believe um the business administrator was clear in terms of the impact of the tree and this is where I think we ended up getting lost in the woods no okay no one back um we thank you Council um the challenge that we faced is that if a tree has the root him it lifts up the sidewalk the sidewalk is property uh of the owner of the house but the tree itself becomes a responsibility of government let's say the county decides to Mill and pave and they cut the roots of the tree that is not the property's owner's responsibility to resolve we can have an assessment government takes care of it if there's a branch that is compromised and that could fall DPW through our tree department has to cut down those branches if a homeowner decides that the curbside tree is something they don't like it blocks my view it is not the responsibility of the city to address aesthetic or personal subjective issues with the trees those are governed by conern DP laws in in terms of the sidewalk itself it belongs to the property the tree is a public tree the impact of it on your property you're responsible the city would not pay to deal with anything that is not a public safety concern outside of our responsibility I think that's clear if you'll forgive me councelor I just want to know if that answers the gentleman's question yeah I guess so uh my other question I have now I forgot to yield to my council member I'm sorry okay councilman Garcia um what about the roots going into the sore line who's responsible for that so it depends where the sewer line is if it's in your yard or not your yard but if it's on the street we take care of it because it becomes a public safety hazard um if it's in your backyard we'll fix our line but the health of the tree is your responsibility if it's on your private property because president this just on this topic of trees I was always under the impression that a tree that's by the curb you're not allowed to even trim it without City permission unless it causes a public safety concern so during storms trees become compromise we'll see a branch that's broken it's heavy it can fall on a car moving vehicle we have an obligation a duty to address it immediately because of the extin in circumstances we're not required to ask for permission we can address any public safety issue in government in the community and then deal with it later however again I reiterate any any concern of the public and I understand the sidewalk when Nature is the cause it's like snow it comes down from nature it's your sidewalk you're gonna have to shovel it you're gonna have to put salt on it if you don't you responsible for the fall you don't get to say it's an act of nature why didn't the government come and shovel it if a root on the tree raises your sidewalk if it breaks a line in your home we and Case by case you have every right to come to government and say I I think the city should have to pay for it our attorneys will consider it the court will determine whether we're responsible but in terms of policy and approach it is not government's approach to address trees on sidewalks some people plant trees certain businesses put them themselves certain Schools they're beautiful but they're not our responsibility so but but homeowners lot of trim without not on the curb on the curb Tree on the curb unless it's a public we're not allowed to trim it unless it's a public safety concern that governs everybody so let's say for for lighting uh it's it's it's it's blocking the street light therefore the Salk is dark and that becomes a public that becomes subjective in terms of the determination by the homeowner what is sufficient light we would refer that to the attorney public safety concerns obviously and if one says not enough lighting could cause a danger and that hypothetical as opposed to a tangible easily identifiable Public Safety concern of a branch that may fall on someone we can address the lighting but there would be a request whether we could trim the tree so um just have a quick question so if as a homeowner I would like a cherry blossom tree in front of my house can I plant it where in front of your house your property or the sidewalk my sidewalk my sidewalk come you'd have to come let's be clear on sidewalk no no I think it's a great question but I think it's important for people who watch to understand because we're sometimes prev information trees aren't planted on the sidewalk right the sidewalk is for you to walk of course no no but the reason because I know what you mean but people may not understand why they using the term oh yeah the sidewalk one of the biggest complaints and this is a little bit off with some of the work of our utility companies is they're encroaching too much on the sidewalk there is a I've got to direct you believe it or not forgive me I don't of course I know examples can be considered outside of the but I just want to clarify so in terms of the side walk no you cannot plant a tree on the actual sidewalk where you're walking in that space between the sidewalk and the street there's a portion of land where typically people plant trees or you can find trees if you wish to plant a tree there and it is your property you can uh the ordinance reads that if you remove a tree you have a responsibility to request a permit there are City ordinances for planting trees in terms of how tall they must be so it is a process and the government is involved but that is not this ordinance thank you right and if I if I may add the tree and you planting the tree is dependent on our planting schedule so I know you're seeing this ordinance as something new but we do this all the time in developments that we require them I'm going I'm going to correct you Mr Fernandez we this is not that this so proposed ordinance is not does not have reference to to Prior the ordinance act legislation um members of the council it seems to me that we've we've got some questions here um the question I would ask is presiding officers do we wish to um get additional uh Clarity by having the uh Department come to us speak to us and to give us Clarity are we prepared to make a decision tonight without that um M with the disposition of the council council president councilman yeah um last 20 minutes I had the Liberty to just look around a little bit and um there is a there is um this was pushed off this requirement for municipalities to pass this ordinance was January 1 from January 1st to to to May 1 of 2024 um there is such a um out from the state there is this requirement that's out there um however I do question this in terms of the completeness of this ordinance um because under Hazard tree under the definition of Hazard tree it says a tree or Lim there thereof that meet one or more of the criteria below and I don't see the there's one through four inous disease or insect inest look at the packet I here right here it's about two got I got oh okay right there got it okay replac and you don't need to get it's a danger and this can remove it and who defines I mean what makes me very uncomfortable with this whole ordinance again the good thing is nothing to do with the city okay has only to do with our City attorney has to do with the state the state level okay is that it's so vague for as an example I see under the hazard treat insect infestation now who determines what's infestation are black ants considered infestation does it have to be those one those last year we have a tree you're not allowed to cut a healthy tree down right we have a tree crew that assesses whether or not the tree isn't Health that would be the process in terms of the permit application now if I me specific on the ordinance request from the state is simply that we pass an ordinance every municipality to do so by May 1 the implementation is left to the municipality in fact the exact meeting of the director from the D says that any municipality that does not create its own similar to this is requested to adopt this directive um in terms of the implementation again and I leave this to obviously wisdom refer to the council council president the attorney any anything that is passed in the city believe there's a time period before it's implemented I believe it's 20 days that passing it would allow us to be uh in line with the state and still have the council question how it gets implemented because we can't implement it unless we determine how I do believe that there are concerns to the council that are legitimate fees who's going to assess this but the only question St I'm sorry M's than you madam CL feel free to throw something at me or yell at me I don't um because she keeps having to tell us again back to what I was saying the implementation is up to the council the only request that we have and the reason why we place it is because the state directed every municipality to pass it by May 1 um but it would not be in effect until 20 days and the implementation would be up to the governing body I'm I'm I'm going to come back in all due respect this conversation can go on for as long as we would like to go on the question is do we want conversation to continue Contin to go on or do we find a need uh of additional Clarity that we don't have at our hands right now where we would rather make that decision at a future meeting uh my only question council president um would we be able to accomplish this by May 1 is that the projection date um to try to get this done I feel confident that the state will not look at us adversely if the okay council president councilman mon honestly I don't know what it'll what will help to wait to pass it in June or July or August or three years the bottom line is the state has presented something which the way I read it makes no sense right it's not gonna make any more sense in 90 days and the state also I I was just looking online basically gave this verbiage exactly what we got to pass so this is it is what it is I mean welcome to Big Brother government this is what it is I mean it's uh I read this thing 10 times 20 times I don't know how many times I read it I still don't understand it um so what is your recommendation councilman should we proceed with a vote tonight should we seek additional clarification I think we vote on it because we're not have any more we should get clarification in terms of how the city to understand it better but the end of the day we're gonna have to pass exact language um as what we see here tonight this is I just checked in fact there's one thing that's missing what the state actually put in there uh that is if if the um if there's if this if they determine that it cannot be replaced so then a person uh needs to play to replant a tree in a designated area approved by municipality this is under B5 replacement Alternatives if the municipality determines that some of all required replacement trees cannot be planted on the property where the tree removal activity occurred and the applicant shall plant to replace trees in a separate area approved by a municipality the state also has a line in there that instead of replanting a tree the municipality could also just charge a fee I think that was optional that was an option I'm going to ask councilman would you prefer that we vote tonight or at a future time I me I would vote on it tonight love I'm fine with voting on it tonight yeah as I usually do ordinances that I don't completely understand I pass it back to Administration Council M do it tonight and we if we could get someone down the line to come and explain it from the state councilman Schwarz that would depend if this is the exact verbiage which the state will require period that is one thing if that we need to pass something similar to this and we can tweak it to things make sense for example the ability to pay a fee I'm want to develop I have a gigantic class 4 tree next to my building and I want to extend my patio and I can't that would require me to plant four other trees on my little piece of property that I don't have Road for because the exemption of four trees is only through class three class four I'm on my own if I'm trying to do a develop if I'm trying to develop a piece of property and the property just happens to have 10 trees on it I can't do my development because where am I going to plant 10 other trees I again don't take this wrong I think trees are good and it's important to encourage them what I don't what I have problem what I have a problem with is ramming it down people's throat in a way which coerces them and and restricts them it should be something which there are incentives to do it should be something which the M municipality helps with like if if we can um if we can have a alternate of this which enables one to pay a fee which would establish a fund to put a tree somewhere else then that would meet the objective because now you know what that's the course of doing business we need to keep we need to replenish trees okay for whatever practical reason forgive me would you like to vote on this tonight or would you prefer disc councilman the question that you asked regarding the decision yes it's the exact verbiage as you said is it the exact verbage yes but it's missing the fee option the fee is an option it's not required by this it's only an option so I would prefer to vote on an ordinance which has a fee option as an alternative and if that would mean would push it off a meeting I would prefer to do that councilman Gara I I guess we can vote on it in with condition we can come back lat no sir this is no being proposed by the state then I'm good then I'm good San monz I'm good good uh is there a motion to accept the ordinance can I can I just make some more comments we're voting on it I can I make some comments on it I Mor say she thought you sp I I can certainly allow it but I don't see it's utility Council well I I mean Council Schwarz makes a big very interesting point about adding this fee is in I just like to know why not add okay ordinance of the state so I like to understand from Administration why we wouldn't and the other thing when I when I read the state requirements I didn't see it as an option list them both there oh the fee options for the municipality that can be added on as an ordinance by this Council so why don't we why not for this but that you can create an ordinance dictating the fee the fee request and forgive I'm cognizant of the time and the desire to go into vote but we have a law that we have to charge for every child in Recreation our policy by the council so we have an alternative approach we can do that with any ordinance that is the purview and the liberty of the council to determine but that is not covered here we are not obligated to create a fee we are only passing the language they gave us verbatim they receiv received verbatim language includes a fee an option for a fee this was sent to the it's I'm looking long I this was sent to the without adding additional fees understanding the situation with fees yeah they gave us a green light to present this this was approved by the de what you're what you're voting on is what is before you yes any okay so can I get some clarification before I vote please please is this do these this ORD only apply if you land if you have an acre of land no so what does it mean in ordinance any person who removes one more trees of the find and tree removal the dbh of six Ines or more per acre what does that mean per acre yeah B2 and the B2 V2 so this is wheree rep so right so to to replace a so tree replacement right so that means I only have to replace a tree if I have an acre or more of land if if I have less than how many I don't think that many Parcels in the city have an acre well that's where the mayor started off saying there's very few instances so I I just for clarity council president um if I ask ask Council please if the way I understand this ordinance it only apply you only have to replace trees if you own an acre or land if your lot is one acre or larger I don't think think I it would be interpreted that way um the way I'm reading this is if it's four trees per acre to for trees perer under B2 C1 you're looking C1 no B2 I'm sorry B2 any person any moves more trees as defined as tree removal with a dbh of six or more per acre um per acre per acre are there any Lots in the city of P have trees that are an acre or larger well there are lots there's not many Lots but there are LS that are Tre or acre but remember it also takes you to C and if you go to C1 residents will remove less than four trees per acre per acre again right that fall into category one two or three of the tree replacement schedule table within a five year period so you're you're limited in the amount and that's what the mayor stated that at the begin of the meeting there's not so for coun so any lot that's less than an acre this ordinance does not applied to want more trees per acre so yeah I want to be clear when you say the ordinance aspects of the Ordinance do not apply the request to remove a tree May apply the the replacement does not okay so so I just want to be clear that we're give it the exact answer to the question so let's get this let's just break this down a little bit I don't know if any home in the city of paic a home in city that sits on an acre of lot acre of land yes that's where I started Very Yes therefore just for clarity publicly here on the record there's no homeowner that would have to replace trees based on this ordinance that's being proposed tonight if no one has an acre or more there are some Property Owners perhaps but not homeo brush Property Owners Property Owners but no homeowners there's no there's not one lot in the city of that has a a home has a house okay that is on an acre of land I don't know that to be 100% sure I'm pretty comfortable saying so and and I don't want to get into the weeds but if you have a parsonage and if you have a parsonage and a church and that is your specific um property and the lot and the property as a whole is an acre you are responsible or the owning uh institution or agency is responsible but there is no single homeowner that we know of off the top of our head that has more than an acre so we don't want to make actually the fine the next point I like to make is I have too much time council president this week is that is that if you cut down right that's to for replacement so so pretty much there's no homeowner in the city of B will have to replace any trees the next part here is to remove a tree you have to go for an application now if you remove less than four trees per acre you don't have you're exempt there exemptions here which means if I want to take down three trees in my backyard right class threes on class one two or three right unless it's this big unless you have a real big then you don't even have to apply have to go to City Hall there's no application fee it's exempt that's correct okay and also very small trees are exempt completely they're less than a six inch diameter right they're exempt so so you could move 10 of those or however many right but if you move class two or class three you could do four per every five years so now I'm just which means that if I take down three of them okay this year and in three years I want to take down another three right I'm I'm I know my microphone is on here but do I where just I have to keep record of when I cut the first three down because if the city comes in four years they say oh you're taking down a tree did you cut any other in the last four years they have to real they have to find find which trees I cut down the last four years right I mean so basically what I'm saying is practically speaking are we counting trees are we going to have individuals going and Counting trees count if I may again we were asked by the state to pass an ordinance regarding uh this directive where to all the municipalities I I preface my statements by saying very few instances this is actually going to apply to um we've looked at it our attorney looked at it it it seems to be something that is not going to adversely impact and the council still keeps the authority to determine the approach we're going to take whether fees if somebody's home does have an acre and we didn't know about it they have 10 trees and they cut down four and this Council says look let's pay for it let's provide opportunities for people in need you still have that right but all we have before us as a director from the state I will admit and confess publicly I would not have come up with this mandate am I interested in creating mandates nor do I want to be against the council we are here to present what we were told this is not a debate between us and the council we just go the state told us we see it online we verify that it is directive it came from a legitimate agency the DP and other municipalities have passed we don't have a meeting after the deadline so we brought it to you may I think I my on that note it's a blanket ordinance from the state this is not targeted at cities as you can tell so that's where we're at and it's part of the storm water management that we are required by law in Jeopardy of penalties and lack of permits if we don't pass I think that's clear I mean obviously shared we received $5 million 1.6 we're very excited working if I if I expressed it with a lot of zeal it's just that we're receiving money uh for environmental issues and flooding issues so again but it will not impact a great deal of properties we don't even know if it would impact any as of right now councilman Schwarz I'm fine I'm sorry and and besides with the latest infestation anyone else would like to comment a little distracted have on the yes I moved it have a motion coun yes counc yes coun schw yes councilman Garcia yes Council yes counc president regretfully I a motion second I'm sorry I'm sorry we need a motion a second to that that was just to close the public portion that was to close yes to close is there a maker of the motion move second motion and second on the motion yes yes Council Melo yes Council schz yes Council Garcia yes Council yes council president regretfully I must vote no we are up to R num 7 of our agenda Communications items three through six are there any questions please on three through six see no lights is there motion please to accept 3 through six motion um council president I make um six and seven um she may one excuse me I'm sorry on three through five I apologize I got you yeah move is there a second please and second on three through five second yes yes yes yes yes yes thank you on six and seven if there are no questions is there a motion please to accept six and seven second motion and second roll call please yes abstention yes yes yes presid yes thank you all the matters listed here under considered to be routine in nature items 8 through 14 are there any questions please on 8 through 14 seeing none is there a motion please to accept so mooves second motion and second rooll call pleas counc yes counc love yes Council yes yes yes thank you we are up to resolutions Roman numeral eight on our agenda item 15 uh authorized closed executive session Madam do we need closed executive no council president thank you Mr Fernandez no council president mayor sir none at this time council president members of the council very good if we can then turn our Cent attention to items 16 through 28 are there any questions please on 16 through 28 seeing no lights at this time is there a motion please to accept items 16 through 28 Some Mo motion and is there a second please motion and second roll call yes yes yes yes counc Garcia yes Council yes and council president yes thank you up to Roman numeral nine on our agenda ordinances for introduction in first reading number 29 proposed ordinance amending the designation of restricted parking for disabled persons by New Jersey license plate number is there a motion please to accept for set down for second and final reading at our meeting of May 7 motion second and second roll call please yes counc love yes councilwoman Melo yes Council schz yes Council Garcia yes Council yes and council president yes thank you number 30 please proposed ordinance amending chapter 259 streets and sidewalks of the city of pic municipal code to include requirements for keeping the sidewalks adjacent to handicap parking areas clear is there a motion please to accept for set down for second and final reading at our meeting of May 7th so move second motion and second roll call please and this is not just this does not deal with trees right okay good yes counc love yesc yes yes yes yes yes thank you 31 please an ordinance authorizing a short-term tax exemption for property identified on the official tax map of the city of p as block 3220 Lock 27 corresponding to 437 Paul avue in the city of J is there a motion please to accept for set down for second and final reading Mo Council motion and second call yes yes yes yes counc Garcia yes Council yesc yes thank you uh payment of bills are there any questions on the bills no seeing none is there a motion please to accept the bills as present so Mo motion and second thank you yes yes yes yes yes yes thank you administrator report Mr Fernandez no this time sir Mr Mayor over the last uh month we have celebrated a number of holidays in our city we wish the very best to our uh indian-american Community as they celebrated Holly and the same to our Muslim American communities as they finish their time of fasting of Ramadan and as we look to our uh Jewish community in Pake wishing the very best during this Passover holiday with your families and friends we continue to celebrate the great diversity of our city as we support one another and move forward I want to thank this city council for all of their support for the many different activities that have occurred celebrating all of our communities our parks are often utilized during the Holly Festival the community came out to utilize our parks and throughout the years so many organizations and groups are uh participating in activities during the uh the Easter or what is often referred to as Resurrection Sunday there were a number of processions in our City and we continue to appropriately support and uh highlight our diversity as we're here for all thank you very much that is the extend of Prim report thank you mayor the members of the council point a few meanss back we haven't we had that um that funding that went for housing we wanted to get the the company that facilitates it here to the Mee a little bit louder I'm sorry a few meetings back we had um the funding that we use towards housing and we wanted to get the company that administrates to come to the counc can understand understand how the funding uh is handled and different regulations see if we could maybe be more creative how to use those funds yes Council we are wearing and recall specific we will have the person who administers and underwrites that be here present for the next council meeting if that is wish yes we'll make sure to have that and also thank before you close counc president if I made to all those watching um those who celebrate and observe please remember that on uh next Monday and next Tuesday we will have additional uh trucks out for pickup to please have the hours sent out appropriately as we want to make sure that we coordinate thank you there no other business publicly advertised is required by law is there a motion to adjourn motion and second roll call to aour yes yes yes yes yes yes thank you this meeting is a jour